South Park's Take on Disaster (Katrina) Reporting

[Bruzilla]

Tom the anchorman: “Peril, crisis and fear tonight as what appears to be a massive flood has overtaken the town of Beaverton, Colorado, home of the world’s largest beaver dam. Earlier today, a break in the beaver dam which protected the town broke open, trapping people in their houses and destroying their lives.”

Mitch, the reporter: “Tom, I’m currently ten miles outside of Beaverton, unable to get inside the town proper. We do not have any reports of fatalities yet, but we believe that the death toll may be in the hundreds of millions. Beaverton has only a population of about 8,000, Tom, so this would be quite devastating.”

Tom: “Any word on how the survivors in the town are doing, Mitch?”

Mitch: “We’re not sure what’s exactly is going on inside the town of Beaverton, Tom, but we’re reporting that there’s looting, raping and, yes, even acts of cannibalism.”

Tom: “My God, you’ve actually seen people looting, raping and eating each other?!”

Mitch: “No, no we’ve haven’t actually seen it, Tom. We’re just reporting it.”

 

[Tri]

Loved the new episode.

 

[vraiblonde]

I love South Park

 

[Tonio]

Have you seen Drawn Together? It tries to be even more outrageous than South Park, but without so much social commentary.

In the first animated reality show, eight characters from vastly different reaches of the cartoon universe agree to live in a house and have their lives taped. From a washed-up movie reel heartthrob to a homicidal Japanese trading card character, these housemates have nothing in common but a love of drinking and hot tub make-outs. Will the housemates rise above their many differences and come together as a family? No -- but it's fun to watch them sort-of try!

 

[vraiblonde]

Have you seen Drawn Together?

I've caught it a few times but can only sit through a few minutes before I turn it off. The joy of South Park IS the social commentary, not just the outrageousness of it all.

 

[Foamy]

Here ya go......click

 

[Shetiger]

I missed it..

 

[Tonio]

The joy of South Park IS the social commentary, not just the outrageousness of it all.

I agree. Parker and Stone make a hell of a lot of sense when they're not making jokes about fecalphilia. Their commentary seems grounded in common sense instead of in any particular political ideology. Plus, they're not afraid to laugh at themselves, such as when the South Park kids laugh at Parker and Stone's movie flop Baseketball.

 

[ladylara]

I've caught it a few times but can only sit through a few minutes before I turn it off. The joy of South Park IS the social commentary, not just the outrageousness of it all.

i completely agree, vrai! i am always amazed how timely south park is and just how much they CAN get away with!
i read recently that trey parker hates the anxiety he feels while making an eppy. but they just signed a contract with comedy central to make south park through 2008!

 

[Larry Gude]

I...

...broke the damn.

 

[wmburdette]

The joy of South Park IS the social commentary, not just the outrageousness of it all.

After reading Brian Andersons excellent book South Park Conservatives, I believe South Park is much more that just social commentary. It reflects the evolving views of a whole generation that, I think, is evolving in the right direction.

 

[Shetiger]

Here ya go......click

Foamy is good too..

 

[Tonio]

After reading Brian Andersons excellent book South Park Conservatives, I believe South Park is much more that just social commentary. It reflects the evolving views of a whole generation that, I think, is evolving in the right direction.

I see South Park's appeal as more libertarian than conservative, although the authors have a point that both ideologies come across as anti-liberal.

This piece in Slate a couple of years ago (http://www.slate.com/id/2079038/) makes a similar point:

FM talk radio—Stern, Joyner, Mancow, Don and Mike in Washington, Tom Leykis in Los Angeles—scores with young men, guys who like their radio on the risqué side, with a bulging menu of sex jokes and a powerful message that this is America and you can do whatever you want. Hint to Democrats: You may not like to admit this, but these are your voters.
Yes, they like it raunchy. Most people listen to radio alone in their cars, where no one needs to be PC, where it's still OK to insult women and minorities and foreigners, and no one has to fear being slapped with a harassment charge. And it's OK to chuckle at that coarse humor and still vote Democratic. The PC brigades may find this hard to believe, but shock jocks do quite well with black listeners and with traditional Democratic demographics, such as college graduates and city dwellers. No, Stern and Don Geronimo and Tom Leykis have no interest whatsoever in having Dick Gephardt on the show, at least not unless he's going to remove his pants. And no, they would say, there's no politics on their shows...But even if Stern wannabes don't address abortion directly, their daily diet of searingly intimate conversation with callers hits many of those hot-button issues, and they do it almost unfailingly from a left-libertarian perspective—they are classic social liberals.

Shock jocks arethis country's progressive talkers, ranting for hours on end on behalf of civil liberties, sexual freedom, the rights of the little guy against the nation's big corporations and institutions (and—sorry, Dems—againstaffirmative action). They may not share Limbaugh's fascination with electoral politics, but on the issues that divide this country into red and blue, they are every bit as popular and powerful as the supposedly unchallenged conservatives. Shock jocks talk about sex, television, and what's hot. They talk about what people are talking about, which, if you listen carefully, usually are exactly the same issues that determine how people vote: personal freedom, mores, economic well-being, family, what it's like to be a guy or a woman or an American right now.

 

[vraiblonde]

i am always amazed how timely south park is

I am too - it's like something will happen and three days later there's a SP episode about it.

 

[TomRidgely]

I was bustin' a gut watching the new episode. That show is hilarious. New to the area and board. Nice webpage.

 

[vraiblonde]

New to the area and board. Nice webpage.

Thanks and welcome