knowyourmeme.com/memes/epic-beard-man
iyannaw08) uploaded the video "AC TRANSIT BUS FIGHT I AM A MOTHERFUCKER" to Youtube; a video she recorded of a 50 year old black man and a 67 year old white man wearing a T-shirt that reads "I AM A MOTHERFUCKER" having a heated argument fueled by racial ignorance resulting in a physically violent confrontation. Within the first 24 hours, the video amassed over one million views and spawned countless threads on 4chan's /b/ where hundreds of various image macros have been created. The older white man in the video has been identified as Thomas Bruso, AKA Tom Slick, AKA Vietnam Tom; Prior to the discovery of his identity, Anonymous had already dubbed him Epic Beard Man After the black man's nose is broken, he says "bring an ambulance" which has been misheard as both "bring M&M's" and "bring Amber Lamps" due to a combination of his dialect and facial injury. Amber Lamps has also come to be used as a pseudonym for the girl sitting next to the black man in the video.
Because this one involves racism, it motivated a great amount of conversation in a short amount of time. The common thread in most comments from people of various background is a similar enjoyment of watching a senior citizen deliver a such a powerful physical assault. His age makes him an unlikely candidate for such behavior or capability. Because he was not the first to elevate the conflict to a physical level, but retaliating, most comments express feelings of pride in the old man's abilities. There is also a certain level of humor to the fact that Epic Beard Man's T-shirt advertises that he is "A MOTHERFUCKER." Additionally, the way the beaten and bleeding man pronounces "ambulance" (interpreted as either "Amber Lamps" or "M&M's") has resulted in a number of humorous derivative images, videos, and texts. Transcript When the video begins, it appears that some sort of verbal confrontation has already taken place.
We interject here due to comments stating that Bruso is telling the truth about not being racist, and that given the context of the conversation, the black man may have offered to shine his shoes, as Mr Bruso states. Because the video begins mid-conversation, it is not clear to the viewer how shoe-shining was brought up. This allows for the possibility that the black man may have instigated the conflict by offering to shine Mr Bruso's shoes (whether with genuine or sarcastic intent) but to assert this would be mere speculation. The trope of the black shoe-shine boy is one with a deep history of placing African Americans in yet another role of servitude. An example of this can be found in the story of the 73-year-old Colorado Department of Transportation worker who, in 2009, emailed a doctored picture of President Obama shining Sarah Palin's shoes, adding "it appears he has found his niche."
Bruso moves to the front of the bus as the two exchange threats to whoop each other's asses. Although Bruso has physically distanced himself, he continues the verbal conflict.
Note: "Say it again Pinky" has been interpreted by some as a racial slur against white people, while others have claimed that it was said as a reference to the movie Next Friday although it's not entirely clear how the movie quote fits into the context of the conversation. Someone off camera whom many allege is Iyanna Washington: Beat his white ass! The two men seem to be speaking to one another at the front of the bus, but cannot be heard over the noise from the rest of the passengers. Iyanna Washington: It ain't worth it, blood, it ain't worth it. The black man begins walking back to his seat as other passengers continue to comment. Bruso: I see tough guys like you and I slap the shit out of them. The black man walks to the front again to continue the confrontation. At 1:40, the black man lunges at Bruso, being the first to elevate the conflict to physical violence when he attempts to strike him in the chest, but the blow is mostly deflected by Bruso's arm. Bruso stands up and punches the black man in the face repeatedly. At least 9 punches can be seen, then the camera moves too much to get a clear view. As can be seen earlier in the video, the black man attempted to either hit or shove him, but failed to connect.
It appears as though he may have been struck in the arm or chest. At 2:07, blood spatter is visible on the seats of the bus. laughs Various passengers comment on what they've witnessed. Because of the man's bleeding, injured face, his pronunciation of the word "Ambulance" has been misheard by many as either "bring M&M's" or "bring amber lamps." Then there are some more remarks from various passengers, and the scene ends with a shot of a bench reading "Keep our city clean & safe. The 2nd Video AC TRANSIT FIGHT (the clip you didn't see) was also uploaded by iyannow08, showing Epic Beard Man continuing to have a tantrum on the street.
CBS 5 site, and has been mirrored on Youtube (embedded below). In the interview, Iyanna alleges that both men may have been under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. She also reveals that eventually, Bruso voluntarily put his hands behind his back, surrendering to his arresting officers. Some have criticized CBS 5 for failing to mention how Iyanna encouraged the black man in the video to "beat his (Bruso's) white ass."
San Francisco Chronicle Spread Most of the hype surrounding the Epic Beard Man phenomenon peaked on February 17th, and resulted in the creation of countless derivatives (shown further down) and the registration of a few domains.
comdisplays Iyanna Washington's videos, underneath a header that reads "find his bag and return it." Most of the comments on the site proclaim EBM (Epic Beard Man) to be a hero. These comments come from trolls who portray Epic Beard Man as a tragic hero, standing up for the rights for some supposed oppression of white people by black people. From a memetic standpoint, these trolls serve to further prolong the attention surrounding this meme by inviting more conflict from those who would take them seriously.
Urlesque has published an update on Epic Beard Man after both parties (Thomas and Michael) had been interviewed, offering an analysis of the cultural implications of the meme.
com also mentions previous encounters he has had with Tom Bruso. Back in 1996, I was working at the intersection of 2nd & Market. Each and every day the man pictured above would walk by my shop, wave a loaf of sourdough in my face, and scream obscenities about the San Francisco 49'ers. Eventually, I moved on and just assumed this fellow found something better to do with his time. As such, we will not post Iyanna's "dox" although they are widely available to those who engage in such behavior. Iyanna's Response Operation: I AM A MOTHERFUCKER was successful in reaching Iyanna Washington, motivating her to create a response video, seen below.
It is worth noting how she carefully chooses to use the overly formal terms "Caucasian" and "African American" rather than the more common and fully acceptable terms black and white. This is further contrasted by her choice to refer to Mr Bruso as "pinky" in her original video, and her choice to refer to the black man whom she claims to have no familiarity with as "blood" denoting race-based solidarity. It should also be noted that many have claimed Iyanna's exclamation of "Say it again, Pinky" was meant not as a racial remark on the color of Thomas Bruso's skin, but simply as a reference to the movie Next Friday, however it is not entirely clear how this reference would fit the context. In addition to her sudden change to using formal language, Ms Washington also laments the state of violence in the world. This has been viewed by many as hypocrisy due to her previous support of physical violence evidenced in her original video, recorded under 48 hours prior. Video Responses Some have created videos sharing their views of the video. The thing they all have in common is that most enjoy watching Epic Beard Man's retaliation against the black man.
Amber Lamps As has been previously mentioned, one of the ways the black man's pronunciation of the word "ambulance" through his battered and bleeding face has been interpreted...
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