Homeless Veteran Timelapse Transformation
Video Statistics and Information
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Channel: Rob Bliss
Views: 29,024,821
Rating: 4.8925085 out of 5
Keywords: National Coalition For Homeless Veterans (Organization), Homelessness (Organization Sector), Veterans Day (Holiday), degage, ministries, timelapse, transformation, rob bliss, jim wolf
Id: 6a6VVncgHcY
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 2min 50sec (170 seconds)
Published: Wed Nov 06 2013
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This just goes to show that inside of all of us, whether rich or poor, lies a skinny Bruce Willis just waiting to be found.
Was there really not a towel lying around that she could have thrown over his shirt/around his neck? All of those itchy little hair falling inside.
The lack of a robe and hair on his neck and clothes made me cringe for some reason. Otherwise very cool though!
Allright, Goddamnit. Formerly homeless crazy person here with a possibly unpopular opinion.
Yes, this is a nice transformation shot. It's always nice to see someone made "presentable" whether they are homeless vet or an ugly duckling.
A little styling goes a long way. But what purpose does a makeover serve?
I have PTSD. One of my big triggers is people touching my head or neck. After you catch a near fatal beat down, it's funny how any motion near that divot in your skull elicits a panic response.
So I don't get haircuts very often. Add my nice winter beard onto it, and I look as crazy on the outside as I feel on the inside. I get strange looks and comments. I've been followed around a few stores even with cash in hand.
I go in and get sheared like a sheep. A quick clipper cut that leaves me sweaty and nauseous in minutes.
Suddenly I get smiles instead of frowns. My opinion matters. The opposite sex doesn't avoid me like the plague.
But what changes? I'm still a slave to my fear and anxiety. I'm just a little better groomed. My life goes on exactly the same way it ever did. I don't feel more comfortable. I don't feel better.
It's great that this guy wants better than a circle of addiction and despair, and it's great that these people want to help change the perception of the value of this man's life for others and perhaps also for the man himself.
It's a great gesture, bootstraps and all that, but it doesn't change anything. He's an addict with a better wrapper. Perhaps that will trigger a change in thinking, but in my experience addiction doesn't work like that.
Put it this way. If this gentleman had been given a chance to get counselling and addiction treatment without getting a nice haircut and a beard trim, would his quality of life be any different? A nice suit is great, but even with stable housing and effective substance abuse help this man has a tough road to hoe before he has anything approaching a normal life.
Homeless people aren't just dolls that only have to be cleaned up to make them productive members of society. They have real problems and slapdash solutions like dressing them up and kicking them into AA doesn't solve anything in the long term. They're homeless for a reason and they'll revert eventually.
So...a haircut changed his life? This video seems...disingenuous.
'HAHA THIS HAIRCUT SHOULD HIDE ALL THOSE WAR MEMORIES, AND SADNESS! YAAAY!'
Hate to be "that guy" but as a social worker I've got a real problem with this type of
thingvideo, regardless of the fact that it's a nice thing to do for someone to help clean up their image and make them feel better about themselves. The problem is thatitthis video perpetuates the conservative belief that there is something wrong with the individual when they experience difficulties such as homelessness, alcoholism, drug addiction or mental health problems and puts the focus on the need to change the individual rather than address the systemic social problems that created the individual problem. Again I'm not saying that this wasn't a nice experience for the person involved and probably made them feel a bit better about themselves. However, we need to put our efforts in to changing our society to eliminate the forces that create these problems rather than focusing on making the individuals who experience these problems more acceptable to "normal" people. End Rant.edits to clarify that my argument is against the portrayal of the problem of homelessness and the solutions to that problem and not against the act of helping someone in need. I am also not making any broader claims about the NPO that made this video or their work.
Am I missing something?
You put a suit on a man who has struggled with poverty, alcoholism and homelessness for decades and this is supposed to change something? Yes, he's a person. Putting him into a suit and cutting his hair didn't help me grasp this any better.