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Chad Love: On Cheap Entertainment at Nature’s Expense

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October 08, 2009

Chad Love: On Cheap Entertainment at Nature’s Expense

By Chad Love

OK, I have to admit that I sometimes (sometimes, I said...) found the "Jackass" guys amusing. It was only an occasional lapse, and I soon recovered. But of all the innumerable "Jackass" spin-offs, the weirdest one had to be  "Wildboyz" with Jackass alums Steve-O and Chris Pontius.
 
In a nutshell, the show featured these two nitwits traveling the world perpetrating Jackass-like stunts on various and sundry members of the animal kingdom. The only problem is, wild and dangerous animals have neither a well-developed sense of humor nor much tolerance for being the butt of a joke.

Just ask the lions in this clip:

On a purely juvenile, reactionary level, yeah, it's kind of  amusing, and a perfect example of the mindless and purely visual nature of modern entertainment.
 
But here's the question no one seems to  ask: what would have happened if those lions (or for that matter any other  animal featured in these videos) had been deadly serious? How many  professional hunters with guns were standing around to make sure things  didn't get out of hand? And if things did get serious, is an animal expendable even if someone makes a deliberate decision to put themselves in danger? Is a lion's life worth a few moments of cheap entertainment, a few cheap laughs?
 
I don't know if the lions in the video are tame or wild, but it really makes no difference from an ethical or philosophical standpoint. When you're actively trying to provoke a predatory response in a big cat, is there such a thing as "tame?" Does that somehow make it OK?
 
It's a disturbing and bizarre form  of anthropomorphization, but one in which if the animals don't get the joke, if they make the mistake of following their nature, they may just end up getting dead.
 
Think about it in those terms, and it's no longer so funny. It's despicable.

Comments (25)

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from rabbitpolice88 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

A total lack of maturity on these two young mens part. This is what I am talking about, some people just are not responsible adults and will end of getting someone or themselves hurt or worse. You can't just chalk this one up to ignorance, this is just plane stupidity, these are the kind of people who don't think before they do. Someone I would never let handle a firearm or go hunting.

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from earlyriser81 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

If both of these morons would have been killed could it be considered evolution in progress?

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from MLH wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Maybe we can convince them to dress like tuna and swim with some great whites.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from lawson26 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

They have to be on drugs or something, there isnt enough money in the world to make me wanna do something like that. Especially since money is no good to you when you are dead!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bob81 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Lol! MLH, You are clearly not familiar with the show. In one of the episodes, one of the characters stuffed his speedos full of squid and went swimming with a school of nurse sharks.

The show is the perfect example of what happens when two people with too few brain cells are able to leverage thier dim-ness for fame and fortune.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I must confess that I've gotten a few cheap laughs from these nitwits. But if the lions had eaten them, we could have honored their memory with a Darwin award and thanked them for removing their DNA from the gene pool.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from jbird wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Yeah, they're idiots, but I've laughed my a** off at some of their stuff. This stunt isn't real funny, but I wouldn't call it 'despicable', especially since we don't KNOW that people were waiting to shoot the lions if they got too violent.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Dress them as Salmon and send the two dipsticks to Alaska as candidates for a Timothy Treadwell Award...buttheads...

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from bluecollarkid wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Believe it or not, Jackass was a spinoff of a video series titled CKY (a.k.a. Camp Kill Yourself), which was a band run by Bam Margera's brother (or something like that). Its a series of skate videos with some funny and not so funny pranks mixed in but definitely more tasteful than Jackass or its spinoffs. Sometimes I wonder at the stupidity of some of these people; but then again, maybe they aren't so stupid - they're making money while other people watch them act stupid. Jokes on who?

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from rudyglove27 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I like to know what type of drugs this two morons are on while doing this video. Hopefully no one got hurt in the process!!!!!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from OrangeNeckInNY wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

They're all idiots. I never watched the show "Jackass" nor saw the movie. I don't even like Howard Stern. People like these are very juvenile, and with impressionable young children (and "adults") around, people are bound to get hurt or killed imitating these morons. Monkey see, monkey do, monkey get in trouble too.

0 Good Comment? | | Report
from sgaredneck wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

These guys are as burnt out as a struck match. If you ever wondered what would happen if you huffed enough nitrous, did so many stupid stunts, got so many concussions, and then went through so many pain meds that they wouldn't work anymore, these characters would be your answer.

Their entertainment value is right up there with watching videos of high-speed car chases where you know something bad is going to happen at any moment. It's the enticement of the horrible crossed with their lowest-common denominator frat house antics.

They now do the animal stunts because the shock factor of all the other stuff they have done has worn thin. If we could use these guys as a diversion to draw the anti/PETA folks away, maybe I'd say they have a redemptive quality. Otherwise, bullets are too expensive to waste on these turds. Maybe we'll get lucky when the animals get their vengeance. Soon, I hope.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from First Trog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I cannot believe that you want to speculate on whether or not ph is present. My guess is that there is not as it would cut into profit margin and I couldn't imagine a ph allowing someone to do that on thier watch. Chd are you having a hissie fit like those pukes in congress or the idiots at peta?

