Aberrican Me - Ross Capicchioni
October 6, 2011 1:21 PM Subscribe
Amazing story. One note: He talks about how he has matured and is now grateful to be alive while they show him skateboarding off a flight of concrete steps without a helmet.
posted by longsleeves at 1:47 PM on October 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by longsleeves at 1:47 PM on October 6, 2011 [2 favorites]
Wonderful story. I suggest watching it until the end
posted by fieldtrip at 1:51 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by fieldtrip at 1:51 PM on October 6, 2011
I don't think my "fascinating story" comment really does this justice. Ross' story is harrowing and he tells it extremely well - without pathos or self-pity.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:53 PM on October 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:53 PM on October 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
"The [shooters family] called me a cowered because I went the justice [law] route, because I didn't try to kill him [with revenge]". Honor Culture vs. Rule of Law.
posted by stbalbach at 1:53 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by stbalbach at 1:53 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
he tells it extremely well - without pathos or self-pity
QFT
posted by nzero at 2:01 PM on October 6, 2011
QFT
posted by nzero at 2:01 PM on October 6, 2011
Incredible story. I was actually inspired by the fact that he, well, DIDN'T start ascribing the more inexplicable parts of his story to divine intervention. Not to derail, but running across this earlier today lead me to this interesting NPR article on the "Third Man Factor", which, while addressing spiritual interpretations of the phenomenon, also addresses some scientific research into it.
posted by zylocomotion at 2:10 PM on October 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by zylocomotion at 2:10 PM on October 6, 2011 [3 favorites]
I'm hearing impaired, so while this was probably obvious, bear with me - who shot him? the kid he gave a ride to? or the cousin whose house he was taking the kid to?
posted by desjardins at 2:25 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by desjardins at 2:25 PM on October 6, 2011
The kid who was in the car with him.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:28 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:28 PM on October 6, 2011
The supposed friend he gave the ride to.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:30 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:30 PM on October 6, 2011
Wow.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:39 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:39 PM on October 6, 2011
The kid who shot him was joining a gang, and the initiation was to shoot a random person. He picked Ross.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:40 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:40 PM on October 6, 2011
Huh. I had a weird reaction to this. On the one hand, Capicchioni seemed basically trustworthy and inspiring to me. On the other hand, many details of his story don't seem credible.
Pretty much just like my own experiences with people when I listen to an oft-told firsthand or secondhand story in this class of "amazing things that have happened to people" where I have a strong sense that I'm listening to something that is basically true but that has been condensed, altered, and dramatized in both memory and multiple retellings so much that, barring independent confirmation, all I can rely upon as fact is the most essential distillation of the story while any given colorful detail could be complete fabrication or perfect objective truth and no way to know the difference.
This aspect of learning much of what we know about the world through other people's stories is both delightful and horrifying in equal measure.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:40 PM on October 6, 2011
Pretty much just like my own experiences with people when I listen to an oft-told firsthand or secondhand story in this class of "amazing things that have happened to people" where I have a strong sense that I'm listening to something that is basically true but that has been condensed, altered, and dramatized in both memory and multiple retellings so much that, barring independent confirmation, all I can rely upon as fact is the most essential distillation of the story while any given colorful detail could be complete fabrication or perfect objective truth and no way to know the difference.
This aspect of learning much of what we know about the world through other people's stories is both delightful and horrifying in equal measure.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 3:40 PM on October 6, 2011
Good cognitive neuroscience studies seem to indicate that long term memories are altered after retrieval, and "go back to memory" in that altered form - and so on, as the memory is recalled again and again. Nevertheless, the essence of what he's saying rings "true".
Gripping story. East Detroit is America? Really? I think it's America's shadow, in the Jungian sense/meaning of "shadow".
btw, I see "no snitch" crap in upper-middle-class suburban schools, just to show you how far popular culture has co-opted the 'hood, and successfully transplanted medieval codes of ethics to the 'burbs. But, what the hey (sic), the producers, artists, and distributors made money on it, so it's ok. Sick.
Last, anyone who sees a place like E Detroit or Oakland has got to wonder why the National Guard isn't there, right now, going house to house to clean those places up.
posted by Vibrissae at 4:11 PM on October 6, 2011
Gripping story. East Detroit is America? Really? I think it's America's shadow, in the Jungian sense/meaning of "shadow".
btw, I see "no snitch" crap in upper-middle-class suburban schools, just to show you how far popular culture has co-opted the 'hood, and successfully transplanted medieval codes of ethics to the 'burbs. But, what the hey (sic), the producers, artists, and distributors made money on it, so it's ok. Sick.
