web counter
 

If You Saw Jackass 3D, You've Lost the Moral High Ground

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under Box Office Round-Ups | Comments (58)

281x211knoxville.jpg

Just because you saw Jackass 3D (and I know many of you did), and just because you might have even enjoyed parts of Jackass 3D (as I know many of you did), it doesn’t mean you have to be happy about the film opening at number one this weekend with a whopping — a whopping — $50 million. In fact, it had the biggest Friday in October of all time.

The gross, I suspect, puts many of you in a philosophical pickle: You saw Jackass 3D, it made $50 million, and it will undoubtedly spawn another sequel, not to mention trickle down into the rest of the multiplex offerings. You spoke loud and clear on this: You want more stupidity. You’re cool with the inevitable Idiocracization of Hollywood. And your best defense? Not every film needs to be like Citizen Kane. Sometimes, I just want to turn my brain off.

I hear you. Jackass is different, right? Why? Because it doesn’t aspire to more? Because it’s comfortable being moronic? Because their laughter is infectious? Fine. That’s cool.

… but.

Unless you can make the distinction between a movie like this and Meet the Fockers or Norbit — and I can’t; I’ve wracked my brain trying to make an honest distinction — then you have lost the moral high ground. It’s hard to complain about cultural erosion if you spent $10 to watch a man launch a turd out of his ass. You can criticize Katherine Heigl movies, and Rob Schneider movies, and Adam Sandler movies, but that criticism will feel somehow empty after you applaud a pig rooting around in an obese man’s anus for an apple.

Mind you, I’m not passing judgment. I feel like I’m an intelligent-ish person, and I liked the first Jackass, and I thought the second was OK. The third one — I laughed a couple of times, but 80 percent of it, I wish I could unsee. I feel guilty about contributing money to its overall gross. It made me sad. When a man began batting a ping pong ball with his penis, I felt that Mike Judge’s Idiocracy had been fulfilled. And what was even sadder about that was the fact that Mike Judge — whose Beavis and Butthead introduced the movie — contributed to it. So, if you’re feeling tortured by your own hypocrisy, imagine how Mike Judge must feel.

At least you’re in good company.

Red debuted at number two, with a strong $22.5 million. We held the review until tomorrow to give TK a chance to review it. Watching Helen Mirren shoot a machine gun gives him a lot of pleasure. The Social Network came in third, Secretariat held well (dropping only 25 percent) to come in fourth, and Life As We Know It finished at number five.









Each Time You Like, Share, Tweet or Stumble a Pajiba Post, An Angel Does the Paul Rudd Dance

← Pajiba After Dark 10/17/10 | The Four-Faced Liar Trailer | I Just Want Your Extra Time And Your... →









Comments

I am happy to say I have never seen even five minutes of Jackass, be it the show or the movies. Movie snobbery and air of superiority intact!

Posted by: Even Stevens at October 17, 2010 7:55 PM

I try not to be too smug and superior. I try to give people credit for their guilty pleasures. I really do.

But when so many movies come out every year, make tons of money and have zero redeeming features, I can't help pining for the days when at least I could go down to the arena and watch some lions devour condemned criminals in between seeing a man impaled by a trident.

If we're so lost as a species and so utterly vapid, I for one hope we finish ourselves off quickly and with a minimum of fuss. I have no doubt that the cockroaches and rats will develop far superior civilizations once we're out of the way.

*raises a glass* Here's to extinction, and it can't come soon enough for me.

Posted by: Wintermute at October 17, 2010 8:12 PM

I don't understand why everyone thinks that "art" needs to be held to some kind of cultural and intellectual standard. Most, if not every form of art was originally created for entertainment. Somewhere along the line, man decided they could use these varying forms of art to create something beautiful or philosophical. That's great, but it doesn't mean we push aside entertainment for entertainments sake. That's snotty.

Art is a reflection of the society it was created in. While art has been able, on rare occasions, to effect change in society, that usually isn't the case. For instance, during medieval times, music was almost completely sacred because all life revolved around the church. Music didn't change until the Renaissance started and everybody generally lightened up.

