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When Jackass premiered on MTV in 2000, it kicked off a moral panic about its effect on children; Then-Senator Joe Lieberman lobbied Viacom to cancel the series, thanks to kids injuring themselves attempting to copy the gang’s stunts. So it might seem strange that, as Johnny Knoxville and his gaggle of charming fools have gotten older, the Jackass movies have become something Gen-X parents delight in showing their own children. But it does make sense.
Jackass is for the 12-year-old boy within us all, one that’s a little bit rowdy and a little bit restless and a little bit destructive, but still sort of innocent about it all. At the same time there’s a universal appeal: Parents can watch Steve-O and company get older — to the point where later films have a perhaps inevitable focus on colonoscopies — and relate to who they once were and now are. Kids can feel the thrill of watching something that feels a little transgressive. But there’s warmth in the chaos. Across three seasons of TV, six feature-length films, and multiple DVD extras, the prevailing theme is that these guys love one another. Even when they’re launching through the sky in a Porta Potty or attaching bees to their penises.
That being said, your mileage may vary on what you’re comfortable showing your children, but these films are rated R for a reason. There’s plenty of swearing, references to sex and drugs, cartoonish violence, and so, so many penises. Johnny Knoxville himself didn’t let his kids watch his movies until they were 14 — and even then he made them cover their eyes during certain stunts.In the end, though, this is a clip show: Jackass is at its most appealing, and anarchic, in short bursts. It’s easy to dip your toes in the (shit-filled) waters one stunt at a time.
Here are 10 great, comparatively tame stunts to introduce your kids to the cringe-inducing fun of Jackass… but make sure there’s a spot behind the couch handy with which to hide, just in case. It can get, to paraphrase the gang, a little gnarly.
A Jackass classic, this stunt finds Knoxville squaring off with professional fighter Eric “Butterbean” Esch. Of course, Knoxville decided to up the stakes by squaring off with the man in a department store. The result is exactly what you’d expect, with Johnny getting pummeled in seconds. His concussed expression after the quick bout is so funny — and also kinda scary, even though, despite being in a dazed stupor, he still manages to let fly with a quip: “Is Butterbean ok?”
How many times have you told your children, “Don’t put your Matchbox cars up your butt”? Hopefully, it hasn’t come up, but kids should still be fascinated by “Butt X-Ray,” in which the late Ryan Dunn agrees to allow a toy car to be inserted into his rectum — and then go to a doctor to get an X-ray, pleading ignorance regarding what’s happened. It’s hilarious but also unexpectedly wholesome, as the doctor and his staff treat Dunn incredibly sweetly, unaware that they’re about to become part of Jackass lore.
Sorry, people who play golf are generally rich jerks. It’s perfectly fine to interrupt their games by blowing loud, obnoxious airhorns just as they’re trying to swing. If anything, we should be encouraging this behavior more often in public. Kids, it’s never too young to learn about the evils of economic disparity.
A few classic Jackass bits combine childhood activities with wild animals, appealing to the immature adolescent in all of us who just wants to watch other people get hurt in dumb ways. Here, they do a little teeter-totter with a particularly angry bull. Bam Margera’s “fuck that” will just seem like the only appropriate reaction. This bit is funny and scary — but not as funny and scary as a bit Knoxville would come up with two films later involving a raging bull.
Kids love shooting off rockets in the backyard, but in this stunt, Knoxville goes one better, strapping himself to a gigantic projectile. What could possibly go wrong? Well, he could have died, which he very nearly did on the first try, when the rocket malfunctioned, firing shrapnel dangerously close to his body. Eventually, though, he does fly through the air before tumbling to the earth, embodying the comic futility of these brilliant idiots’ escapades. Kids, don’t try this at home.
“I felt like somebody was blowing a fireball in my face”: That line, spoken during “Jet Engine,” will be sufficient enticement for any kid you know with a taste for Looney Tunes-style carnage What starts as a parody of the iconic 1980 Maxell ad campaign — the one where a guy in a chair is so knocked out by the sheer force of the music he’s listening to that his hair and tie are blown back — becomes an escalating series of bits as the Jackass team test out how many outrageous things they can do standing behind a live jet engine. It turns out, it’s many, many things!
Many a middle-schooler has had to play tetherball, but how many dared to add bees to the mix? Steve-O and Dave England engage in a little childhood nostalgia, except they’re barely wearing any clothes and the tetherball is actually a beehive filled with the angry insects. England is always a hoot because of how much he freaks out during stunts, and his fear of bees is especially hilarious.
Knoxville and company have rightly been hailed as the modern day Three Stooges, one of the touchstones of slapstick. Continue your kids’ comedy education with the “The High Five,” in which the guys make physical comedy (literally) brutally funny as several of the crew walk into the office, unaware that they are about to get smacked by a massive spring-loaded hand. (Seriously, if you worked for Jackass, why would you ever let down your guard?)
Most Jackass stunts are great for kids because who doesn’t like watching people get knocked down or shot into the air? But “Silence of the Lambs” appeals to another aspect of childhood delight, which is scaring your friends. It would have been bad enough if Knoxville had gone ahead with the bit that his team thought he was doing, which involved a rattlesnake. But no: That was merely a ruse, leading to guys like McGhehey and England being locked in a room in the dark, believing the serpent is slithering around the floor, ready to strike. Meanwhile, donning night-vision giggles, Knoxville gleefully attacks them with trash can lids and tasers. It’s a high bar, but this may be the meanest bit the Jackass team ever devised — but, hey, it didn’t happen to us, so it’s hysterical.
From childhood we’re warned to stay away from bears, which makes this prank particularly evil.. Ehren McGhehey — a.k.a. Danger Ehren — thought he had signed up for a lie-detector bit in which he’ll get shocked while being strapped down to an electric chair. Instead, that’s just a ploy to put him in an empty room, then pour honey on him and dump salmon in his lap — and then unleash a bear. Since we know McGhehey didn’t get eaten, it’s totally acceptable for your little ones to laugh uncontrollably as he quickly loses his mind with panic.
