The male body positivity of Jackass

How is this series so wholesome?

The Jackass 3 cast in camo thongs and helmets, standing in front of a rainbow flag

Despite being the right age during its reign on MTV, I didn’t get into Jackass until just last year. Like a lot of people, I thought it was just garbage, dudes hurting each other and pulling mean pranks to get laughs from the lowest common denominator. But my wife is a fan, a fact which puzzled me since we met over a decade ago. When Jackass Forever landed on Paramount+, she coaxed me into watching it, telling me to sit through the opening at least. I relented and sat down, prepared to be annoyed.

The opening hooked me immediately: a penis, painted to resemble Godzilla and with strings attached to puppeteer it, rampaging through a miniature city is one of those things you just have to see to believe. I laughed until I couldn’t breathe, popped some popcorn for us, and happily watched the rest of the movie. Within the next few days we watched the other three movies and started making our way through the sho…