It would have been funny and really great satire IMO to have Kyle do well as Jew playing basketball. To have Cartman bet on Kyle BECAUSE Kyle’s a Jew and then when Kyle asks why, have Cartman tell him, “it’s because you’re a Jew and everybody knows that the one thing Jews love more that money is Round Ball.”
Real satire would have been having Kyle be REALLY good at Basketball because he was a Jew and Jews DOMINATED the sport at one time. That would’ve caused viewers like Hail Ants head to explode as he watched his 99% statistical “truth” crushed under the history of the sport…as he AND Kyle “learn” something.
But that would have required the boys from South Park avoiding going for the easy shot. I fail to see how feeding into sterotypes without ultimately showing them to be wrong, is considered great satire. Being “anti-PC” alone, is not satire.
Not every episode of South Park has well-done satire-- but the episodes that do often score points.
The episode about Mr. Garrison’s sex change was less about transgender reassignment than the notion that cosmetic surgery in general can miraculously cure people’s unhappiness with their sexual, racial, physical or transpecies identities. I’m hugely ambivalent about such surgeries myself, and taking such attitudes to the (il)logical extreme is a good way to explore such issues.
The parts about Mr. Garrison’s sex change focused on the fact that he’s a selfish, stupid, crude and bigoted loon-- NOT because he’s transgendered or gay, but because he’s a fucking nutbag. He didn’t even discuss his sex change with Mr. Slave! The funniest thing about this episode was the rest of the cast’s refusal to interact with him as he was going around misconstruing things: “I’m staying out of this.”
The soothing, seemingly benevolent cosmetic surgeon was shown to be a preying opportunist.
People who eat during South Park have but themselves to blame for the outcome.
Bravo, Scumpup. “Bob”'s greatest commandment was “Kill Me!”
We all miss you, Eve! But you gotta do what you gotta do. If I wasn’t such a slavering addict, I might do something similar. Of course, no one would miss me.
IMHO, South Park hasn’t been funny in about five years. Occasionally I’ll tune in because I kind of think I have to, but I’m always disappointed.
That sort of thing is the typical knee-jerk reaction, “obvious”, but in fact wrong. In this case “political correctness” is simply being educated. You misunderstand sexual identity (this is not just my opinion, how sexual identity is determined is something scientists have actually looked into). Your point about blacks being good at basketball is almost a meaningless statement. If you mean that blacks have some sort of unfair genetic advantage, then provide a cite for that. If you mean that there is no real advantage, but for some reason blacks excel in basketball, then I agree. Their advantage seems to be a byproduct of other opportunities not available for poor, black, urban youth.
Yes, I believe they’re trying to be satirical. I also believe that the sheer stupidity of it all ruins that attempt. Far better to attempt something intelligent and fail than go for the cheap and easy and succeed.
Really, it’s yet another reason I stopped watching television. There’s no longer even an attempt at true wit.
[ul][li]A sex change does NOT really make you a woman, but a disfigured man that sort of looks like one (it doesn’t change your genetics)[/li][li]That this whole ‘transgendered individuals rights’ thing is complete politically correct bullshit[/ul][/li][/QUOTE]
Oh, yes, thanks, Matt and Trey, for setting us back 25 years and making it OK to ignore all the scientific studies on transsexualism. I guess Colorado wasn’t big enough for Matt and Trey and those “surgically mutilated freaks” they hate so much. Exactly which of my “transgendered individuals rights” are bullshit, may I be so forward as to ask?
I find it incredibly disturbing that you’re willing to tar every person who lives in the Flyover States with the same brush. I’m from the Heartland, yes, about as much as you can get. However, I do actually prefer my television to be other than brain-numbing, I do like to consider social issues daily, and I don’t particularly care if the people who produce it are on the coast or not. Nor do I assume that the place where people live automatically determines their political views – as apparently, you do. I do NOT have a bigoted view against gay and transgendered people simply because I happen to live in the middle of Illinois. And shockingly enough, I’m not alone. Many other Midwesterners share these characteristics; many undoubtedly do not. People differ, regardless of their location. Moreover, Trey Parker and Matt Stone do not necessarily speak for all Midwesterners simply because they live in Colorado.
You’re taking a seriously offensive attitude, dude. Please have the freedom of mind to take people individually, on their own merits, rather than espousing the bigoted attitude yourself that Midwesterners are all the same – and an unenlightened, prejudiced same as well.
Sorry for the hijack, but this kind of crap really makes me mad.
/end hijack
I enjoy South Park most of the time. Sometimes their satire can be trenchant and funny; sometimes they miss the mark and manage mostly to be crude and offensive. I don’t think they mind either way, frankly. The person who called them “angry kids” is so right. They’re cruel but sometimes clever, and when they get things right, boy is it funny. And when they manage to offend, they do so completely.
The episode with Cartman edging across the stage naked, though? Gold.
“Hello. I’m Jonathan Chance and I’ve stopped watching television because it’s witless, sophomoric and pointless. And yet I must comment on a television episode I haven’t even seen because my uninformed opinion is pithy.”
I think people still really don’t get South Park.
They often pick the wrong side of an argument, just for the sake of showing how idiotic this stance is.
I haven’t seen this episode yet, but I think that instead of Parker and Stone making fun or insulting transsexuals, are making fun of people having these judgements.
I don’t know how to clearly express this, but I think they often play Devil’s advocate to show how stupid that Devil is.
I’m actually pretty surprised that pro-life Dopers wouldn’t find it brutally funny that liberal-cipher Mr. Garrison is excited about becoming a woman mainly so he can experience having an abortion. I admit on this episode I cold see the preachy moral coming a mile away, but it was still pretty amusing in the interim, and their point is at least worth considering in a satirical way.
There are generally two types of South Park episodes. The first are heavily satirical focusing on one issue and allowing the writers to convey a point that they want to. These are usually lame and decidedly unfunny (Child Abductio Is Not Funny). The second are the episodes that aren’t satirical and are generally just funny. (Bebe’s Boobs Destroy Society sans the last 5 minutes, Good Times With Weapons again sans the last 5 minutes and Casa Bonita.) From reading this thread it seems like this episode falls squarely in type 1 and as such was most likely not funny.
When furthur accused me of being racist, I can see his point. I think of this attitude of being prevalent in the heartland of America, but I am wrong. I believe this attitude exists, but the restraining it by definition to “Middle America" is stupid of me.
