This is just fucked up.
Posted on: December 13, 2008 - 6:55pm
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This is just fucked up.
Either this is completely staged and fake, or it's kind of disturbing. If it's real I feel very sorry for this girl, she's very mentally disturbed. Naturally our culture finds this hysterical and turns her into a freak show by putting her on Maury and letting hicks laugh at her.
I guess it's mildly funny because it's so bizarre, but it reminds me of the Circus of Freaks shows they used to have. What's wrong with people?
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
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Well, I find it plausible that she could be really having that reaction to the sight of an object. I've seen that kind of phobia before. No way to tell how real it is from the video (or how exaggerated it may be for the cameras.)
I agree that using her for our schadenfreude entertainment is disgusting. These daytime talk shows are our modern "Freak Show".
I am particularly disgusted with her parents for so much as considering letting her be paraded around like that.
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
well, ladies, i don't know about maury or what's going on here, but let's not get caught up in emotions and cry "exploitation" too quickly. the comparison to freak shows may be more apt than you realize.
i used to read up on the history of the carnival scene and the freak shows, mostly inspired by the lyrics of tom waits: jo jo the dogfaced boy, sealo the seal boy, johnny eck (the man born without a body), etc. one thing i often read about was how much the freaks actually resented all the bleeding-heart advocates, usually religious old women, who would frantically lobby to get such shows banned because they were "exploitative." the freaks always argued that this was their best chance to be independent and make a good living because of, rather than in spite of, their handicaps. especially in the old days of coney island, the only other alternative was life as an invalid and a burden on family or society.
now, as i said, i don't know the whole story here and i can't excuse or condemn it, but sometimes we can shoot ourselves in the foot with our pity reflexes.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Not to mention that a fear of pickles is far less liely to get in the way of making a "normal" living than, say, the condition sustained by Sealo. Plus it's something that can be mitigated if not outright cured with counceling and perhaps a little exposure therapy.
So there.
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
yeah, well...YOU'RE a freak...
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
whatever. yeah, i get a little snippy when the septic tank backs up...
i have half a bottle of rum and i'm considering downing a good portion of it. it might make my stomach worse but it might put me to sleep as well, which would be great...
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
I know FOR A FACT that this girl was NOT molested by a relative (dressed as the jolly green giant) when she was 6...
or sometimes people are just ignorant fucks. you know. either or.
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
ignorant fucks make nielsen ratings.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Yeah, that's terrible. I couldn't watch any more than a couple of seconds of that video. It's not fair to tease someone about a phobia. People are irrationally afraid of things sometimes, and they have to go into behavioural therapy to remedy it. Especially since the fear they experience is something like having your life threatened (I'm told), the whole thing is just awful. If it was staged, it's disgusting, and if it's genuine, it's disgusting. It's like taking being an asshole to a professional level. Maybe that happens a lot on television - I gave up watching a while ago.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
I don't know if it was the same show or not, but I was flipping through the television one day.... seems like an eternity ago... and Maury had some guy on that was afraid of peaches. Same schtick.
A place common to all will be maintained by none. A religion common to all is perhaps not much different.
I think these people are actors...bad actors.
Well yes, they do. However, they also need a TV show to give the ratings to. Enter Maury Povich.
Assuming that pickle girl was real, the producers just had to send her to a pickle factory to verify that she really was traumatized by pickles. Obviously, that was not enough drama, so they brought a plate of pickles out for her to stare at. Hence she ran screaming.
If that was not enough, one of the linked videos was of a mother who caught her 15 year old daughter having sex. Not once but three times. Apparently, she is so desperate to have a baby that she has already boinked like 20 guys 20 times each. As with pickle girl, that is not enough. Maury taped an interview with the girl and made her mother watch it while the audience watched her.
The girl talked about how she has had sex in bathrooms, a public park and various other public locations and that she intended to support the child by becoming a hooker. Mind you, she is shaping up to become quite an attractive young lady.
Also, it bears noting that she is very blonde and yet she talks like she is from the blackest part of Detroit. And she has the neck gestures going on as well. This is not a case of a circus freak who can't make money any other way.
