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Listened to what turned out to be one of the best podcast episodes of the year tonight when @SwitchbladePod talked with DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD director Kirsten Johnson about JACKASS
I think it’s been cool to see Twitter lionize that franchise as important art (which it is) but during this episode April and Kirsten ultimately talk a lot about death and how JACKASS confronts it in its own strange, roundabout way.
At one point they reference this quote from Steve-O that I’m probably going to think about for the rest of my life and yes, the guy who did the Poo Cocktail said this.
“I don’t want to die. I just expect to soon. Since I was a little kid I’ve always expected death to be sooner rather than later. But if you can tell me some secret about me actually living for a long time? Then my art is out the window”
That second part speaks volumes to why JACKASS works - if you know these guys don’t die til they’re in their eighties it legitimately takes away from the thrill - but I’m finding myself thinking a lot on the front half.
Without delving into “seize the moment” platitudes I just can’t get over the idea that part of why this guy felt compelled to do what he did was because he fully expected to be dead soon and didn’t want to waste any time.
The whole conversation is worth listening to but the best of it touches on that - the way that people who have suffered extreme trauma or have struggled with severe mental health issues or addiction sometimes view the bridge between life and death as being a bit shorter than most
and, knowing they could cross that bridge any time - or maybe expected to have done so sooner - approach living a little bit differently.
