Ordinarily when PETA gets upset about something in a movie or TV show, there’s a specific scene or individual animal-related appearance that’s bothersome. That’s not the case with Jackass Forever. The outspoken animal rights organization recently wrote a letter to prosecutors in Los Angeles and San Obispo Counties complaining about at least seven entirely separate sequences in what may be the gang's goodbye film.
Jackass Forever incorporates many animals into various stunts in the movie, often resulting in grievous injury for someone in the Jackass crew, which they talked to us about. Representatives from PETA, however, claim the animals biting, stinging and goring the movie’s actors are the real victims. They’re calling for a criminal investigation. Here’s a portion of the letter PETA sent, per Deadline…
If Steve-O and Johnny Knoxville want to make a career out of nasty little boy fantasies, they’re entitled to, as long as they don’t stress, harm, poke, prod, scare, or bother animals who are used as living props for their idiocy. PETA is reminding city and county prosecutors that no one is above the law and that while the rest of the world wants to save bees and recognizes animals as sentient individuals, these jackasses exploit and abuse them for fun.
Let’s break down a few of these specific sketches they’re upset about. If you haven’t seen Jackass Forever yet, please be advised we’re going to get into some spoilers below. So, if you haven’t gotten to the theater yet, my advice would be to bail on this article and return afterwards.
In one scene PETA takes serious issue with, bees are made to swarm around Jackass star Steve-O’s penis. The resulting chaos causes many to sting him. In another scene, new star Rachel Wolfson gets her own version of Botox by having a scorpion repeatedly bite her in the face and lip area. These were apparently deemed especially inappropriate by PETA, though they also brought up others including the turtle biting Chris Pontius, the bull goring Johnny Knoxville and the snake biting Poopies.
I’m not going to speak to the morality of the above. There are no doubt some people sincerely upset about the usage of animals in stunts like these, and there are other people who are unbothered. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to see real animals used in movies, you’re going to hate this one.
If you’re not bothered by such things and are into the previous installments of Jackass, you’ll love this one. Jackass Forever is a wild ride of genital abuse, head injuries and high concept sketches that ride the This Is Spinal Tap line between stupid and clever. It's also, as always, a story of friendship and love between the crew, most of which have returned. Response from fans has been really strong, and it has gotten very strong reviews from critics, as well. We gave it four stars, though something tells me those at PETA would probably have a different score.
