Last year there was a huge buzz around an “awareness” piece put together which depicted a girl pretending to be drunk, walking down Hollywood Blvd asking men how to get a bus to get home. The men who she approached were not rude or aggressive, however, it did show these men trying to get her to go home with them or give her a lift.
If you haven’t seen the video, it was taken down due to public protest, but you can find a copy of it here, reproduced for news reportage and analysis purposes.
It is worth mentioning that I admin on a Facebook page called Exposing Feminism, and we featured this story. Many, many men and women were attacking this girl across the internet for giving men a bad image in exchange for cash. Interested in the story, I started to look further online and found that this woman was indeed an actor named Jennifer Box.
I didn’t have to look far amongst all the anger and hate directed towards Jennifer before I found a video she published apologizing for her involvement in this video. She apologized for aiding in a negative image of men, and the other actors involved and said that if she had known that it would do so much damage to these men, and men in general, she would not have participated.
http://youtu.be/MOMElSq5IXE
I decided to take a chance and message Jennifer to ask her about why she did this and what her experience had been. She did message me back, to my surprise, and was happy to tell me a bit about her experience.
Jennifer, also known as Jennifo, is a model and actress originally from Texas. She has worked and lived around the world with her career. She had taken this job as it was recommended to her from her house mate and was to help her get some cash. What she was told she was doing and what were produced were very different. When I first approached Jennifo I advised her that I had some fans who did not seem to realise that she was apologetic for the outcome of the video and asked if she was happy to work with me to do this piece. I let her know that I work within the Men’s Human Rights Movement and was hoping to highlight the targeting of men day to day.
Jennifo was in hospital when we first started talking so a thank you is due for taking the time to discuss this with me and give her account. I think it easier for me to just copy and paste our conversation so you have an understanding of exactly how this event played out, in her words. Once Jennifo agreed to work with me she asked me what I was hoping to know and this is what I asked of her:
We are wanting a clear idea of what you were told would happen. For you to explain what happened that day and how you feel you were treated. How you feel about how the content was used and how you feel about men in society and how they are viewed/attempted to be portrayed. I am against unethical forms of people abusing the rights they have to demonise men and lie/deceive people in order to push their message. This happens a lot with men, I am also hoping it will elaborate more on your official statement and give people a clear image of where you stand on the matter and how you have been impacted by the events.
The following quotes are Jennifo’s own words
It never meant to be like this.. was just a quick $160 cash to pay some bills and buy chick fila n the next thing I knew my face was on the cover of yahoo ha. I’m not even a feminist and in not even into the whole ‘prank video’ thing was literally the first one I’ve ever made, I was told it would be a ‘staged prank show’…stupid in itself..I know..was literally just doing it for the quick $160 had no idea anyone would ever see it or it would be controversial.
First of all we should highlight that this was released as an “awareness” piece to warn women of the dangers of walking around drunk, as they may run into men who may take advantage of women in the streets. The idea and project was pitched to her as a prank skit and not true to the intentions or nature of the finished project. The very aim of this was to portray an image of predator men and a vulnerable female and continue the narrative that we live in a world where there is a “rape culture” of men targeting women, and high levels of harassment and risk for women on the street.
But Jeniffo was lied to, and it seems the men really taking advantage of her that day were the people behind the camera:
I met the two guys, Seth and Chris, for the first time that day on Hollywood blvd. one of my my roommates introduced us because she had worked with him on something before completely unrelated, but was under contract for that so she couldn’t do this and recommended me.
So I basically just stood there while the guys went and found the male actors, told them what it was about, and introduced us and told us where to be walking from where to bump into each other and then was improv from there. Then at the end said thanks to all of them shook their hand and they got a video of all of them saying it was ok for them to use the footage and it was on to the next one.
The producers not only lied to Jennifo but also lied to the males they approached on the street to be a part of the “comedy.” Men agreed to being part of a humorous skit, they did not agree to being used to push an image that men are sleazy or eager to take advantage of a drunk girl on the street. They were fed a false story to which they performed as asked, and it was never known to them they would be the ‘face of danger’ to women.
How I feel about how the content was used..I of course am not happy about it..I mean it was supposed to be a comedy me running around acting like a drunk dumbass and then they edited it and made it into this serious controversial thing.
