Blogger of the Year Captain Ed agrees with me that the new South Park episode (which airs again at 10:00 PM and midnight tonight on Comedy Central; if you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST!), is positively brilliant (warning: spoilers!). “South Park may be raunchy and tasteless,” Ed writes, “but it has become the bravest voice for freedom and common sense in modern entertainment.”
Ed thinks there won’t actually be a “Part 2″ to the allegedly two-part “Cartoon Wars” episode. I sincerely hope he’s wrong, but after canvassing general blogospheric opinion via Technorati, I see that he’s not the only one who suspects this. We’ll find out next Wednesday at 10pm. (Er, unless Comedy Central “pusses out.” Heh.)
Another thing I noticed via Technorati: a lot of people think this was “an episode about Family Guy,” and seem (somehow) to be missing the broader point. Yes, Family Guy was lampooned, and as this post points out (again - spoiler alert!), SP’s writers genuinely do have a thing against FG, apparently… but if you watched that episode and didn’t think it was “about” more than Family Guy… wow. In reality, it was satirizing about three or four different things at once, which is what made it so amazingly awesome, IMHO; it had multiple levels, or “layers,” like an onion or a donkey. :) But clearly, its central, overarching theme was the Mohammed cartoons and media self-censorship, not Family Guy.
Anyway, although most bloggers who posted about the episode liked it (well, except for offended Family Guy fans), CalPatriot thinks the Mohammed cartoon aspect is stupid. Personally, I don’t understand how you can assert with a straight face that “free speech needs no protection at its political epicenter” given all the recent developments involving the FCC, Scientology, media self-censorship in the wake of the Mohammad cartoons, and about a dozen other things I could mention. No, we’re not on the brink of losing our First Amendment rights, but there are some disturbing trends — most of them involving the principle of “free speech” rather than the legal right (indeed, of the three examples I cited above, only the FCC one involves state action) — which I think South Park points out wonderfully. Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s take on the the cravenness of the sellout media establishment, and the P.C. movement’s insistence on unquestioned obedience to the god of “sensitivity” and “tolerance,” rings absolutely true with me. Agree or disagree, I don’t think it’s fair to say that the episode had “no real point.”
Anyway, regardless of your take on the issue, or on South Park (and yes, the Virgin Mary episode was awful — mostly because it was simultaneously offensive and unfunny — but that doesn’t mean Parker and Stone aren’t also capable of sheer brilliance), you really ought to watch this episode, if only to be able to engage in informed water-cooler discussion (side note: does anyone actually talk around water coolers anymore?), because I guarantee this one is going to get a lot of attention. (And please, stick with the episode past Mr. Garrison’s “Muslim sensitivity training” class, which struck me as the most potentially offensive part. Myself, I thought that was pretty funny, but even if you don’t, the second two-thirds of the episode is most definitely worth your time.)
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Categories: South Park
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April 6th, 2006 at 8:03:19 am
Didn’t see the episode — stopped watching South Park after the first season — but just to let you know: yes, people still talk around water coolers. We have one in the break room (yet another anachronism?).
(Actually, it’s a break “cube”, but whatever.)
April 6th, 2006 at 9:37:56 am
My $0.02:
I personally think Stone and Parker are pure geniuses (last week’s hybrid car episode/smug city = BRILLIANT!!) and I am practically never offended by anything they do (including the virgin mary one. I thought it was pretty damn funny.)
I know the episode last night wasn’t really “about family guy” at all - but I have to say - I think Stone and Parker probably really like Family Guy. They were just poking a little fun at it - and come on, we all know that the jokes on FG are always interchangeable and make no contribution to the overall plot. (That’s part of its charm - that and the countless references. *Sidenote - Seth Macfarland is a genius as well.) The mere fact that it was CARTMAN who hated FG probably illustrates Stone & Parker’s opinion of the show - they seem to usually “side” with the opinions of Stan and Kyle, while using Cartman as the “devil’s advocate.”
But yeah - good stuff. Man I love that show.
April 6th, 2006 at 10:05:13 am
Why doesn’t www.Brendanloy.com publish Mohammed cartoons?
Think it would be a good way of using the blogoshphere for the preservation of the free speech ideal…
The SP episode was excellent, and I think that Trey and Matt have done a great job of confronting societies sacred cows and other foolish notions for many years.
April 6th, 2006 at 10:14:06 am
I think that niche is already filled… if you want to see the cartoons, Michelle Malkin (one of my fellow Blogger of the Year nominees :) has them.
April 6th, 2006 at 10:15:07 am
MAN, I initially assumed the same (that Stone and Parker like FG), but check out the link above — apparently they’ve been quoted in the past bashing the show. Of course, maybe the whole thing is a ruse, and they’re actually friends with Macfarland… who knows? Regardless, ’twas damn funny, and that’s all that really matters. :)
April 6th, 2006 at 10:23:31 am
FYI, just saw a news story on MSN that showed that South Park had just won a Peabody Award. You may want to google for the news story.
Missed the episode last night, but I’ll catch it tonight on the DVR.
