An online petition
February 9, 2001 12:41 PM   Subscribe

An online petition has started to save MTV's Jackass, which is under fire by Senator Liberman after a 13-year old kid set himself on fire. Do these online petitions hold any merit though? Or is it a big waste of time?
posted by Mark (19 comments total)
 
i suddenly feel very old, i don't know what or who jackass is? but on-line petitions is a waste of time and good friends.
posted by jema at 12:49 PM on February 9, 2001


1) Here's hoping this kid burned his genitals off so he'll never reproduce.

2) If a 13 year old kid went on a crusade to kill the first born male child in every household, would the good Senator be in favor of banning the bible?

3) Personally, I wish the government would just execute anyone who had anything to do with the whole concept of MTV.


posted by bondcliff at 12:57 PM on February 9, 2001


I guess I'm old too, but only jackasses watch Jackass.
posted by quirked at 12:58 PM on February 9, 2001


Yup. You're old.
posted by crunchland at 1:00 PM on February 9, 2001


I suppose there might be situations in which an online petition could conceivable have some bearing on the outcome of a given question if some or all of the players in the situation are "net-oriented" people... but I'd say this wouldn't be one of them. My perception is that the people who would want to ban JACKASS because some moron set himself on fire are not anywhere near the central demographic of MTV (and, not coincidentally, the central demographic of the Web)- those pesky 18-24 year olds...
posted by m.polo at 1:13 PM on February 9, 2001


This petition seems to have been a big waste of time, but in hindsight may have been a pretty bright idea.
posted by wordPerfect at 1:16 PM on February 9, 2001


I'd rather have petitions sitting uselessly on the web than having them aggressively clog my email.
posted by Skot at 1:16 PM on February 9, 2001


This petition seems to have been a big waste of time, but in hindsight may have been a pretty bright idea. (Apologies for the 2-post, I forgot to close a quote in my link.)
posted by wordPerfect at 1:17 PM on February 9, 2001


Online petitions are a waste of time. Especially when it's this easy to just write a letter to the senator directly.

I'm disappointed in Mr. Lieberman's vendetta against this show. We've already discussed this topic, but I think the blame must fall on the crispy individual in this case for being a dumbass.

(I love how the spell checker always tries to change Lieberman to Lumberman.)
posted by ritualdevice at 1:32 PM on February 9, 2001


The unasked question: Is Jackass a big waste of time?
posted by dhartung at 2:08 PM on February 9, 2001


Of course it is. It's on television.
posted by harmful at 2:23 PM on February 9, 2001


I guess I should come out of the closet and admit that I really enjoy Jackass. Of course, I have an affinity for this sort of thing, having watched Johnny Knoxville and friends for several years now.

Their antics used to be mere vignettes between the "real" action scenes in the skateboarding videos that were circulated in a small part of eastern Pennyslvania where I lived several years ago. (Why I was involved in any of this will remain undiscussed.) So seeing them move to having their own TV show on MTV is like watching the Simpsons graduate from being Tracey Ullman show filler to getting the half hour they so richly deserved.

Oh, and no, petitions don't do anything. But I suspect Joe's teeth-gnashing and fist-clenching won't accomplish much, either. At least not while Jackass remains one of MTV's highest-rated shows. (I'd post a corroborating link from Inside.com, but cypherpunk/cypherpunk doesn't work there anymore.)
posted by anildash at 3:16 PM on February 9, 2001


Is there any indication that Jackass is even at risk of cancellation? It's about MTV's highest-rated show at the moment, so I kind of doubt they're considering dumping it.
posted by aaron at 3:24 PM on February 9, 2001


something i can't figure out.. And I'm not sure if I'm being snobby or what but does anyone remember Chris Burden? or "endurance art" am I the only one who feels that jackass is just rehashing 30 year old performance art? The most amazing thing I've ever seen in this genre was a piece called "velvet water"(I think), I can't find any reference to it now..but if you ever run across it..check it out.

dp
posted by darkpony at 3:46 PM on February 9, 2001


Jackass is rehashing tons of stuff, but in a way that's appealing to lots of people. Which is about what every successful tv show does.
posted by cell divide at 3:53 PM on February 9, 2001


oh... found a BETTER link... lots of old endurance art stuff... sorry..but this "jackass" thing has been bugging me for a while.

danger art

anyways I always thought Tom Greene was MTV's jackass.
posted by darkpony at 3:55 PM on February 9, 2001


...and tom greene begat jackass, and real world begat road rules, and road rules begat survivor, and survivor begat big brother, as well as castaway, as well as survivor 2... and the populace rebelled and begat nick at nite...

(book of TeeVee, chapter 12, verse 7)
posted by o2b at 5:36 PM on February 9, 2001


Jackass was just signed up for another season, which I think I read is about 15 shows. Johnny Knoxville was also on the cover of Rolling Stone for the February issue.
posted by Mark at 9:11 PM on February 9, 2001


I haven't intentionally watched MTV for 2 years, and I'm definitely not a Jackass fan. (Nor did I watch a single episode of Survior...)

I have no sympathy for kids who imitate stuff like this. We don't need censorship, we don't even need the warnings we have now- we need some basic common sense, and if Americans can't muster that much they deserve to die. Painfully. Already far too many of us, wasting this planet's resources while consuming Britney Spears albums and Tommy Hilfiger clothes. They won't be missed.

I say pin a Darwin award on this charbroiled little fuckhead and move along.
posted by emt at 4:06 PM on February 11, 2001


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