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[analogthought]

Just curious if anyone else had picked up on how incredibly genius the political ideas that are interlaced into every south park episode. I'm calling for someone to write a book on it.

please?

[tamaness]

I'm calling for someone to write a book on it.

how about you?

[analogthought]

I would if I had the time. I used to think the show was cheesy and dismissed it before I realized how great it is at putting things back in our faces with methods that totally fly right by a lot of people. It'd be great to see a document of all the topics it's archived throughout the years.

[Clobbersaurus]

a "how to understand the obvious for Idiots" book on this would be terribly cheesetastic.

[analogthought]

My point overall... is how often you don't hear about this show in the political ethos. Typically it's centered around The Daily Show, Steven Colbert, and the like. I'm curious why this show isn't included. Obviously the above parties have written books.... so why not one about the politics of south park. In today's social climate... you could be right in thinking that it should be a "for dummies" book.

[AngelofShadows]

My hunch....even though South Park has improved greatly over the seasons, the fact that it still finds way of pushing people's buttons on issues (saying shit on TV comes to mind) and the earlier seasons (the fact that most people would only referance the way Kenny died, which was played out 5 episodes in if you ask me [IT WAS USED AS A JOKE FOR BOY MEETS WORLD! BOY MEETS WORLD!]) have placed a shadow over it as an immature obscene cartoon. It doesn't help much that it's paired with the Sarah Silverman show and Drawn Together. It does make some good political points, and it is ussually more fair than most poking fun at both the left and right side of the political spectrum, and it's a shame it isn't mentioned in the same lines as the daily show, which didn't get noticed at all until John Stewart took over (If anyone remembers, it was pretty much a stupid celeb show with Craig Killborne (sp?)) 

[analogthought]

Completely agree. I think the reason I didn't like it at first was directly because of what you said. Like most things in pop culture... if it becomes an excessive part of our social dialog (think, "no kitty, that's my pot pie") I tend to run the other direction. It's the same reason I could never like Titanic... it was too EVERYwhere you turned when it came out.... no less accompanied by that obnoxious celine dion song.
It's funny that you mention the "shit" episode....
I often that of that as their way of pushing things in our face we don't want... which is what the show does almost more often than not. It got ratings, it got news coverage... but it also reminded us that there are limits according to the FCC and the extent of freedom of speech on television. There was still a point to be made. I also commend the show for saying/making fun of the things and people that I wish I could make fun of too (in a public setting).

[Kartoon Kween]

Anyone with half a brain can tell that South Park contains political opinions.  Some think they are clever, some don't.  A book doesn't need to be written about it.

Most people, instead of treating it like an ingenious political critique, just watch it for entertainment.

Furthermore, saying that "incredibly genius political ideas are interlaced into every South Park episode" is a bit much.  Many of my favorite episodes don't contain any political ideas whatsoever.  If every episode contained some sort of political garble, the show would get really annoying really fast.

[Cartilage Head]

WRONG THREAD

[ThinWhiteDuke09]

I feel its more of a social commentary than a political show, but in any case, I think its a general trend following a sort of formula and more appropriate to go over in an essay rather than highlighting specific episodes.

[MC]

Just curious if anyone else had picked up on how incredibly genius the political ideas that are interlaced into every south park episode. I'm calling for someone to write a book on it.

please?

haha! How about "Common Sense: A guide for the pompus conservitive meatheads in our day"

[MC]

My hunch....even though South Park has improved greatly over the seasons, the fact that it still finds way of pushing people's buttons on issues (saying shit on TV comes to mind) and the earlier seasons (the fact that most people would only referance the way Kenny died, which was played out 5 episodes in if you ask me [IT WAS USED AS A JOKE FOR BOY MEETS WORLD! BOY MEETS WORLD!]) have placed a shadow over it as an immature obscene cartoon. It doesn't help much that it's paired with the Sarah Silverman show and Drawn Together. It does make some good political points, and it is ussually more fair than most poking fun at both the left and right side of the political spectrum, and it's a shame it isn't mentioned in the same lines as the daily show, which didn't get noticed at all until John Stewart took over (If anyone remembers, it was pretty much a stupid celeb show with Craig Killborne (sp?)) 

ha! But the fact that South Park pisses people off is the perfect reason to write a political book about it! It does what I wish i could do it'd be a perfect voice for today's people who are over-all pissed off altogether.

[camelpimp]

LOL DICKS.

