South Park has been true to those tenets. They enjoys devoting ridicule to the fads of the moment. South Park basically exists to take the piss out of people who seek to impose their will on others. The Prius episodes and calling bikers fags are prime examples of taking the piss out of left wing targets that made cultural taboos out of traditional ideals. It’s just as infuriating to the right when Trump and Norm are the target. South Park tears down ideas and heroes alike. Always have.
In a time where being trans was strange and new to many Americans, they introduced Mr Garrison as Mrs Garrison. This portrayal was incredibly unflattering and cruel. Garrison seemed like a crazy perverted teacher. The trans community is still in desperate need of acceptance and understanding. I didn’t know what a trans person was when these episodes aired (I was still a kid) but I immediately recognized these episodes seemed to be written by bullies.
They also spent a great deal of time depicting his sexuality as deviant. The entire lemmywinks thing was offensive (based on offensive stereotypes and urban legend), and so was the character Mr Slave.
That’s just off the top of my head. I wasn’t a regular watcher because their show was frequently mean spirited and definitely punched down a lot.
You’re succeeding only in failing to actually understand what those quotes mean. South Park frequently makes a mockery of people that are not in power nor are aiming to harm anyone. That’s directly against Pratchett’s quote.
Their incessant need to make fun of everyone also changes them from poignant satire to a giant mess of asshole jokes at everyones’ expense, which goes directly against Ivyna’s point that satire needs to be done with clarity of purpose and target.
So… no. No, South Park genuinely does not stick to those tenants. I will agree that some of their seasonal overarching stories can mostly qualify as good satire, but they enjoy mocking everyone a bit too much for the bits of good writing to come through unscathed.
I’m not here to defend the decisions of Matt and Trey but I will stand by what I said. They look at social dynamics and how allies for minorities are rarely genuine and use social issues to bully others who don’t understand or have time to absorb the changes to the social landscape. For perspective, I will use the journey my parents went through as an example. They live in the desert and have no incentive to stay current with social norms.
The rural folks are so removed from the rapidly changing city social development scene that the infighting between the left leaves them confused. And they run into
There’s no place for questions because the left assumes a lot of knowledge is apparent or has ubiquitous context. The rural folks who have questions about what’s going on are also afraid to look stupid - a very human experience. They live in a hierarchy that values common sense and, by extension, figuring it out. If they have to ask a question then they can’t figure it out, ergo they don’t deserve the respect that comes from being high on the pecking order.
And they want to be respected. In fact, they want to be respectful too. They place a lot of importance on manners and etiquette. Southern hospitality is deeply ingrained in my mother and she wants to be kind but needed an update to the rules and etiquette of today. Tattoos are fine now. Piercings aren’t gross and people want their ear lobes like that. It’s actually kind of cool because they have accessory options people like her could only dream of having. It’s about having fun, not stepping on toes.
South Park stays true to that grounded, politically agnostic space. It’s probably easier to just give in and support a single perspective but they are showing both sides to each other as each see each other - it’s a true reflection and if you find it ugly please look closer.
No one should dictate to others how to live. At times the left can be oppressive about policing language and behaviors just like the right polices thought and belief. When the right says someone is cancelled, look at what the action they are referring to and likely you will find someone lost their job. They are trying to use the words of the left to describe the action to the left but they usually miss subtext or metaphor so the left doesn’t see the meaning in their message. The right is direct and blunt. Always has been. They also love hyberbole, so take what they say with salt.
When looking at the quotes, don’t ask “who is in power” because it is criminally short sighted and lacks the application of critical thought that I believe you are going for. The real question is what is society doing and where is the pendulum of social change?
When South Park was shitty towards LGBTQ folks it was during the global struggle to legalize - and more importantly normalize - homosexual marriage. A lot of big changes happened really fast in the last 20 years and it’s hard to express how fast things changed from when South Park started (the religious mockery period) to how things are now (satirizing MAGA). The episode about Prius owners smelling their own farts were so on the nose that I’m worried that some lefties missed the message.
I’m sure that by now you think I’m some ignorant conservative and you’re allowed to think that. But what does a person with perspective look like and how would that person come across? I say this to make the point that South Park is true satire. They exist to take the piss out of the powerful by showing perspective to power. it you don’t like what you see, then you’re the powerful one.
