# Please explain the allure of Beavis and Butt-Head **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000 "2004-02-07T15:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/21 "2004-02-08T01:06:14Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I agree, (especially Seinfield) but I wonder if age has anything to do with it. _Did_ people who were older than middle or high school age enjoy the show the first time around? Absolutely. B&B first aired about my 3rd year in college, and was WILDLY popular from the start. Even the “Frog Baseball” short from Liquid TV was talked about a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/22 "2004-02-08T01:11:08Z")
One of my favorite riffs on a video was for Michael Damien’s wretched performance of “Rock On”. Beavis: “Hey, isn’t that guy on a soap opera?” Butthead: “Yeah. ‘As the World Sucks’.” Also, Beavis referring to Tori Amos as David Mustane. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/23 "2004-02-08T01:15:58Z")
“I wish I’d been born with a tattoo” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/24 "2004-02-08T01:23:37Z")
I hated them for the longest time, but then I gave it another chance(partly after seeing the movie again) and it grew on me. Why do I like it? The best way I can put it…they are two incredibly stupid people and they don’t even know it. The way it’s shown is somehow funny rather then annoying(I suspect in real life it would be annoying). I realize it’s a stupid show, but I can’t help laughing. I even played that PC adventure game they made. _Stomping on ants_ Beavis: “The Punishment for being Puny is death!” ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/25 "2004-02-08T01:37:43Z")
I think partially too it was sooo unique in it’s time and place and such a fresh voice: In 1993 when it premiered as a regular series (it was a short in '92) there was only the Simpson’s … later: Spin-off Daria and Judge’s King of the Hill were B&B’s spiritual descendants, while Futrama, the Critic, Family Guy,The Ambiguously Gay Duo and South Park all followed. Simpson’s made un-PC anti-Pop cartoons aimed at adults on a network OK, but the rough edged, crudity, sophomoric and especially the dark humor in 90’s broadcast cartoon humor all, to a certain extent, followed a path blazed by B&B.\* Maybe you can appreciate them on that level, Like I Love Lucy or Your Show of Shows … not really ideal humor for an adult woman in '04 but interesting at a Hall of fame level \*expecting flack from Ren & Stimpy fans ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/26 "2004-02-08T01:46:02Z")
Simple. You first laughed b/c they were so pathetic. Then you laughed b/c you knew people just like them. Then you laughed b/c you wanted them to win. They went from losers to anti-heros. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/27 "2004-02-08T02:53:05Z")
So am I the only female B&B fan? ---
**Author:** ![meenie7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@meenie7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meenie7)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/28 "2004-02-08T03:01:21Z")
no way, Guin! My sister and I loved them when they first came out. We had the Ensuckopedia and everything. We still declare, “I am Cornholio!” from time to time. My mom thinks it’s funny too, though not as much as my sister and I. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/29 "2004-02-08T03:15:59Z")
I do regret shelling out forty quid for the B&B Super Nintendo game, although it was kind of worth it for soundbites like “chainsaws kick tree ass”, and the chickenfight level. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/30 "2004-02-08T03:55:26Z")
The B&B Air Guitar program that got released at some point was absolutely hysterical. You could choose B&B to make guitar sounds(Naaah… naah… weebly.weebly woo), fart or belch. The animated B&B on the screen would act out the sounds, and you had a fully functional piano keyboard type thing- i.e. if you could read music, you could actually play real songs with it. We recorded “Happy Birthday” in farts for our helpdesk supervisor that year… he wasn’t so amused. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/31 "2004-02-08T04:16:04Z")
I must say I enjoy it because of a lot of one-liners, which I love. “Beavis and Butthead do America” is full of them, and as such, it’s one of my favourite movies. “Wait, we can’t leave Washington, we haven’t scored yet.” “No son, this is the Hoover Dam.” “Really?..Damn.” “Yeah, I just got one question…is this a God dam?” And then while the tour guide is talking on and on about the water flow, and power generation, Beavis keeps cutting in with lines like, “huh,” “well I’[ll be”, and “that’s interesting.” And that’s just one scene in the movie. Funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/32 "2004-02-08T04:25:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > So am I the only female B&B fan? Last I check I was female. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/33 "2004-02-08T05:51:29Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I must say I enjoy it because of a lot of one-liners, which I love. “Beavis and Butthead do America” is full of them, and as such, it’s one of my favourite movies. Oh, man. I saw it on opening night in a packed theater. Best movie watching experience ever. “Maybe you’re…lactose in-tolerant.” “No, no. I POOP TOO MUCH.” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/34 "2004-02-08T05:52:44Z")
