Controversy Behind South Park's Ethics
South Park, the animated TV series aired on Comedy Central was created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker and is one of the many new shows that involve animation with high-level adult comedy that parodies current events going on across the United States and throughout the world. South Park is just one of many new shows that involve this sort of high end entertainment and they are taking the television ratings by storm. This show, along with others of its nature such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, and King of the Hill are all extremely controversial in nature and in regards to the situations portrayed on the television screen. These shows have gotten consistently more obnoxious, racial, and detrimental in content that it has caused major concern with viewers of all statures, whether it is a housewife mother’s concern with their 10 year olds viewing habits or whether it be concern in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In light of all the controversy and lewd content, South Park continues to push the limits of what is acceptable for television viewing, continually going over the edge in many viewers’ eyes. Like it or not South Park is extremely inventive in nature and on many levels has been more successful then anyone could have ever dreamed. In the following pages we will explore the many different aspects, criticisms, and accomplishments this heavily controversial cable television cartoon has touched upon.
South Park is an animated series that was created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker in the mid 90’s featuring four boys who live in the Colorado town of South Park, which is often beset by frequent odd occurrences that prove mysteriously similar to current events going on in our world. The show grew out of a short film that Trey Parker and Matt Stone created called “Frosty” or also known as "The Spirit of Christmas". "Frosty", also known as "A Christmas Story," was shot on an old, rough and tumble 16mm Arriflex camera that was on an animation stand at the University of Colorado film department in Boulder. The video was very primitive stuff in nature, as it was patched together from construction-paper cutouts that were simply glued together with nothing more then Elmer's Glue. The cutouts were then placed on construction paper backgrounds and photographed frame by frame. The “Spirit of Christmas” on the other h...
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...e fun directly at MLB players Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and Jeremy Giambi. And in Episode 812: Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset , all the fourth grade girls idolize a rich, famous and spoiled socialite. They even have her brand new toy set that comes complete with video camera, night vision filter, play money and losable cell phone. In an effort to impress their idol, the girls pursue the boys to make their own videos. This show is a mockery of how recently female celebrities have become famous for partying, drinking and sleeping around. The show revolves mainly around Paris Hilton who they refer to as a stupid, spoiled whore on several occasions.
We cannot protect all of the children in the world by censoring a few television shows. If anyone is at fault for exposing their child to the bad in the world, it is their parents. Remember what the 8 year old said about South Park’s swear words, “My daddy says them every single day.” It is the parents’ choice if they want to protect their children from all of the violence and profanity that is out there, it is in no way a choice of television networks. Everyone has a right to speak their minds and not have their thoughts censored.
Popular culture is the artistic and creative expression in entertainment and style that appeals to society as whole. It includes music, film, sports, painting, sculpture, and even photography. It can be diffused in many ways, but one of the most powerful and effective ways to address society is through film and television. Broadcasting, radio and television are the primary means by which information and entertainment are delivered to the public in virtually every nation around the world, and they have become a crucial instrument of modern social and political organization. Most of today’s television programming genres are derived from earlier media such as stage, cinema and radio. In the area of comedy, sitcoms have proven the most durable and popular of American broadcasting genres. The sitcom’s success depends on the audience’s familiarity with the habitual characters and the situations
Younger generations and the more vulnerable in society can be influenced in avoiding peer pressure, but for the individuals filled with wisdom, the shows can reflect based on American modern society. Everybody Loves Raymond and Full House are great shows who faces similar life obstacles a typical person living in the US has today. As a result, most modern family comedy sit-coms are reflecting our society’s generations and the more vulnerable. Based on the success of early family sit coms, American’s adapted to a fast pace lifestyle with the help of modern
Americans hate the word censorship. It puts fire into the eyes of any self proclaimed, speaker of the people. but is censorship that bad, or that wrong? Censorship is an enormous part of the stability of society. One of the many types of censorship takes place on the airwaves. Comedians, George Carlin, Howard Stern, and Mncow Muller had an enormous effect on the ideals of censorship in this era, trying to prove that the FCC had no right to censor radio airwaves. They questioned why words we all hear at home cannot be spoken on the radio if listeners are given a proper warning. However, there is no need for young children to be exposed to such lude material and the American people must be more reasonable about morals and stop worrying about our “First Amendment” rights.
“Oh my God, they killed Kenny!” South Park is a adult cartoon that circles around the abnormal life of four boys living in Colorado. This hilarious animated television series strives to be the most controversial show on air. The series has been on air since August 13, 1997 and while the show seems ridiculous, it is commonly known for incorporating high and low culture within the show. South Park has been known to take current issues from today’s society and convert them to a more simplified version while transforming it into a satire. One episode that stood out from the rest was an episode called “The Cissy” which focused on gender relations and transgender issues. This episode reflected on how today’s society see gender and transgender.
