Self-censorship of the depiction of Muhammad
The season 10 episodes "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II" feature a plot in which the Fox network plans to air an episode of the animated show Family Guy that contains an uncensored cartoon depiction of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad. Residents of South Park panic, fearing a terrorist response and a repeat of the real-life violent protests and riots that occurred worldwide after some Muslims regarded the prophet's cartoon depiction in a Danish newspaper as insulting and blasphemous. The first episode had a cliffhanger ending instructing viewers to watch part two to find out whether the image of Muhammad would be shown uncensored. In the second episode, Kyle persuades a Fox executive to air the Family Guy with the image uncensored, while echoing Parker and Stone's sentiments regarding what should or should not be censored of "[either] it's got to all be OK or none of it is".[2] Within the universe of the episode, the Family Guy episode is aired uncensored, despite a retaliation threat from Al-Qaeda. However, the actual South Parkbroadcast itself ran a black screen that read "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network" instead of the scene containing Muhammad's depiction, which Parker and Stone say was neutral and not intended to insult Muslims.[2][25]
Parker and Stone note the contradiction in being allowed to feature a profane depiction of Jesus, while being forbidden to feature a purely benign depiction of Muhammad, but claim they harbor no hard feelings toward Comedy Central for censoring the scene, since the network confessed to being "afraid of getting blown up" rather than claim they refrained from airing the scene uncensored out of religious tolerance.[2][49] Parker and Stone claim the only regrets they have over the incident was that their mocking of the show Family Guy in the episode generated more attention than its commentary on the ethics of censorship.[69] Previously, Muhammad was depicted uncensored and portrayed in a heroic light in the season five (2001) episode "Super Best Friends", which resulted in virtually no controversy.[2] Muhammad also appears among the large crowd of characters gathered behind the main characters and "South Park" sign in the some of the show's previous opening sequences
Gerald and Sheila Broflovski
Gerald and Sheila Broflovski are an upper middle-class married Jewish couple who raise their nine-year-old son Kyle and three-year-old Canadian-born adopted sonIke in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. Gerald is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and Sheila was originally voiced by Mary Kay Bergman and is currently voiced by Mona Marshall. Their first names are derived from the first names of Stone's parents, Gerald and Sheila Stone.[citation needed]
Though they are named for Stone's parents, Gerald and Sheila's characters are not largely inspired by the couple. While Stone's mother is Jewish, his father is a gentile of Irish descent, and Stone says they raised him in an agnostic household. Stone decided to portray the character of Gerald as recognizably Jewish, stating that doing so "creates more opportunity for comedy".[34] Gerald grew up in South Park, and met Sheila while they attended college.[35] The two moved back to Gerald's hometown when Kyle was younger because Sheila wanted to raise her children in a small town environment,[36][37] but briefly moved to San Francisco when Gerald felt that South Park wasn't "progressive" enough.[30] In a few instances, Sheila indicated displeasure with Gerald's indulgent and hypocritical behavior,[38][39] and Gerald occasionally displays subdued annoyance with his wife's meddling in others' lives. Their marriage has been portrayed as more stable than those of the other prominent adult couples in the series, and the couple once overcame a temporary setback in their sex life when Gerald briefly suffered from erectile dysfunction.[17]
Gerald and Sheila have been referred to as Serbian Jews,[40] and they mutually share a strong devotion to their Jewish religion, while expressing deep concern during the multiple times Kyle's faith in Judaism becomes enervated. The couple tend to showcase liberal viewpoints, having protested the 2003 invasion of Iraq[7] and supported Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential race.[8]
Gerald made his first appearance in episode "Starvin' Marvin". He is a lawyer who also serves on South Park's council as the city attorney,[5] and his role in this profession has been put on display in episodes in which a trial or legal issue plays a large part in the plot.[38][41][42] He commonly wears an olive-green jacket over a purple shirt and forest green trousers. He sports a contemporary beard and separated mustache, and is almost always seen donning a pink yarmulke. When not wearing the yarmulke, Gerald is shown to have male-pattern baldness. He is a generally kind, amiable person, though at intervals he has been shown to assume a snobbish attitude that disaffects his friends and family. Gerald was once seen to have a repressed gambling problem,[43] and prior struggles with a fictional form of inhalant abuse known within the show as "cheesing".[38]
Sheila made her first appearance in the season one episode "Death" (where she was originally named Carol), and she exhibits several traits commonly associated with those of a stereotypical Jewish mother. She wears her hair in a beehive, and typically wears a midnight blue suit jacket over a light gray blouse, with a dark red skirt and gray stockings. She speaks with a New York Jewish accent, is overweight, and appears to be of less-than-average height relative to the other female adults on the show. Apart from being briefly appointed to the fictional federal position of "Secretary of Offense" under the Clinton Administration, Sheila is a stay-at-home mother. As a result of hearing something shocking or inappropriate, she is often heard exclaiming "WHAT, WHAT, WHAT!?", saying each word in rapid succession and putting more emphasis on the last "what". Sheila has been depicted as being a huge fan of Barbra Streisand.[44]
In earlier seasons, Sheila would often protest against things she deemed harmful to children or to the Jewish community. She led a group to New York City to protest Terrance and Phillip, a Canadian comedy duo whose television show's toilet humor is what she believed to be a negative influence on Kyle.[45] Her outrage escalated in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut when she further protested Terrance and Phillip by forming "Mothers Against Canada", which eventually instigated a war between Canada and the United States. After a failed attempt to execute the two, she directly kills them by shooting them in the heads.
