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[Malyse]

South Park, the low-fi animated series about a group of prepubescent misfits in Colorado, begins its 21st season this week. For as long as it has been on the air, the series has featured animated renditions of real-life celebrities, politicians, and athletes stirring up controversies that take cues from the real world. This season’s premiere is set to address white nationalism, a topic at the forefront of current popular discourse. But as the world around it changes, South Park’s perspective remains limited, becoming a case study in what happens when woke white dudes keep making art for other woke white dudes.

Even in its most well-meaning moments, South Park rarely strays from #alllivesmatter territory. Last season’s premiere, titled “Member Berries,” featured a police shooting, and ultimately took aim at white people making empty gestures of solidarity. A promo for the episode lampooned the protests made by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The satire never cuts much deeper than vacant criticism about who is and isn’t actually woke. The show’s only black character, Token, is often used as a vehicle to tackle race, but much like Lena Dunham’s overt attempt at diversity on Girls, the South Park writers figured they were doing something subversive by making him the richest kid in town. The show shies away from skewering systemic racism the way it skewers social justice culture, or presenting issues of race in a way that regards the black experience as a unique and valid perspective. In a 2007 episode called “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson,” the resolution of the story, in which white people start saying the N word, comes when Stan simply tells Token that he'll never understand why the word is so offensive because he isn’t black. “I've been trying to say that I understand how you feel, but I'll never understand. I'll never really get how it feels for a black person to hear somebody use the N word,” Stan says. “Now you get it,” Token says. It’s a sorry attempt to make a point about race that ends in a cop-out.

The show’s hackneyed treatment of race makes sense considering South Park has never been terribly successful at addressing anything outside its very tiny universe. An upcoming video game based on the series attempts to present a woke understanding of the issue by making it harder to play as the black character, mimicking with some very odd logic, the conditions of real life. The move was inspired by a blog post by the science fiction writer John Scalzi, whose 2012 post “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is” compared white privilege to video games. Well-intended as it may be, the joke ostensibly lampoons white nerds but ends up also isolating black video game players who are typically faced with no options for characters that look like them.

Gone are the days when bloviating white male columnists could declare simple answers to complex issues without pushback, and South Park’s all-knowing crassness and moralistic tone today seems as outdated as the New York Times opinion section. Animated series like Rick and Morty and Bojack Horseman tackle many of the same issues as South Park, and with a refreshing helping of nuance. For 21 seasons, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have given fake woke white people a sense of self-satisfaction, reassuring them that they rise above the myopia that grips the residents of South Park; that they are subverting the establishment, rather than perpetuating it. Much like a joke South Park made about residents of San Francisco: They smugly inhaled their own farts.

https://theoutline.com/post/2234/south-park-is-not-subversive

Spoiler

In before people complaining about The Outline's page format.

 

[DopeToast]

This response is not against you, this thread, or even the article in particular, but I don't think I can read another word about South Park and how it does or doesn't promote or condemn some group's ideology. There seems to have been a lot of these articles recently, perhaps since the election, and they all seem to rehash a lot of the same points.

Edit: And just to be clear, I did read the article you posted. I wouldn't have responded otherwise.

 

[Hades Hotgun]

I can't make sense of this criticism when Rick and Morty is held up as a more positive example.

I love both shows, but I don't see how one somehow rises above well meaning white people writing about experiences that aren't their own.

 

[daviyoung]

blogger yells at cloud

 

[Ryouji Gunblade]

Could I get an example of Rick and Morty nuance versus South Park's?

 

[AquaticSquirrel]

This response is not against you, this thread, or even the article in particular, but I don't think I can read another word about South Park and how it does or doesn't promote or condemn some group's ideology. There seems to have been a lot of these articles recently, perhaps since the election, and they all seem to rehash a lot of the same points.

I think it just seems to be that some people didn't like the fact that "they" were lampooned for a season and just haven't been able to let it go no matter what. Seems really weird to hold such a strong grudge against something like South Park to the point of people trying to make silly connections between South Park and the Alt-Right or coining wanna-be meme phrases like "South Park Republicans".

