Ep. 75: The Trouble with 'Florida Man'
Added 2019-05-01 15:24:25 +0000 UTC“Naked Florida man revealed on video sneaking into restaurant and munching on ramen.” “Florida man broke into jewelry store, cut himself on glass and bled all over everything, police say.” “Florida man arrested at Olive Garden after eating spaghetti with his hands.”
We’ve seen these supposedly hilarious stories for years on our social media feeds and wacky listicle. Florida-themed crime stories, we are told, are uniquely bizarre and worthy of derision. But what are we really mocking when we mock “Florida Man”?
On this total buzzkill episode, we dissect the anti-poor, mental health-shaming subtext that animates the Florida Man meme and how it too often serves as little more than a socially acceptable way to mock the marginalized and indigent.
We are joined by Florida organizer Michelle Bruder.
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Guest
Michelle Bruder is a native Floridian and organizer with the Orlando chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
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Show Notes
‘Florida Man’ Jokes Are an Excuse to Laugh at the Poor
Adam Johnson | March 21, 2019 | truthdig
Tourists are rarely jailed for breaking Miami Beach laws. Not so for the homeless.
Kyra Gurney | January 15, 2019 | Miami Herald
It's Actually Good That Miamians Can't Afford Rent or Groceries, According to Libertarians
Jerry Iannelli | February 7, 2019 | Miami New Times
Florida’s mental-health epidemic reaches crisis point
Kate Santich & Jeff Kunerth | December 13, 2014 | Orlando Sentinel
The Most Dangerous State For Homeless People Is: Florida. Again.
December 16, 2013 | The Huffington Post
Fort Lauderdale passes law outlawing many from feeding homeless
Bob Norman | October 31, 2014 | Local10
Police halt homeless feedings in Daytona Beach park
Andrew Gant | May 8, 2014 | Dayton Beach News Journal
One Florida City Is About To Make Life Even Worse For Its Homeless
Tom McKay | April 22, 2014 | Mic
Criminalizing Homelessness Doesn’t Work
Joseph W. Mead & Sara Rankin | June 20, 2018 | CityLab
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Transcript
A full transcript of this episode is available here.
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Comments
Dammit, I’m problematic. I’ll cancel myself then...
Natasha
2019-05-03 17:57:09 +0000 UTCI think the idea is that these are still real people whose real face and real names are being widely shared. T
Citations Needed
2019-05-02 20:22:14 +0000 UTCI haven't yet finished the episode so I apologize in advance if this POV comes up, but I always thought the intent of the humor behind Florida Man isn't necessarily in the individual real-life stories being reported but more in imagining Florida Man as if it were single person named Florida Man, like some dystopian superhero who is totally out of control. Like he's out there just rearing to get naked and try to run someone over with his tractor. Florida Man. Or maybe that's just how I originally interpreted the meme. In that light, it's more like you're imagining a cartoon character as opposed to real-life people. Outside that, in a more serious context where the actual stories and actual individuals involved are considered, not so humorous.
Shawn LeMaster
2019-05-02 20:20:46 +0000 UTCAlways felt very uneasy watching Michael Schur consistently rag on Florida to the a point a whole episode of The Good Place was just set in Jacksonville talking about how stupid and shitty the people were. Allusions to meth but the reason Florida is so backwards is because they're just dumb and selfish. Their interpretation was straight up Idiocracy.
Gareth Lyons
2019-05-02 10:13:16 +0000 UTCAgree then
2019-05-01 19:42:04 +0000 UTCYou can laugh at whatever you want, we never argued otherwise! All we ask is that people think critically about what they’re laughing at and the corporate and cultural forces behind the content they consume. But by all means, proceed as you were.
Citations Needed
2019-05-01 18:29:45 +0000 UTC
