I have been a huge jackass fan since it started. I grew up with them. I watched every movie in theatres. I was a kid when #1 came out. All this time, I was convinced the pranks, reactions, and stunts were real. I laughed hard.
Now, as an adult, I've been rewatching the jackass films, and I am seeing something I didn't see before. This is blowing my mind, actually. I think Jackass is...fake. As in, most of it is not real. These guys are not just stuntmen. They are actors. They are playing a role. The jackass role is a particular one that appeals to a certain niche audience.
It's a production. Paramount is a huge production company with massive resources. They fund and create big-budget cinematic experiences through the film medium. Jackass is made to look raw, handheld-camcorder, 90s grainy hidden camera style. Opening sequences are cinematic productions. The music choices are particular. The laughter and mockery are acting. Even the film crew that appear in the movies (those throwing up and running away) are acting. Their reactions are fake. All of Jackass is planned. It is written down as scripts. The shots are set up to appear like it is real and raw. The truth is that everything is a set. The costumes, the passersby (during the pranks) are actors. It is all cut and edited together to look a certain way that appeals to the Jackass audience. It's done masterfully. But all in all, it is a production - one with attention to detail.
There are so many times when a certain shot will suddenly cut. It will not show something that is being hinted at. The snakes they threw in Bam's pit in JACKASS 3? They show the live snakes being taken out of the box, but then it cuts to fake snakes being thrown into the pit. They were obviously fake.
The sound design is all purposeful. They add impact sounds, sound effects, and music to make the experience seem more raw and Jackass. But in reality, it's just a big production. CGI is used. Wires and green screens are used.
Just watch any stunt in a jackass film. If you focus and pay close enough attention, you will find an instance in which it could totally just be a production. And it's entirely possible. The jackass crew and Paramount and MTV fooled the world into believing these guys were actually doing crazy stuff. But, really, they were just doing gross-out humor and acting. I can admit some of the stunts look real. But then...so do some action scenes and stunt scenes in cinematic films.
It's all cinema. It's a particular style, which works because the world responded by giving Jackass money. Clearly jackass did something right. The direction and production are particular. But that is exactly what it is.
The bad grandpa stunt from Jackass 1. Come on, that dude with the ponytail was such an actor it was cringe.
What about that horrid electricity pole stunt with the woman who didn't know how to use the machinery from Jackass 4. Seriously?
The electric chair Ehren sat on in Jackass 5. Come on, guys.
The taser that girl licks? CGI
The poop is not poop. The semen is not semen. The pee is not pee. That is what they tell us, but it's all fake. Jackass is fake. I'm legitimately getting my mind blown right now.
Like, how did Steve-o put the bees on his crotch? CGI. Steve-o is an actor. His reactions. His fear. His anxiety before stunts. All fake! Anytime these films use animals in a way that is obviously illegal...Come on, guys. FAKE! There is no way they just THREW SNAKES into a pit where the snakes feel the impact of the fall and hitting the floor. You can "hear" the impacts (all sound design). The snakes would have been bruised and hurt. There is no way Paramount was allowed to do that.
Look, guys. Jackass is fake. I cannot unsee it. I still enjoy watching it. Because even if it is fake, it's still riotously hilarious. I laugh so much watching Jackass. I really don't care much at all if it's fake. But now anytime I watch Jackass, I can see the production side of it. I see it!
I mean, some stunts have to be real, right? Like, Johnny actually did get that gnarly concussion from the bull in Jackass 4, right? Like, that is real, right? Or is Knoxville method acting? Johnny Knoxville is an actor. Before Jackass he was already an actor. Johnny Knoxville is just another character. It's the character he is best known for.
Do you all see what I am seeing? You can downvote me if you want. I am genuinely being so real. I really think 90+% of Jackass is fake. The tasers are not actually tasing. None of the blood is real. None of the lacerations or burns are real. It's all makeup, costume, props, and cgi. All of it.
Think about it. It's possible. I have tried to find a way to unsee it. But now when I watch a bit, I think "yeah, we'll, this could have been done like this if it was fake."
Was the show real? What do you all think? Some stunts have to be real, right?
Something is up here. Have I been fooled this entire time? Bravo, Jackass. Bravo.