I don’t know why fighters think rape is funny.
I’m painting with broad strokes, of course. Not all fighters think rape is a funny topic. But we’ve certainly seen our share of rape-related humor in recent months, with Forrest Griffin and Miguel Torres taking up the majority of the limelight for their Twitter-related offenses.
And now, we have Quinton “Rampage” Jackson throwing his hat into the mix.
In the video posted above, Jackson:
- Tells you that he’s going to show you how to pick up a “gurl,” and fast.
- Reveals the tools of his trade: shoes, chloroform and zip ties.
- Says he likes a particular parking garage because he knows the cameras won’t be on
- Attacks a woman while wearing a ski mask.
- The woman turns out to be a man.
- The transvestite bites on Jackson’s erect penis, causing him a great deal of pain.
- Jackson is forlorn that the woman ended up being a “damn dude.”
I understand that this is supposed to be funny and edgy. It’s neither.
When the basis of your comedy centers on rape, you’re not being funny. You’re being stupid.
This isn’t new territory for Jackson, either. His infamous motorboat incident with female MMA reporter Karyn Bryant was, according to Jackson and Bryant, supposed to be funny. That wasn’t funny, either. And who can forget the time Jackson dry-humped a female reporter in Japan? Yeah, that wasn’t funny.
Luke Thomas over at MMAFighting.com chimes in:
The video – from the concept to the execution – is prima facie bad. There is no defense of it, or none that put any premium on a sense of shame. This brings us back to the central question: why would Jackson participate in such a monstrosity? Between this video and his more recent history of dubious proclamations about a MMA future outside of the UFC, one has to consider he has seriously problematic judgment. Worse, it appears to be fed in part from a poor understanding of how he’s perceived and what’s required to successfully navigate career challenges.
And just in case you need a female perspective, here’s Donna from Gal’s Guide to MMA:
What’s so offensive about this, you ask? Well, the video boils down to a how-to on raping women, including using chloroform to help her relax, using zip ties, picking women who are in parking lots with malfunctioning cameras, and putting on your condoms, cause, safety first!
That’s the bottom line, I think. I realize this was supposed to be comedy. I realize that Jackson and the people at FilmOn.com had no intention of actually filming a how-to guide for raping women. It’s asinine to think otherwise.
But at the end of the day, this is still a video—starring a controversial UFC fighter with a history of making gay slurs and questionable antics with women—making light of rape. It doesn’t matter what Jackson and the filmmakers intended because the end result is a video that casts Jackson, and the UFC by association, in a bad light.
Forrest Griffin was reprimanded for his rape jokes on Twitter. Miguel Torres was fired for his. It’ll be interesting to see if Jackson faces any punishment for this regrettable video. Perhaps he’ll get his wish and be released from his UFC contract.
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