This video opens with McPherson’s appearance on MSNBC with prosecutor Curtis Ross discussing “Bumfights.” The screen fades to black and the quote “Turning a blind eye to the ugliness in the world will leave us all spinning in circles” appears, setting the tone for the hour-long production, which is less like “Jackass” than “Bumfights,” but just as slick as any MTV programming. Then the haunting footage of a visibly upset elderly homeless woman screaming “I keep getting raped and raped and raped all the time, but there’s never any people around me” opens the onslaught of street sequences. The editing by Jason Redding and Jay Parker is top notch as Indecline moves from image to image without giving viewers even the slightest chance to catch their breath. When it’s all over with, we’ve met Jerome, who has nubs for legs and only one functioning arm, a crack addicted lady that looks like Mick Jagger and an obviously insane man that says John Wayne is his cousin. There are also scenes with a crazy man playing “Jingle Bell Rock” on a kazoo and dancing in the middle of the street and footage of a woman on a bicycle almost being hit by a car.
My favorite highlight, however, would be the ending which would be the most manipulating Indecline does of the street dwellers. Reminiscent of Spike Lee’s “I’m Malcolm X” ending of his 1992 biopic on the slain human rights activist, Indecline gives us homeless men and women, the junkie Bling Bling, a toothless prostitute flashing her breasts, what appear to be disabled military veterans on the street and various other misfits, transients and cast outs declaring “I am an American.” An African American male with feces on his forehead closes the sequence repeating over and over, “I’m a piece of shit.”
I don’t feel this is the best Indecline will ever have to offer, but it definitely tops any other ruckus video I’ve seen including “The Best of Backyard Wrestling: Future Kings of the Ring.” My biggest complaint with this release is there is no narration and it’s sort of just an incoherent mess. I personally would like to see it done in more of a traditional documentary style with less of a circus feeling and more of a human interest approach. I’d also like more background on the individuals depicted. Where do they come from? How did they end up where they are? What are their hopes, dreams and fears? Where are their families? How do they survive? What do they eat? Where do they sleep? I want to see more of their world. Not just a few pieces. But in doing so, Indecline would be pushing an agenda and they don’t really have one. They don’t want to tell you what to think. They just want you to decide for yourself what you should do now that their images are etched into your brain.
Perhaps you find yourself offended by Indecline’s footage and their morals. Some may argue they are low-life opportunists, exploiting those that are unable to help themselves. If you said there were times when they took things a bit far, especially with “Bumfights,” I’d be willing to agree with you. But nothing their doing as gonzo journalist should have any of them facing jail time. If we were to prosecute based strictly on morals, the entire entertainment industry would come crashing down. From the innocent such as naked babies in television commercials, to children in violent films, to the selling of war by the government through news outlets, to the demonizing of suspects and convicted criminals by the media, to the manipulation of teenage girls so they take their clothes off on a stage or on film.
The simple fact is when the cameras are not on and Indecline is no where to be found, there are still fights and criminal activities running rampant in our streets. There are homeless men and women, skateboarders, graffiti artists, hookers, crack addicts, mentally and physically challenged individuals living outside of society trying their best to survive. Indecline is offering a window into that alternate world that we can view from our safety zone. If you don’t like what you see, do your part to change
it. But simply closing your eyes to it doesn’t make it go away.
INDECLINE VOL.1
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