One young man decided to find out when he secretly filmed a woman out on the streets and acting like she’d had more than a tipple. The results are terrifying to say the least.
Stephen Zhang’s four-minute clip was originally posted on Total Frat Move, and shows a young woman, who introduces herself as Jennifer, encountering five different men and asking them to help her find the “bus to Culver City” to go home.
It is not known how many men were approached but the five in the video appear to be singly motivated in their intentions.
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Faux drunk girl Jennifer carries her booze as she stumbles down the street.
Responding to her questions about the bus, Jennifer is solicited with proposals to go back to the strangers’ homes, lured by offers of more beer, waterbeds and joyrides in convertible vans to sweeten the deal. In fact, it appeared that none of the male strangers who she approached were genuinely trying to help her get home alone.
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Commentary about the video is split. Jezebel’s Hillary Crosley pointed out that the “social experiment” was conducted in something far from a controlled environment. The scenario was played out on Hollywood Boulevard, a notoriously murky street where crime is no stranger.
Other online comments have said the men’s reactions were shockingly unsavoury.
“…if you were to encounter a drunk person the most decent thing you can do is help them get to a bus or a cab so they can go home. If you decide to take advantage of the situation, you are already in the wrong,” wrote on YouTube viewer.
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This man seemingly tried to entice Jennifer with a ride in his convertible van.
While we can’t be sure of what might have occurred if ‘Jennifer’ took any of the men up on their offers, the pattern of behaviour is alarming in the context of a recent study that found 1 in 5 Australians believe that a woman is “partly responsible” for being raped if she is drunk.
Researchers at VicHealth polled 17,500 people aged over 16 and found that one in six support the deplorable notion that women say ‘no’ when they mean ‘yes’.
When the study’s results were published earlier this year VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said the findings were disturbing.
“We are really concerned about the number of people – men and women – who still believe that rape and physical violence are justifiable, and that women are often partly to blame. A culture that excuses rape and violence is one that allows it to happen,” Rechter said.
“Perhaps most worrying for VicHealth, which has been working to prevent violence against women for almost a decade, is that nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) say that violence is caused by men being unable to control their anger.”
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This man seemed persistent with his efforts, even letting slip he had a “waterbed” at home.
The results also showed that nearly half (43 per cent) of men also admitted they could not control their need for sex.
“These beliefs demonstrate just how far we have to go before our society understands the nature of violence,” Rechter said.
“Allow me to make it very clear. Violence is a choice, not an instinct. And it is never excusable. It’s always a crime. And no woman ever invites or deserves it.”
The Weekly has reached out to Stephen Zhang for comment about the circumstances around the editing of the film but thus far he has been unavailable for comment.
