There might also be a more scientific reason. It’s called the male idiot theory.
It was established in a tongue-in-cheek yet scientifically stringent paper in the British Medical Journal, which showed that 88.7% of the winners of the Darwin awards (for people who remove themselves from the gene pool in idiotic ways) were men.
“It is puzzling that males are willing to take such unnecessary risks – simply as a rite of passage, in pursuit of male social esteem, or solely in exchange for ‘bragging rights’,” the report states.
“Presumably, idiotic behaviour confers some as-yet-unidentified selective advantage on those who do not become its casualties.”
The cast’s utter determination to degrade and belittle themselves is massively at odds with today’s highly filtered, perfection-seeking world.
I don’t think any influencer today would be willing to get anally probed by a robot claw like Steve-O does in Best and Last, for example.
Maybe I relate to Jackass so much because I’ve always done the same: been open about my flaws and laughed at them, often before anyone else.
What shame is there left when you’ve already pointed out – and documented – the stuff you’re most embarrassed about?
It also comes with a sense of camaraderie.
These days, I no longer jump into bogs, but I get some of that thrill through things such as combat sports.
And I’ve often found my friends through these activities.
Of course, it is by definition not clever to be an idiot. It can only go on so long.
