Well, in the past, I have discussed Episodes of South Park I thought had a negative message. I like occasional episodes, and I loved the movie, but lately it just seems to be getting nastier, and nastier. Some have said the goal is to offend everyone, but it feels like some of the episodes are funny in regards to one side, and just plain nasty to another.
Now, I have tried starting threads about this in the past, but they contained long, rambling paragraphs from me, and, with one or two exceptions, contained nothing but comments that I am not seeing South Park for what it really is. Perhaps those people are right, but I don’t think so. Recently, a blogger has written a book, entitled, “South Park Conservatives : The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias by Brian C. Anderson” (Hint: read the disclaimers/reader’s reviews.) Now, I believe that “the liberal media” is a bugaboo, invented by conservatives to make them seem like the downtrodden, as opposed to those actually downtrodden, and I hate that I am recommending a book by someone who believes that such a thing exist. However, the fact he is able to see the bias I see in SP, (which does not stand for, Something Positive, btw. ) says volumes for the fact I am not alone in seeing this. I will quote from the author, but first, here is my own feeling, summarized. The view points of SP writers Trey Parker, and Matt Stone seem, in my view to be “There are some points in which we can agree with liberals, but for the most part, they are leading this country down the wrong path.” I think such a viewpoint is scary.
I’m just wondering when folks are going to stop trying to tell me that in 2005 bureaucracy and government red-tape is somehow connected to liberal politics.
The media, as a whole, is only biased towards whatever will make it money.
Individual programs, however, can and often do lean in specific directions. The Daily Show has a liberal bias. South Park has a pretty strong anti-Liberal, vaguely libertairan bias.
Both shws are worth watching and don’t often let their ideology overcome thier quality.
I’m confused by this. Wasn’t South Park the show that a few weeks back had Satan “Do what we always do… use the Republicans”? To indicate that it has a hatred against liberals, but doesn’t say anything against conservatives is kind of silly. I mean didn’t you remember the “Big Gay Al” episodes?
And, of course, some think that viewpoint is right spot on. I’d also think if someone wrote the same quotation and replaced liberals with conservatives, a lot of people would see South Park as advocating that view as well.
I mean Matt and Trey are, supposedly, libertarians. Therefore, they hate both parties.
::Putting on mod hat, stolen on his behalf by Teh Cheat::
Now, hold on now. In case you haven’t noticed, this is the media forum, and not the pit. I do not like such a non-argument as RikWriter has put forth, but that means you should attack his argument, as Miller has done, not the person.
No, of course not! I am talking about the documentary, which takes recording of the voices of real conversation of resident of South Park, Colorado, and animates caricature of said people. :rolleyes:
If by “independent bodies” you mean “right-wing think-tanks,” then you’re right, Rik. But then, you’re the guy who thinks Jeff Gannon is an innocent victim hounded by the lefty media, which speaks for itself…
As for the OP, the only South Park that I see regularly is the movie, which IMO is an equal-opportunity offender. Academic analysis of pop culture is generally a waste of time IME.
It looks like I lost a side bet. Unless my luck turns around, I only have another 9 minutes for a certain Grant character to come in here and start posting in UPPER CASE LETTERS
Well, it’s quite possible that I misinterpreted some of those ramblings in past threads, but it sounded like you were complaining that they weren’t picking on both sides in EACH episode.
They don’t pick on only the liberals (which people have pointed out time and time again), but they certainly don’t balance it out so that every single episode picks on everybody equally. (and so what?) One week they might rag on a liberal position, cause, or well-known figure. Another week they may pick on a Republican position, cause, or well-known figure.
Menocchio is right, though – if the show leans in any direction, it’s more Libertarian than anything.
