“South Park” has always been a hard show for the public to fully diagnose and appreciate. Even in the midst of its 16th season, from an outward appearance, “South Park” just appears to be a crudely animated, toilet humor-ridden show featuring a group of kids with sailor mouths. This isn’t completely wrong, because at its essence, “South Park” is a crudely animated, toilet humor-ridden show featuring kids with sailor mouths. But if you look past its first impression, you will realize this vulgar cartoon is one of the funniest, most ingenious and best sources of rapid-fire satire we have in today’s media.
The success of “South Park” is largely due to its two creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The duo produces episodes that the rest of the media industry wouldn’t dream of doing. For example, they are brave enough to try to show the Muslim prophet Muhammad on television in order to showcase the importance of freedom of speech, and then the next week show an episode about a towel getting over a drug addiction, “Intervention” style, all while South Park’s resident handicapped kids are competing at a summer camp in a parody of the “Looney Tunes” characters, Rocky and Mugsy.
Their audacity, along with a general disregard for what others think, is part of the reason the show is, at times, so beloved. When the show first came out, critics complained that it was just a poorly animated cartoon that relied too much on toilet humor. Parker and Stone responded by making the kids on “South Park” often watch the “Terrence and Phillip Show,” which was two really poorly drawn animated characters that only ever made fart jokes. Since then, Terrance and Phillip have become mainstays on the show and even were heavily featured in the first “South Park” movie.
While not completely free of controversy, the main reason “South Park” is able to take on any sensitive topic they want is because of how impartial Parker and Stone are. They are equal opportunists; they parody everything and everyone, with no topic being off-limits. And because they make fun of everything and everyone, you can’t be mad at the show for making fun of something in which you belong or believe.
For example, one topic often parodied is religion. You can’t get mad if you are a Christian watching the show and seeing them make fun of Christians because they have also parodied Judaism, Catholicism, Scientology, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, atheism and agnosticism.
Liberals and conservatives over the years have tried to claim the show and creators as their own, only to watch Al Gore become obsessed with the idea of hunting a “man-bear-pig” or see Glenn Beck’s commentary mocked to absurd topics such as the liberal agenda to “kill smurfs.”
Unlike most shows on television, each episode of “South Park” is produced and written one week before it comes on air. This quick schedule may seem more chaotic than productive, but it allows Parker and Stone to spoof current news, making each episode have a relevancy that no other show can match. Most famously, “South Park” once showed an episode showing a ridiculous aftermath of Obama winning the presidential election literally the day after he won, including containing samples of Obama’s speech following his win.
Even in its 16th season, “South Park” is still as funny and creative as ever. Last week’s episode was a clever satire of the over-the-top security measure by the TSA at airports and the difference in men’s and women’s bathroom etiquette all through the use of how people sit on the toilet (apparently, we have been using it wrong, as you are supposed to sit inward toward the toilet since you don’t have to turn around to push the handle to flush, and you have a place to put your books or drink). It’s a perfect combination of what “South Park” does best: a clever parody combined with outrageous toilet humor. I look forward to seeing what Parker and Stone come up with next and continue to enjoy their outrageous style of satire for the next couple years.