I am a music ed major. In my free time, I love listening to three chord punk rock. It isn't the smartest music in the world, but that isn't the point.

I'm going to stop this because my train of thought is starting to derail. Sorry for tying it all back to music, that is my only frame of reference. All I'm saying is, this movie will have zero effect on where our society is going, we were never supposed to take any of this seriously.

Posted by: Jack Klompus at October 17, 2010 8:28 PM

I think the Jackass movies are more tolerable, and therefore superior to offerings like Norbit or Meet the Fockers because of intent, and I don't just mean the not aspiring thing -- I think your point was that something like Norbit isn't aspiring, either. Jackass is self-aware.

Meet the Fockers thinks it's funny in a genuine, aw shucks, working class kind of way, but in reality it is not simply not requiring us to think, it is requiring us not to. It assumes the audience does not think, and makes what that kind of an audience would want.

Jackass is the spiritual successor to the Three Stooges -- it's slapstick. It knows it is stupid, and knows sometimes you need to not think; in fact, it assumes you have thought so much, you need a break. It is a group of clever idiots figuring out more and more inventive ways to hurt one another. That ingenuity is amusing because it is absurdly married with stupidity, and that irony is the source of all comedy. It is the comedic amoeba, swirling in the primordial funny bone of the first gefilte fish to climb from the ooze and tell a joke about his ex-wife.

A film like Epic Movie is the sad, feeble, overwrought construction of someone trying to appeal to the lowest, broadest common denominator after doing a whole lot of math with charts and figures on what people like. It's the Backstreet Boys continuing the marketing rape of the Beatles. Jackass is the thing that through real idiocy, hits at the core of why we started laughing in the first place -- pain + surprise + solace. It's being the most punk rock by playing the silliest tune in a room full of hardcore posers -- Jackass is Devo.

Posted by: puppetDoug at October 17, 2010 8:33 PM

There's not much left to say, really. Jackass 3-D is number one and we are all poorer for it... even the people responsible for this movie, no matter how much money it might earn.

Posted by: Spender at October 17, 2010 9:05 PM

Unless you can make the distinction between a movie like this and Meet the Fockers or Norbit — and I can’t; I’ve wracked my brain trying to make an honest distinction

Norbit and Meet the Fockers use some slapstick, but ultimately they're bad films that refuse to innovate in the realm of physical comedy. Jackass, whatever else you might think of it, genuinely tries to invent new types of physical comedy rather than just go to the nut-crunch well once more.

You can recite the events of Fockers or Norbit before you even see those movies, because they trade on predictability and recognition. You don't know what you're going to get when you go to see Jackass; it will most likely surprise you.

(I say this as someone who has only seen a small part of the second Jackass movie, and has no intention of seeing the third, but also as someone who knows people trying to think of new when I see them.)

Posted by: mightygodking at October 17, 2010 9:14 PM

Let's read it again, most money a movie has ever made in October, EVER. These fucking morons are going to be responsible for all the copycat movies that are going to be made to try and get every last bit of feces over spray this movie caused. George Bush getting re-elected was a huge tragedy, now I know who voted for him.

Posted by: TrickyHD at October 17, 2010 9:17 PM

How about Jackass doesn't have a formal screenplay--just stacks of liability waivers and hush money, while crap like Norbit and Meet the Fockers is written to be that stupid?

Posted by: Robert at October 17, 2010 9:29 PM

"George Bush getting re-elected was a huge tragedy, now I know who voted for him."

Yeah, cause nothing screams I LOVE JACKASS MOVIES like wealthy middle-aged white people and right-leaning Christians.

I know you're trying to be clever by bashing a guy (and his base) who's been out of office for two years and has had everything but the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby attributed to him, but lets face the facts:

Obama and the dems OWN the youth vote, the same youth vote that would pay money to see something like Jackass 3D and make it number one in the B.O., which, coincidentally, is the same youth vote that is one of the least politically educated/aware groups voting in large numbers today.