I guess it's just the kind of times we live in with constant click bait sites, fake news, twisting the truth to fit certain narratives or agendas and that type of thing. It seems that for some people they have a weird little black book of sorts for who is on the good and bad list. One perceived black mark and it's into the bad book you go never to come out or be redeemed, you are literally the enemy of all that is good in the world.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Outrage circus really got the knives out for South Park this summer, huh?

Whether it was Matt and Trey or an incredibly clever Ubisoft designer, the Skin Colour/Difficulty Slider news from previews the other week was more witty and 'subversive' than any jealousy filled blogshit could hope to approach in a lifetime of "woke articles".

Bonus points for switching between: white dudes, white nerds, white people, white male. Bad news, blogger! You becomin' racist, possibly misandrist!

 

[WarLox]

.

 

[kirblar]

A lot of South Park's criticisms are aimed at upper-class white people and culture because it's what the creators know. The episode that aired yesterday is an example of this - yes, it made fun of racist white people blaming immigrants and minorities for their failure to adapt to modern technology, but it was much more interested in going after upper-class white people's attempts to just sweep this problem under the rug and ignore it rather than actually deal with it.

 

[D4Danger]

after seeing so many people confused by that protest banner at the baseball game it longer surprises me that South Park is lost on some people. You really do have to spell it out sometimes.

 

[snausagesUK]

I dunno I found PC principal kinda funny

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

Nuance.

I'm pretty sure that isn't from Rick and Morty.

 

[Audioboxer]

Criticism is one thing, but people constantly failing to understand satire and/or the fact South Park has characters that are shitty people (and that's okay) is beyond me.

It really is the parents from the 90s and 00s railing at their children for watching South Park but in reverse now. The children of those times have grown up and are now acting like the parents they once hated and are browbeating everyone saying South Park is responsible for x, y and z. Or why isn't a satirical cartoon acting like a History Channel documentary?! This should be educational! No, it's a cartoon and is humour and satire before anything serious. People do not look to South Park and Cartman/Randy to learn about the world. They watch to laugh at these two terrible people.

Again, just to make it clear, people can criticise and say it's not funny and so on. It's just some of the blog articles you read that act like moral busy body takes to infer viewers and the show itself is somehow responsible for the ills in the world, and how dare it satirise serious things in life, are getting a bit bonkers. PC Principal and the election story arc really seemed to have made some people lose the plot. Especially considering time and time again those who actually watched the show know how things turned out with PC Principal and the election.

It's always funny when it satirises something not relevant/close to you, but when it does that's when the daggers are out. When it comes to having confidence in your own beliefs you should be able to take some knocks on the chin from a cartoon aimed at teenagers and adults trying to escape the daily grind of adult life. That's all South Park is. A cartoon, 20 minutes of humour, satire and a collection of mostly shitty and messed up characters.

For 21 seasons, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have given fake woke white people a sense of self-satisfaction, reassuring them that they rise above the myopia that grips the residents of South Park; that they are subverting the establishment, rather than perpetuating it.

I mean, what? I watch South Park to laugh at shit, I do not feel self-satisfaction from a cartoon... If anything being able to have a sense of humour and even self-deprecate from time to time will prepare you for handling the real ills and daily grind of real life. People who can't laugh and can't take a joke of any sorts tend to suffer really badly. Just saying. Smiling and laughing are nature's mental health remedy. You do need to take life less seriously, from time to time. Like, when you sit down to watch a cartoon before anyone says "life is serious". I know it is, but 20 minutes a week for a season of a comedy show is okay to set aside to take life less serious.

 

[Doctor Ironic]

I heavily dislike South Park but this still isn't a great article. Rick and Morty has "more nuance," are you serious?

 

[nicoga3000]

I don't really understand the article. I get the impression that the blogger thinks that South Park episodes are supposed to "fix" the issues presented in a given episode, but I never really thought of it like that.

