I fondly remember my first experience with South Park. It was during my summer working as a counselor at a Boy Scout camp in Western Wisconsin, late at night after the campers had gone to sleep, on the tiny old TV in the corner of the beach boathouse. On a warped old VHS (from repeated viewing, I assume, the show had only been on the air for a year or so), I was introduced to Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. I didn't like them very much. For most of the intervening ten years, I maintained a deep, arrogant apathy toward the show that had nearly every single male (and a good number of females) in my age group thoroughly looking forward to Wednesday nights at ten. I attribute my distaste for the show largely to a preternatural disinterest in shock-value swearing and bodily function humor. It's not that I was a prude (as I did, and still do, regularly say things that would make George Carlin blush), but rather that these things were not enough to draw me toward the show, and the show's other sources of humor weren't compelling enough to overcome my indifference. Eventually, though, I grew up. And unlike many of its viewers, for me growing up meant enjoying South Park more and more, rather than less. Here's why. As I got older, the cleverly crafted writing and sharp satire of South Park were revealed beneath the expletives, excretives and cheap animation. Granted, South Park grew up, too, but the sardonic, surrealistic, but ultimately fond satire of media, politics and life in general was present even in early seasons. For these reasons and others, I, a reformed man, believe South Park to be one of the most intelligent, funniest shows currently on television, and almost certainly the smartest cartoon ever made. Thanks in part to the effort of my brother and largely to the effort of my friend John, I came around. Let me share the reasons for my conversion with you brother, so that ye may be enlightened. Now I realize that preaching to the internet about how South Park is a good show is like telling a bunch of penguins that fish taste good or trying to convince House Republicans that lower taxes are just dandy, but I'm not talking to the internet in general. I'm talking to those of you who don't like South Park. Yeah, I see you. Over there. You're sneering at the profanity, the Saddam Hussein/Satan slash fiction, the fact that yes, indeed there is a Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo. You're probably Canadian. Well, you need to relax, guy. I know you. I used to be you. Oh but Tyler, I can hear you asking from the cheap seats, what about Family Guy? They're way edgier than South Park! What about The Simpsons? They did all this years before South Park was even created! Yes, reader, I hear your questions, and like all good storytellers, I'll ask you to kindly be quiet until I'm finished. Like its competition, South Park relies heavily on send-ups of popular culture as a source of much of its humor. However, South Park doesn't just use these references for a cheap one-off gag but rather develops them into unique and challenging plot-based jokes. Consider, for example, the infamous final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, a scene parodied in both Family Guy and South Park:
Episode: Free Hat Season 9, 2002
The plot of Free Hat sees the boys seeking to save classic movies from being altered by their greedy, irresponsible creators. The boys catch wind of Spielberg and Lucas plan to improveRaiders of the Lost Ark by adding more explosions and special effects. The boys efforts to stop the two filmmakers come to resemble the plot of the aforementioned movie, culminating in the re-edit of Raiders being so bad that it melts the faces of Spielberg and Lucas. The boys eventually ship the only reel of the movie to a place where no one will ever see it predictably, a warehouse full of boxes, just like the end of the actual movie. However, then the frame pulls back to reveal the actual joke of the scene: a placard reading 9/11 Relief Fund.
Episodes: Peters Got Woods Season 4, 2005
and Back to the Woods Season 6, 2008
In this episode, after a tussle between Brian and Peter over the name of the local high school (Peter thinks it should stay the same, Brian thinks it should be changed to Martin Luther King Jr. High to impress his new girlfriend), Peter befriends actor James Woods. However, James friendship soon turns creepy, and Peter starts to fear for his life. Using a simple trap, Brian and Peter trick James and lock him in a wooden box. Peter tells Brian that the box is being seen after by top men, Brian. Top. Men. Predictably, this leads to another animated version of the Raiders warehouse, complete with music. This exact same scene is re-used as a self-referential joke in Back to the Woods, the episode where Woods returns for revenge.
Between these two shows, it is only South Park that actually makes a joke out of the reference. Family Guy here simply elicits an oh hey, I remember that movie, laugh, whereas South Park's usage is intricately tied into the plot and then further adds an additional satirical sting based on then-current events. South Park's usage of the common pop-culture reference is smarter, more relevant and much, much funnier. And to think Family Guy used the exact same thing twice! Another strength of South Park is its usage of, but not over-reliance on, tropes and clich's. The early seasons of South Park are riddled with returning, flatly-drawn (pun intended) characters and once-an-episode catch phrases. Kenny died in every episode. Chef sings a song in every episode that invariably turns dirty. Cartman says Screw you guys, I'm going home. These tropes were an integral part of shaping South Park and its characters, but the creators were wise enough to know when enough was enough. Kenny died once and for all in season 5 in Kenny Dies. Towelie, a purposefully one-dimensional character, appears very sparingly and usually in small roles. Chef stopped singing years before he died. These cliches are what made South Park memorable, and in many ways defined its world, but Matt and Trey knew that, if they continued to use them, they would have grown stale. One last strength of South Park is its ability to stay fresh, current and relevant. This is accomplished thanks largely in part to the creator's ridiculous writing schedule episodes are written no more than a week before they are aired. This makes relevant comedy second nature to South Park an episode about masked avengers airing the same week Watchmen enters theaters, an episode about pirates in Somalia even as they're making headlines. The fact of the matter is, though, the show is smart and funny and, if you're like me, it may have taken you a while to realize that. If you can look past the literal mountains of shit in More Crap, you can see the happy satire of hyper-masculinity and the need for achievement and recognition. If you can see past the little counter in the corner in It Hits the Fan, you can see the sage observation that censorship just gives more power to the censored material. Family Guy and The Simpsons have been and will continue to be shows I love watching, but I'm a member of the Church of South Park now. Join us, brother, and we'll have ourselves a time.
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