God I love Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Been watching South Park since I was a kid and they haven't stopped delivering.
Their Trump mockery went stratospheric at the end which caused me to jump around the living room in sheer exhilaration.
If he could reach a glory hole, it'd probably have a mirror so he could stare at the only thing he thinks he loves.
After their season long "both sides" trump/clinton fuckery in 2016, best I can do is a slow clap.
They had the chance to show how ridiculous trump was back then; when it might have made a difference with their "libertarian" fanbase. Instead they softballed any criticism of him. They showed who they really are, fuck em.
They had the chance to show how ridiculous trump was back then
????
Trump has always been obviously ridiculous. You guys need to get over this idea that the people voting for him are going to have some magical come-to-Jesus moment and join the rest of us in reality after watching an episode of South Park or reading a non-"sanewashed" news article.
I don't expect anyone to have a come to Jesus moment. I did expect comedians who claim to hate both sides to actually act like it, rather than treat ASN obvious idiot with kid gloves when it actually mattered. Matt and Trey showed they are just Republicans who are to embarrassed to admit it with their entire 2016 election season.
when it actually mattered
It never mattered. It's a comedy show, no one was going to change their vote based on it. How can you still not get it after two election wins and political influence spanning a decade?
It did actually matter. Anyone who doesn't realize that pop culture shapes peoples opinions is either lying to themselves or an idiot.
In all honesty, is there any overlap between people who watch South Park and those who voted Trump? I can't imagine that there are more than a handful.
South Park Republicans are a thing so I'd assume there's quite a few
Wow, people still watch South Park!? I’m sure they’re still killing it. Just kind of fell off the radar for me.
Not really killing it imo. Most episodes are extremely "both sides"-y which makes them have this milquetoast approach to issues and an unclear perspective. The jokes are often kind of cringe, imo, and the whole thing feels very bland. So its like a political/social satire comedy show that is designed by committee to make mild japes at both sides but not make them too uncomfortable.
It used to be an edgy comedy show (sometimes too edgy for mainstream audiences both then and now) that would lambast social and political figures, but it wasn't just a satire show - it had a separate identity from that. And it was funny, usually. It pushed a lot of boundaries - the media was always talking about South Park as though it was this super scary show that will turn your kids into hooligans and destroy the moral fiber of the country and should be banned.
So maybe it's partly that you can't easily be a super rebellious standout show pushing the envelope every week for 27 years, that they wanted to appeal to mainstream audiences and adopted this bland centrist viewpoint, and that the media landscape is full of edgy-ish comedy shows these days and so it's harder to stand out.
I am by no means a huge SP fan though and have not watched but like 3 seasons since the old days. So if this take is off and the show has gotten more interesting I'd like to know
South Park has always been Right Wing. Trey and Matt are self proclaimed "Libertarians". There's a significant overlap in the Venn Diagram of Joe Rogan bros and South Park fans. "They make fun of both sides bro" and yet some of their most enduring cultural contributions are downplaying climate change and dehumanizing trans people.
They may clutch their pearls about MAGA now, but their promotion of political apathy among Gen X and Millennial men is part of why we have MAGA.
I remember there was a brief moment in the early 00s where the term "South Park Republican" had some cultural cachet until everyone realized it was just edgy libertarianism for contrarian shitheads.
Watch the most recent episode. I, like you, don't really watch South Park anymore but holy shit was it funny.
The Trump stuff killed it. The callback to Saddam, the absurdity of everything going on, the show really hit the nail on the head of how it feels in America right now.
Don't forget that Al Gore made them sad and they created Manbearpig as a response. It was some decades later that they admitted that they were wrong on the topic of climate change and regretted what they did.
They don't do regular seasons anymore, and haven't for several years. Instead, they will do some special episodes each year on a specific topic. These are more like miniseries than regular episodes and I have enjoyed them.
Honestly the latest seasons were fabulously on topic, well worth the watch in my opinion
its interesting to go through trey parker and matt stones history in the entertainment industry, where at one point they were underdogs fighting censorship, but really they were doing right wing propaganda the entire time, sometimes on accident but usually on purpose. like, how often was the villain of a South Park episode a woman, a liberal celebrity, or an environmentalist? and how about all the episodes about trans people? i also recall Cartman in early episodes getting karmic retribution inflicted upon him for his literal nazi rhetoric, but at some point he now just gets his way and actually his bigotry is justified since all black people can play bass and all Jews really do have a secret pouch of gold.
also, in the Team America movie, which is supposedly a satirical comedy about american interventionism being bad, they end the movie by saying ACTUALLY america SHOULD be the world police, and they kill all the annoying hollywood actors who are all brain dead traitors that support North Korea nuking everyone.
Of all the brain dead shit I expect to read online south park being right wing propaganda was not my list of ever happening, props to you my dude for making that fucking leap in logic.
Also I have no idea where you got that Cartman just gets his way now, we must be watching different versions.
"South Park conservative" is a term from like 20 years ago. They've been doing the "both sides are the same" shit since the very beginning and really took it to the next level during the first Trump administration by almost completely punting on the issue and instead doing a bunch of "anti-woke" story lines.
And I say this as someone who was a religious fan since the very beginning. Matt and Trey are not the liberal heroes some people seem to believe they are.
Matt and Trey are not the liberal heroes some people seem to believe they are.
I know Americans only see the world in binaries but there is a lot more to politics than "liberal vs conservative". The views of the creators clearly sit outside of that dichotomy, and they reference and mock their own political disengagement in this episode.
south park is absolutely right wing propaganda.
matt and trey are republicans, by their own admission. they "both sides" a ton of issues. they normalize and defend using slurs when they could get the same point across without them.
I don't think South Park is right-wing propaganda, just vapid enlightened centrism.
At worst, maybe they ripped into Bush-era conservatives enough that the alt-right found themselves in agreement, but got the entirely wrong takeaway from it.
It's just is one of those series where pretending to be stupid or establishing icons/memes will encourage other stupid people to interpret it however they want. Cartman acts like an evil Nazi but fat kid funny so Nazis funny and cool I guess.
The entire purpose and joke of modern Cartman is that he is a shitty person that is now completely surrounded by shitty people. As a result, he no longer feels special now that everyone in America is a terminally online racist/sexist psycho.
They removed his organs!?
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