Since television came into existence, it has evolved into a useful tool to spread ideas, both social and political, and has had a great effect on the generations growing up with these heavily influential shows. To these younger generations, television has taken the role of a teacher, with the task of creating a social construction by which many of us base our personal beliefs and judgments on. This power allows television shows take the opportunity to address problems in a manner that many audiences can take to heart. Many television shows present controversial topics in a comical matter, in some ways to soften the blow of hard-hitting reality at the same time bringing attention to the issue being addressed. In the television show, Everybody Hates Chris, season one, episode four entitled “Everybody Hates Sausage”, the stereotypes that continue to fuel racism are examined in a satirical motif, and class is presented in a comical way, but carries serious undertones which present a somewhat realistic view of the different social strata within the United States.
...from the other side of this argument is the fact that profanity and sexually explicit material shouldn’t be exposed to young children without their parental permission. But telling teenagers and young adults who are mature enough to choose what they want to listen to is completely wrong and unjust. The key word here is choice. As stated earlier, the thing that makes this country truly great is the idea that we have the right to listen to whatever we choose we want to listen to, not what a censor thinks you should be exposed to, it’s ridiculous.
The author of “Shopping at J-Mart with the Williams”, Lindsay Coleman, discusses race, ethnicity, and belonging in South Park. She talks about how South Park joins the “long tradition of decidedly impolite, racially charged comedy” (Coleman 131) through rhetoric. Coleman goes on to give specific examples of racially based actions in different episodes to show the commonality of this rhetoric in South Park. She explains how typical black stereotypes are portrayed in some episodes to help highlight South Park’s use of racial comedy. She also explores the role reversal of race through “social condition” (Coleman 131). In America, most people associate wealth with white men/women, but in South Park, the black men and women are the wealthy people.
Censorship has been a big part of the world’s history and especially America’s history. One of the most quoted amendments to the United States constitution is the first amendment; “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...” This amendment guaranteeing free speech, press, and religion is still heavily debated and contested today. Censorship, as a challenge to free speech and press has been allowed many times and has been heavily debated itself. Many people censor for many different reasons and in many different forms. Censorship itself is not always a bad thing and has in some cases been used for protection of the general population.
The show South Park was first aired in August of 1997, and was similar to shows like Family Guy or The Simpsons in terms of pushing the limits of acceptable television to gain their audience. Since its creation the show is still infamous for its crude humor, vulgar language, and suggestive dialogue. Episode 2 of season 19 is the perfect example of the creators mixing satire and irony to give the audience a clear yet humorous view on immigration in America today.
This is because they provide negative critique that does not offer the elements required from an effective public pedagogy (McClennen 74). Theodore Gournelos, the author of The Tao of South Park: Dissonant Visual Culture and the Future of Politics, refutes McClennen s claim by arguing that even though South Park does not directly intervene with policy making or legislative initiatives, it forms a social landscape in which we challenge the status quo. He continues by saying that ”conflict-oriented cultural productions like South Park suggest an array of alternative tactics for progressive or emancipatory politics within a dissonant ontology” (Gournelos 284).... ... middle of paper ...
There are countless of televisions shows in today’s media. The content of some shows is very poor and low in value it is arduous to find good content. Most televisions shows are filled with violence, sex, or drugs making it arduous to find a clean show that families can enjoy. A television show that has good moral values and overall positive content value is “Boy Meets World”. Corey Matthews (the main character) from “Boy meets World” serves as a positive role model for millennials because the show tackles real day to day issues that teenagers face and he is always able to do the right thing.
Do you want our future generations being exposed to violence, hate, sex, illegal substances, and false information, and then one day think it would be cool or alright to try these things? The internet is filled with dangerous information, that children should never have the freedom to access. Children learn from example, and if they search, watch, or read something on the web that could be potentially dangerous, they could be influenced or curious and think that it would be alright to imitate one day. If our children now are viewing these things, it could mean that are future generations can grow to be more violent and our world could become more dangerous than it already is today. Censorship is necessary if we plan on having our kids grow up in the safest environment possible.
Hence, censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and gender, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or works of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before.
Tackling censorship is much more important than it appears to be at the surface; taking down censorship would help preserve the expression of thought. It would help preserve the right to listen to the unaltered forms of everything. Most importantly, it would help preserve the rapidly weakening basic right of speech. Censorship has always altered the lives of many people, whether they know it or not. People are constantly exposed to the censored version of entertainment.
mainly with the content of the shows. Many of the shows on television portray violence, drugs, sexual activity, and profanity. People who watch these shows see what the actors and actresses are doing and then feel it is all right for them to do the same things. If a kid is watching a show were one of the actors or actresses use profanity, they will feel it is all right for them to use the same language.