The primary similarity between MTV's "Jackass" and other instances of performance art is that they are both wrapped in a suffocating fog of pretentiousness. Of the two, one is snobbish and one is proud of its lowbrow status, and yet neither of them are what any sane critic could call "high art". There is a strange dynamic here, as these two trashy art forms should be inherently incompatible. In fact the only thing that keeps "Jackass" from being offered a genius grant of some sort, is its prominent place on MTV's line-up. If "Jackass" were done in a warehouse somewhere on the south side of Chicago for an audience of a dozen people, it would fit right in. But it's capitalist bent (the place on MTV, selling videos for money) insures that it'll never be taken seriously by the overly serious art student set.

Not that Johnny Knoxville and art students are the slightest bit worried (or even aware) of each other. There might be nothing else in this world more boring than the prospect of hearing their opinions of each other's work. But then again, I can't help but be curious about what those opinions might be. Most intriguing would be to see if each could rise above their own biases: Could the Jackass crowd ignore their patina of white trash chic? Could the performance art crowd look past their hatred of marketing and see that Jackass does exactly what they themselves wish they could do, make people think?

What would most frustrate the average art student is "Jackass"'s role as entertainment. It's on television, which makes it "mainstream" entertainment (ask any adult what they think of MTV to verify whether or not that's a valid sentiment). As mainstream entertainment, "Jackass" is immediately suspect. But that sentiment works in reverse. Certainly, the slavish hatred of money and so called, "lack of substance" exhibited by self-styled artists is no less reactionary as the belief that the value judgments of trust fund drug addicts amount to nothing more than self centered sniping.

I'm not easily offended, but if I had to pick something, I'd probably choose white trash chic as one of the most execrable aesthetics currently available for purchase. But art pretentiousness is a close second. Anybody who supposes that they are the only ones who see the world for what it is, instead of seeing it as a combination of a narrow interpretation and a limited understanding of a complex world, is lying to themselves, and annoying everyone else.

On that score, "Jackass" is more valuable to the world that performance art. It's more inclusive, more willing to reach out to others. It's not insular, or unwilling to attempt to attract you to it. And more importantly, you can laugh at it when you want to without offending the author of the piece.

In the end, I'd rather watch any one of the several thousand forensic science shows on TV than "Jackass". But thank god it's there anyway...

-B. C. Silvia