April 6th, 2006 at 10:27:10 am
Remember, class:
No Sex
No Jacking Off
Sand
April 6th, 2006 at 10:45:07 am
thanks for the hat tip to the Virgin Mary episode. I agree on the parenthetical point. It’s not a double standard to find some of the social commentary funny or interesting but assert they can, in fact, go to far some times. I think Virgin Mary episode was evidence of a presumption on their part that pornographic shock value somehow guaranteed comedic gold on SP. Wrong.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:11:16 pm
I have seen the cartoons - first thing I did when I heard about the controversy months ago.
I saw the cartoons and thought that they were very mild as far as political / editorial cartoons go. Quickly I concluded [as anyone with an eighth grade education could] the point is not that the cartoons were bad; it’s an objection to them existing at all.
I want to boldly say that no one or group of people should be allowed to use fear [of violence or economic sanctions] to impose its ideology on another group. That would include Islam, but unfortunately also include democracy, women’s rights, environmental protection, intellectual property protections, the whales, etc.
The line is a tough one to draw - it’s easy for us to say that we should be allowed to make Mohammed cartoons, but should another country be allowed to reject democracy, denounce Israel, allow religious law to govern their country, execute their criminals, promote illiteracy, proscribe strict roles for men & women? As a country, we talk freedom for all people, but we practice ‘might makes right’. What is good for ‘the goose’ is clearly not good for ‘the gander’.
April 6th, 2006 at 12:18:11 pm
it’s easy for us to say that we should be allowed to make Mohammed cartoons, but should another country be allowed to reject democracy, denounce Israel, allow religious law to govern their country, execute their criminals, promote illiteracy, proscribe strict roles for men & women?
Umm, except that a private newspaper making Mohammed cartoons is not equivalent in any way to any of those things, all of which involve state action and only two of which are in any way a form of “speech” (denouncing Israel and promoting illiteracy). The line may be tough to draw, but it’s not that tough. There are clearly rational distinctins that can easily be made among the items you list.
April 6th, 2006 at 2:07:09 pm
I, personally, find South Park incredibly crude, distasteful, and sometimes goes too far. That said I agree with Brendan that they do a good job of promoting the ideas of freedom of speech and the potential pitfalls of censorship.
I also am glad that I’m not the only one who thinks Family Guy is really really dumb (I loved the Simpsons episode with Sideshow Bob in Italy and the plagarism reference).
April 6th, 2006 at 6:04:46 pm
Lines are only clear because you recognize the distinction between private and public ownership [and probably over-recognize it]. For most of the world, state owned / run assets are a way of life, and even if not state, public / private influence and relationships preclude most from entrepreneurial success. The median world citizen does not see the distinction between Denmark, its people, and its newspaper. If fact, most of those clowns protesting lump the US in with all that, clearly indicated by adding “Death to US” after the catchy “Death to Denmark” [Question for the grammar doorks, is that alliteration or consonance? What is the difference?].
April 6th, 2006 at 10:23:29 pm
SOUTH PARK AND CARTOON JIHAD
Longtime readers know I’m not a fan of South Park. But the e-mails I’ve been getting all day from South Park viewers about last night’s episode just might change my mind. John Noonan at The Officer’s Club watched it…
April 7th, 2006 at 7:24:32 am
Dan please laborate,
“You know, I’ve often thought that there were people who would rather take to the skies from the 90th floor of some American skyscraper, then ever be forced to admit that their liberal/politically correct fantasies were all wrong.”
I am not sure how these “people” you speak of made the decision that you speak of FUCK YOU I WAS THERE THAT MORNING AND I CANT DESCRIBE THE SOUND OF A HUMAN BEING HITTING THE GROUND LIKE THAT BECAUSE SOME FUCKING SOCIOPATH DECIDED THAT HIS “GOD” WANTED HIM TO KILL AMERICANS. WHERE IS THE POLITICAL STATEMENT IN, “DO I JUMP FROM 90 FLOORS OR BURN TO DEATH?” WAIT, I CAN JUMP BECAUSE I AM A LIBERAL AND IT WILL PROVE THE REPUBLICANS ARE WRONG. ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT MAKE ME HATE THAT WE HAVE FREE SPEACH BECAUSE YOUR THOUGHTS ARE PURE BULLSHIT!
April 7th, 2006 at 9:05:55 am
Um, Nebraska? I think you misunderstood Dan - I think his point about about jumping off a building had nothing to do with 9/11…I think what he meant is that given the choice of either jumping off a bulding or admitting your beliefs had been wrong all along, a Liberal would choose to jump of the building. Or something. anyhoo, it would have been less misleading had he said “bridge” instead of building, but whatever. Not to say I agree with his point, but I still don’t think it was about 9/11.
Or, maybe I’m wrong. If he did mean it to be about the people who died on 9/11, well then I retract everything I just said.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:07:13 am
Oh and BTW Russell, that’s alliteration you’re talking about (the use of repeating consonant sounds). Assonance is the use of repeating vowel sounds
April 7th, 2006 at 10:00:22 am
Much appreciated. What is it when you repeat sounds at the end of the words rather than the beginning? Is that just rhyming, or does it have a technical name as well?