South Park has been true to those tenets. They enjoys devoting ridicule to the fads of the moment. South Park basically exists to take the piss out of people who seek to impose their will on others. The Prius episodes and calling bikers fags are prime examples of taking the piss out of left wing targets that made cultural taboos out of traditional ideals. It’s just as infuriating to the right when Trump and Norm are the target. South Park tears down ideas and heroes alike. Always have.
In a time where being trans was strange and new to many Americans, they introduced Mr Garrison as Mrs Garrison. This portrayal was incredibly unflattering and cruel. Garrison seemed like a crazy perverted teacher. The trans community is still in desperate need of acceptance and understanding. I didn’t know what a trans person was when these episodes aired (I was still a kid) but I immediately recognized these episodes seemed to be written by bullies.
They also spent a great deal of time depicting his sexuality as deviant. The entire lemmywinks thing was offensive (based on offensive stereotypes and urban legend), and so was the character Mr Slave.
That’s just off the top of my head. I wasn’t a regular watcher because their show was frequently mean spirited and definitely punched down a lot.
You’re succeeding only in failing to actually understand what those quotes mean. South Park frequently makes a mockery of people that are not in power nor are aiming to harm anyone. That’s directly against Pratchett’s quote.
Their incessant need to make fun of everyone also changes them from poignant satire to a giant mess of asshole jokes at everyones’ expense, which goes directly against Ivyna’s point that satire needs to be done with clarity of purpose and target.
So… no. No, South Park genuinely does not stick to those tenants. I will agree that some of their seasonal overarching stories can mostly qualify as good satire, but they enjoy mocking everyone a bit too much for the bits of good writing to come through unscathed.
I’m not here to defend the decisions of Matt and Trey but I will stand by what I said. They look at social dynamics and how allies for minorities are rarely genuine and use social issues to bully others who don’t understand or have time to absorb the changes to the social landscape. For perspective, I will use the journey my parents went through as an example. They live in the desert and have no incentive to stay current with social norms.
The rural folks are so removed from the rapidly changing city social development scene that the infighting between the left leaves them confused. And they run into
There’s no place for questions because the left assumes a lot of knowledge is apparent or has ubiquitous context. The rural folks who have questions about what’s going on are also afraid to look stupid - a very human experience. They live in a hierarchy that values common sense and, by extension, figuring it out. If they have to ask a question then they can’t figure it out, ergo they don’t deserve the respect that comes from being high on the pecking order.
And they want to be respected. In fact, they want to be respectful too. They place a lot of importance on manners and etiquette. Southern hospitality is deeply ingrained in my mother and she wants to be kind but needed an update to the rules and etiquette of today. Tattoos are fine now. Piercings aren’t gross and people want their ear lobes like that. It’s actually kind of cool because they have accessory options people like her could only dream of having. It’s about having fun, not stepping on toes.
South Park stays true to that grounded, politically agnostic space. It’s probably easier to just give in and support a single perspective but they are showing both sides to each other as each see each other - it’s a true reflection and if you find it ugly please look closer.
No one should dictate to others how to live. At times the left can be oppressive about policing language and behaviors just like the right polices thought and belief. When the right says someone is cancelled, look at what the action they are referring to and likely you will find someone lost their job. They are trying to use the words of the left to describe the action to the left but they usually miss subtext or metaphor so the left doesn’t see the meaning in their message. The right is direct and blunt. Always has been. They also love hyberbole, so take what they say with salt.
When looking at the quotes, don’t ask “who is in power” because it is criminally short sighted and lacks the application of critical thought that I believe you are going for. The real question is what is society doing and where is the pendulum of social change?
When South Park was shitty towards LGBTQ folks it was during the global struggle to legalize - and more importantly normalize - homosexual marriage. A lot of big changes happened really fast in the last 20 years and it’s hard to express how fast things changed from when South Park started (the religious mockery period) to how things are now (satirizing MAGA). The episode about Prius owners smelling their own farts were so on the nose that I’m worried that some lefties missed the message.
I’m sure that by now you think I’m some ignorant conservative and you’re allowed to think that. But what does a person with perspective look like and how would that person come across? I say this to make the point that South Park is true satire. They exist to take the piss out of the powerful by showing perspective to power. it you don’t like what you see, then you’re the powerful one.