“Being Evel” Shows Dark Side Of Famous Snake River Canyon Jump
"Being Evel" is a documentary about the life of Evel Knievel made by Johnny Knoxville and it goes into great detail about the failed jump attempt of the Snake River Canyon and the dark side of many things that happened in Twin Falls in the weeks leading up to the event.
I grew up idolizing Evel Knievel. I watched virtually every jump on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I had the doll - although I prefer to call it an action figure - and lunch box. However, I saw the sanitized version of Evel Knievel. The Snake River Canyon event in Twin Falls included many criminal activities that were never publicized to the rest of America much before now.
The "Being Evel" documentary goes into the seedy elements that came to Twin Falls including biker gangs, drugs, rape, etc. Evel's treatment of the town and the media leading up to the jump were more than a little uncomfortable to watch since I thought Evel Knievel was a hero when I was a kid.
Watching "Being Evel" helped me better understand why many in Twin Falls are not excited about the possibility of someone trying to recreate the jump. Regardless if you lived in Twin Falls during the historic 1974 jump or not, you owe it to yourself to rent the movie on iTunes or catch it on History Channel as it's been airing there off and on for the past few days.