It's Just A Prank Bro

          One of the most popular online videos today are prank videos, and I can understand why. Who doesn't like to watch a man get a garbage can thrown over his head and then kicked into a pool?  There is just something satisfying about watching a person get fooled, having no idea what is going on, while everyone else around them knows exactly what is going to play out.  But when is a prank no longer considered a prank?  Recently, there has been so many of these videos on the internet that the people that make these types of videos have been forced to step up their game.  

          Whether they become more violent, more stupid, or more controversial, there is no doubt (if you keep up with these videos) that pranks are becoming closer and closer to the point where they are no longer pranks.  The other day, I watched a "prank" video where a man pretends to be a Muslim and throws fake bombs at random people in the streets.  If this is considered a prank, I guess terrorism and the Islamic religion (or any religion in general) is funny.  Not only does this "prank"  cause public unrest, (which is a crime) by making people thank that they might die, but he is using people's pre-conceived thoughts and ignorance of Muslims to cause terror in a completely way.  If someone did this without calling it a prank, (or staging it?) he probably would have been arrested.

          The problem with these videos is that when they are classified as "pranks" the line between crimes and jovial fun is blurred.  Often, when the prankster is being attacked or threatened by the "prankee" a line that is always used is "its just a joke" or "its just a prank" which (according to the prankster) justifies their actions.  I can safely say that one hundred percent of the times when they are attacked, they say something along these lines.  In this video, a man pretends to steal gas from people's cars, and each person that is pranked, hits or threatens the prankster.  At the end of the video, he looks worn out from the remarks, and he says "I'm done.  This is NOT fun."  What did he expect?  For them to barf rainbows with joy?  Just by calling his actions  a "prank" it doesn't justify the out-of-line actions.

          Eventually, pranksters blurred the lines further by using the the word "social experiment" instead of the word "prank."  Don't get me wrong, many social experiment videos are extremely moving and powerful, like this, where male vs. female domestic violence is compared.  But some people use the label "social experiment" because the word "prank" seem evil. If you didn't notice, my last blog post was a prank, to see how people would react to the title.  In the actual blog post, I said that I was performing a "social experiment" rather than bluntly saying "I pranked you."  By saying this, my actions probably (no guarantee) caused some of the people that read it to overlook my actions.

          Why does any of this matter?  Well, if things continue the way they are going, pranks will continue to go too far, maybe causing harm and disrupting public activity, but people will disregard these actions by putting a band-aid on it by saying "it was just a prank" or "it was a "social experiment."

Peace and Love

P.S.:  If you don't trust me, read this article: "Just Because It's a 'Social Experiment,' It Doesn't Mean You're Not an Asshole."  I didn't read it , but I'm sure it's delightful.