>>PREVIEW
JACKASS NUMBER TWO
STARRING Johnny Knoxville
DIRECTED BY Jeff Tremaine
Opens Friday, September 22
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Every five years or so, pop culture bears witness to something so tasteless, so offensive or so stupid that pundits of all kinds feel that they have to stand up and make their voice heard. That was certainly the case when Jackass came into the public consciousness.
When Johnny Knoxville and his band of merry pranksters started videotaping every dumb and painful thing they did, critics were outraged that pop culture had reached such a low point. How could grown men rolling golf carts and jamming die-cast toys up their rectums be considered entertainment? What all these critics seemed to forget was that these jackasses weren’t working in a vacuum. Sure, they did all this dumb stuff, but people were willing to watch it.
Entertainment always has highs and lows. Were these analysts upset because more people were watching Jackass than were watching art-house films? Lord, knows I would much rather watch Knoxville get hit in the groin with a hammer than suffer through another self-important filmmaker bore me with another ham-fisted indie tirade. Truth be told, I think most other critics would, too, even if they would never admit it.
There is just too much cred at stake amongst the intelligentsia. All those people with university degrees don’t want to feel like they wasted their education, so they try to set the unwashed masses straight.
They would argue that Jackass is bad because it encourages similar behaviour in members of the audience. Maybe, but I’m reminded of a little gem my mother told me as a child. "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?" The answer, of course, is no, for most people. Some, however, would answer yes, and they would be willing to do any number of dumb stunts with or without the influence of Jackass. Look at skateboard videos. There is more technique involved, but ultimately isn’t that just a bunch of guys falling from ever-increasing heights. What about movie stuntmen? Aren’t they just legitimate jackasses?
There is no reason to worry. If Knoxville and his buddies are willing to injure themselves for personal gain, let them. In the grand scheme of things, it’s pretty innocuous when you compare it to what has passed for entertainment on this planet. Boxing is a million-dollar industry, but it’s just two people willing to get injured for money. Vaudevillians would take pies in the face and two-by-fours to the back of the head, all in the name of comedy. The Christians used to get thrown to the lions and people would watch them get torn limb from limb. Jackass doesn’t even come close to that level of depravity.
If you really think Jackass is a waste of time, don’t watch. It can’t last forever. Remember what happened when critics got their panties in a bunch over Andrew Dice Clay’s immoral and offensive standup comedy? You don’t? Then what are you worried about? |
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