The same people the brought about the proponents of Hope and Change are the same people you can thank for whatever comes next.

Posted by: Some Guy at October 17, 2010 10:29 PM

Awfully self righteous for a person that also a) paid to see the film and b) advertised it heavily in the lead up to its release.

Just sayin, that idiocracy style stupidity is coming with or without the additions to the Jackass canon. And judging everyone who goes and sees it as analagous the audience of the #1 film of the year Ass is himself an ass.

Posted by: aroorda at October 17, 2010 10:33 PM

I think you're assuming that we are considering whether this is art or not, Jack.

I'm not, at least.

You can call it art as long as you like. That descriptor doesn't negate the fact that the spectacle is sad, gross and a marker for the decline of entertainment/life/civilization/taste/intelligence/culture/humor/etc..

Posted by: Protoguy at October 17, 2010 10:37 PM

Personally, poo/fart/anus/puke jokes make me retch so I'll pass on Part 3 of this saga, thanks. But I have seen parts of the first two and in all honestly, as moronic as it all is, I agree that it's just not as objectionable to me as some pieces of Hollywood pablum are because the "JA" goofs aren't expecting me to suspend my disbelief in any kind of intelligence-insulting way. It is what it is, you like it or you don't, there's no brainless leap of faith required because there's no brain usage required at all. It's just a bunch of total nitwits acting like cretinous slobs and performing completely stupid stunts, there's no giant obvious gaping plot hole or incredibly flawed and/or stupid premise that you're expected to accept.

I get more angry when I'm expected to believe that, for example, a couple would agree that if anything ever happened to them they'd legally hand their infant child over to a couple of total dinguses with zero parenting skills whatsoever. Or that if your boss dies you can fool people into believing he's alive by dragging his corpse around with you everywhere you go and no one will ever notice. Or that a five foot six, 108 lb. actress (or Kiefer Sutherland, for that matter) could beat up and kill a room full of large evil men by simply punching them and twisting their heads.

That said, I'm both surprised and saddened to learn that people who retch over poo/fart/anus/puke scenes are clearly in the minority in 2010 America. I feel so alone....

Posted by: Dr. Remulak at October 17, 2010 10:55 PM

I didn't go see Jackass 3D. Not because I felt disgusted or insulted. I just realized that I'd seen the best Jackass could offer when they were on TV and had constraints to work against and try to overcome.

Freed up by going to movies, Jackass finds itself having done its best material. So they have no choice but to go where they went with the movies -- cruder and baser.

Now does that make every person who saw Jackass 3D an idiot? No.

Posted by: Fredo at October 17, 2010 10:55 PM

What copycats are going to arise that didn't come out after the tv show or the first two movies? Relax, this is a very special one off kind of thing.

Posted by: Paul D at October 17, 2010 11:20 PM

I went and saw Red, Catfish, Jackass 3D, Never Let Me Go, and Waiting for Superman this weekend, and Jackass 3D was my favorite of them. (And I also, contrary to TrickyHD's claims, spent months campaigning for Obama.)

Posted by: hector at October 17, 2010 11:22 PM

Sum:

Stupid people acting smart

Yes?

Posted by: dia at October 17, 2010 11:49 PM

my comment got cut off

Sum:
Stupid people acting smart Yes?

Posted by: dia at October 17, 2010 11:51 PM

I have never seen their stuff nor have I had an urge to see the movies. If they can make money abusing their bodies go for it, it really is no different than NFL football.

My reservation with this genre, not knowing if has one or is of one, is someday a kid will die, if it hasn't happened already, trying to pull off these pranks/stunts. I hope the creators of this stuff are ready for the lawsuits because they are going to happen.

Posted by: richmac at October 17, 2010 11:52 PM

third try

Sum:

Stupid people acting smart smart people acting stupid.

Yes?

Posted by: dia at October 17, 2010 11:53 PM

fuck. nevermind.

