By Jennifer Larson

Ready or not JACKASS 3 is headed our way. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the JACKASS phenomena, it’s basically a group of guys who go around doing the most ridiculous, insanely stupid and dangerous stunts you can think of. Some examples of these stunts are jumping into sewage, going up against alligators and walking around Japan in panda costumes. Can you tell I’m not a big fan? Besides being the lowest form of entertainment – in my opinion – the JACKASS series on MTV and subsequent movies have spurred young boys around the country to attempt similar acts of stupidity. The difference being that there is a crew of professional stunt coordinators standing by for the TV show and movies, while these young teenagers and their ill-conceived idea of a good time – are going it alone, and using makeshift equipment. Cinematical.com says “JACKASS NUMBER TWO made so much money that JACKASS 3 was greenlit by Paramount last year.”

The fact that the JACKASS franchise is making so much money doesn’t surprise me, but unfortunately those dollar signs cause otherwise responsible people to lose their ever-loving minds. Putting up a disclaimer before these actors – and that’s what they are, actors – do these stunts may absolve everybody from any legal responsibility, but don’t they have even the smallest amount of moral responsibility? Yes, money is the all mighty king in the entertainment business – well, any business for that matter – but there are so many more creative ways Hollywood can go about providing us with movies and TV shows that will generate them more income. Doing a movie like JACKASS really just amounts to laziness, if you ask me. There’s not really a script to speak of, and they don’t have to hire big name A-list actors that charge 20 million dollars a picture, so they get to pocket a large chunk of what the movie makes.

Let me be clear, I am totally against censorship, at least where the government is concerned. That being said, I don’t think there is anything wrong with practicing a little bit of self-censorship, especially when kids are involved.