March 18, 2011

More Jackass

Ok so this isn't political. Obama still sucks? Congress still blows? Economy still socializing? Freedoms still being lost? Yeah, I think we're caught up then.

The picture? Also has nothing to do with Jackass - it's a Deep Sea Hatchetfish - otherwise known as the Fish that Will Eat Your Soul or the Fish of the Damned. I just liked it.

Anyway, I'm kind of surprised they actually made a Jackass 3 - I was pretty sure they were done with Jackass 2. Steve-O went on to make an incredibly drunk performance on late night television and security had to escort him out; he's been sober two years now. Bam went on to get married, had a pretty funny show Viva la Bam, mostly thanks to his incredibly tolerant parents and his hilarious molestor uncle Don Vito, then he just sorta poofed. He got his comeuppance for his smartassery (as opposed to Jackassery) in Jackass 2 when they made him cry a minimum of three times - he likes to be the one punching you in the nuts, he doesn't want to be thrown in with snakes and they let loose on him in a quite satisfying manner. Johnny Knoxville's appetite for self-destruction was already petering out - you could tell in the riot gun stunt - he didn't want to be seriously injured (and certainly wants a fully constructed face as well as future mobility) and I think the cameramen were sick of puking at the late-night drunk-fuckery.

But they did it anyway - I'm pretty sure the only way they convinced Bam to participate was by promising him HE could be the punk and ball-puncher this time and they wouldn't make him cry too much. Which is why the running "Rocky" gag; only one of which they flipped on him to make him squeal like the little bitch he is. It was actually worth it just to see him tased and thrown into a snakepit, crying and screaming. Johnny seemed to laugh just as hard as ever at the shenanigans, Wee-man never stops laughing (maybe he never stops drinking) and they all seemed to be in pretty much top form. At least close. Admittedly they turned down the danger level a tad (they aren't young guys anymore so much, eh?) and went with the other factors a bit more that have contributed to the success of the franchise, but all in all I have to say it was worth it. Go ahead and watch it; you know you want to.

Rip Taylor was still hilarious at the end, too. I must say I warned my son around the time the show became popular that if he was considering Jackassery himself, he'd better put that thought RIGHT out of his head - these guys are sick and the stuff they do is extraordinarily dangerous. They put the disclaimer at the beginning "These stunts are done by professionals; do NOT attempt them and do NOT submit any footage of yourself trying Jackass-style stunts because we won't even watch them." Which I guess is true in one sense - they are professionals in the sense that they get paid to do what they do. But so far as I know they are not professional stuntmen - they submitted footage of their idiocy and it got popular...and people got hurt trying to copy them. THEY got hurt plenty themselves (not to impugn Bam's incredible skateboarding skill; but that wasn't what got him on the map. It was the footage of the stupid stuff he and his pals would do.) Now, of course, they have teams of professionals on hand to oversee the stunts, the animals, and provide medical attention, but I don't know as that makes them pro stuntmen themselves. No, they started as Jackasses and they finish as Jackasses IMO. Funny, lovable, sick jackasses. And still worth watching. It'll be the last one; this time I'm pretty sure of it, so enjoy.

Honestly it's almost worth it just to see how hard they laugh at one another getting hurt.

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