Let’s get one thing straight – South Park is not aimed at a “child” audience. It was never intended to be aimed at a “child” audience. Anyone who says it is aimed at a “child” audience, has obviously never watched it. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the show, which states, “… the following program contains coarse language, which should not be viewed by anyone…” So right from the beginning, you the viewer are given due warning. At this point, if you are easily offended, or you don’t want your children watching, it is your responsibility to change the channel or turn off your TV. You have the power.
If you didn’t turn off the TV or you didn’t change the channel, you had your chance. You have no one but yourself to blame.
Is South Park profane? Very much so. In one episode, they use the word “sh-t” 162 times. Those who were up on current events at the time the show aired, know that the episode was in response to “sh-t” being used ONLY ONCE on a prime time show! The South Park episode was satirizing a real life controversy centering around the single use of that word during prime time.
Is South Park unsophisticated toilet humor? At times South Park does make extensive use of toilet humor, You don’t get any more “toilet humor” than Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo. As South Park’s dedicated viewers know though, South Park is rarely unsophisticated. Most of the episodes are stories written in response to current events and are meant to parody and satirize their subject matter in an intellectual way… i.e. to prove a point and make the audience think. I know… thinking is too hard for some people. Don’t worry. There’s plenty of mindless soap operas and game shows for you to “veg” out to during the day.
Is South Park offensive? I suppose that depends on who you are. Matt and Trey once claimed that they are “equal opportunity offenders”. Take that to mean whatever you like. At this point, they’ve equally offended just about every group they can think of.
Is South Park “racist”? It is true that in their episode, “Apologies to Jesse Jackson”, they used the “n word” over 40 times. Anyone who was up on current events would know that the episode was in response to the news about Michael Richards and later, Don Imus. So… Matt and Trey weren’t being racist. They were satirizing the use of a racist word and the subsequent hype in the press. Here is an interesting quote from Wikipedia: “Kovon and Jill Flowers, who co-founded the organization “Abolish the ‘N’ Word”, which is linked with the NAACP, praised this episode, saying it was a good example of how it felt to be called (n-word).”
http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/South_park
Now for fun, let’s compare this to older cartoons. Look at Woody Woodpecker, Droopy, or even old Tom and Jerry cartoons. Those cartoons were much more guilty of portraying racial stereotypes. Take the Droopy cartoon, “Droopy’s Good Deed,” where a bulldog character names Spike is burned in a fire. Spike is all charred and black with big pink lips. Droopy goes up to Spike and asks, “Hey Blackie. Are there any more babes in there?” Of course, racial stereotypes were much more acceptable back then, which, by default, made it OK, right? Never mind that these particular animation clips have been banned or edited out of Droopy cartoons played now. You can see the Droopy sample here if you don’t believe me: http://classicanimation.blogsp ot.com/2006/07/hey-blackie.htm l
Is South Park worthless trash that should be taken off the air? Well, it was nominated for numerous awards including being nominated eight times for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. Incidentally, it won twice. It also won a Peabody award. Correct me if I’m wrong, but awards like those are not given lightly, or to just anyone. You can see a list of all of it’s awards (nominated and won) on Wikipedia. Go ahead and click there and read for yourself. I’ll wait. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S outh_park#Awards
So, you’re back? OK then. In conclusion, don’t bash a show and spout fire about how it is trash and should be taken off the air until you know a little more information about it. If you’re easily offended, that’s what those buttons on your remote control are for… so you can go somewhere else. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are not to be held responsible for raising your children wrong. They never intended their show for children. Cartoons are not a “child only” medium. This has always been a misconception.