One of the more incomprehensible developments in youth culture over the last decade has been the tremendous popularity of television programs which glorify adolescents deliberately injuring themselves. Beginning in 2000, MTV’s program Jackass made stars of Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera by showing them performing risky stunts.

Of course, daredevils and stunt performers have long been popular, from various high-wire acts like the Flying Wallendas to motorcycle performers like Evel Knievel. But in those cases, the ones performing the stunts were trained professionals; and while the element of risk present in their stunts was key to the performance, the entire point was to avoid being injured.

Not so with MTV’s programming. From Jackass, the network went on to showcase series like Scarred, which positively reveled in showing off the injuries received by teenagers attempting risky actions. And on MTV’s newest series, The Dudesons in America, the focus has shifted away from the element of risk to the severity of the injury. Avoiding injury is not longer the point, or even a possibility. On The Dudesons, injury is inevitable; the protagonists do not perform stunts so much as simply go out and do things that every idiot knows are harmful and painful. Nor is the point to demonstrate toughness, stoicism and machismo, since the Dudesons scream in pain as they deliberately subject themselves to harm doing things both dangerous and stupid. For showing teens engaging in mindless self-mutilation, and encouraging other teens to do the same, the May 6^th premiere of The Dudesons in America (Thursdays, 10:00 p.m. ET) is the Worst Cable TV Show of the Week.  

The Dudesons are a quartet of young Finnish men who apparently live to torture and mutilate themselves. Consisting of Jukka (“the ringleader”), Jarppi ( the “funny fat guy”), HP, and Jarno (who does most of the filming), the group first appeared in the U.S. on a short-lived series on Spike TV in 2006, which met with failure among viewers. But now, MTV has revived interest in the fatality-courting foursome, and given them a prime-time series, thus raising their profile among teens. The episode, rated TV-14 V (meaning that MTV considers the program perfectly appropriate for those as young as 14), opened with one of MTV’s standard fig-leaf disclaimers, which may ward off legal problems, but which do nothing to discourage imitation of the painful proceedings to follow. Ironically, the disclaimer ends with the notice that “No animals were hurt during the filming of The Dudesons.” What a pity MTV exhibits no such concern for the show’s human protagonists. 

Even before the opening credits, viewers are treated to the sight of Jarppi standing atop a building. The building is then demolished with high explosives, with Jarppi hanging from a sling attached to a crane. The cascading rubble batters him, one piece of the roof smashing into his head as he dangles helplessly. Afterwards, the camera zooms in on Jarppi’s bloodied head – yet another motif used frequently in the program.

The episode itself saw the four Dudesons welcomed to champion bull rider Gary Leffew’s ranch, where they quartet argue over which will get to sleep in the master bedroom. To resolve this conflict, they play a sadistic version of “Follow the Leader:” each Dudeson is given the opportunity to devise a dangerous activity and lead the others in doing it. If they cannot follow or drop out, they suffer “the final punishment.” As Jarno says, “Winner gets the master bedroom. Losers get a ‘USA’ brand on their butt cheek.”

After being “humorously” kicked directly in the crotch, Jarppi leads the others in attempting to hurdle barrels rolled down a hill at them. One member drops out; and this is followed by the remaining three going to a hardware store and asking the proprietor to pound a nail through their earlobes, pinning all three of the group’s left ears to a board. The three then jump up and down, jostling the board and pulling on the nails embedded in their flesh. Again, an extreme close up of the bloody ears nailed to the board is shown. In conclusion, each Dudeson is required to yank the nail out of his own ear using a crowbar.

Other moronic “stunts” in the half-hour episode included each Dudeson sliding down stairway banister “balls first” and deliberately smashing his crotch into a post at the bottom. One screams in agony and writhes on the ground grasping his crotch afterward, while another becomes stuck on the post. As he screams, “Help me down!” and offers bleeped swearing, his teammate consoles him, “You’re still in the game.” He wittily replies, “Yeah, but my nuts aren’t.”

The remaining members stand on skis and are pulled by a horse over barrels, through a watery mudpit, and into wall of hay bales. Jarppi is eliminated, making it no further than the mudpit, while the others are dragged along the ground by the horse. To decide between the remaining two, they each mount a pair of stilts in a bullring, and an enraged bull is unleashed on them, smashing Jukka and causing him to turn a full back flip. Due to the spectacular nature of the collision, Jukka is declared the “winner.”

Gloating to his friends that “the whole town gathered around to see your bare asses,” Jukka has them locked into stocks, then heats a branding iron with a propane torch as the camera zooms in on the men’s rear ends. Cowgirl Gina then brands each of the men, pressing the red-hot iron into their flesh as sizzling sounds are heard. HP shrieks, “Take it off! Take it off!” as the others laugh. “You’ve got a third-degree burn!” says Leffew, as the camera zooms in on their branded flesh.

The viewer then sees a short “coming attractions” reel of upcoming episodes, which will feature scenes like the Dudesons being attacked by tiger, smashed into a hanging boulder, and forced to stand on a tower as a tank collides with its base, causing the building to topple. And if all this sadism is not enough for MTV’s young viewers, an ad promotes ”more Dudesons madness exclusively on MTV.com.” “HP takes an arrow to the face, and Jarno gets his balls crushed!” a perky female announcer chirps during the ad.

The Dudesons is more than merely distasteful and insipid; it is downright dangerous to its demographic. Every parent knows that teenagers have little experience with life, and less concern for possible danger. This feeling of invulnerability, the sense that “it won’t happen to me,” is much of what causes teens to engage in reckless behavior. It is downright irresponsible for MTV to actually encourage such behavior by making it look humorous and fun. Teens take enough risk as it is; they do not need a popular TV show urging them to deliberately harm themselves. Yet that is precisely what shows like The Dudesons in America do.  

Even more disturbing, if possible, than the way MTV revels in such harmful programming is the hypocrisy which the network displays. On May 3^rd, three nights before The Dudesons’ premiere, MTV showed an episode of its serious documentary series True Life. This episode was devoted entirely to “three young men trying desperately to recover after their lives were shattered by traumatic injuries...[Accidents] are a major cause of death and disability worldwide, and the effects for victims are often catastrophic and unpredictable.” Again, the camera focuses in on post-accident victims, close ups showing them intubated, in neck braces and with blackened eyes and facial scars as grim music plays. The victim’s parents are shown discussing how their childrens’ lives were irreparably changed, with some victims having lost motor skills and short-term memory, and others hopelessly crippled for life. Yet incredibly, during this same episode of True Life, the first commercial shown was AN AD FOR THE DUDESONS IN AMERICA! Thus with one hand, MTV milks sympathy and pathos for the helpless teen victims of true accidents, while with the other it tells teens that deliberately injuring themselves is glamorous and a source of entertainment.  

In our review of MTV’s insipid Jersey Shore, this column stated, “This is how MTV teaches teenagers. To teach teens that bigotry and stereotyping is wrong, they show a program filled with bigoted stereotypes. To teach them not to assault women, they show a woman being assaulted. And to teach girls not to send nude pictures of themselves to others, they show a picture of a nude girl.” Add to this list: after showing teens the terrible life-altering injuries which can result from carelessness, MTV glorifies the self-mutilating exploits of The Dudesons in America.

It is no wonder adolescents today are confused, with the constant contradictory and self-destructive messages MTV promotes. The only question remaining is: how many humiliated, sexually assaulted, pregnant, mutilated, and dead teens will it take before MTV decides, at long last, to act responsibly?

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