South Park as Parody of Society Essay

South Park is a fictionalized animated account of a group of grade school friends who live in Colorado. The show is what’s known as an equal opportunity offender. It takes no prisoners when it comes to stereotypes of religion, sex, race and gender. An abundance of sociological concepts and social issues are present. Since its start in 1989 it has taken on social issues with unparalleled bravery, one of them gender. Many episodes pit the guys against the girls and the battle of the sexes and break-ups ensue. In the episode “Marjorine,” a male character named Butters infiltrates a girl’s sleepover to retrieve a device that tells the future (it’s really just a paper fortune teller) and hilarity and social high jinks ensue. He has to endure

When was the last time you experienced a good laugh? Maybe you were watching a show, reading a book, or even hanging out with friends. Either way you were probably observing, comedy. Which in literary terms is a genre of literature that is created in a humorous nature for a purpose of making people laugh. A television show that can be categorized as a comedy is Parks and Recreation. The show is about a crew members that work in a parks department for the government in a small town called Pawnee, Indiana. The main characters consist of Leslie Knope who later in the show marries Ben Wyatt. April ludgate who later marries Andy. Ron Swanson, Donna, Tom, and Garyy. They all work together trying to make the city of Pawnee a better place. They play pranks on eachother, but also have strong friendly bonds.

Satirical comedy is a form of aggressive humor that attacks its target from a sense of outrage and with hope of some reform. In contrast, transgressive humor has no such moral desire. Transgressive humor does not expect or desire change and is childish in nature. Though not in its nature, transgressive humor does have the ability to playfully criticize ignorance, prejudice or stereotypes. Such is the case in the most successful, transgressive comedy based show to date, South Park. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park is a half-hour show, purposefully animated poorly, and focuses on the adventures of four nine-year old boys in a small, redneck mountain town. The boys, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny, constantly abuse each other, invoking racist and

The creators of the comedic South Park television series are often overzealous in their stereotypical portrayals of characters and commentary on social issues. However, in doing so they provide a great basis to which these issues can be analyzed and critiqued. In the “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina” episode and “The Cissy” episode of South Park, issues of gender identity, sexuality and sexual identity are explored. “The Cissy” provided commentary on the recent cases allowing trans children to use the washroom of the gender they identify with, and how schools handled and societies handled it. On the other hand, “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina” revolved around the issues of undergoing gender transition. However, both episodes provide commentary

Episode 2 of Season 10 named “Cartoon Wars Part I” and “Cartoon Wars Part II” showed an uncensored character that depicted the Islamic prophet, Muhammed. The plot goes somewhere along the lines of the residents of South Park panicking due to the fear or terrorist response and a repeat of a real-life violent protest and riots that occurred worldwide after some Muslims regarded Muhammed’s cartoon character as insulting and blasphemous. Though the show had been warned after the first episode, they still continued to air the episode uncensored, despite a retaliation threat from the Al-Qaeda, which could have meant they could have been in serious trouble. In the episode, they used the typical Muslim stereotype to shock audiences everywhere. With Muhammed wearing a "MUSLIM WRAP", holding dangerous weapons and claiming to have the powers of flame. However, later on the character of Muhammed was censored due to the many death threats and debates happening in the Muslim world. However it was said that Comedy Central did not censor the scene due to religious tolerance but to the fact that they were “afraid of getting blown

Marcus Schulzke’s article “South Park and the Transformation of Meaning” provides valuable insight to the power of words. The author provides an analysis of the word “faggot” from the television episode “The F Word”. Schulzke begins the article by speaking about South Park’s history jumping from one controversial socio-cultural issue to another. Throughout its history it has remained neutral in any issue that the television show has discussed. However in regards to homosexuality the tv show has never sided against it. With any controversial social issue the writers purposely debate both sides of the argument and proceed to make the limitations on both sides evident. Schulzke goes on to explain the purpose of the episode, “The F Word” was to change the significance of the word faggot as a mean to reduce the negative connotation surrounding it as well as help to make it no longer offensive to

South park censorship controversy

South Park have always received mixed response from it’s audiences. Famous for the use of foul language, dark humour which satirizes a wide range of topics (such as politics, racism, gender equality e.t.c.) and portrayal of religion for comic effect, the show generated countless debates and controversy over the course of it’s run. The debate over censorship of some episodes, and the show as a whole continues nowadays, and both sides seem to have truth behind their words. Pro-censorship group states that South Park is harmful for young minds, that religion is not the right thing to joke about and that show has to know it’s limits.

