South Park’ Review: Intentionally Funny….But Controversial

4 boys bring light on ongoing issues in a confusing yet humorous way.

Above: Eric Cartman Posing As Hitler In Season 8 Episode 3

Below: Portrayal Of Celebrities Season 14 Episode 5

By: Melanie Rodriguez

Published May 9th

• South Park Director For Season 8 Episode 3 And Season 14 Episode 5 Trey Parker.
• Dark Comedy, Satire, Animation, Surreal Humor, Television Comedy.

      South Park is an American sitcom that shows society in a humorous way while also bringing controversy. South Park has been running since 1997, 25 years, which shows that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are doing something right. This show happens to be brutal at times as it nitpicks at certain celebrities or religions which is very serious to most, for example Season 8 Episode 3 and Season 14 Episode 5.

In Season 8 episode 3, we’re provided with the 4 protagonists of the show which consists of children named Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Eric. Kyle, who happens to be the only jewish kid there, is always picked on by Eric Cartman who is a christian. In reality this is how it really is, religions picking on each other and pointing fingers on what is “wrong” and what is “right”. 

But Trey Parker crafted this episode in a sarcastic, humorous, and controversial way. The Passion which was created by Mel Gibson is what made this whole episode. Not in a good way. Trey Parker had the obvious intentions of making fun of the film in a sarcastic way by making the jewish kid watch the movie and feel guilt for his jewish heritage. The Passion is a movie that portrays Jewish people as cruel and savage to uplift the image of Jesus. 

The highlight of the episode was making Eric Cartman as Hitler and making him hail Mel Gibson for the film and have other christians who loved the film as well repeat words in German language that goes against Jews. Is this pretty offensive? Yes. But was it smart to include this child as Hitler? Also yes. Of course others would disagree as Hitler was no good for jewish people as he was a mass murderer who did mass genocide. But it is obvious that the creators just wanted it to be a metaphor.

“The Passion of the Jew could be considered both. Packaged with two other religion-themed episodes, the show mercilessly pokes fun at the furor incited by the film-on both sides. “If you want to be Christian, that’s cool,” Stan tells Mel Gibson after demanding his movie money back. “But you should follow what Jesus taught instead of how he got killed.””(R,D). 

Indeed this episode was humorous but did contain boring and bewildered scenes when including Mel Gibson and portraying him as a maniac. It could’ve been left out as it didn’t do much of a difference to the plot. And the portrayal of him was a tad bit cringe. 

Moving onto another example on nitpicking at religion and celebrities, Season 14 Episode 5 is top tier. If it’s deleted off the web and companies refuse to include it onto their sites, you can see what this is already leading us into. This episode has been banned as it portrayed the Islamic prophet, Muhhamad, in a negative way. Muhhamad remains to be censored when he is shown in this sitcom. 

It is understood that the portrayal of political leaders and religions are the main topic of this sitcom but it was unnecessary. It doesn’t make sense to have Tom Cruise and an Islamic leader to be connected in any shape or form. Not only that, but to have Tom Cruise pose as a big spiritual leader that is on the same level as a prophet including Jesus is insane.

As much as the creators want to poke fun at real life issues, it should be done differently. Differently meaning, having it makes sense in a way that people can see the connection and understand what is being brought to our attention but this Tom Cruise based episode didn’t do it for anyone. 

It was foolish, absurd, and ignorant. It is obvious that this episode would create an uproar as it didn’t do any good for the image of Tom Cruise and most importantly Muhhamad. Due to this episode both creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have been warned and threatened by an Islamic group. 

“”South Park,” the Comedy Central series, is an animated show that tries its best to push buttons and the boundaries of free speech by mocking every high-profile target in sight, from Hollywood celebrities to religious figures. But its creators may have gotten more than they bargained for with two recent episodes that satirized the Prophet Muhammad — one that elicited an ominous message from an Islamic group based in New York, and one that was censored by the cable network that shows it.”(I,D). 

Although receiving this backlash and many more, the creators don’t seem phased as they continue to portray people the same way and still nitpick political,spiritual, and many other leaders. The creators are not afraid of what’s coming to them and the problems that can possibly happen to them due to this show’s portrayal of people, which is why this sitcom remains top tier on my list. No matter what, there’ll always be a serious topic that South Park will never fail to add humor in. Sometimes it may not be humorous for some people but the good outweighs the bad in my opinion and that’s all that matters. 

Works Cited

Ross, Dalton. “Like a Prayer. By: Ross, Dalton, Entertainment Weekly, 10490434, 9/3/2004, Issue 781.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, 3 Sept. 2004, web-s-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=8b30ea8f-d646-4341-9134-12a49817c68d%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3D%3D#AN=14356906&db=ulh. Accessed 09 May 2023. 

Itzkoff, Dave. “‘South Park’ episode altered after Muslim group’s warning.” New York Times, 23 Apr. 2010, p. C3(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A224668704/OVIC?u=cuny_ccny&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=a4b6eb80. Accessed 9 May 2023.