Posted on April 11, 2017

Model Maths Teacher Under Fire for ‘Racist’ Island Work-Out Video

Helena Horton, Telegraph, April 11, 2017

The muscular maths teacher who rose to fame for his good looks has come under fire for his latest work-out video.

In it, Pietro Boselli, who has modeled for Abercrombie and Fitch, he lifts a local Filipino man while on holiday in the Phillipines.

He posted the video on Facebook, where it managed to attract 28,000 likes.

In it, he treats the local man like an object. “I’m left here alone with no way to exercise, so I need to work it out,” he says. “I need something I can actually lift repeatedly.”

“I need to be careful in case he sees me, because he may get scared and start running,” he says. He then chases the man and lifts him as if he is a weight, referring to him throughout as “that” and “my weight”.

However, some weren’t so enamoured by his technique.

One angered commentator penned a tirade, writing: “This is outrageous. The Filipino man is referred to by the white man (Pietro Boselli) as ‘that’ and ‘my weight’, he doesn’t have a name, neither do we see his face clearly, nor do we hear him speak, he is purely an object to be used by the white man, and must be approached ‘slowly because he can get scared and start running’?

“Yes I do have fun and I have a great sense of humour. That’s what lets me recognise that this is demeaning and derogatory – not funny. People of colour are always told to take demeaning behaviour in their stride and to laugh it off as a joke. It’s not funny any more.

“If his companion is ‘in”‘on the joke, and his companion is a friend of Pietro’s, why is he not introduced as an equal in the video? Why does he not speak? Why do we not see his face clearly? Why is he objectified instead of being a subject with agency? Why is he not referred to by name as ‘my friend [NAME]’? Why does Pietro not say ‘this is my friend [NAME]’ and ‘he’s going to help me work out’ OR ‘we’ll work out together’.”

Another said: “I’m sure you mean well but this video is in poor taste. Reinforces racial stereotypes by using the Filipino island guy as a prop. Sadly good looking people who try to be funny usually fall short. Agree to disagree.”

And another said: “You did not just go to an island in the Philippines and pretend to catch a person of color in the wild to use as a tool for your workout so that you can exploit it for monetisation on your YouTube channel?”