- And speaking of mutilating people, South Park produced this while ridiculing the transgender psycho-social-medical malpractice phenomenon (emphasis on psycho)
- More of this scathing ridicule is needed
First a bit of a disclaimer:
Episode endorsed by the Babylon Bee creator
To say the least, the animated series South Park is not a show for everyone. But the show has been seen and clips and links forwarded by the millions for decades now as it has been a continuously renewed series since 1997. I have gone years without seeing an episode and have only seen a very few but are aware of the show because of those forwards, usually relevant to a particularly timely controversy.
Lately the show has been in the limelight in particular for its treatment of abortion and transgenderism.
The show’s specialty and appeal is biting satire and ridicule that often takes on the pretensions of celebrities and celebrity/ politically correct causes mostly using cartoon grade-school children as the main actors allowing all the exaggerations of childhood as a vehicle. It is certainly more about the dialogue and absurdist plotting rather than the sophistication of the cartooning.
This from a Wikipedia analysis:
They (children characters) are frequently confused by the contradictory and hypocritical behavior of their parents and other adults, and often perceive them as having distorted views on morality and society. . . .
South Park was the first weekly program to be rated TV-MA,[21] and is generally intended for adult audiences.[22][23][24] The boys and most other child characters use strong profanity, with only the most taboo words being bleeped during a typical broadcast.[9] Parker and Stone perceive this as the manner in which real-life small boys speak when they are alone.[25][26]
South Park commonly makes use of carnivalesque and absurdist techniques,[27] numerous running gags,[28][29] violence,[29][30] sexual content,[31][32] offhand pop-cultural references, and satirical portrayal of celebrities.[33]
Early episodes tended to be shock value-oriented and featured more slapstick-style humor.[34] While social satire had been used on the show occasionally earlier on, it became more prevalent a the series progressed, with the show retaining some of its focus on the boys’ fondness of scatological humor in an attempt to remind adult viewers “what it was like to be eight years old.”[10] Parker and Stone also began further developing other characters by giving them larger roles in certain storylines,[10] and began writing plots as parables based on religion, politics, and numerous other topics.[9] This provided the opportunity for the show to spoof both extreme sides of contentious issues,[35] while lampooning both liberal and conservative points of view.[9][17][36] Rebecca Raphael described the show as “an equal opportunity offender”,[16] while Parker and Stone describe their main purpose as to “be funny” and “make people laugh”,[37][38] while stating that no particular topic or group of people be exempt from mockery and satire.[17][33][39][40][41]
Parker and Stone insist that the show is still more about “kids being kids” and “what it’s like to be in [elementary school] in America”,[42] stating that the introduction of a more satirical element to the series was the result of the two adding more of a “moral center” to the show so that it would rely less on simply being crude and shocking in an attempt to maintain an audience.[37][38] While profane, Parker notes that there is still an “underlying sweetness” aspect to the child characters,[35] and Time described the boys as “sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence.”[12] Usually, the boys or other characters pondered over what transpired during an episode and conveyed the important lesson taken from it with a short monologue. During earlier seasons, this speech commonly began with a variation of the phrase “You know, I’ve learned something today…”.[43]
Aspects to the ridicule are sometimes subtle, (even obscure to the more detached from current events) such that you have to be at least “woke aware” to get much of it. The writers of South Park, still mainly the original two creators and developers, try to be as current as possible, writing and finishing an episode in the week prior to putting it out.
While the dialogue is vulgar (imparted to grade-school kids) and the images and story lines often not something for the faint of heart — some of the show’s themes even in their often surreal presentation can reasonably be interpreted as ridicule in defense of normative values or, if not that, then at least willing to skewer the shallowness, hypocrisy and corruption of the left.
We do not mean to put too much of a high literature spin to the reliance on shock and ribald humor in the cartoon series. We are only saying that the plots and sub-plots, undercurrents and obscure messaging at least sometimes reflect what conservatives can appreciate.
About the treatment of abortion and transgender issues in the series
Some of the episodes are remarkably prescient while at first perhaps being interpreted as off the wall. A case in point is the writers’ 2005 presentation of a transgender character, biological male to female, going to an abortion clinic to actually get an abortion, because, well, that is what character presumes every woman does. A right off passage or something. It is of course absurd and meant to convey that. It was no defense of transgender ideology to show how ridiculous their ideology is. The episode anticipated the very arguments we are hearing 18 years later such as “men can have babies.”
In the same episode, the related portrayal of the abortion license, the mocking of callous abortion attitudes, the inclusion of dialogue conveying the grotesqueness also including not so subtle abortion imagery are a potent add-on to the ridicule of transgenderism.
That is extended in the series to include the sale of aborted baby parts.
Abortion is a theme that has come up in a number of the episodes
And there are more — visit https://southpark.cc.com
The transgender theme has also been visited a number of times doubling down on how absurd the ideology is. To be sure the topic is unquestionably relevant to school age children.
In the abortion related episode(s) the character “Cartman” is usually the antagonist who is totally amoral when he isn’t immoral, jealous and scheming and the generally evil little Beelzebub of the series. The show is probably most popular with the cynical so as a political motivator in that avenue probably not all that “inspirational”. But ridiculing the motivations, falsities and results of leftist ideology (when they do) to an audience cynical toward conservatives as well reduces antagonisms toward us and the reach of the big-government misanthropes.
If fans of the show (we know you are out there and appreciate you) can help us research the appearance of abortion related and transgender themes and any other of political interest to conservatives by sending us links it would be immensely appreciated. The producers of the show have a Web site that allows some thematic searches found here.
From a New York Post commentary last week which triggered our interest in seeing if the abortion issue had been dealt with in other episodes.
‘South Park’ goes viral for ‘brutally honest take’ on trans rights, abortion
A resurfaced “South Park” clip — featuring a transgender woman demanding an abortion despite not being able to get pregnant — is going viral 18 years after its original air date. Social media watchdogs are heralding its “brutally honest take” on transgender rights and abortion “in this crazy woke world we’re all in.”
The episode titled “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina,” which originally aired on March 9, 2005, features fourth grade teacher Herbert/Janet Garrison trying to get an abortion because they have not menstruated.
Later in the episode, Garrison — who was born biologically male — expresses outrage due to the fact that they cannot abort (nor carry) a child, even though they paid for reassignment surgery.
This NewsBusters story on the same matter provides comments from certain influencers many will be familiar with:
Seth Dillon (owner of Babylon Bee)
Here’s South Park mocking the insane idea that men can actually become women. This clip is from 2005.
It’s a brutally honest take on the callous savagery of abortion, too. We need more mockery like this.
Donald Trump, Jr.
South Park nails it!
Natallie Argyle (author at Chicks on the Right)
In one minute and 25 seconds, @SouthPark said all the things we aren’t allowed to say about trans “women” and abortions.
Queen Nat
South Park does it again! This time mocking trans and abortions South Park is needed in this crazy woke world we’re all in, to wake people up to how ridiculous it is!
Visit the South Park site https://southpark.cc.com/topics/nmko4w/abortion/5fujrl
Many thanks to my buddy Roger, a pro-life activist in Iowa who monitors leftist media and shares sources which appeal to young voters, like this South Park example.