Too many people seem to think that portraying something is the same thing as supporting it, completely missing the point of satire. They lack the media literacy to realize that critiques can be conveyed through characters and stories in a nuanced way.
South Park parodies a lot of things, sometimes by showing something simply as what it is. Some characters are meant to be disliked. For example, when Cartman is a douchebag, but he’s not meant to be a “good guy” to model yourself after. He’s a caricature of a self-centered bigot, and in being that, is used to lampoon others like him.
The show has had some bad takes. The whole “ManBearPig” scenario comes to mind. Thankfully, the creators came around to admitting they were very, very wrong in that case. In my opinion, such bad episodes are rare, with most providing cultural commentary in a way that turns them into time capsules reflecting various moments in our world.
With that said, it’s okay to not like it. Not every show is going to appeal to everybody, especially a show that makes it a point to poke fun at almost everyone. Though one group they don’t make fun of is disabled people - they show disabled characters as normal people, getting into their own hijinks the way all the other kids do. Instead, the creators make fun of those who’d rather infantilize disabled people and hide them away, like way back when Timmy was introduced and was in a band. Le Petite Tourette explained Tourette’s Syndrome honestly, with Cartman’s abuse of the situation being standard Cartman behavior (that backfired on him beautifully.)
Shutting people out who see the nuance is a naive take. I wouldn’t go out of my way to sell the show to such people, but if they can’t see that the show has far more hits than misses, well, they’re the ones missing out.
It’s fine if OOP hates South Park. It’s a divisive show. However, dark humor is indeed a valuable thing. Yes, sometimes assholes call sexism, racism, homophobia (etc) “dark humor” in an attempt to excuse what they know is wrong, but that doesn’t mean that the concept of dark humor is flawed.
Dark humor is often used to mock and/or point out hypocrisy. Sometimes it deliberately makes us uncomfortable. We should always reflect on ourselves and our culture as a whole. That’s a vital part of becoming a better person.
If OOP chose to “mute” me for expressing that opinion, I don’t think I’d be missing much.
Dark humour aside, what the aim really is, is to hold up a mirror to issues the mass populous takes for granted, after slow drip erosion of societally accepted rights. It’s a fight back against the mass media and thier ilk, beating you about the head with “these people are bad because…” so you go along with hunting them down, but really they’ve found a convenient way to remove YOUR rights, or distract you into not noticing something egregious they’ve done. We become desensitised to things, and south park rips that bandage off fast and painfully, by design. They show you the things you have become desensitised to, in massively parodied, over the top, over exaggerated version, so you see through your former brain washing or desensitisation. If you don’t pay attention, you don’t notice the messages always pointing out how egregious the thing actually is. I would suggest, if you have that opinion, you’ve never actually really watched south park.
And really none of us should talk from a bias, we should employ critical thinking and inform ourselves fully, before making definitive statements. So, go watch… I’ll bet you change your mind.
I think the only unifying theme to South Park is that everything can be funny.
I would say that generally the characters with the least power are treated in the most sympathetic way, though, and those with the most power are painted with the worst brush.
They do have a sense of good and evil, but also acknowledge that evil is often given free reign because good people have a hard time organizing and gaining consensus as to what needs to be done about it.
Honestly, this.
No one is above reproach and they stay on the pulse.
However, I find the humor dated. It’s like if Jim Carrey did 30 sequels to Ace Ventura.
The one thing they do is skewer pomp and pretension. They are the guys at a dinner party who say “everybody poops so why can’t we talk about it?” Or will ask the minister about his sex life if he asks about their relationship to God.
It can be genuinely stupid and annoying sometimes because it’s a blunt instrument. They assume that everything is fine and that anyone passionate about a cause is a misguided idiot.
I think some of the episodes have put light on things that need it. Scientology spring to mind.
“if someone disagrees im muting them” is the cry of someone i dont need to hear anything from
Ok, so when trying to explain it. You will mute me… Great start of the convo ;-)
It’s pretty dated. It had its moment, but it’s legacy entertainment at this point.
Incorrect. I think south park is funnier now than I did as a teenager. Even the old episodes.
I would generally agree that their best episodes are well behind them, but they still produce some amazing moments. I recently rewatched the Pandemic Special, and it’s hands-down the best mainstream media I’ve seen in terms of encapsulating what living through the pandemic as a general member of the public actually felt like.
Watching this most recent season I got the impression that they were trying (and not just dialing it in), but were fighting the same problem that all satirists are right now: that reality has surpassed satire in its absurdity (although their plotlines about POTUS being equivalent to Saddam Hussein and Jesus himself falling into the manosphere certainly implied this predicament). If nothing else, it’s good to see a show that for a long time would have aligned itself with “free speech absolutists” fighting against them instead, not because they’ve abandoned free speech, but rather because of all the other baggage that side now carries.
These guys are already so super rich, I just don’t see the point of beating your beloved creation into the ground ruining it’s legacy but it’s not my business I guess.
Because they enjoy doing it. Look at the number of musical performers who keep going long after their cultural moment has passed. Hell I know people who keep playing and writing and painting even though no has ever paid attention.
I suppose, they just have been doing it so long that it didn’t seem like an art anymore, but it still is commercial as it may be. I would just be supremely bored but they are obviously not so good for them. I make music mostly for myself as well nowadays.
Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature. There are a lot of albums of his I’d consider unlistenable. I don’t think he cares what I think. He doesn’t care what the Nobel committee thinks either since he didn’t show up.