Posted by: dia at October 17, 2010 11:54 PM

The point of Idiocracy wasn't that people watched stupid shit on television and became "idiots," it was about how it spread. How we've come so far as a civilization that, for at least a few generations, the human race could afford to survive while the "idiots" procreated at a greater rate to the "non-idiots," if they procreated at all. Pure survival no longer being an issue, those who seek more than hunting/gathering create fewer offspring, throwing eons of balance out of whack. The ability for the world to communicate at an instant today accelerates the spread of things like Jackass, which, as stupid as it sounds, is what contributes to a society where "idiocy" spreads, because not everyone who sees it is smart enough to get it. YouTube users, for instance. As it spreads digitally, it spreads genetically.

And it's all art. Saying it's not art because it doesn't have a script is like saying my grilled cheese sandwich isn't a meal because I didn't follow a recipe. Art and entertainment aren't mutually exclusive. And just because it's art doesn't mean it's good, bad art is still art. For an example, check out Hitler's paintings (they aren't bad because he was evil, he was just a shit artist). So, yes, Jackass is art because it was made in an effort to entertain you in the same venue David Fincher and Bruce Willis made something to entertain you. And it's bad art, whether it succeeds doing what it set out to do or not. Objectively, it's art that is not of high quality. Ingenuity in getting hit in the junk is still ingenuity, you say? Yeah, well, it's also still just getting hit in the junk.

Posted by: RobP at October 18, 2010 12:01 AM

i lkie it

Posted by: matchriches at October 18, 2010 12:02 AM

" and it's all art ".

no it isn't.


Posted by: snake at October 18, 2010 1:03 AM

I'm glad Red did well because even tho' it wasn't perfect it sure was a lot of fun. No one handles a gun so elegantly as Helen Mirren.

Posted by: ceejeemcbeegee at October 18, 2010 1:28 AM

1st overused point this weekend: society nearing Idiocracy-esque times because of huge success of Jackass

2nd overused point this weekend: everyone who voted for Bush a 2nd time contributed to Jackass' B.O. numbers

I don't know about you, but I feel much better about wasting my time seeing Jackass than wasting it watching Killers, When In Rome, Life As We Know It, My Soul To Take, The Last Airbender, Jonah Hex, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted by: Mr. Mister at October 18, 2010 1:41 AM

I wonder if concession sales were down in theaters showing Jackass 3D? You know, all that shit on the screen can't be too appetizing to most people attending. Actually, maybe they should have released a new Jackass chocolate bar; with minor cosmetic changes, an O'Henry bar could pass for something from the movie...

*I should be a marketing exec, dammit

Posted by: Uriah Creep at October 18, 2010 2:01 AM

I saw this movie. I thought most of it was funny, but nowhere near as funny as the first. While I was watching it, I was surrounded by some of the most obnoxious fucking morons I've ever been in a theater with.

I'm admitting it here, as a vehement defender of Jackass, that I did feel a little ashamed of myself for wanting to see this this for so long and then paying money to see it. I am a supporter of the "doesn't aspire to anything higher" defense, but I can't just can't defend it anymore. I have no excuse.

However, I'd still take this over Meet the Fockers ANY DAY.

Posted by: Patrick the Bunny at October 18, 2010 2:31 AM

Wow. This article was right on the money. I watched the TV show and laughed. BUt I never paid to see the movies.
I admit I want to see Jackass 3D. But I won't. At least not in theatres. Shit like this should not be number 1 at the box office. It's fine for MTV but it shouldn't be in theatres. It shouldn't make almost the same money in one week as THE SOCIAL NETWORK has in three weeks.
"Sometimes I just want to shut off my brain."
I hate that excuse.

Posted by: junierizzle at October 18, 2010 4:21 AM

Wow, Dustin, this post really spoke to me, especially since I was the one who said every movie didn't have to be Citizen Kane in order to be enjoyable in my comments a couple hours before you posted this.

Yes, I liked about 75% of this movie (I am not a fan of the bodily fluid stuff and looked away). I am not ashamed of that fact. And if they do another one, I'll go see it.

