I am a big fan of South Park. It is a well written show that critiques current events, politics, and society, while also making you laugh. The fact that its animation and that the main characters are 9 year olds allows the show to get away with presenting controversial subjects. I enjoy using them as a point of reference as readily as I would any academic article, book, or news show.
In fact, in my Junior year of college I took a seminar on international relations (which I hate, but it was required) and I made a point every week of referencing a South Park episode (or sometimes even Family Guy or the Simpsons). My professor didn’t like that at all and she took me aside after class one week and told me I had to stop using them as points of reference and that I should watch the news or read the paper instead. I of course politely told her that I refuse to watch the news and that shows like South Park deserve just as much credit as the shows that can be seen on any news station.
I have refused to watch any news channels after Anna Nicole Smith died and they had non-stop coverage of every little detail. They had to interrupt the Anna Nicole story to bring up quickly that there was a suicide bombing in the middle east. Because obviously Anna Nicole is the more newsworthy story. I needed to know what drug combination killed her, or who her baby’s daddy was, why should I care if a whole group of people died because of a politically/religiously motivated bombing? As long as the news was reporting crap then I could keep using “crap” like South Park in my arguments.
Needless to say, I kept on bringing up those South Park episodes and my professor slapped me with an A- at the end of the semester (which my conspiracy theorist mind is convinced she strove to find a way to do this to me every class I had with her since freshman year).
Anyways, in continuing with my string of posts regarding race issues in this country, I figured I would provide you with some links to some racially themed episodes of South Park. If you’re a fan of the show you have probably already seen them but I suggest that you watch them again, as they portray some of the points I have been trying to make. If you’re not a fan of the show yet I would urge you to check out some episodes. The show’s website has made available all 12 seasons for free streaming online so they are pretty easy to access. You can find them all here.
I think its important to expose yourself to all kinds of information and media. Shows like South Park help to facilitate a forum for dealing with otherwise offensive issues in a way that also makes us laugh, and therefore seem less offensive. They definitely deserve the same reputation as other programs on TV, as one that challenges the way people and society behave as a whole.
The links below connect to the episode guide for each respective episode. It provides a brief summary of what the episode is about, clips of key ’scenes’, as well as the link to view the full episode. Please check them out and enjoy!!!
This is the same reason why I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. While to someone like your teacher who is well learned and in touch with big words and the proper terms and all the right curriculum, there are many out there who are not. Especially younger people. Matt Stone and Trey Parker could just be any old cartoon creators who reach only those who want to laugh at fart jokes, but they chose to do something different. With an enormous amount of talent, they chose to take on some of the toughest conversation pieces in this country and make them digestible through comedy. If teachers were smart they’d give a show like this a chance and maybe learn a thing or two on the many ways you can get a point across to our generation.