Freedom of expression entitles humans to articulate our own unique vocabulary, especially when their opinions differ from others. South Park is a notorious paragon tackling censorship boundaries with brilliant wordplay every episode and implementing freedom of speech. For me, the program serves as a weekly litmus test of censorship and freedom of expression. South Park is the brainchild of college friends Trey Parker and Matt Stone. This TV show, on the Comedy Central Network, is a cartoon but not for children. On August 13, 1997, the first airing, South Park became the first major cable program to get the “TV-MA” rating (for mature audiences only). The main characters are Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, the forever-dying Kenny McCormick,

To what extent might you concur with William Young that vulgar comedies such as South Park, or even The Simpsons, encourage such a deep reflection on ethics and ultimately encourage virtuous behavior? Is this the type of reflection that Arendt and Socrates intended? Please explain.

In this book, the author Brian Cogan discusses the most controversial television shows in history, South Park. He discusses how South Park even though seems simple it is a very thoughtful program on television that discusses many social issues. The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone created a social and political commentary that has been the most successful in television history. Cogan discusses how South Park is a commentary on American culture that is focused around controversial issues. The sitcom allows for the creators to become involved in discussions regarding issues such as religion and sexuality. Cogan inserts that the creators of South Park use every episode to promote their freedom of speech on these

When I was a young child around the years between seven and twelve, I used to come home from school and watch Family Guy. My mom would often catch me watching this show and yell at me, but to be honest I thought it was funny. So I told my dad that I was watching Family Guy quite often and he didn’t even care, so it all worked out. One thing that I noticed through all of this, is that I knew I was watching a great cartoon when I would watch ut over and over again and feel entertained by it. That’s what i did all the time with Family Guy and Spongebob and other various cartoons. I would come home and watch them and even watch these shows before school to get me motivated for the day. Not only did I love the creativity, but the humor and great

South Park is a Television show that is featured on Comedy Central. This show follows four friends; Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, and Kenny McCormick as they grow and develop through adolescents in the small town of South Park, Colorado. Eric is an obese little bully, Kyle is a religious kid, Stan is an average kid, and Kenny is a poor kid. These children are faced with the common challenges that adolescences go through, of developing and growing up. The children come into many different interactions with all kinds of people and creatures in the show.

Summary Marcus Schulzke’s article “South Park and the Transformation of Meaning” looks at a particular episode, “The F Word” and explores its impact as well as its comment on society. Schulzke begins by commenting on South Park’s history of satire and by pointing out that the show’s creators generally avoid adamantly propagating the ideas on one side of an issue. He also makes a point that the writers “consistently favor gay rights and oppose censorship”, so when the two issues come up in one episode they will be sure to make a strong argument. The article then goes on to provide a synopsis of the episode while simultaneously addressing the questions and moral dilemmas that the content brings to the surface.

Both of these ideals are essential to the well being of an open society, and are distinctively American ways of thinking. Teenagers are rebellious by nature so they tend to watch rebellious TV shows that include cruel humor and make fun of popular culture topics that they are introduced to in school. South Park informs America’s youth that they have the right to choose whether or not they want to have an opinion on something, and that if they really care about something they need to strive towards reaching that goal. It’s important to look more deeply into comedic TV shows because they serve a much greater purpose than simply entertainment. The fact that South Park is so entertaining and informs American youth of the elements of American government society at the same time adds to its appeal and is part of the reason why the show is so popular.

Parks and Recreation’s mockumentary style will always have a special place in my heart. It’s comedic and lighthearted energy is something I find myself nourishing even after witnessing it several times. However, recently I attempted as well as finished watching Dear White People after contemplating rewatching Parks and Rec for the umptheenth time and I had never looked back. It was such a beautifully scripted show, with elements of comedy that I haven’t been exposed to yet. (I highly recommend it to people who wish to stay woke. Yes, that means you.) It couldn’t be more dissimilar from Parks and Rec, and I love the fact that it is. From the times I have viewed the beloved show, I was stuck in the vicious cycle of security and minimal exploration. I found myself overanalyzing every insufficient detail and blowing things out of proportion from what the show originally intended. This method of holding on to the show was not healthy, as the longer I grasped the further I drifted away from the meaning. Starting a new show made me realize I didn’t need to question or think over anything, I could purely consume the material presented anew and educate myself. Starting a new show made me realize I didn’t need to question or think over anything, I could purely consume the material presented anew and educate myself. The destructive habit of overthinking never benefits