[go make stuff]

Ha... good title MC. I think it's relevant because the ways they go about presenting the information are far more in your face than even the daily show, etc. They DO speak for an angry generation that's tired of being ignored. The problem/question tho... is whether or not it does more harm than good. I say that because does it allow people who are angry to feel better about things because they feel a voice is being heard... so they then are inclined to be more apathetic towards physical actions that would create change... or is it a "better than nothin' " situation. I think an animated TV show shouldn't be considered a form of activism... and I think some people can see it that way. Unless you're the creators of the show, that is. Does this make any sense, or am I too deprived of sleep to be typing this now?

[Kartoon Kween]

haha! How about "Common Sense: A guide for the pompus conservitive meatheads in our day"

SP makes fun of Liberals as much as - if not more than - Conservatives.  A better title would be:

"Common Sense: A Guide for the Pompous Partisan  Meatheads in Our Day".

[Ozymandias]

Believe me, people know about South Park.

[MC]

Ha... good title MC. I think it's relevant because the ways they go about presenting the information are far more in your face than even the daily show, etc. They DO speak for an angry generation that's tired of being ignored. The problem/question tho... is whether or not it does more harm than good. I say that because does it allow people who are angry to feel better about things because they feel a voice is being heard... so they then are inclined to be more apathetic towards physical actions that would create change... or is it a "better than nothin' " situation. I think an animated TV show shouldn't be considered a form of activism... and I think some people can see it that way. Unless you're the creators of the show, that is. Does this make any sense, or am I too deprived of sleep to be typing this now?

hah. No I can see where your coming from. Though if people were actully being serious about South Park I'd say it's at least SOME way to show the political pricks how we feel about all their dictatorship. The fact is America used to be for the people... and now it's for the goverment. People are pissed off and have a right to be... to be honest I beleive very strongly that our anger comes for a reason and is best brought out into the open. If people don't move and try to change things than things will never get changed... and things need to change.

[MC]

haha! How about "Common Sense: A guide for the pompus conservitive meatheads in our day"

SP makes fun of Liberals as much as - if not more than - Conservatives.  A better title would be:

"Common Sense: A Guide for the Pompous Partisan  Meatheads in Our Day".

yeah your right. Conservitives tend to stand out more but liberals are just as bad at times.

[Ishotdanieljohnston]

My point overall... is how often you don't hear about this show in the political ethos. Typically it's centered around The Daily Show, Steven Colbert, and the like. I'm curious why this show isn't included. Obviously the above parties have written books.... so why not one about the politics of south park. In today's social climate... you could be right in thinking that it should be a "for dummies" book.

Because South Park is smart enough, accessable enough and clear enough to stand on it's own. It really just doesn't need it. You could say the same about the Simpsons, but both shows choose the medium of satire because they don't need some book to convey their ideas.

[KharBevNor]

I'm pretty sure, from half-remember interviews and observations of the show, that South Parks creators are basically libertarians. What I'm saying is, the politics of South Park aren't particularly innovative or special, you just never heard of them before.

[analogthought]

Thanks for the link Ozy.

[carrotosaurus]

Common Sense by Thomas Paine?

[KvP]

Yes, South Park is political. No, it isn't brilliant. It's libertarian, and unless you make it a point to watch Pat Buchanan, you won't see much libertarianism on TV, so it seems brilliant in context. But it is actually funny. Less so when they wield their ethos like a club.

I'm waiting for this thread to take the inevitable slide into Ron Paul endorsements.

[Dimmukane]

I'm Ron Paul?

[muteKi]

Those stupid sticky labels don't come off more easily than anything else, despite what he might think.

This is evidence that his policy is based on ideas not grounded in reality. =P

InfiniteRonPaul.com

[Storm Rider]

I'm going to go ahead and say that South Park's political statements are some of the most inane, simplistic attempts at 'social commentary' I've seen in popular media. It's a pretty fucking depressing indication of the state of political discourse in this country when turning one of the sides into alien crabs is considered insightful.

[analogthought]

It is completely sad that this is considered insightful. It's completely sad that so many people find more intellectual content in a show on comedy central (via colbert/stewart) etc. than what you can typically find on an actual news network. I think also, having grown up in a smaller town, and now living in new york... it's good to know that these kinds of thoughts extend outside the safety zones of big cities and are thrust into the homes of viewers all across middle america.

[tehjiggles]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_and_Philosophy:_You_Know%2C_I_Learned_Something_Today

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park_and_Philosophy:_Bigger%2C_Longer%2C_and_More_Penetrating


Two books have been written!