Steve-O is an idiot. A professional one, as he’s proven in rising to some kind of stardom as part of the Jackass crew, falling face-first into animal dung, skateboarding dangerously, letting animals bite his naked butt — he’s made a career out of stupid pranks and dares, which turned him into a celeb to people who like their humor both adolescent and a little shocking.
But Steve-O: Demise and Rise, the terrific new MTV documentary that first aired last night (catch it again Wednesday) is really shocking. You see Steve-O huffing from nitrous cannisters, snorting cocaine, and guzzling booze in massive quantities, always keeping his connection to reality — the videocamera — trained on himself, even (or mostly) when he’s alone.
You see him trash his own apartment and when a neighbor complains, he rips a hole in the wall connecting their apartments, sticks some speakers into the hole, and blasts loud music through them to further goad the poor next-door guy. Steve-O becomes more than a daredevil jerk, a grinning a–hole: he becomes a threat to himself and others.
The documentary charts when Steve-O hit bottom, as they say in recovery programs. (As Bam Margera’s mom, April, says here, "If you get thrown out of Jackass, that’s bad.") How Johnny Knoxville and the Jackass bunch, seeing their friend was near insanity or death, cart him off to a psychiatric ward where the 12-step program takes hold. (One of the best, most hilarious yet somehow, ah, touching scenes has him making amends to people he’s kicked in the scrotum by asking Knoxville to kick him in the nut-sack… while Steve-O is naked. I can’t show it here, but you’ve got to check it out.) Demise and Rise ends with Steve-O’s dubiously triumphant appearance as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars, suggesting he’s still a bit rudderless when it comes to having a direction in life.
Still, this is some powerful stuff. There’s always the worry with a documentary like this that lots of people are going to look at it and say, "Oh, so you can go out, act like an abusing, abusive screw-up, get famous and make money, and then pull yourself together: I wanna try that!" But Demise and Rise makes most of Steve-O’s adult years look absolutely miserable and pathetic. It’s the best kind of warning lesson. Glad you’re sober, Steve-O.
Did you watch? What do you think of Steve-O, his career, his craziness, and his sobriety?
It looks really intriguing, and Steve-O does have an influence on Teens (sadly). Hopefully this does some good.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/05/04/tv-tonight-monday-may-4th-2009/
Really powerful stuff. I was worried at how it was going to play out on TV. But to see Steve-O at the lowest of lows and then have people who truly care about him come and get him to seek help was really touching. To see him doing nitrous and all the other drugs and his acting psychotic was really tough to watch but it was also a look at just how bad he got. I remember watching the 24 hour takeover on MTV and he just looked completely out of it and sure enough he was. Glad to see he has cleaned up his act, I’m rooting for him to keep it up
i just got through watching demise and rise and kudos to steve i to am a recovering addict i had a little more than 2.5 years and went back out for about 6 months but i have jumped back on the “recovery train” instead of the “crazy train” and now have a little over 2 months watching steve o’s story has given me a renewed strength and commitment to my self thank you steve o love ya
Nitrus? Use a spellchecker!
way to get the point
I’ve watched it yesterday and very much saw Steve-O in a different light. I never liked him until now. Seeing Johnny Knoxville’s face as Steve-O turns on a camera during his intervention was heartbreaking. Having gone through drug addiction (although not as extreme!) I’m happy that he turned his life around before it was too late. Very adorable that he decided to spend his birthday skateboarding with kids, calling it his best birthday ever! Really proud of him.
Anyone who can bring themselves back form what Steve-O turned himself into should be commended. The part when the Jackass crew came to give Steve a intervention and Steve pulled a camera out the look of hurt and frustration on Knoxville’s face should show all addicts what they put their family and friends through. But I am glad he choose to get himself better cause if anyone has seen Intervention where most of the people return to old habits is cause they are forced to go into rehab due to threats by family and friends like Steve said the only way to get better is to make the choice within yourself to give sobriety a chance.
hey i cant believe that you did that and said it was for your mom yeah i know what it is like to lose some one but you have to think what she would want you to do with your life and your lucky you got the jackass crew behide you standing and making sure you arent going to hurt your self
I watched the video last night and I too was really taken by how powerful it was. I wish MTV would do more specials like this, instead of the normal crap they usually show. Best of luck to Steve-O in his future (he’s gonna need it!!)
I met Steve-O years ago in Boynton Beach F.L. at a “Jackass tour” (Steve-O, Ryan, Preston, etc.). The show was complete insanity. There was a couple of times when Steve ran off stage to do coke in the dressing room (he admitted this to the crowd upon returning). Also, there was about a half a dozen 24 packs of Bud cans that were being hyper-consumed by both the Jackass crew as well as distributed to the people whom were sitting on the stage during the show (how cool is that?). After the show was over, I asked Steve-O for a picture and he politely obliged. He had one fist riding high in the air while the other was tilting a bottle of beer into his mouth. The picture was kind of erie because his eyes were rolling far into the back of his head and he could barely stand. The sight of him even made me worried. I couldn’t help but wonder what his parents thought/felt about him and his behavior. I’m glad to see that he has dusted himself off. Way 2 go Steve-O! C.A.N.E.S. GO CANES!
i watched it last night to and i couldnt believe johnnys face either it was really scary because no one has ever seen his face that way and i am happy for steve o to clean him self up and is able to know that what he did was wrong and i hope that you never do what you did again steve o i hope you are able to wake up and see your friends want you to be better and care for you alot and know that the world loves you to and want you to be better and able to stand up on your own feet and look up at your mom and know that you are doing that right thing by getting better steve o never turn again please you are my man and i dont want to lose you and neither does any one else
Hey Brittany, have you ever heard of punctuation? Geez, kids these days. Thank you, publik skooulz!
nazis make me a sad panda
I watched this last night and I nearly cried when he was going insane… and when he knew he was going to die he said “i’m coming for you mom” and he wanted to take her pain away.. so he tried to make a time machine, destroying tons of computers and such just to at least try to take away his moms pain in the past. Tis really sad
Anyone notice the part where steve-o is trashing he apt when he finds out he is being evicted…he starts yelling “You Get My Point” over and over…well look a little closer and you can see a guy standing in the corner of the room on the left han side of the screen with his had down…I was just wondering if he was the only on in the APT and that could possable be a ghost or something because he did say he was in a dark place at that time and believes he was possessed
anyone know were i can watch this online?