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from ranger2 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

After viewing the video, I have concluded that it will take several days for my IQ to recover.
I guess those two retards are lucky that they were only attacked by lions. It would have been worse for them if one of the stud zebras took a fancy to them!

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from suburban bushwacker wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

We already know where wildlife harassment ends up. steve irwin.
SBW

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from JohnR wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Suburban bushwacker brought up a good point. I sometimes wonder about some of the "educational" wildlife types such as Steve Irwin who often during the course of their show are clearly aggravating the animals they are supposed to be documenting. It's one thing to observe from a distance in a blind with a camera and telephoto lens, but it is definitely something else when you grab a poisonous snake by the tail to hold it up and exclaim "this is a big one" you have crossed the line from observing to meddling.
BTW I find I agree with Chad on this one.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bella wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Ahh, stupidity in action! I have to suspect the lionesses are tame or those two fools would be cat chow. The lionesses did seem confused, but the shot of the lioness trotting off with the zebra head amused me (just like my dog when she takes something).
These young men are pioneering stupidists, and this is plainly stupidtific research. I did write "Stupid will find a way" the other day (on the paddlefish thing) and it actually makes a kind of twisted sense that just as science poses hypotheses and then tests them with experimentation, plainly stupidists pose idiotic premises and then design stupidtific tests in order to find out if their idiotic plans are truly brainiac wonders of dementia. Stupid will find a way, indeed.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I love Bella's terminology: stupidists and stupidtific. I'm calling Webster right now 'cause these words belong in the dictionary. The stupidist movement is growing fast so it's only right that the word be properly recognized.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Happy Myles wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

The zebras are appear to be under ranch fence , or the two fools would not have gotten close. The lions are immature pets. This is a sad travesty on African wildlife and African culture.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Happy Myles wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

At the end of the stupid video, they list other videos for viewing. The second from the left is entitled "Crazy Lion Hunt", this is the real McCoy. I know the PH and the hunter involved. The magnificent lion was wounded the day before. The following morning follow up strategy called for several armed professionals and trackers to finish the angry animal. The lead PH orchestrating the follow up is one of Africa's finest and best known. He was not the professional involved with the wounding of the cat. One of his employees was. The lady seen briefly at the films beginning was the huntress.

The charge was approximately four seconds and was a split second from mayhem.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

#1 they are lucky those were small lions, #2 these folls need to be taken out of the gene pool before they spread their seed. Maybe next time they can try that in Botswana where I have been told the lions are not that freindly.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from 007 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I hearby nominate those two morons for the next Darwin award. What a waste of a human body.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Mike Diehl wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I support their right to entertain us by feeding themselves to lions.

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from JohnR wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Unfortunately one must have already expired to qualify for the darwin awards as they are mostly posthumous.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bookie12 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

While it is pretty idiotic, i personally dont see what they do as being much different than extreme sports. For example, the x games, which features people defying the laws of gravity to win medals, more importantly sponsors and the money that comes with that. They could potentially get hurt or eaten alive (figurativly speaking) by gravity. The risk is just as great. How is this much different? These guys are tempting fate in a different way for money and fame and PEOPLES ENTERTAINMENT. Also, as far as I know, animals are a lot less predictable than gravity. They dont know what will happen, but if a skateboarder bails we all know exactly what will happen. All the power to them...bottome line they have a tv show and we dont. It is still idiotic as hell, but that is most of crap on TV these days.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment

from rabbitpolice88 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

A total lack of maturity on these two young mens part. This is what I am talking about, some people just are not responsible adults and will end of getting someone or themselves hurt or worse. You can't just chalk this one up to ignorance, this is just plane stupidity, these are the kind of people who don't think before they do. Someone I would never let handle a firearm or go hunting.

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from earlyriser81 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

If both of these morons would have been killed could it be considered evolution in progress?

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from Mike Diehl wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I support their right to entertain us by feeding themselves to lions.

+4 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bob81 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Lol! MLH, You are clearly not familiar with the show. In one of the episodes, one of the characters stuffed his speedos full of squid and went swimming with a school of nurse sharks.

The show is the perfect example of what happens when two people with too few brain cells are able to leverage thier dim-ness for fame and fortune.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from jbird wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Yeah, they're idiots, but I've laughed my a** off at some of their stuff. This stunt isn't real funny, but I wouldn't call it 'despicable', especially since we don't KNOW that people were waiting to shoot the lions if they got too violent.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from Beekeeper wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Dress them as Salmon and send the two dipsticks to Alaska as candidates for a Timothy Treadwell Award...buttheads...

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from bluecollarkid wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Believe it or not, Jackass was a spinoff of a video series titled CKY (a.k.a. Camp Kill Yourself), which was a band run by Bam Margera's brother (or something like that). Its a series of skate videos with some funny and not so funny pranks mixed in but definitely more tasteful than Jackass or its spinoffs. Sometimes I wonder at the stupidity of some of these people; but then again, maybe they aren't so stupid - they're making money while other people watch them act stupid. Jokes on who?

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from ranger2 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

After viewing the video, I have concluded that it will take several days for my IQ to recover.
I guess those two retards are lucky that they were only attacked by lions. It would have been worse for them if one of the stud zebras took a fancy to them!

