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AFA JournalENTERTAINMENTMTV Still Riding ‘Jackass'AFA Journal, April 2001 Edition The only thing MTV got right about its controversial new show, Jackass, is the title. Even after a teenage boy imitated one of the show's stunts and set his friend on fire, MTV says it will continue to air the program. Jackass is a rapid-fire series of dangerous, stupid or merely grotesque skits and stunts. According to Broadcasting & Cable, in one episode the show's host jumped onto a supersize grill while wearing a fire-resistant suit with meat attached. Others set the man on fire like the main course at a big weenie roast. Unfortunately, 13-year-old Jason Lind and his 14-year-old friend were watching that particular episode. In an attempt to imitate the stunt, Lind was set on fire, too, except that he wasn't wearing a flame-resistant suit. The boy was severely burned. MTV defended Jackass by saying that the show runs several advisories during each episode warning people not to try the stunts they see on the program. Kathryn Montgomery, President of the Center for Media Education, however, criticized the network. She told Broadcasting & Cable, "We're in a media environment here with no holds barred. There's no standard anymore; they've torn it to shreds." The MTV series hits new lows for programming quality. On an episode that aired February 18, for example, Jackass presented a stunt in which a man dove into the ocean with sharks after taking a sponge bath in fish blood. The diver wore a skin-tight speedo and viewers were treated to a view of his genital area, and later he simulated sex with a shark. For most of the show, however, the images were simply disgusting: a close up view of a bull's testicles; a pig with enormous tumors on its hind-quarters waddling around in its pen; an up-close and personal view of a horse's anus, with the horse later shown defecating and urinating; and one man urinating on another. Like other shows on MTV, there is a high sexuality quotient. At a medieval festival there were plenty of close-up shots of women's breasts. Broadcasting & Cable, 2/5/01 |
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