South Park: Underappreciated For Too Long

Does anybody remember seeing the first episode of South Park in 1997? When the show first came out, I’ll admit, I thought the toilet humour was funny, but I didn’t think it would last. The animation was so poor, and the jokes were too immature. In fact, from 1997 to 2006, I don’t think I ever watched the show more than a few times.

Then, sometime last year, I happened to catch an episode late at night. I noticed that the show had evolved a lot; the humour had really grown up. Since then, I’ve become a really big fan of the show, and I’ve become more and more impressed with Stone & Parker’s ability to write really interesting episodes.

In fact, now I believe that South Park is one of the most intelligent shows ever produced. I recently watched a couple episodes from the current season, and I was shocked at how many layers of satire the show is able to pull off. Furthermore, the range of social/political commentary is simply baffling! I really like how the show takes neither a liberal nor a conservative stance (as opposed to Family Guy or the Simpsons, which tend to take a liberal stance). South Park’s conservative tinge gives it a unique edge, and it’s really refreshing.

By mocking the far left AND the far right, Stone & Parker make some really good points, and their messages usually make me rethink my opinions and positions, even on issues that I thought I’d considered even-handedly. I’m not saying I refer to the show for guidance – that would be crazy – I just think that the South Park has an interesting ability to put things in perspective, even on difficult matters such as religion.

Above all, South Park is about free speech. Only by mocking everybody EQUALLY, and sparing NO ONE, does free speech actually work. That is why South Park has openly mocked everyone and everything from gays, rednecks, terrorists, liberals, conservatives, christians, atheists, and environmentalists.

Because it doesn’t take long to animate, the show is also very topical. For example: in a recent episode, the prophet Mohamed was featured, but it was censored by Comedy Central. The very same episode had a scene with Jesus taking a crap on the American flag … and that was allowed. Stone & Parker knew this would happen, and they did it anyway to make a simple point: it’s wrong to censor one religion and not the other. I think that South Park’s message is an important one.

One of Kyle’s lines in that episode stuck out in my mind as being particularly brilliant: “Terrorism works by creating fear within a nation, but if you give into that fear, then you’re allowing terrorism to work.”

This is coming from the same kid who get’s farted on by Cartman and yells “You bastard!” every time Kenny dies. And yet, I think it is one of the most profound statements about the troubled post-9/11 American psyche.  If you’re one of those people who still thinks South Park is all about fart jokes and crappy animation, I suggest that you give the show another chance.

Because of these recent episodes, I wholeheartedly believe that this show has become the most sophisticated satire ever produced for television.