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from JohnR wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Suburban bushwacker brought up a good point. I sometimes wonder about some of the "educational" wildlife types such as Steve Irwin who often during the course of their show are clearly aggravating the animals they are supposed to be documenting. It's one thing to observe from a distance in a blind with a camera and telephoto lens, but it is definitely something else when you grab a poisonous snake by the tail to hold it up and exclaim "this is a big one" you have crossed the line from observing to meddling.
BTW I find I agree with Chad on this one.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bella wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Ahh, stupidity in action! I have to suspect the lionesses are tame or those two fools would be cat chow. The lionesses did seem confused, but the shot of the lioness trotting off with the zebra head amused me (just like my dog when she takes something).
These young men are pioneering stupidists, and this is plainly stupidtific research. I did write "Stupid will find a way" the other day (on the paddlefish thing) and it actually makes a kind of twisted sense that just as science poses hypotheses and then tests them with experimentation, plainly stupidists pose idiotic premises and then design stupidtific tests in order to find out if their idiotic plans are truly brainiac wonders of dementia. Stupid will find a way, indeed.

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from MLH wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Maybe we can convince them to dress like tuna and swim with some great whites.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I must confess that I've gotten a few cheap laughs from these nitwits. But if the lions had eaten them, we could have honored their memory with a Darwin award and thanked them for removing their DNA from the gene pool.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from suburban bushwacker wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

We already know where wildlife harassment ends up. steve irwin.
SBW

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from lawson26 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

They have to be on drugs or something, there isnt enough money in the world to make me wanna do something like that. Especially since money is no good to you when you are dead!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from rudyglove27 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I like to know what type of drugs this two morons are on while doing this video. Hopefully no one got hurt in the process!!!!!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from sgaredneck wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

These guys are as burnt out as a struck match. If you ever wondered what would happen if you huffed enough nitrous, did so many stupid stunts, got so many concussions, and then went through so many pain meds that they wouldn't work anymore, these characters would be your answer.

Their entertainment value is right up there with watching videos of high-speed car chases where you know something bad is going to happen at any moment. It's the enticement of the horrible crossed with their lowest-common denominator frat house antics.

They now do the animal stunts because the shock factor of all the other stuff they have done has worn thin. If we could use these guys as a diversion to draw the anti/PETA folks away, maybe I'd say they have a redemptive quality. Otherwise, bullets are too expensive to waste on these turds. Maybe we'll get lucky when the animals get their vengeance. Soon, I hope.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from First Trog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I cannot believe that you want to speculate on whether or not ph is present. My guess is that there is not as it would cut into profit margin and I couldn't imagine a ph allowing someone to do that on thier watch. Chd are you having a hissie fit like those pukes in congress or the idiots at peta?

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I love Bella's terminology: stupidists and stupidtific. I'm calling Webster right now 'cause these words belong in the dictionary. The stupidist movement is growing fast so it's only right that the word be properly recognized.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Happy Myles wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

The zebras are appear to be under ranch fence , or the two fools would not have gotten close. The lions are immature pets. This is a sad travesty on African wildlife and African culture.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Happy Myles wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

At the end of the stupid video, they list other videos for viewing. The second from the left is entitled "Crazy Lion Hunt", this is the real McCoy. I know the PH and the hunter involved. The magnificent lion was wounded the day before. The following morning follow up strategy called for several armed professionals and trackers to finish the angry animal. The lead PH orchestrating the follow up is one of Africa's finest and best known. He was not the professional involved with the wounding of the cat. One of his employees was. The lady seen briefly at the films beginning was the huntress.

The charge was approximately four seconds and was a split second from mayhem.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from idduckhntr wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

#1 they are lucky those were small lions, #2 these folls need to be taken out of the gene pool before they spread their seed. Maybe next time they can try that in Botswana where I have been told the lions are not that freindly.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from 007 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

I hearby nominate those two morons for the next Darwin award. What a waste of a human body.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from JohnR wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

Unfortunately one must have already expired to qualify for the darwin awards as they are mostly posthumous.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Bookie12 wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

While it is pretty idiotic, i personally dont see what they do as being much different than extreme sports. For example, the x games, which features people defying the laws of gravity to win medals, more importantly sponsors and the money that comes with that. They could potentially get hurt or eaten alive (figurativly speaking) by gravity. The risk is just as great. How is this much different? These guys are tempting fate in a different way for money and fame and PEOPLES ENTERTAINMENT. Also, as far as I know, animals are a lot less predictable than gravity. They dont know what will happen, but if a skateboarder bails we all know exactly what will happen. All the power to them...bottome line they have a tv show and we dont. It is still idiotic as hell, but that is most of crap on TV these days.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from OrangeNeckInNY wrote 2 years 32 weeks ago

They're all idiots. I never watched the show "Jackass" nor saw the movie. I don't even like Howard Stern. People like these are very juvenile, and with impressionable young children (and "adults") around, people are bound to get hurt or killed imitating these morons. Monkey see, monkey do, monkey get in trouble too.

0 Good Comment? | | Report

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