South Park musings
I have been a regular South Park watcher since the beginnings of the show back in 1997. Just before the first episode, aired on August 13, I remember it being depicted on Folha de São Paulo (Brazil’s largest circulation newspaper) as the next “Beavis and Butthead” – but it ended up surpassing the MTV show by a far margin, being known worldwide today as one of the most polemic comic series on air.
With 169 episodes and 12 Seasons as of March 21, 2008, many things have changed from the original formula. Initially an integral part of the episodes, eschatology faded out as the show matured. Also the personality and interrelationships of the main characters gained a lot of depth over time. The messages conveyed and social critique also became more central to the show.
Initially somewhat 2-dimensional (paralleling Matt/Stone style of drawing) the four boys (Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny) undergo a series of adventures that culminate in a character deepening, whereas we as viewers progressively get to learn more about them. We have a peek into Cartman’s psyche in Episode 414 – Helen Keller! The Musical, where we see what are his daily thoughts, and then on Episode 1007 – Tsst (aka The Dog Whisperer) we discover the origin of his evilness.
There also a lot of subtleties in the episodes that escape you if you’re not watching for them, like the many cultural references to classics of american cinematography, theater and even literature. Take for example the parody of Taxi Driver in 103 – Weight Gain 4000 . In a sense, watching South Park is like taking classes in american pop culture, as you end up learning a lot about it in trying to understand the context of the episodes.
For all of these points I consider the show highly enjoyable and worth watching, but for me there’s one other special point in the show: its ability to take me by surprise with its mix of unexpected and made up cultural references. It’s not rare for me to watch an episode and not be able to tell 100% sure whether some part of it is actually a genuine cultural reference or if it’s made up for the viewers amusement.
Sometimes, when the reference seems too absurd to be true, I just assume it’s a made up one and go ahead. When I’m not so sure I set out to look them up and find out. To my sheer surprise, sometimes I find out that what I thought it was a made reference was an actual one! I will list some of my favorites so far:
- Paris Hilton (Episode 812 – Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset). When I first saw this episode I did not bother to look Paris Hilton up on Google to check whether she existed or not. I just thought that it was impossible for such a person to exist, and concluded that as Matt and Trey didn’t want to poke fun at a real celeb this time they decided to make this one up! To my surprise I learned from a friend (another SP aficionado) a couple of months later that Paris Hilton was actually a real person.
- Puff Daddy’s Vote or Die campaign (808 – Douche and Turd). In this episode we see a campaign by Puff Daddy to try to force Stan to vote. Again, to my dismay, I learnt that the campaign actually existed! Not only that, looking it up on Google I came across this:
Which not only contained my first surprise now-existing Paris Hilton but also the infamous campaign at the same time!
Surprise: not only Paris Hilton exists but also the Vote or Die campaign
- NAMBLA – North American Man/Boy Love Association (Episode 406 – Cartman Joins NAMBLA): In this episode they depict an association which gathers men fighting for their right to be able to have sex with young boys. Well… this couldn’t possible be true right? Think again. They do exist and have even a freaking website too.
Considering these, I’m starting to wonder if Man-Bear-Pig was really a made up reference… Won’t be surprised now I see a picture of Man-Bear-Pig with Paris Hilton and Puff Daddy. These are all for the holiday, I’ll post more later on.
