I watched a few trailers for Jackass movies on YouTube and now my recommendations are full of Jackass content, mostly podcasts.
At the start of the commentary track for Jackass the Movie, Johnny Knoxville informs us that this is brought to you by the same studio as The Godfather. And honestly, it is possible that they have had a similar cultural impact. Here’s a thing that Godfather didn’t achieve: There’s plenty of people who have felt comfortable coming out of the closet after seeing Jackass.
That might sound weird, but in order to promote their last/latest movie, they participated in a Pride Parade. No shenanigans, no irony, they just straight up did it (sorry about the stupid pun). Multiple members have acknowledged a shared love between them and the queer community.
Why would this happen? Well, first, they are comfortable with their own and each others’ bodies. I think it’s in 3.5 where Bam Margera is in a fat suit, and he can’t reach his penis to pee, so Ryan Dunn helps him. There’s nothing inherently queer in that, but it is taboo. This also shows that while they can be assholes to each other, there is also care.
Also, this was an era where anti-gay sentiment was everywhere in comedy. These guys made comedy where they were openly homoerotic (even if they aren’t homosexual) in a non-toxic way. They are masculine in a way that went against mainstream (and still does).
And then there’s the trash aesthetic. John Waters makes an Appearance in Number Two and this franchise is very much in that tradition. It’s a weird form of reclamation. “You call us trash, so we’ll embrace that.” I really don’t know what to think about this one, but I’m not going to criticize anyone for that.
Looking back at all this from my personal point of view, they came a bit too late for me. I turned 23 in 2000 (when the first season premiered), and I got most of my self-destructive tendencies out by the mid-90s, actually even earlier than that. I never did anything this dangerous, but we used to do things like climb up a tree and jump into another one. That sounds very dangerous, but since the branches will slow you down if you fall, it really wasn’t (although there was a time when I was going to surprise my friends from above, fell down, was left hanging when my pants got caught, and it turned out my friends didn’t actually come to that direction, I just had to wait until someone walked past, and it turned out to be my mom). So, for me, this wasn’t as much about the stunts themselves as it was about breaking the traditional limits of what you can show on TV or in a movie.
I guess that’s how I approach these: I appreciate the idea behind the franchise much more than the content. It works in small chunks. Since many of the stunts are just a few seconds long, there needs to be so many of them in a 90 minute movie that at some point it gets boring. In that regard the TV show was better, but they were more limited in that media as content on free cable was much more controlled.
At the same time, I can’t dismiss how this franchise was so different from anything else. Sure, MTV had a habit of showing all sorts of weird shit, but to put these stunts into a movie? That people actually paid to see? Plus, I would assume they sold a shit ton of DVDs in their early days, since that was the Golden Age of that format.
Jackass: The Movie
USA, 2002, dir. Jeff Tremaine
A half-star review from Letterboxd: I’m so irritated by everything in this and I feel so bad for all of the bystanders and innocent animals
A five-star review from Letterboxd: jackass is the only positive byproduct of masculinity
Jackass Number Two
USA, 2006, dir. Jeff Tremaine
A half-star review from Letterboxd: Sorry if this makes me a narc but this felt extremely sinister. hard watch for me personally
A five-star review from Letterboxd: I wish I had a boyfriend who was a dumbass
Jackass 3D
USA, 2010, dir. Jeff Tremaine
A half-star review from Letterboxd: i’m irritated. emma never recommend stupidness like this to me again.
A five-star review from Letterboxd: sometimes i do feel like piss in the wind
Jackass Forever
USA, 2022, dir. Jeff Tremaine
A half-star review from Letterboxd: Ha ha penis, ha ha fat guy
A five-star review from Letterboxd: I was a PA on this movie. I’ve seen and smelled unspeakable things
Jackass: Best and Last
USA, 2026, dir. Jeff Tremaine
A half-star review from Letterboxd: Trying to edit Bam into a rehashed bit… shame.
A five-star review from Letterboxd: Chris has a beautiful cock