Last, anyone who sees a place like E Detroit or Oakland has got to wonder why the National Guard isn't there, right now, going house to house to clean those places up.
posted by Vibrissae at 4:11 PM on October 6, 2011
Last, anyone who sees a place like E Detroit or Oakland has got to wonder why the National Guard isn't there, right now, going house to house to clean those places up.
posted by Vibrissae
Amendments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 would be my guess.
posted by George Clooney at 4:21 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Vibrissae
Amendments 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 would be my guess.
posted by George Clooney at 4:21 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Are you the real George Clooney, as pictured in your profile? If so I love your work. If not you are still an OK person and you can feel good about yourself
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:41 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:41 PM on October 6, 2011
Huh. Videos taken down by ogberrics due to copyright claim. I watched Part 1 earlier and just tried to view Part 2.
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 5:15 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 5:15 PM on October 6, 2011
Jinx, Hogshead!
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 5:15 PM on October 6, 2011
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 5:15 PM on October 6, 2011
Horrible story, beautifully told.
Ivan Fyodorovich: "On the other hand, many details of his story don't seem credible."
It all rang true to me, except the part about the bloke who shot him turning up to the sentencing hearing wearing a purple suit and a top hat. Weird.
Hogshead: "Youtube clips appear to have been removed."
They're on the Berrics site.
posted by jack_mo at 5:23 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ivan Fyodorovich: "On the other hand, many details of his story don't seem credible."
It all rang true to me, except the part about the bloke who shot him turning up to the sentencing hearing wearing a purple suit and a top hat. Weird.
Hogshead: "Youtube clips appear to have been removed."
They're on the Berrics site.
posted by jack_mo at 5:23 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
btw, I see "no snitch" crap in upper-middle-class suburban schools, just to show you how far popular culture has co-opted the 'hood, and successfully transplanted medieval codes of ethics to the 'burbs.
That "no snitch" thing is a eons old Western adolescent code of conduct that exists independent of class. Your loyalty to your fellow teens is supposed to trump all other loyalties and has for centuries.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:44 PM on October 6, 2011
That "no snitch" thing is a eons old Western adolescent code of conduct that exists independent of class. Your loyalty to your fellow teens is supposed to trump all other loyalties and has for centuries.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:44 PM on October 6, 2011
It's not just for adolescents:
Warn a Brotha
posted by Juffo-Wup at 7:10 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Warn a Brotha
posted by Juffo-Wup at 7:10 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm sure this has been discussed here before in other contexts, but I think that while "no snitching" honor codes vary culturally in specifics and extent, they are generally found cross-culturally and for good reason. They're both rational and have social utility.
Conformance to authority and related large and more abstracted notions of the good are very important, of course. But the degree to which "snitching" is encouraged and acceptable in a given context is proportional to an erosion of interpersonal trust in individual relationships in that context.
That erosion can become great enough to make many necessary relationships which are otherwise commonplace and easy become difficult or impossible and be a significant part of a pathological culture. People understand this intuitively because we understand interpersonal trust in relationships far more fully and intuitively than we understand more abstracted concepts like the greater good and formalized social authority.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:50 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
Conformance to authority and related large and more abstracted notions of the good are very important, of course. But the degree to which "snitching" is encouraged and acceptable in a given context is proportional to an erosion of interpersonal trust in individual relationships in that context.
That erosion can become great enough to make many necessary relationships which are otherwise commonplace and easy become difficult or impossible and be a significant part of a pathological culture. People understand this intuitively because we understand interpersonal trust in relationships far more fully and intuitively than we understand more abstracted concepts like the greater good and formalized social authority.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 7:50 PM on October 6, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Last, anyone who sees a place like E Detroit or Oakland has got to wonder why the National Guard isn't there, right now, going house to house to clean those places up."
Wow. What a shockingly awful idea. But, what the Hell, let's give it a whirl! Should make for an interesting news cycle...
Re: Stop Snitching campaigns. I think that any rational person who looks at what American law enforcement has done to itself by embracing informants will conclude that "Stop Snitching" is actually a pretty valuable and necessary sentiment.
This video/story is truly impressive, just like The Berrics. Great post.
posted by broadway bill at 8:37 AM on October 11, 2011
Wow. What a shockingly awful idea. But, what the Hell, let's give it a whirl! Should make for an interesting news cycle...
Re: Stop Snitching campaigns. I think that any rational person who looks at what American law enforcement has done to itself by embracing informants will conclude that "Stop Snitching" is actually a pretty valuable and necessary sentiment.
This video/story is truly impressive, just like The Berrics. Great post.
posted by broadway bill at 8:37 AM on October 11, 2011
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Anyhow, just in case you thought it was a religious cult like I did.
Fascinating story.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:42 PM on October 6, 2011 [2 favorites]