The Best of Times is Now

Every time I catch Jackass Number Two on the cable, I'm compelled to watch it through to the end.

I think it's better than the Borat movie. Strangely, I think it's easier to watch. We're not watching a bunch of people who aren't in on the joke. The guys are doing crazy stunts and playing pranks on each other.

And they're not masochists -- they don't get off on getting hurt. You see them reluctantly agreeing to do some jackass stunt. At one point, you see Bam Margera saying that he sincerely hopes there isn't a "Jackass Three". But there's a peculiar sense of duty that drives them through it.

They get sore. They get pissed off at each other. They stalk off. Yet this funny bro-culture keeps them together. Even when they're purely exploited as crude sight-gags (which is invariably the case), there's not a sense that any of them is lesser than another. It's a brotherhood of misfits. Performing the craziest "skits" they can collectively imagine.

The effect is like watching some Tex Avery cartoon. Itchy-&-Scratchy-level hyperbolic damage. People do get hurt... but somehow never quite enough to stop the funny.

And to drive the cartoon aspect home, "Jackass Two" ends with a full-blown musical number! I'm such a sucker for all that nutty horse-shit.