April 7th, 2006 at 11:03:04 am
No, we’re not on the brink of losing our First Amendment rights”… That is not the point. The First Amendment is a frame - but is there being established a frame within the frame ? That was the question (exactly) that the Danish news paper posed.
Do we censor ourselves out of decency and respect or for another reason ?
April 7th, 2006 at 11:43:05 am
Hey dude great article! Ihappened to love the Bloody Mary episode. The bleeding was more of the subplot to the larger idea of society becomeing a culture of victims. (Stan’s father kept blaming alcohol for his problems). Oh and big point to make here: It’s Misses Garriosn NOT Mister Garrison! He has a vagina now. When you review the episode please not the earings and breast implants.
April 7th, 2006 at 12:35:48 pm
Starr
If you are right the I will make sure I will apologize to Dan immediately!
I may have taken his comments about jumping from a 90th floor sky scraper wrong but 9/11 is what came to mind and the subject is a sore one for me, personally as to the reasons stated.
April 7th, 2006 at 2:00:36 pm
You know, I’ve often thought that there were people who would rather take to the skies from the 90th floor of some American skyscraper, then ever be forced to admit that their liberal/politically correct fantasies were all wrong.
As opposed to the conservatives whose fantasies are all wrong and who will delude themselves to near insanity rather than admit they are wrong? Yeah cause its only a liberal problem.
April 7th, 2006 at 5:44:28 pm
South Park vs. Cartoon Jihad
Comedy Central ha appena trasmesso un episodio di South Park destinato a far discutere per settimane. Questa puntata dello show di Trey Parker e Matt Stone (la prima di due parti) è centrata su una parodia della controversia nata intorno alla pubblic…
April 7th, 2006 at 9:21:30 pm
I saw the show. I don’t know if there is going to be a part II (The true South Park fans remember the debacle after the infamous “Cartman’s Mom Is A Dirty Slut” incident in the first and second seasons), but I really hope there is. When it ended, my first reaction was, “COME ON!”
So I will be patiently waiting to see if there is a part two to this one. But I thought it was brilliant, and “South Park” has matured quite a bit in its humor over the years. Using the show to comment on more political issues over the years, it has proven to be the voice of showing ridiculousness on the far end of both sides of the aisle. Hell, they won an Emmy for the first time last year for the “Best Friends Forever” episode, and recently got a Peabody Award. So people are noticing.
April 8th, 2006 at 4:32:18 pm
I haven’t read through all the posts, but to whoever said that Parker and Stone don’t really hate FG, they actually do hate FG. What Cartman was saying (everyone thinks its my kind of humor, its not, my jokes relate to the plot, etc) in the episode was almost the exact same thing Parker and Stone said about FG in an interview they did a while back. They’ve hated FG for a while and finally they worked their hatred for FG into an episode
April 12th, 2006 at 11:11:47 am
I think that you are really missing the point on the Virgin Mary episode. Sure it was tasteless and raunchy, which is what you will often get from South Park. The Virgin Mary part of the plot wasn’t terribly funny either, though I think that it was a commentary on religious beliefs. However, what was brilliant and funny was the other and, I think, primarly subplot revolving around alcoholism as a disease over which Stan’s father is powerless. As a psychiatrist, I believe that this point of view is nonsense. The Virgin Mary subplot provided a mechanism by which to prove that this was nonsense, and it was brilliant.
April 12th, 2006 at 11:38:29 am
I thought the alcoholism aspect of the episode was entirely overdone to the point of adding to the episode’s overall offensiveness. It’s one thing to point out that the “powerlessness” idea is nonsense, but it’s another to contend that alcoholism isn’t a disease at all, which the episode did. What will they “teach” us next, that depression isn’t real and people who feel bummed just need to go outside and take a walk? I have no problem with South Park pushing the envelope (obviously), but when you combine a flawed “message” with an unusually offensive manner of delivering that message, what you get is one of the worst episodes ever, IMHO.
So, you’re wrong. I didn’t “miss the point.” I just disagree with you.
That said, I don’t think Comedy Central ought to have pulled it, unless the executives genuinely thought it deserved to be pulled (in which case, why did they air it in the first place?). They’re gutless if they merely pulled it because of public pressure. I find the episode offensive, so my remedy is to not watch it the next time it airs. Problem solved.
April 13th, 2006 at 1:46:48 am
I got the Video clip over at www.savethesoldiers.com…check it out if you havnt seen it…
April 13th, 2006 at 11:13:20 pm
But did comedy central really puss out or was that the episode doing that???
April 14th, 2006 at 7:17:16 pm
Sign the Petition to demand Comedy Central shows Muhammad
Come and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/ccentral/ :
To: Comedy Central
We, the South Park fans and freedom lovers of the world, demand that Comedy central re-air the South Park episode “Cartoon Wars II” with the image of the prophet (sic) Muhammad (also spelled Mohammad) uncensored.
Please announce this petition everywhere