And if I say I want to shut off my brain, it's not an excuse. I have a lot of difficult things going on in my life and had some hard times. Sometimes it's a pleasure to stare slackjawed at a screen and laugh as a fat guy gets hit in the nuts. Does that make me an idiot? According to you, yes it does. But I also saw The Social Network, L.A. Confidential, the 1923 silent version of Hunchback of Notre Dame and Yojimbo this week. Does that mean I get some cool points back for seeing movies that you acknowledge I would have to use my brain to watch? Especially with all the fancy readin' I had to do on two of them movies?

Puppetdoug and Mr.Mister are on the money. There are literally hundreds of movies that come out and pretend to have something to offer to the public but are more damaging to them then Jackass 3D. I'd rather watch something that is at least inspired, no matter how juvenile, than the same boring tired cliched romcoms, Movie movies and Tyler Perry/Michael Bay shitstorms that have been perpetrated on the public. Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all time. Cause it looked pretty. The script could have been done by 1000 monkeys on laptops.

You say you aren't passing judgment, but that's all you are doing. Just because I liked this movie, I never have a leg to stand on when I say something sucks ever again?

I like your writing and I like you personally from the couple times we met. I can only hope that someday I'll be allowed to be a viable contributor on this site again and this Jackass 3D stigma will be washed clean.

Posted by: Rubble44 at October 18, 2010 6:16 AM

Gimme a fucking break. Jackass is a freakshow, nothing more. It's not a harbinger for the downfall of society. I haven't seen the movie (yet) but I would rather pay money for Knoxville and the gang to entertain me by abusing themselves than watch the 90% of Hollywood's output in a year. At least I'm guaranteed to see something surprising or shocking the Jackass route.

For a site that champions guilty-pleasure shows like "Glee" and movies like "Hatchet 2" this post was just a touch hypocritical.

Posted by: TylerDFC at October 18, 2010 7:08 AM

Really Dustin? You can't make a distinction between Jackass and Meet the Fockers? That statement sticks out as a little disingenuous coming from such a thoughtful a)film reviewer and b)man, in general.

I think a few comments have nailed the difference pretty squarely. Jackass isn't really a movie as much as it is a documentary on the limits of human pain tolerance. I would argue that the movie aspires to more than your average cliched, box office bonanza romcom because it is, at times, extremely creative (full disclosure: I haven't seen this iteration and only saw one of the others...and can't remember which one...).

The movie also leaves the viewer with a genuine feeling of "I can't believe they did that" and it's always a rush to watch others do something that is honestly dangerous. Half the audience laughs are simply a natural human reaction to the tension brought on by the stunts. The guys responsible are silly, engaging and oddly charming (though mostly just odd) so they're good for the occasional chuckle as well.

Jackass is about really putting your money where your mouth is in terms of testing the limits someone will go to for a laugh and there's something earnest and enjoyable about that. The movies you mentioned are about getting an easy, brainless chortle whereas none of the laughs these guys are getting come easy. The makers of those other movies underestimate people and have a cynical view of mankind. Maybe the makers of Jackass are idiots but at least you always get the sense that they're giving us their absolute all.

Sometimes you get an A for effort and you really deserve it.

Posted by: becks at October 18, 2010 7:46 AM

As I'm sure many have already said (starting with puppetDoug), Jackass is completely self-aware and realizes that every stunt performed is the dumbest thing they could possibly imagine. They acknowledge their stupidity, but they also display a bizarre form of bravery by putting themselves in these extreme situations. Most of the crew are fueled by a staggering amount of drugs, but instead of sitting in their basement lighting farts, they're out there shoving apples up their asses and letting alligators knaw on their nipples for our entertainment. I guarantee Norbit is not aware that their movie is the dumbest shit imaginable and people will look at them funny for the rest of their lives because they had a hand in its creation.

What I'm trying to say is: Jackass stands above the Norbit crowd because they know how stupid, revolting, insane, and stomach-churning their final product will be. Eddie Murphy thinks he's making a truly funny movie based on farts and fat jokes. Steve-O knows people will laugh if he gets his taint waxed because when will you ever see that shit? Well, unless you can somehow befriend a meth-addled attention-starved monkey.