Spoiler

This is a serious post - I really don't get the point this is trying to make and maybe it's because I'm fried from a long ass day at work? Or maybe the point is way off-base and I'm not dumb?

 

[Bread]

I'm pretty sure that isn't from Rick and Morty.

It's from Mr Pickles...not sure why they posted it.

 

[Permanently A]

Game part's a bit off - the difficulty(skin color) setting doesn't actually effect gameplay.

 

[perfectchaos007]

In the 90's, most of the Southpark critics and bashers were conservatives. In the 2010's, most of the critics are liberals. Funny how that happened.

 

[jph139]

I think it just seems to be that some people didn't like the fact that "they" were lampooned for a season and just haven't been able to let it go no matter what. Seems really weird to hold such a strong grudge against something like South Park to the point of people trying to make silly connections between South Park and the Alt-Right or coining wanna-be meme phrases like "South Park Republicans".

You really think this is new? I haven't watched South Park in like a decade and I remember people arguing about their political stance way back when. The whole Manbearpig episode was a big sticking point.

South Park has always promoted a particular worldview/ideology, and there have always been opponents of that worldview, on either side of the aisle.

 

[PSqueak]

I still don't get why people are tripping with each others to somehow paint South Park as not left winged, because i know there are a lot of things to criticize South Park for, like their views on global warming just on the top of my head, but this weird sudden movement by people try to paint it as "alt right" or even right leaning is just bizarre.

We get it, South Park some times says shit I, you or others won't agree with, but that doesn't magically make it not Left leaning.

 

[RangerX]

I don't even like South Park but this blog is shit. It's not a sociology program. Its a comedy that also has broad commentary about current events. The guys are definitely liberal.

 

[daviyoung]

My fav part of the article:

South Park receives the most praise when satirizing the national mood. The 2007 episode “Imaginationland,” a three-part story that served as an allegory for the War on Terror, won an Emmy for its efforts.

South Park's assessment that America was gripped by its own imagination, and not deeply held xenophobia, falls flat when considering the rise of Trump, whose rhetoric around Islam has been venomous.

Masterclass writing here.

 

[Lupercal]

I stopped reading after the third 'woke'.

 

[Morat]

It kind of has been though. Not every episode, but it has, at its best been subversive. I see it as a modern Thompson or Twain. Which, by the way, is high praise.

 

[AbsolutBro]

I say this as a massive R&M fan and only a passing South Park fan, but R&M does not tackle the same social issues or whatever the heck this blog is saying.

 

[ahoyhoy]

My fav part of the article:



Masterclass writing here.

Seriously. So Xenophobia isn't bourne from a fear of the other in your... Imagination?

 

[Averon]

I see people still have not gotten over PC Principle.

 

[WhatWeLeftBehind]

What makes all of this so moronic is that when SP lampooned a particular group of people, ALL OF A SUDDEN we got these "South Park isn't really subversive ya know!" posts.

The amount of cognitive dissonance needed to write something like that. I mean, jesus.

 

[Dude Abides]

I think it just seems to be that some people didn't like the fact that "they" were lampooned for a season and just haven't been able to let it go no matter what. Seems really weird to hold such a strong grudge against something like South Park to the point of people trying to make silly connections between South Park and the Alt-Right or coining wanna-be meme phrases like "South Park Republicans".

I guess it's just the kind of times we live in with constant click bait sites, fake news, twisting the truth to fit certain narratives or agendas and that type of thing. It seems that for some people they have a weird little black book of sorts for who is on the good and bad list. One perceived black mark and it's into the bad book you go never to come out or be redeemed, you are literally the enemy of all that is good in the world.

Uh, South Park Republican is like 12 years old.

 

[spyroflame0487]

I think if you're watching South Park to get a interesting perspective on another experience, you're watching the wrong show.

It's just a comedy show about kids riffing on current events with a large brushstroke...or maybe a bat and taking aim at anything relevant for that week/month in 22 minutes.

 

[norm9]

All aspiring writers must have a 1000 word article on how South Park has hurt them.

