South Park Satire

Since the beginning of humanity, we humans have longed for, and are constantly longing for, enjoyment. It is in our very nature to want what is pleasant and to reject what is harmful. Most humans in the current age find their enjoyment in a discourse called comedy. Comedy is very successful within our world because it's purely made up of things that are funny and enjoyable, while being fairly easy to comprehend. Many television shows, movies, books, and stories incorporate comedy into their content to make it more pleasurable, which ultimately makes it more successful. Also, because things that are comedic, are enjoyable, and things that are enjoyable, are successful, there is a lot of media content completely dedicated to and based on, comedy. One of the most successful tv comedy shows is called South Park. South Park is a critically acclaimed animated sitcom, produced in the U.S. and is purely based on comedy. The first episode of South Park first aired in August of 1997, and new episodes are still being produced and broadcasted today. South Park is highly successful and still on the air because of its satirical approach on cultural, political, and religious

subjects, which makes it very comedic.
One main example of the comedic satire that South Park implements is found in season 5 episode 1, which was aired in 2001, titled "It Hits the Fan." In this episode the word sh*t is spoken 162 times and written 38 times, for a total of 200. Despite the record amount of s-words, there was less controversy than expected. Matt Stone, one of the co-creators of South Park explains the reception by saying, "No one cares anymore. . .. The standards are almost gone. No one gives a sh*t or a bullsh*t."
The underlying message of South Park is this: Every topic is worthy of being satirized, even ones that are anti-politically correct, in an effort to produce unparalleled comedy. "I don't give a sh*t about being PC or anti-PC," Matt Stone said in 1998. "We tackle subject matter that we think is funny and unique. We make statements through our humor, but we're not out to make statements" Both co-creators have often dubbed themselves as "equal opportunity offenders," willing to offend anyone regardless of anything.
The intended audience of South Park is people who find profanity, as well as crude, dark, and surreal humor, comedic.

South Park is directed towards a mature audience, 17+, however, much of the comedy is very immature, leading most people to think that it is intended more for younger audiences. One of the reasons why this is the case, is because of influential online content reviewing websites. Despite the fact that South Park is rated TV-MA (17+), the Parents Guide on IMDb says that the suggested age for the show is 15+. Not only IMDb, but another well-known organization, Common Sense Media, also suggests that the recommended age for South Park is 15+. From personal experience I can say that people as young as 10 years old watch South Park, and that is also part of the success that the show has

gained.
Many people who are political, religious, or cultural would be offended by South Park, because it is a show that doesn’t care who it offends, as long as it is comedic and successful. If you are a person who holds a certain viewpoint on anything, popular or unpopular, there is a possibility that one or more of the episodes could seriously offend you; and that is the reality of it. However, many people find the offensiveness of the show to be so over the top, that it is at the point where it is clearly a joke.
South Park is a show that is all about making people laugh, and that is the main reason why it is successful; it's funny, to a major amount of people. The sad part about the success of South Park and other crude comedic tv series, is that it shows just how immature a big portion of people in this generation have become.