(Full disclosure: I am uncomfortable with Jackass' popularity for the same reasons Dustin brought up, but I am WAY more uncomfortable with the success of movies like Norbit.)

Posted by: Kballs at October 18, 2010 8:28 AM

We're giving Jackass a pass because they are "aware" of how stupid they are? I'm not convinced Steve-O knows what day it is, but that's not important. It is possible to be BOTH stupid and smart. Airplane did it, Tropic Thunder did it, even Idiocracy itself did it. It's easier to just be stupid. Not that it matters, because 50 mill means more taint, like it or not.

Posted by: mrcreosote at October 18, 2010 9:07 AM

I saw the first Jackass because I had the perverse to desire to see what I was missing. I can't even handle Three Stooges-level of physical comedy...I just do not appreciate the inherent hilarity of a poke in the eye, I guess. But, in the interests of knowing what I was talking about before criticizing it, I watched Jackass #1.

And I wish I didn't. So I can't even comprehend what would make someone think intentionally drinking something gross, knowing it would make them vomit, would be hysterically funny. I can't. There's no part of my brain where those two ideas connect. I just do not get it, can't see why anyone would want to pay money to be subjected to something like that. I accept that it exists, much in the same way I accept that some people like to be peed on during sex, but it's a purely intellectual acceptance. I'll never really understand it.

Posted by: Wednesday at October 18, 2010 9:33 AM

I have never seen any of the Jackass movies. My gag reflex is way too sensitive - I barely made it through the trailer.

But... (full disclosure) I feel that I can't really really claim any moral high ground because I will happily watch any of the Say Yes to the Dress shows. Based on what I've heard, these are as terrible, idiotic and mindless as anything in the JA movies, just in a different way.

(I recognize the idiocy of being addicted to a wretched series of shows that routinely make me so angry that I want to hurl things at the television. Sigh. I just can't help it).

Posted by: Pea at October 18, 2010 9:59 AM

a pig rooting around in an obese man’s anus for an apple.

Wait, what? Does... does that actually happen? Ecch.

Posted by: Anna von Beav at October 18, 2010 10:01 AM

I don't get what all the fuss is about. I'm more upset that Life as We Know it is still at #4.

Posted by: admin at October 18, 2010 10:02 AM

I think the true shocking trend of the weekend is that enough people have seen Idiocracy to comment on it. So we can start making The Goode Family connections in another three years?

Posted by: Robert at October 18, 2010 10:14 AM

People who claim to enjoy "turning their brain off" probably find it irritating to have to use it in the first place.

Posted by: sansho1 at October 18, 2010 10:46 AM

For crying out loud, Dustin, Lighten the Hell Up, man. I loved Jackass, and now you are telling me there is no difference between that and liking Kathering Heigel or Meet the Fockers?

I could sit here and posit that Jersey Shore, Survivor or Dancing with the Asswipes is way lower on the idiocy scale than Jackass, but what would be the point? Jackass made me laugh so hard I was perspiring. The other things I listed merely irritate me to the point of wanting to commit a violent crime (but I don't...see how civilized I am?). I have not analyzed this...probably because I am too busy working for a living (actually using my advanced degree) and thinking about my voting options(hint: not for Bush-types).

Usually I think you are somewhat asute and observant. This time I think you might need to unclench and pull the carrot out of your ass.

Posted by: klingonfree at October 18, 2010 11:14 AM

"The makers of those other movies underestimate people and have a cynical view of mankind. Maybe the makers of Jackass are idiots but at least you always get the sense that they're giving us their absolute all."

Becks, I think I love you!!!!

Posted by: klingonfree at October 18, 2010 11:16 AM

Can't stand the franchise, either on TV or at the multiplex. Seen a few scenes, chuckled uncomfortably once or twice...otherwise, watching guys inflict pain on themselves and their "friends" is not something I'm into. I have two young boys in my house. This is something that will not be on the TV screen while I'm around to prevent it. They need NO HELP in finding ways to hurt themselves or each other.

