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

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
202 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalStyle
Volume57
Issue4
Pages (from-to)466-494
Number of pages29
ISSN0039-4238
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2023

Keywords

  • Jackass
  • benign violations
  • biocultural criticism
  • comedy
  • humor
  • ritual clowning

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Jackass, Ritual Clowning, and the Comic Themes of Universal Occurrence'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this