So what kind of man is Maury Povich? Either he is a ratings whore with no morals whatsoever or he is a sick fuck who takes pleasure in watching people like pickle girl and that mother suffer. Since he makes them go through all of that on TV, I think the latter.
=
I'm inclined to agree.
...A question from the curious to those angered by this girl's 'exploitation':
Who, again, put the gun to her head and forced her to appear at the studio?
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
But, as she's not considered old enough to make that decision on her own, it's exploitation anyway.
The parent/guardian of the girl failed to act in defense of her poor understanding of the situation, making them part of the exploiters. If that's because they themselves had a poor understanding of the situation, then they're not exploiters, just incompetent - and the girl was exploited anyway.
So there.
"Anyone can repress a woman, but you need 'dictated' scriptures to feel you're really right in repressing her. In the same way, homophobes thrive everywhere. But you must feel you've got scripture on your side to come up with the tedious 'Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve' style arguments instead of just recognising that some people are different." - Douglas Murray
Yeah, that definitely makes it better that people laugh at her and use her for entertainment value.
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
Exactly.
Saint Will: no gyration without funkstification.
fabulae! nil satis firmi video quam ob rem accipere hunc mi expediat metum. - Terence
I'll admit to it... I held a pickle to her head and forced her to do the show. It was wrong of me...
In all seriousness, I have seen phobias in action before and this looks pretty standard. I think it's bullshit that he has a show to begin with. But what are you going to do, shit like this gets ratings so that's what he'll continue to do. He'll alternate between phobias, paternity test, unruly kids, or any combination there of as long as people watch. And they will... because the majority of people are fucking stupid. They are willfully ignorant and devoid of any thirst for knowledge. I'm a little angry and depressed thinking about it.
Oh well, at least I have the RRS to converse with on a limited basis.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
MySpace
What kind of switch could prossibly go off to make someone so powerfully afraid of a pickled cucumber? I also doubt this is real, but then again if people can believe in a talking snake...
I imagine there has to be a specific chemical process that goes on when someone associates something as dangerous and to be avoided, I can only guess (assuming that this is true) that the same process kicked in overdrive. Perhaps she simply does this for attention, and people worrying and making fun of her is some kind of screwed up reinforcement of a fictionalized picklephobia. Sure, this may be a lie, but we all have to remember just how truely messed up the human brain can get when the mental machine starts to break down.
Ps. Peppermint girl, I hate say stupid and flattering things, but you have the cutest face I've seen. And now that I just said that in public I'll go and remove my foot from my mouth.
To go beyond your limits you must first find them.
This is my hang-up. If she voluntarily consented to go on Maury's show and tell the world how afraid of pickles she is, how is she being used?
If you opt to stand in front of a camera and tell the world facts about yourself that, however devastating to you, a vast swath of the population is bound the find funny, isn't it a tad odd to be outraged at the obvious outcome?
- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940
It is terribly unfortunate that individuals with medical conditions are paraded on talk shows. Other conditions that are similarly mocked by the uneducated masses include gelastic seizures (epilepsy manifesting with uncontrolled fits of laughter) or orgasmic seizures. The woman in the video has a very real problem and she needs the appropriate help from a good physician. And for her benefit and for all who suffer neurologic and psychiatric conditions, I have no doubt that she would be better served by those who wish to truly understand phobias. There is mounting evidence that the amygdala in the temporal lobe which is involved with emotions such as fear is also associated with phobias. By mocking her she will forever suffer.
Wow JanCham, that's not stupid that's very sweet of you.
Anyway, I agree it is a strange thing to be afraid of. Sadly people can be afraid of ANYTHING as long as it is associated with something frightening. It's a manifestation of a panic or anxiety disorder. Through studying psychology, I've come across countless studies of strange phobias from cotton balls to paint.