Plus they were so easy to impersonate. Whenever someone said something dumb, it was so nice to be able to say “Uhhh…what?” ala Butthead. Hijack: Why could they only have Metallica and AC/DC on their shirts when they were on MTV? All the books and DVDs have the reference to the bands removed. ---
**Author:** ![torie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@torie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torie)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/35 "2004-02-08T06:03:30Z")
**GET OUT OF THE COCKPIT!!!** Huh huh You said c… **NOWWWW!!!** _Butthead looks from the missing TV, to the broken window, to the footprints leading out the broken window, from the missing TV to the broken window to the footprints, Missing TV, Broken window, Footprints, Missing TV, Broken Window, Footprints, Window, TV, window, footprints, tv window, footprints._ “Beavis, I think I just figured something out.” “What” “this sucks” Damn, I gotta go rent that movie. I was a freshman in High School packed in a theater with 100 other teenagers. It was one of the best nights I remember from high school. ---
**Author:** ![Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Second\_Star\_to\_the\_Right](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Second_Star_to_the_Right)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/36 "2004-02-08T06:58:15Z")
Female B&B fan checking in. I can’t explain the appeal or why I find them so hilarious. I guess it falls into the “so stupid it’s funny” category. Damn, I wish I had MTV2, I’m missing the marathon! ☹ One of my favorite moments from the movie: A rumpled looking Butthead, having just had a cavity search done by a female police officer: “Did I just score?” Heh. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/37 "2004-02-08T07:13:11Z")
The whole sequence at the white house was great. Beavis as Cornholio, wandering around, impersonating mutiple presidents. Staring at a painting of Nixon doing his famous double finger-V’s: “Are you Threatening me?” And of course, when Butthead gets knocked out of the window by Clinton’s Daughter, just to come face to face with about a dozen ATF agents wielding M-16’s. Butthead: “This is the coolest thing I have ever seen” ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/38 "2004-02-08T09:13:09Z")
MsRobyn - Hello, my name is DKW. It’s an honor to meet another person who does not think this stupid cartoon was pure gold. Don’t bother asking for explanations. I’ve asked three times on this board alond, and I still don’t have a clue as to how MTV could air a program with irritating chuckling, the continuous sledgehammering of the approximately 1,000,000,000 sexually related slang terms, uttery idiocy for utter idiocy’s sate, and and endless stream of gags (including the aforementioned slang terms) that stopped being funny for me at around, oh, kindergarten, with NO ONE IN THE UNIVERSE BESIDES ME EVER FINDING IT IRRITATING. The allure? It’s a hideous, dispiritng, incredibly hard on the eyes and ears morass which came around at a time when that just happened to be what a lot of people needed. You’ll notice that whenever you ask this question, a lot of responses are simply scenes quoted verbatim, or a bunch of "huh"s, or the tried-and-true assertion that “I find it funny!” You’re never going to get a satisfactory explanation…_because there is none_. They like mindless chuckling and crazy stunts and pain and hardship _just because_. If I had to come up with an explanation, my guess is that there’s a deeply-rooted human desire to cause unbridled suffering among others. To defile and destroy and hurt and ruin completely unchecked. Lord knows I’ve run into more than my share of these sociopaths, and I’m not so naive as to think that the responsibilities of adult life can change this mentality at all. (In the five months I’ve had my current job, no fewer than six people in my department have been discharged or forced to resign due to disciplinary problems.) Two complete losers go completely nuts, and nobody gives a damn because, well, they’re complete losers…if that isn’t the ultimate escapist fantasy, what is? Just a wild, weird phenomenon that somehow made everyone into a believer. Kinda like Dennis Rodman. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/39 "2004-02-08T11:19:10Z")
Huh huh. She said “Rod”. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000/40 "2004-02-08T16:21:10Z")
Wow. I think we all just got called sociopaths. I’ve had my entertainment choices criticized before, but never like that. Oh, wait, there’s a smiley. That means it’s perfectly ok! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-allure-of-beavis-and-butt-head/228000.md?page=3)