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CNN Live At Daybreak
Look at Hottest Game in Coney Island
Aired July 29, 2003 - 05:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: While Las Vegas was the hoax known as Hunting For Bambi, New York has the real thing. Well, it's not quite the same, thank goodness, but it is close.
Our Jeanne Moos takes aim at something called "Shoot The Freak."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If shooting water into a clown's mouth until the balloon pops seems like a blast from the past, now you can blast a living, breathing target.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the hottest game in Coney Island. It's called "Shoot The Freak." You shoot him, he don't shoot you back.
MOOS: Fifteen paint ball shots for five bucks. And there aren't even prizes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got him right here. A big yellow shot. I was like, yes, baby!
MOOS: The freak occasionally taunts his attackers. He even picks up the phone as he's being shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's calling 911.
MOOS: On this shift, the freak is a 23-year-old struggling actor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like sometimes a super hero. I mean I never get hurt. I'll get stung, you know what I'm saying?
MOOS: Like the press got stung with that hoax about shooting naked women with paint balls in Las Vegas. But this is the real thing.
CARL MURACO, CO-CREATOR, SHOOT THE FREAK: I was going to actually call it "Shoot The Terrorist" and they were going to be dressed up like bin Laden.
MOOS: But "Shoot The Freak" is the name that stuck. Kids seem to feel no guilt.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's his job. He gets paid.
MOOS: About 150 bucks a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's that. Let's do it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, these are the rules. You point the gun at him and you shoot him in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I liked it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we came here today, she asked, she said, "Dad, are you going to shoot the freak?" I said, "Sure."
MOOS (on camera): But is it good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I don't think it's bad. It's kind of like a living video game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care for shooting guns at people. I think it's really tacky.
MOOS (voice-over): Could it encourage kids to shoot people? We asked co-creator Anthony Berlingieri.
ANTHONY BERLINGIERI, CO-CREATOR, "SHOOT THE FREAK": When you dunk the clown in the water tank, does that encourage you to throw baseballs at people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like calling him a freak either.
MOOS: Neither do the folks at the nearby sideshow, who call themselves freaks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's like, "Well, shoot the freak! Shoot the freak!" It's like no. I can't shoot a freak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People should love the freaks, not shoot the freaks.
MOOS: But once you've talked to the target...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday I had 1,500 shots shot at me in five minutes.
MOOS: What's a few more?
(on camera): See, he looks like a Jackson Pollock.
(voice-over): Remember when they used to say put down the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put down the hot dogs and shoot the freak. It's less calories.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, Coney Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 29, 2003 - 05:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: While Las Vegas was the hoax known as Hunting For Bambi, New York has the real thing. Well, it's not quite the same, thank goodness, but it is close.
Our Jeanne Moos takes aim at something called "Shoot The Freak."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If shooting water into a clown's mouth until the balloon pops seems like a blast from the past, now you can blast a living, breathing target.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the hottest game in Coney Island. It's called "Shoot The Freak." You shoot him, he don't shoot you back.
MOOS: Fifteen paint ball shots for five bucks. And there aren't even prizes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got him right here. A big yellow shot. I was like, yes, baby!
MOOS: The freak occasionally taunts his attackers. He even picks up the phone as he's being shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's calling 911.
MOOS: On this shift, the freak is a 23-year-old struggling actor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like sometimes a super hero. I mean I never get hurt. I'll get stung, you know what I'm saying?
MOOS: Like the press got stung with that hoax about shooting naked women with paint balls in Las Vegas. But this is the real thing.
CARL MURACO, CO-CREATOR, SHOOT THE FREAK: I was going to actually call it "Shoot The Terrorist" and they were going to be dressed up like bin Laden.
MOOS: But "Shoot The Freak" is the name that stuck. Kids seem to feel no guilt.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It's his job. He gets paid.
MOOS: About 150 bucks a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's that. Let's do it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen, these are the rules. You point the gun at him and you shoot him in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I liked it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we came here today, she asked, she said, "Dad, are you going to shoot the freak?" I said, "Sure."
MOOS (on camera): But is it good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I don't think it's bad. It's kind of like a living video game.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care for shooting guns at people. I think it's really tacky.
MOOS (voice-over): Could it encourage kids to shoot people? We asked co-creator Anthony Berlingieri.
ANTHONY BERLINGIERI, CO-CREATOR, "SHOOT THE FREAK": When you dunk the clown in the water tank, does that encourage you to throw baseballs at people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like calling him a freak either.
MOOS: Neither do the folks at the nearby sideshow, who call themselves freaks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's like, "Well, shoot the freak! Shoot the freak!" It's like no. I can't shoot a freak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People should love the freaks, not shoot the freaks.
MOOS: But once you've talked to the target...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday I had 1,500 shots shot at me in five minutes.
MOOS: What's a few more?
(on camera): See, he looks like a Jackson Pollock.
(voice-over): Remember when they used to say put down the gun?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put down the hot dogs and shoot the freak. It's less calories.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, Coney Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
