…To Bring Some Understanding Here Today
Let’s chat for a moment, can we? I have one simple question for all you, have you all lost your damn minds?!? The Chinese internet meme of “Brother Sharp” has gone global and there’s been no effort, even by the international media (why should I have expected otherwise), to bring a sense of reality to the story.
Don’t get it twisted, I’m not against the original poster who brought Brother man to the attention of the interwebs, that individual’s motivation appears to be about telling this man’s story, highlighting the plight of the homeless, and is not connected to any malice or ridicule.
Of course, when things go on a Chinese bbs, you are likely to get the most idiotic, naive, and downright stupid responses with only a smattering of logical, thought out posts. Once you understand that (and if you’ve ever spent any time on a US bbs or reading the comments after a New York Times article, its pretty easy to understand), it makes it easier to ignore or discount the idiocy that abounds.
What do you think when you see this?
I don’t know about you, I see someone whose hit rock bottom and should be a source of our pity and assistance. If you look at the other pictures from Tianya or Chinasmack, you very quickly realize you are looking at a man who has some massive mental issues and desperately is in need of help. He is not a fashion model. He is not in the least bit fashionable. I try to get ideas about what to wear from disparate sources, but there is nothing you can learn about “Brother Sharp’s” style.
If there is anything good that came of all this, its the fact that his “fame” meant that Sharp was reunited with his family recently and hopefully his mental issues can be handled and he won’t end up back on the street. There are serious issues here, folks, Chinese (and Asians in general) avoid mental health and psychiatrists like the plague, and there are so few programs to help the homeless in China. The willful ignorance among the haves toward the have nots in China is bad enough, but what’s next, cracking up at a train wreck? Putting dwarfs in a de facto zoo (oh wait…)?
Real talk, people, seriously, get your mind right or get slapped upside the head.
UPDATE: New York magazine’s blog “The Cut” offers a more nuanced take on the Brother with this to take away:
“After Erin Wasson and the Sartorialist praised homeless style, someone like Brother Sharp becoming an Internet fashion sensation was probably only a matter of time. And it’s still beyond awkward, not to mention disturbing [emphasis added].”
Thank you, there is at least one rational reporter out there.
as i went through other pictures of this man, i realized this was the only picture of him that looked extremely photogenic. In a way, he was probably lucky, via this huge controversy, he was able to reunite with his family. But i agree, what people were saying and discussing out of this photo was totally insane. seems that everyone is superficial. Had this person look like a typical beggar, or, if he was not fortunate enough to be caught in his best moment, he probably is still dangling on the street.
Yes, his reuniting with his family is the one good thing in all of this, unfortunately the story has led the media to search for even more “Brother Sharp’s” out there and even reporting on a “shanzhai” version of him, without ever addressing the problems that are at the core of why these guys become homeless to begin with. Glad you found me, now I know you have a new blog up and running too, good luck with it!