 

[Clear]

That article is strange. Is the writer even aware its a comedy show, and the reason its still on the air after all this time is that there's an audience for its style of humour?

Humour that is usually topical, but not always overtly political in nature.

The biggest blunder is the whole idea that "wokeness" is something Matt & Trey strive for, because as any long-time watcher of the show would know, it is exactly that sort of self-congratulatory attitude that they satirize.

 

[MogCakes]

I see people still have not gotten over PC Principle.

I thought PC Principle was meant to play the part of the Only Sane Man. That is, everyone else in the show are flat out insane or not right in the head, but here's a guy who is a straight arrow.

 

[HStallion]

Not sure why the author choose Rick and Morty to hold up. Something like Bojack Horseman or even the Venture Bros. would have worked a lot better.

 

[Yaboosh]

Woke woke woke woke. Too many wokes.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

I see people still have not gotten over PC Principle.

"South Park isn't subversive!"

*is still mad about a character introduced 2 years ago*

 

[Oblivion]

This is the first I'm hearing that South Park was made for "woke White people".

 

[PSqueak]

I say this as a massive R&M fan and only a passing South Park fan, but R&M does not tackle the same social issues or whatever the heck this blog is saying.

R&M fans lately have been trying to get bad blood between shows, altho this article uses Bojack and R&M back to back as good examples, lately R&M fans and AS have been talking shit about Bojack.

It's frankly baffling, they have little in common other than be to excellent shows for the 18+ demographic.

 

[Astral Dog]

i tried Rick and Morty but found the humor too random and the characters not as likeable(as other shows)

 

[FyreWulff]

eh, i haven't watched them, since what, season 4 or 5? It's like Simpsons, it was controversial at first, now they're predictable and the internet and rest of media has more offerings along it's lines.

 

[TissueBox]

Subversion SUBVERTED.

 

[Moze]

In the 90's, most of the Southpark critics and bashers were conservatives. In the 2010's, most of the critics are liberals. Funny how that happened.

Early South Park had no social commentary.

 

[Glix]

I'm pretty sure that isn't from Rick and Morty.

It looks like its from the ultra terrible show with the dog.

Early South Park had no social commentary.

Even the initial short had plenty. You don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Boem]

I can't make sense of this criticism when Rick and Morty is held up as a more positive example.

I love both shows, but I don't see how one somehow rises above well meaning white people writing about experiences that aren't their own.

Rick & Morty's writer room is actually pretty mixed. Both in terms of gender and ethnicity. It's just that Roiland and Harmon tend to get the most attention as they are the creators.

That said, I don't think they're going for similar satire at all.

 

[AbsolutBro]

R&M fans lately have been trying to get bad blood between shows, altho this article uses Bojack and R&M back to back as good examples, lately R&M fans and AS have been talking shit about Bojack.

It's frankly baffling, they have little in common other than be to excellent shows for the 18+ demographic.

I do not understand. How are R&M fans trying to create bad blood?

I binged all of S4 of Bojack the day it was released. I quote R&M more than any other show. Both are fantastic shows.

 

[entremet]

I see people still have not gotten over PC Principle.

Basically. PC Principal really got to some.

 

[groansey]

Season 6, Episode 8 - Red Hot Catholic Love

I'd generally stopped watching before I caught that episode, but afterwards I totally lost interest in South Park and any respect for Matt & Trey.

There's been a pretty consistent line against atheism in the show, and the scepticism displayed with regards to the left's labelling and criticism of the "religious right" wasn't clever.

 

[TimeEffect]

I thought PC Principle was meant to play the part of the Only Sane Man. That is, everyone else in the show are flat out insane or not right in the head, but here's a guy who is a straight arrow.

I thought he was faking being pc to get laid

 

[Sanjuro]

How much woke can one article handle?

 

[Moze]

It looks like its from the ultra terrible show with the dog.



Even the initial short had plenty. You don't know what you are talking about.

Really? I don't remember it in the early episodes. I remember most of those early episodes just being nonsense. Any in particular you can point out? I noticed a much bigger emphasis on social commentary in the 2000s.