Did Brazilian TV go too far scaring these people?

11/27/2012 11:14pm by 32

Chris worried that perhaps this video went too far.

I initially did, when I thought the video was about punking people into thinking the elevator was going to crash. Then as I watched, I have to admit, I laughed out loud.

I’m not a real fan of practical jokes – well, strike that, I love practical jokes, but as I got older I started to understand that a lot of them are kind of cruel.

So what’s your verdict: funny or cruel?

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@aravosis | Facebook | Google+. Editor of AMERICAblog, joint JD/MSFS from Georgetown, worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, and as a stringer for the Economist. A frequent TV pundit, he has been on The O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline & Reliable Sources. Full bio and .

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  • Carl W

    Funny AND cruel.

  • Tyler Smith

    I’m sincerely surprised that no one actually hurt the little girl in the elevator. it’s also hard to imagine how I would react if put in this situation, i can just imagine it being terrifying. Either way, it makes for good TV ;)

  • hollywoodstein

    paranormal superstitions, lol.

  • http://www.facebook.com/sue.cohen.944 Sue Cohen

    I turned it off–I did not think terrorizing people is funny-ever!

  • Alex

    I laughed my a$$ off. I love Brazilians. Absolute insanity!!!

  • tweeter

    Definitely cruel.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ted.mills Ted Mills

    Countries all seem to have different levels of legality regarding stunts. I’ve seen things on Japanese TV that would never fly here, like the portapotty that turns public or, in one, turned into a sled. Also, I saw one Japanese prank where they sent some pop star out in an SUV into the woods, only to have the driver “shot” and ambushed by “masked gunmen”. They found it hilarious back in the studio!

    • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

      OMG.

  • citizen_spot

    Cruel. Not funny. Possibly traumatizing in fact.

  • ComradeRutherford

    Very, very well executed, the flickering lighting, the hidden door, the girl disappearing again. Very clever! I sure hope they had a couch and a snack for those poor people when the doors finally opened.

    I gotta stop now, I am too busy laughing…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-R-Costello/1539395157 John R Costello

    and spanish/foreignors are way more superstitious about evil too lol – well, if you dont count the idiots in the buybull belt in america

  • HolyMoly

    Yeah, it’s all funny until someone has a heart attack and dies. Or the natural “fight or flight” response kicks in and the poor little girl gets hurt. There were a few people (old lady, overweight 50-something guy) that shouldn’t have been put in that situation.

    Anyone seen the video making the rounds on Facebook where a lady comes home to her apartment and there’s a guy in a ski mask waiting for her? It’s supposed to be a prank some of her friends put together. She freaks out, runs out of the apartment and into the street and — bam! — she gets flattened by a car. Personally, I believe this video to be a very well-done hoax, but at the same time it could happen that way.

  • http://www.ucsense.blogspot.com UncommonSense

    I lean toward cruel. I laughed, but I think it was more nervous laughter than anything else.
    BTW, from a theatrical standpoint, I think it would have been scarier to have the girl simply turn her head slowly and stare at the passengers, rather than scream.

    • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

      LOL yes.

  • Sadie

    If you think that’s funny, you might be a sociopath.

  • dula

    It’s only funny when they are young and with another person for support. Some were panicking just at the thought of a faulty elevator, before the ghost even appeared. Some of the older ones could have had a heart attack. Not funny. Alan Funt was never this mean spirited.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Marcus-J-Hopkins/1604457800 Marcus J. Hopkins

    It’s hilarious; the only people who don’t think it’s funny are the ones who take life too seriously.

    • htfd

      Flip side of that coin; the ones that do find it funny are twisted.

  • Ferry_Fey

    Cruel. And potentially disastrous, if one of the victims has a weak heart. I don’t like humor that really fucks with peoples’ minds. I did notice that nobody seemed to be making sure they knew where the emergency button was when the lights started flickering. Perhaps I’m just more comfortable with the paranormal, but as a mom I wouldn’t have hesitated to ask the kid who she was and why she was there.

  • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

    Honestly, I’m surprised no one gut kicked or punched her. I mean, if you really thought an evil ghost was coming at you, some guys would reflexively punch. I’d not have done the stunt just for that.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=767941504 Ken Daniels

      Yeah, and I wonder, for real, what would the legal ramifications be if someone did strike out/punch/kick that creep little kid? Could you really claim “self defense”? Would the pranksters themselves be liable? Mark my words, it’s gonna happen someday.

      • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

        Absolutely. Self-defense is, I would imagine, based on your reasonable expectation of harm. Totally reasonable.

        • ComradeRutherford

          Notice that the girl never, ever makes a move to touch them.

        • hollywoodstein

          If you believe in ghosts, which is not reasonable.

  • Darian

    Very funny and very cruel. Both.

  • SkippyFlipjack

    I’ve seen this question asked in a few different places. It’s interesting where we’re at as a society right now — everything we produce gets fed back into the machine to be discussed, analyzed and argued over. Twenty years ago this would be on TV, another show might pick it up, and the next morning you might discuss it at the water cooler. Now the water cooler talk has gone global, and everyone’s expected to have an opinion about everything. It’s polluted politics in particular, where the sideshow becomes the main event — how much time did we spend discussing whether it was OK that Limbaugh called Sandra Flake a slut five thousand times?

    OK, I gotta go watch some reality tv then hit the reality tv blogs

    ps: seeing that little girl would have had me screaming like one

  • bkmn

    If a young girl with Xtina hair extensions and a nasty doll showed up in an elevator after the power went out I might be inclined to crap myself.

    This would be only slightly less scary than waking up to a Kardashian.

    • http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

      Or Karl Rove.

      • http://www.ucsense.blogspot.com UncommonSense

        Now, that is a purple, shrieking nightmare.

        • http://AMERICAblog.com/ John Aravosis

          Actually, the opposite would be funny – the power goes out, the lights go back on, and there’s Richard Simmons, in full workout gear!

          • hollywoodstein

            Now that’s scary.

  • http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind BeccaM

    Cruel.

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