I'm just happy that those fellows taking the shots to the nuts are exponentially decreasing their chances of procreating.

Darwin, for the win!

Posted by: latvianluck at October 18, 2010 11:17 AM

I respect everyone's tastes in movies, and their right to "shut off my brain", something I'm also guilty of sometimes, but it is alarming to see films like Jackass dominating the box office. Even sadder is reading people defending the movie as better than a lot of other mediocre movies. That's the scariest part. We end up discussing which mediocrity is better or worse than that other piece of crap.

The question is not if these films shouldn't be made. They have their place in the market. Always had. What's disturbing is seeing these films becoming the mainstream. Dumb and stupid are becoming the money makers of the industry.
Are these the type of films we should aspire to watch in the future? Because make no mistake, the movie producers are looking at the numbers, and this is a business. Why should they waste time and money with movie projects demanding talent and effort into making meaningful films, if they can just make things like Jackass, which bring them the big bucks?

In the end, the answer is up to you, the audiences. When you buy the tickets and dvds, you're choosing the path the movie industry will take.
"People get the governments they deserve". I'm a big believer of this. You want change? Work for it. Get involved. The same thing applies to movies. They mirror what the majority want and deserve. You want better films? Stop buying crap, and start buying the good stuff. By the way, downloading the good stuff from the internet doesn't really count ;-)

Posted by: King Mob at October 18, 2010 11:58 AM

I eat a really balanced diet and I watch my cholesteral, etc. Every now and then, maybe once or twice a year, I eat Cap'n Crunch or a cinnamon pop tart. I'm not going to feel guilty about this.

Neither am I going to feel guilty because a bunch of sanctimonious pricks here have decided that watching (and enjoying) Jackass is the equivalent of voting for Bush or paving the road to an artistic and intellectual famine.

Get over yourselves.

Posted by: colleen at October 18, 2010 12:05 PM

I smoked a bowl and watched The Big Lebowski from the comfort of my couch on Friday. Sounds like I made the right choice.

Posted by: stuartransommiller at October 18, 2010 12:08 PM

I could sit here and posit that Jersey Shore, Survivor or Dancing with the Asswipes is way lower on the idiocy scale than Jackass, but what would be the point?

I resent that.

Posted by: Jeff Probst at October 18, 2010 12:09 PM

Oh King Mob, only we can prevent bad movies? Thanks Smokey the Bear, I think we all get what's being said when people state that these movies are harbingers of Idiocracy. We're just saying that we think they have more comedic merit than the films they're compared to in the post.

I'm not sure why discussing the film in comparison to other films that are classified as stupid is the "scary part". You'd think an intelligent debate of the merits of Jackass style comedy would be the logical step in analyzing the movie. Some people disagree with Dustin's assertion that those movies and Jackass are similar.

Thanks for the lecture though, those are always fun.

Posted by: becks at October 18, 2010 12:23 PM

Thanks for the lecture though, those are always fun.

Seriously. Becks. Marry me.

Posted by: klingonfree at October 18, 2010 12:30 PM

Yeah, $50 million opening in October is a lot. And I don't feel bad about that.

I'd feel a lot worse about a "Jersey Shore" movie opening that big, or a "Real Housewives" movie even being made, much less opening huge. So ... meh. Doesn't bother me that Johnny Knoxville has made a good living at abusing himself and his friends. I have no desire to do it myself, so ... whatever. I don't think I've ever actually seen Jackass, but it seems harmless enough, sociologically speaking. As long as they're abusing themselves and not other people, I don't see what the big deal is.

Posted by: Slash at October 18, 2010 12:36 PM

the difference between Norbit and Meet the Fockers is that I will eventually see this movie.

The difference is that these dudes, most who I dislike, hurt themselves in order to make there mark.

Now, art and politics in a discussion of Jackass 3D. That, in my opinion, is how idiocy spreads. If you're Sade, the iconic 90's artist, and "everything is everything," then go make a song about it. Or convey your ideological shift in a series of webcomics. You're here to entertain, after all, the same cynics and degenerates that exist with or without your words.