Here’s a bit from a recent episode, the one that parodied the Terry Schiavo issue. Kenny is in a vegetative state, and the feeding tube has been removed. Heaven needs him to die, so that he can help them stop an attack from Satan’s armies. Satan is talking with a shadowy underling/accomplice (Kevin):
Satan: The feeding tube has been pulled! If the child dies and his soul returns to Heaven, God will have his Keanu Reeves. Kevin: Perhaps the child won’t die in time. Satan: Forget it, I’m calling the attack off. Kevin: No! Keep your army marching, my lord. I will get that feeding tube put back in! Satan: How? Kevin: I will do what we always do. Use the Republicans.
scene switches to parody of probably Tom DeLay, giving a speech in Washington D.C., and the demon guy is whispering in his ear, telling him what to say *
Gosh. Yep. Sounds like they only rip on the liberals, all right. Implying that Satan and the forces of evil are controlling and working through the Republicans is… well… it must be some secret way of ripping on ONLY the liberals that I’m still trying to figure out… :rolleyes:
Naw, I wasn’t saying that each episode should have a fair and balanced view, with equal time given to both sides. No, that is a kind of rhetoric I see used by republicans. In that thread, I was annoyed that the writers seemed to be lying about certain issues, period. The one that sticks in my mind the most was the one where the doctor was willing to change the bodies of anyone he met, which just seemed to be slamming the process under which a transsexual person transitions, as well as claiming all trans. are mistaken in changing their genders. If that episode was the only thing a person saw about transexuality, they are likely to get a bizarre concept of transexuality. I do not see a way I could advocate that they add an episode about a positive transitioned man or women, but I can’t without being accused of trying to censor them, so I suppose that the answer would be to wish they realized that gender issues have been slammed enough. Since they didn’t I can only assume that Parker and Stone think transsexuals are freaky.
You misunderstood the episode. It was making fun of MR. GARRISON and how sick he was. Unless you think that Parker and Stone don’t like gays (because Garrison did some fucked up stuff when he was a gay man). And if you’ve watched TV, you also know there are some unscrupulous plastic surgeons that’ll make you into whatever you want (one really distasteful one is, IIRC, on MTV where teens/early 20s get plastic surgery so they could look exactly like their celebrity idol).
I don’t really get “libertarian” from Parker and Stone. I get more anarcho-capitalist or something. Basically their attitude is, “If I’m doing okay, then nothing should be changed.”
We all know that F.D.R. invented bureaucracy. Before that, the government ran perfectly smoothly.
And, of course, the licensing of automobiles is a liberal policy that no mainstream politician would ever support. (It’s in my copy of the manifesto, between requiring members of the military to dress uniformly and making painting white and yellow lines on paved streets a government monopoly.)
Uh, no he didn’t. It was the most vicious anti-transsexual diatribe I have ever seen, and I’ve seen some doozies.
I stopped watching the show after that—why the hell should I watcha “comedy” that depresses me and pisses the hell out of me? I got enough aggravation.
Well, yeah, I was one of those debaters. Now, I understand Mr. Garrison is a freak, and a repressed homosexual, but to show the writers don’t hate gay people, we have Big Gay Al. He is a pretty nice person. I see no positive example of a transsexual, so a casual viewer may assume that Mr. Garrison is a good example of transexuality.
Yes, in the episode Red Hot Catholic Love, the writers, speaking through the kids, claimed that atheism is “full of shit”, and while religion may be appear to be full of shit, for some nonspecific reason, it is better then no religion at all, since without religion in peoples lives, they’ll just go around spewing a bunch of crap out of their mouths. :mad:
Also, well, I can’t remember the details right now, but it contained a strawman, wherein the 200 election recount was made to sound like a bunch of whiners who wanted recount after recount of the election, till them some how won, instead of what it really was, an automatic record due to Florida state law. :mad:
Remember when Mr. Garrison was trying to get fired so he could sue the school for discrimination? He and Mr. Slave started doing more and more outrageous sexual things in hopes that the school would fire him, and he was extremely frustrated by their exaggerated level of tolerance.
It made me wonder, what point were the creators trying to make here? That our society is too tolerant of homosexuality? Are they seriously suggesting that we let gays get away with too much in this country? I very much doubt that they really think that, but it would’ve been easy to come away from that episode with that impression.
South Park is just a stupid cartoon that’s occasionally funny. What annoys me is when people start talking about what genius it is, and OMG what brilliant satire! It’s nothing of the kind. It doesn’t take a genius to shock people, just a lot of guts. Strip away the shock-value, and South Park is nothing.
