Jackass, Ritual Clowning, and the Comic Themes of Universal Occurrence

TY - JOUR

T1 - Jackass, Ritual Clowning, and the Comic Themes of Universal Occurrence

AU - Hye-Knudsen, Marc

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - The appeal of the Jackass television series and film franchise, centered around stunts wherein the performers deliberately hurt and humiliate themselves, has been considered a unique and peculiar mystery by cultural critics, one that can only be solved by looking at its particular historical and sociocultural context. In contrast, this article argues that Jackass constitutes a resurgence of a widespread form of comedy whose roots stretch far back into human history: ritual clowning. Comparing the stunts and gags of Jackass with those of ritual clowns in traditional societies around the world, both are shown to be characterized by four universal comic themes: pain, sex, the foreign, and the sacred. In contrast to previous critical readings that have attributed each of these themes in Jackass to its particular historical and sociocultural context, this article argues that they are all ultimately grounded in our evolved psychology as universal pressure points that humor can tap into.

AB - The appeal of the Jackass television series and film franchise, centered around stunts wherein the performers deliberately hurt and humiliate themselves, has been considered a unique and peculiar mystery by cultural critics, one that can only be solved by looking at its particular historical and sociocultural context. In contrast, this article argues that Jackass constitutes a resurgence of a widespread form of comedy whose roots stretch far back into human history: ritual clowning. Comparing the stunts and gags of Jackass with those of ritual clowns in traditional societies around the world, both are shown to be characterized by four universal comic themes: pain, sex, the foreign, and the sacred. In contrast to previous critical readings that have attributed each of these themes in Jackass to its particular historical and sociocultural context, this article argues that they are all ultimately grounded in our evolved psychology as universal pressure points that humor can tap into.

KW - Jackass

KW - benign violations

KW - biocultural criticism

KW - comedy

KW - humor

KW - ritual clowning

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178385761&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5325/style.57.4.0466

DO - 10.5325/style.57.4.0466

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0039-4238

VL - 57

SP - 466

EP - 494

JO - Style

JF - Style

IS - 4

ER -