I asked Jennifo to tell me how she viewed men, and how she felt about this topic in particular:
I don’t think all men are like this, and I’ve seen people making copycat videos of this at night on the streets around clubs and I don’t think it’s really fair to do to men who are also out drinking because everyone makes stupid decisions when they’re drunk..they can’t always blame it on the guy.
I’m not a bad person..not saying I’m a saint or anything but I’m a Christian, I have a cross tattooed on the back of my name so Jesus is always on the back of my mind..my own personal ‘what would Jesus do,’ if you will. I don’t go to church but I pray all the time..because I wouldn’t be here today if if wasn’t for the grace of god..I should’ve died ten times over by now. (That’s what the tattoo on the back of my shoulder is about but that’s another story) But I have this thing that clicks in my head..if I catch myself tempted to do something morally wrong, I don’t do it. You can ask anyone that knows me in person and they will tell you I would never intentionally do anything like that trying to make innocent men look like rapists..that’s crazy to me…
Now, most of us know that the feminist agenda hurts people, mostly men. However, speaking with Jennifo and learning how she had been lied to and taken advantage of, showed me that the damage and harm of this narrative and movement runs so much deeper. It impacts innocent people trying to keep active in their acting career and I can tell you, the amount she was paid will never compensate for what happened as a result – and what will be with her for some time to come.
Hah well in this case the girl wasn’t demonizing the man, but instead the men [who made the video] demonized the woman by making her look like she demonized men. A twist I suppose
I been getting harassed like crazy, people messaging me, people posting mean horrible things in comments on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc.
Another part about how it’s affected me- now I can’t walk around in Hollywood without someone recognizing me..can’t really go anywhere by myself anymore..walking down the street I got people pulling over in their cars next to me just staring at me or trying to take pictures..
I’ve seen people trying to take selfies with me sitting in the front seat of the car next to them, shit I go on ONE date with a guy I was dating when I first got here but hadn’t seen in five months (and mind you I almost never go on dates, this was literally my first date in like three months) and he takes one picture while were out, and then knowing that I was interviewing with inside edition the next day, posted the pic with the title ‘catching up with the BFF @jennifoboxofficial’ like I can’t even go on date now without feeling like someone using me.
The stress of harassment and the pressure from how she was duped into depicting men, for a very small amount of money, landed Jennifo in hospital. Being lied to and tricked into pushing the narrative that aligns to a feminist agenda became too much, and her body gave way.
Now I’ve been stuck in the hospital since last Friday with a collapsed lung (and now pneumonia) which I’m pretty sure resulted entirely from the stress of this video because the doctors themselves can’t explain it. Have had lung surgery last Sunday, chest tubes etc. Spent thanksgiving in the hospital alone with only my sister..this video basically sent me to hell over paying my bills and buying chick fila
I hope to see awareness for women being drunk in public in the future–from a place that encourages women to be responsible and look out for themselves, not just because “the big bad men” could come and get you. Many women hurt themselves, start fights, end up in hospital, lose their license and embarrass themselves on a daily basis because of drinking too much. They end up sleeping with drunk men, who are in no better position to be making decisions than them, lose their personal items and wake up feeling very sick with a hangover and a chunk of money missing as it was left with her memories from the night before.
I really do hope to see more men and women being respectful to their bodies and other people by being responsible for their own safety, exercising responsibility and precaution when drinking out in public. This is the message we need to be sending everybody. We must “empower women” and young girls by encouraging them to be responsible – not abuse and demonize men and instil fear and contempt.
The fact these people lied and were deceitful to produce this just adds another cross on the wall for the “Social Justice” and Feminist movement. I hope those who made this film have learnt, through hurting so many people, that anti-male gender ideology is a dangerous message and devoid of truth. Men and women are both at risk of being approached and harassed on the street, and men more so than women. By getting black-out drunk and legless we are increasing our risk of becoming a target, not recognising danger or being able to respond if need be. Both men and women need to realise that it is our responsibility to be in a state of situational awareness where we can prevent harm to ourselves and respond appropriately. There ARE bad people in the world, and they are not all men.
The “Bad Man Good Female” image is distorting our image of ourselves and each other, it is perpetuating a society of blame, fear and hate between the genders while not focusing on the importance of making good decisions and keeping ourselves safe.
The only way society will improve is for us to move away from this.
And here, by the way, is how the poor guys who were suckered by this phony video also felt. They deserve all our sympathy for what was done to them:
http://youtu.be/KzkGBNhcoho
Feature image by Lwp Kommunikáció
