Many fans of South Park want it to be recognized as art and commentary (I believe it is absolutely both) but get pissed when it's interrogated and critiqued as art and commentary.
Then it's just entertainment and "chill out".
You can't have it both ways, folks.
Then it's just entertainment and "chill out".
You can't have it both ways, folks.
South Park, like so many other things, can be entertainment and commentary, but you cannot substitute standards of one of those for both. That's not how shit works. You're literally asking for a safe space for a show you claim is bold but apparently fragile to criticism.
I do think Parker & Stone are brilliant writers and have articulated great insight into our society and culture. I also think they're often lazy in their research and present their worldview as The One Truth. This leads to really uneven product, often irresponsible.
They also have a bizarre hypocrisy in asserting that only they things THEY care about merit earnestness. Everything else is extraneous. It's communicated repeatedly that folks should be mocked for caring about things outside the worldview of Parker & Stone.
A great example is climate change, which they did apologize for, and that's to their credit. But it's far from the only thing. They consistently deride anyone who challenges them to think broader, and that's really tragic. All that talent and so much defensiveness to go with it.
And y'all, no one is saying "South Park" should be cancelled. Grow the fuck up. There are grown adults who are not going to see this show the same way you do. They will critique it. Framing that as an assault on free speech is childish bullshit. Go take a nap.