Attacking movies or music lyrics feels good. Hell, it even inspires some great art in mode of film crit, by multiple writers on this site, DR included. But if the commenters are drawing the line, and this line is here contained, that is fucking stupid. Or 'smart people acting stupid,' to quote the lurker. Come the Stupocalypse.

I know there's a lot of stuff to be angry about right now. I love that our American lifestyles afford us all this leisure time. But everything is not art. Sometimes "art" is unintentional and without owners, but it exclaims a higher level of influence in our culture. It is almost always has an opposite, for which it is a mirror.

Yeah, we kind of have lost the high ground. But that high ground were not more than the stuff of the virtual. We are angry fans who use our language gymnastics to criticize a film industry we hate. DR has some 'moral high ground,' because he made the thing that put upon a bit of influence to us. I still love the site, and I think that this really could have been a one live comment, but "moral high ground," and "intelligent" as a qualifier, both are getting us no where in the larger societal amelioration we are trying to affect.

If Jackass weren't a bunch of dudes hurting themselves to make me laugh, or if they were just some random dudes who hadn't re-invented the self-harming stunt, I wouldn't be the least bit curious. Perhaps I'll buy a ticket to Animal Kingdom or Buried and sneak in with the 3D glasses I keep stashed in my glove compartment. Maybe I'll coerce a few straighter-edged friends to see the movie, and pay full price just to see their reactions. I dunno. But either way, when I come out of that theater, there'll still be all this to deal with. and This. And this.

So have a little perspective. If you've got incontinence problems yet, this bad, you best start carrying around Depends. Or just chuckle a little knowing that in just a few years, Knoxville's gonna have to.

Posted by: Jackseppelin at October 18, 2010 12:36 PM

The more I read Dustin's articles the more he seems like a pretentious cunt.

Posted by: napples at October 18, 2010 1:50 PM

No, Dustin's okay. He just says things in a way that will get people yapping. He likes when we're all up in arms.

He provokes because he loves.

Posted by: becks at October 18, 2010 2:01 PM

I can't get past the wall of text that immediately smacked me in the face when I looked at this stuff, but I think the main difference between the Jackass movies and the other "dumb" movies you mentioned is that while Norbit has a plot that's executed badly, the Jackass movies are essentially 90 minutes worth of YouTube clips strung together. Which is why people can objectively say Norbit is "bad" while Jackass movies are "good."

Posted by: ThatGuy at October 18, 2010 2:03 PM

I read somewhere that societal decline and its inevitable demise can be measured by the extremes of how it entertains itself.

Posted by: yessiree at October 18, 2010 3:24 PM

I can "turn my brain off" at home for free. Why should I drive several miles and pay $9 to do that?

Posted by: Pat C at October 18, 2010 4:03 PM

Tom Green should hurry and get a 3-D version of FREDDY GOT FINGERED out.

Posted by: Pat C at October 18, 2010 4:33 PM

Wow. I have no problem with people disliking Jackass, but I'm having a real hard time taking all the self-righteous whining seriously. Let me get this straight... You think the world is now "officially" going down the drain as opposed to just circling it because a dick-and-fart-joke movie did well at the box office?

Oh the melodrama.

Dick and fart jokes have always been around. Read a little Chaucer and you'll find some good ones. Better yet, pick up a copy of Jonathan Swift's classic, "The Benefit of Farting." This hardly qualifies as a portent of the apocalypse.

Even the most cursory glance at humanity's accelerating achievements in science and technology is more than enough to prove that we are not going down the tubes Idiocracy style.

So the dumb shit is getting dumber. Big deal. If you want to weep about something there are far more important demons to exorcise.

Posted by: Daventhal at October 19, 2010 12:52 AM

What exactly are some really good audio players for kids? My cousin is 5 years old and for christmas I'd like to buy her a ipod, she loves my nano but I think it becomes difficult for her to make use of it. Are there worthwhile ones for kids?

Posted by: MP3 players for kids at March 18, 2011 6:58 PM