Indigo Willing, Andy Bennett, Holly Thorpe, Ben Green
{"title":"Ageing in DIY and alternative cultures: Exploring forms of masculinity and adult play in Jackass forever","authors":"Indigo Willing, Andy Bennett, Holly Thorpe, Ben Green","doi":"10.1177/27538702231221842","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article explores ageing in alternative cultures and co-existing forms of hyper and alternative masculinity in the US film Jackass Forever released in 2022. The film is a continuation of the original Jackass show launched in 2000. Although a highly profitable franchise, we argue Jackass is part of an alternative culture through its playfulness and pranks that are also dangerous and revel in self-humiliation. Most of the stunts and skits also adopt a DIY approach and reflect forms of perceived masculine and adolescent pranking and clowning. We argue that such alternative and DIY-influenced activities allow men to keep enjoying alternative, ‘carnivalesque’ forms of adult play well into middle-age and can have a pro-social and beneficial impact across men's life course. Yet even if subversive, Jackass can still also reproduce masculine constraints, including suppressing the expression of boundaries and vulnerable emotions.","PeriodicalId":507692,"journal":{"name":"DIY, Alternative Cultures & Society","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"DIY, Alternative Cultures & Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/27538702231221842","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article explores ageing in alternative cultures and co-existing forms of hyper and alternative masculinity in the US film Jackass Forever released in 2022. The film is a continuation of the original Jackass show launched in 2000. Although a highly profitable franchise, we argue Jackass is part of an alternative culture through its playfulness and pranks that are also dangerous and revel in self-humiliation. Most of the stunts and skits also adopt a DIY approach and reflect forms of perceived masculine and adolescent pranking and clowning. We argue that such alternative and DIY-influenced activities allow men to keep enjoying alternative, ‘carnivalesque’ forms of adult play well into middle-age and can have a pro-social and beneficial impact across men's life course. Yet even if subversive, Jackass can still also reproduce masculine constraints, including suppressing the expression of boundaries and vulnerable emotions.