South Park as Parody of Society

South Park began airing in 1997. The commercials that preceded it gave the impression of it organis manhoodother dolt cartoon however, when I began ceremonial, I realized important issues were being covered through the repeated behaviors and actions of its characters, through the influences these actions could have on the watchmans, through the reinforcement and standions of trusted stereotypes, through the long-term effects that could result from watching the program, and through its reflection of social reality.Some of the repeated behaviors and actions of the characters include one of the children (Kenny) dying during each fortune (followed by Stan yelling, Oh, my God Theyve killed Kenny (South Park) the children ragging the overweight claw the African-American chef obsessing about sex and the geneticist performing insane experiments in his spooky laboratory. Kenny has been shot, run over by a train, impaled on a flag pole, beheaded, crushed by Mir, and concernn by Death h imselfto name a few. Cartman, the overweight kid, has been called fat ass, lard ass, and the fat kid (South Park).There are numerous references to his weight throughout each episode he eats continuously, thanks to his Mothers cooking and offering cookies, chocolate-chicken pot pies, and Cheesy Poofs. for each one time Chef (voice of Isaac Hayes) offers to explain important issues to the kids, he breaks into a song about making sweet respect to a woman. This leaves the children wondering just what the heck he is nerve-wracking to articulate. There are references to his having sex with every available (and even unavailable) female in the town. There is a take-off of The Island of Dr.Moreau with a geneticistmimicking Marlon Brandoconducting bizarre experiments creating monkeys with four asses creating mutant, militant turkeys and take flesh-eating zombies to life. There are both negative and positive influences these repeated behaviors and actions could have on an audience. One ne gative effect could be the numbing of the viewer to childrens deaths it is such a common occurrence on the show until it is expected. Another effect could be the instilling of negative feelings toward the overweight the audience could be discipline that it is acceptable to verbally attack a person with a weight problem.Also, in a time of AIDS, promotion of sexual promiscuity is a austere thing never have the writers mentioned the use of condoms by Chef during his encounters. Finally, because of the recent advances in genetic research and its awakening of new fears in the public, South Parks parody of the geneticist could besides play on peoples fears. Despite the potentially negative influences of these behaviors and actions, there could be a positive influence existing in the form of catharsis.American order has suffered from the rules of political correctness, the fear of AIDS, and the fear of knowledge (the fear of going too far into Gods domainthanks to our Puritanical backg round). Maybe South Park gives us release from repression by allowing us to laugh at the things we fear the nearly death, ridicule of our differences by our peers, the contracting of deadly diseases, and advancements in science. (I am sure that near of us need release from the built-up tensions of daily life South Park has given us this release. Despite South Parks cathartic influence, it reinforces several negative stereotypes the unaccented African-American male, the self-serving public official, and the gun-happy redneck. As I wrote above, Chef has little control over his libido this is an extremely negative stereotype of the African-American male. If Chef were Caucasian (let us say an Irish-English-German-Swedish-Scottish-etc-American), the stereotype could be avoided entirely. The mayors decisions are based solely on her looking good in the public eye.For example, when a volcano erupts, she uses fake concern for the children on the mountain to look like a caring person on En tertainment Tonight she calls for continuous re-takes even though ET is broadcasting live. Uncle JimBo and Ned are the gun-toting Bubba types when they take the kids on a camping trip, they get drunk and claim at will. JimBos philosophies are, hunting without drinking is like fishing, and thanks to those damned Democrats, we can only shoot certain animals that impose a threat therefore, when you see an animal, you have to yell, its comin right for us then you shoot (South Park).At least one episode attempted to reject a negative stereotype homosexuality is a bad thing. Stans bounder, Sparky, turns out to be gay. Throughout the episode we hear the evils of homosexuality preached by the towns people Sparky runs away. Stan realizes that his love for his dog is more important than societys negative views. Stan is counted on to win the big football game. He does not show up because he is searching for his dog (YES What a message football does not fit highly in the great scheme of thing s. He finds Sparky at Big alert Als Big Gay Animal Sanctuary and brings him home. Stan shares his new undercoat understanding with the citizens, and they accept his view. All the gay pets return from Als to be with their owners. The owners apologize for being so narrow minded. This episodes message is instead profound. The gay episode is one episode which may be obvious in its message and is quite easy to grasp however, the long-term effects from watching this program could go in two directions.First, there is the possibility that children (and adults) watching this show would imitate the bad language and sometimes antisocial behaviors of the characters without realizing the important subtexts of the episodes. For example, Kyle is designate a fecal-phile in the Christmas episode. He has a friend he calls Mr. handkerchief. Mr. Hankey lifts out of the toilet to bring Christmas cheer to all the little Jewish boys. Unfortunately, Mr. Hankey is a piece of feces, and as he dances aro und, he leaves marks on the walls, floor, and sink he, also, writes NOEL on the bathroom mirror.Of course, Kyles parents blame Kylethey do not believe in Mr. Hankey. Kyle is institutionalized for fecal-philia. Here, the problem could be kids thinking that it is cool to be in love with your own feces and cool to share it with others. They could miss the message found in the subtext the fact that political correctness has gotten out of hand. This episode allows the inhabitants of South Park to express their dislikes over every aspect of Christmasmainly, that each persons rights are being infringed upon by someone elses beliefs.The political correctness is what drives Kyle to his belief in Mr. Hankey, not the fun of playing in his own filth. Second, the audience could grasp the subtexts in these episodes and come to terms with their own morals and belief systems. There is a line spoken by Lex Luthor in Superman that molds good sense A man can infer War and Peace and come away believ ing it is a simple adventure story another man can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe (Superman).The fact is that South Park is out there it is ultimately our responsibility to make of it what we will. It may be our responsibility to do with South Park what we will however, this program reflects what already exists a society full of prejudices and fears which are embedded at heart its communities and how these human short-comings are passed on to children( Hatley). Fortunately, in most of the episodes these negative actions and beliefs are dealt with in a manner that seeks to alleviate them. Unfortunately, this manner of lleviation is found in the subtext, and most people are not willing to look that far it requires too much effort. Frighteningly, the show is a parody of society itself. In film, parody is commonly the death-knell of a particular genre. Years ago, I read that Ren and Stimpy (another cartoon) was test copy of the de cline of our civilization because of its attacks on societal norms. Could South Park be further proof of this decline, or is it just a funny cartoon that allows us to laugh at ourselves while dealing with our fears? ( Pineda)