If you think about it, common phobias can be pretty weird too. Insects mostly can't hurt us, yet many people (myself included to a degree) have a phobia of them. If you put a giant beetle on me I'd start freaking out involuntarily and shuddering. I know it won't hurt me, but the way it moves and is structured makes me start to shiver and shake with disgust.
Here is a pretty comprehensive list of labeled phobias, but remember it can be ANYTHING, and it's pretty normal.
http://www.listofphobias.org/
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
I agree, she could have brought it on herself, but obviously she's mentally disturbed enough to be desperate for any kind of "help". Maury plays it like he's some version of Dr. Phil.
I'm not so much outraged by the fact that she's on the show as I am to the fact that people find it hilarious, poke fun and act like ignorant idiots.
*Our world is far more complex than the rigid structure we want to assign to it, and we will probably never fully understand it.*
"Those believers who are sophisticated enough to understand the paradox have found exciting ways to bend logic into pretzel shapes in order to defend the indefensible." - Hamby
I have a fear of crowds. It takes a considerable amount of willpower(for want of a better term) to function in a large crowd.
Ten people = No big deal. Pretty comfortable.
Twenty people and I'm scanning every one of them.
More than that and I'm looking for the escape. Games, Concerts, big social functions are difficult for me to enjoy because I'm waiting for the opportunity to get the fuck outta there. lol.
I compensate by making loud funny remarks. People think I'm either annoying or the life of the party. lol.
The best part... I'd never do Maury. Too crowded.
I suppose pickles can be scary...
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:: Just Blushes ::
I do wonder if it must be a direct association though experience, such as something horrible happening involving the feared object. I suppose it could simply be something that their mind simply latched onto in order to rationalize the sudden rise in panic. I imagine it would be far more frightening to think that your brain could have a glitch than the rationalized fear of pickles, but that's just my best uneducated guess anyway.
To go beyond your limits you must first find them.
That was not stupid in the least. You're right; Peppermint girl has a very cute face. I thought it was adorable the first time I saw it. What's better than that is that she truly has a caring and loving heart! Which means that she's beautiful on the inside as well as the outside!
Matthew
MOD edit - improper quote syntax
That's the thing about phobias. They can almost always be attributed to association or just faulty brain chemestry. And they're usually directed to something wholey irrational, like a pickle. People are inharently capable of being dangerous, especially large groups of idiots. A pickle, not so much. That's why people have a hard time relating to most people who suffer from phobias.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
MySpace
Dont forget they also make the worlds laws, drive while talking/texting on cellphones, Believe in god etc.
If this isn't fake then this girl seriusly needs to get some help.. And not the kind of help a stupid day time tv show can offer.
OK, just possibly, pickle girl is also a masochist and she brags about her fear of pickles in the hope that people will try to torture her by exposing her to the object of her phobia. I don't really know but that is certainly a possibility. If that is the case, then she hit pay dirt for abuse by getting Maury to send her to a damn pickle factory.
Even so, that does not modify the fact that Maury gets paid a princely sum of money to do what he does. And what he does is to parade human suffering on national TV for the ignorant masses to gawk and jeer at. What Maury does is exploitative in every way. Heck, even if every single person who ever appeared on his show was a masochist willing to enter that damn parade just to get the scorn of the crowd, that would not change the fact that Maury made the parade in the first place.
=
Well, isn't 'phobia' deFINED as an irrational fear of something? It sucks how Maury (cough...DOUCHE...cough) just baits her and says that it doesn't make sense?!? I mean, DUH. It DOESN'T make sense.
This makes me think of a friend's child...her Dad (who is also a douche) actually CREATED a phobia in this child by chasing her around the house with 'evil dots'. Consequently, this child has a serious phobia of DOTS!!! She will not be near them, wear them on her clothing, or even talk about them!
I wonder if someone chased that other girl around with a pickle?
Can't believe that is legal. in UK law deliberately causing serious psychological harm to another person can be considered assault and in some cases carries a jail sentence of up to life in prison
An no possession of pickle is not a crime in our glorious monarchy but using it knowingly against someone who is a serious phobia could be. She did not consent to being assaulted (regardless of what she signed earlier)