His lyrics have always been on point though, sure I think that’s generally true of most musicians, at least successful ones, to listen to your muse and not care. Or any artist for that matter. I suppose in my mind I am separating what I feel is a overrated cartoon from other art we’re talking about. That’s just my opinion. Bob Dylan also cared about things, the whole I’m so cool I don’t care about anything crap is so old, and lazy.
I disagree that it’s on point for most musicians. Vehemently
Humm, I suppose I can’t speak for them, I put myself through a hell when my loving creations went basically unnoticed, but that is because they were from my heart and not something I was trying to make popular or a copy of something else I guess. A lot of music is made to be popular, of course, or throwaway sometimes, so you’re right I spoke too soon. I do that sometimes, thank you for your reply and insight.
What I know about South Park:
- Its creators are libertarians
- There’s an episode which may have promoted climate change denialism
- The show may have also contributed to ‘both sides same’ idiocy
Doesn’t seem like my cup of tea tbh.
That was in the past though, they’ve changed tune since then.
In other words: Made lotta money -> went to the libertarian right -> got into hot water because they ofended rightwing nuts -> one step back to the left.
Edit: To those that downvote me, I am not one of the creators of South Park, wtf.
Not encouraging you to watch it, but this…
The show may have also contributed to ‘both sides same’ idiocy
Is kind of hilarious. I’m going to assume this is because of douche vs turd (aired 2004). It does mock both parties, but do you honestly think that the democrats never put out a bad candidate? Do you even remember who ran for dems in 2004 without looking it up? Don’t you think it’s an actual problem that most of the time a lot of people don’t actually like the candidates?
There is a deep problem in American politics, so a comedy show makes fun of it. And you turn around and blame the show for causing the problem. To be honest it is absolutely no surprise that your country is going to shit.
And just to clarify:
When Obama won, most adult characters that people like were celebrating for days. Like continuously.
When Trump ran the first time, they mocked him by replacing him with an awful existing character who ran on the platform of literally fucking all immigrants to death and had no idea what he was doing. Hilary was just… kind of shit. It’s incredibly obvious: one is awful, the other is uninspiring. Like real life where she actually managed to lose.
And in the most recent season they went harder against Trump than they ever have about a politician. He spent most of it cheating on his wife with literal Satan and trying to abort the baby with the help of Peter Theil.
In contrast, they didn’t even mock Biden as far as I recall?
Sorry to say you’ve been misled by someone who has another reason to dislike the show (or more likely, who also hasn’t watched the show)
To be fair, trump did lose the popular vote by 2% his first term. He also said he cheated the second time, I believe him.
Lol but only winning the popular vote by 2% against a patently idiotic, unqualified pedophile and rapist seems like a disaster on its own.
Since when was believing him a good idea? I think without some substantial evidence, the 2024 election deniers are just like the 2020 election deniers. We should absolutely look into it. But no evidence is no evidence any way you cut it.
Everyone points out that Kamala got no votes in a specific (NY?) county but it’s a religious community that is basically told how to vote by religious leaders. This is only from memory so feel free to correct/provide further evidence
You don’t know very much, then. You have no idea if it’s your cup of tea… And that’s OK too, lotsa media out there. Can’t watch it all.
Sure, but, if I recall, Gore was mocked for being afraid of man-bear-pig, their stand-in for Climate Change, but later man-bear-pig showed up started killing people, which is the show’s mea culpa.
Two of the hallmarks of both sides media is they never admit they were wrong and they invariably serve their power structure while pretending to be independent thinkers. Examples of this are the entire foreign policy establishment that cheerled the obviously disastrous Iraq war (while anyone against the obviously disastrous Iraq war was drummed out for not being serious), and Ezra Klein’s recent turnaround on Israel due to “new facts” from 60 years ago that he just learned (coinciding with a massive drop in Israel’s popularity and masterminding an obviously disastrous Iran war).
South Park admits they were wrong and they absolutely go up against power structures, so I throwing them in the “both sides” propaganda apparatus bucket is just wrong.
You don’t need to politically agree with every joke you enjoy
I’m not going to discuss or argue about that statement about a show which I haven’t watched and don’t feel like watching (because what I know about it and its creators).
Am I misunderstanding? What is the point of a comment saying you won’t discuss it.
They’re just upset someone posted their tweet on here.
You have formulated opinions about the show that are clearly based on someone else’s opinions, and then admit exactly that but aren’t willing to discuss it. You would’ve been better off driving right by this post.
It’s amazing how butthurt sp fans are. If anything you guys are proving me right for not watching that shite.
I don’t consider myself a fan. Just someone that catches episodes here and there, especially now because they’re almost all pointing out how unhinged conservatives have become.
Wow, an outdated oversimplification and two “may haves” to sum up a show with almost 340 episodes (plus 2 full, plot-heavy video games and a feature film) over the last 3 decades.
Seems like your ‘cup of tea’ would be better described as a Dixie cup of lukewarm tap water with a single, uncut lemon seed. All those other flavors like Chai, Oolong, or Earl Grey? Nah, those are WAYYY too spicy and scawy! Heaven forbid you go out and ask an actual fan–or Hell, anyone who’s seen even one episode–instead of lightly skimming the Controversies section of their Wikipedia page
Nah. Fuck south park and fuck its fan base.
Is your username a portal reference? Because from what I’ve heard that game is super fucking sexist. It’s like a misogyny simulator, right? Chell constantly getting insulted for her weight and intelligence by some machine probably programmed by a man. How could someone be so sexist as to even like that game?
That is what you sound like talking about South Park.
Ah yes, the tried and tested “LALALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING LALALALALA” defense. Truly a classic
U mad?