Upon seeing Kyle taking part in a school play which involved a nativity scene, Sheila pleads with the mayor to ban the use of any religious imagery within the town that could perceived as offensive to those of different beliefs.[46] In addition to her ethnicity, Cartman also despises Sheila's activism, which he perceives as an attempt to inhibit anyone's ability to have fun. Cartman has even expressed his hatred for Sheila by singing a song entitled "Kyle's Mom's Is a Bitch".
Racial stereotypes
South Park often makes use of racial stereotypes for the sake of humor and satire. The show criticizes the notion of racial essentialism, or the idea that belonging to a specific ethnic group bestows inherent characteristics. In "Cherokee Hair Tampons," the politically correct idea that Native Americans possess inherent, mystical medical knowledge superior to that of medical science is heavily criticized as a racist stereotype.
One of the show's longest running bits is Cartman's rampant, over-the-top antisemitism. Numerous episodes, such as "The Passion of the Jew," Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow," and "Jewbilee" address this specifically, although Cartman's bigotry toward Jews is a constant character trait.
With the exception of "Krazy Kripples," which focused specifically on inner city black gangs, all people of African descent on the show, including Chef's parents, Token, and numerous black celebrities in the episodes "Here Comes the Neighborhood" and "Douche and Turd" are shown as affluent and well-spoken.
In "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000", Cartman was declared a racist when he described Token as "...the black kid that goes to our school." Cartman, who had assaulted Token, was accused of a hate crime, when in fact Cartman's misdeed was inspired by loathing of Token personally, not because of his race.
Latinos who speak perfectly good English, yet revert to a Hispanic accent for the sake of appealing to other Latinos are occasionally satirized. Ignorant assumptions about the English-language limitation of Latinos on the part of native speakers of English are also mocked. In "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", Cartman's impression of Jennifer Lopez involved the heavily overpronounced key words "tacos and burritos". Latino reporters on the show speak perfect English, sounding exactly the same as reporters of other ethnicities, until they pronounce their names with heavy Hispanic accents, mocking the tendency of real-life television reporters to do this. In the episode D-Yikes a group of poor Latinos are shown numerous times willing to do any job for little money. The Latinos do each job exceptionally well and even manage to teach the kids something when they were substitute teaching, something Mr. Garrison is [generally] shown as incapable of doing.
Occasionally, the show touches on the idea that stereotypes are often based on reality, represented by a fictional stereotype when Kyle actually does appear to carry a bag of "Jew Gold" around his neck in "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow." The town's lone Asian, Tuong Lu Kim, is based on a real life City Wok owner that Parker and Stone used to call just to hear his accent for the sake of modeling it.
In the episode Christian Rock Hard, Cartman starts a Christian rock band in order to win a bet against Kyle, and, in doing so, requests the help of Token. Cartman tells Token that he can automatically play the bass guitar because he's black, and, though Token has no prior experience playing it, he does so perfectly in the episode.
Protected groups
The show exhibits equal-opportunity treatment of groups traditionally immune from criticism or mockery, such as those with disabilities, minorities, and women.
This issue was also tackled in "Chef Goes Nanners," when the children of South Park failed to see what was offensive about the town's flag, which depicted four white people hanging a black man. The children only saw the image as four people committing an act of violence on another person, regardless of color.
Those with disabilities are represented through Timmy and Jimmy. The wheelchair-bound Timmy was originally opposed by Comedy Central, as they feared bad publicity from having a handicapped child on the show. Parker and Stone argued, however, that Timmy being treated like a normal kid would be a good moral statement. Two episodes later, they made an entire episode revolving around Timmy, entitled "Timmy 2000" in which he becomes the lead singer of a popular rock band. Later, another student, Jimmy Vulmer, was added to the cast to represent those with physical handicaps. Jimmy, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, is portrayed as one of the most popular, well-liked students at South Park Elementary. Both students are treated as equals, playing and bantering with the other kids at school. The only time the other students decide to "stay out of it" is when Jimmy and Timmy fail to understand that the Crips are not a society for the handicapped in "Krazy Kripples."
Homosexuality
Early on, South Park depicted that homosexuality is natural, most notably in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride," in which Stan's homosexual dog, Sparky, helps the children realize that homosexuality is not something that can be changed through force of will. In "Follow That Egg!", gay marriage is supported by deconstructing the idea that homosexuals are incapable of being loving, supportive parents. While most treatments of homosexuality on the show address gay men, lesbians have been represented sympathetically, as in "D-Yikes!".
The show has gone to great pains to differentiate between homosexuality and perversion. In "Cripple Fight", the creators take the position that the Boy Scouts of America should not have been forced to allowhomosexuals to be Scoutmasters, while at the same time mocking the Boy Scouts for trying to exclude homosexuals from the organization, as there is no scientific correlation between homosexuality and pedophilia. While homosexuality has been treated as normal by the show, the sexual perversion of pedophiles was heavily criticized in "Cartman Joins NAMBLA."
South Park has not refrained from mocking individual people who happen to be homosexual and also ridiculous, specifically in the character of Mr./Mrs. Garrison. In The Death Camp of Tolerance, Chef proclaims that"there's a big difference between gay people and Mr. Garrison" and later refers to Mr. Garrison as a "sick queer"; this leads Chef to being punished, despite the fact that this statement is true, drawing a difference between the idea that queerness creates mental illness and the idea that a person can be a queer who happens to be demented.
[edit]Transsexuals
"Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" touches upon transsexual sex-reassignment surgery, and the ethics of radical plastic surgery. Mr. Garrison is reassigned because he feels he is a woman trapped in a man's body. Kyle and his father, wishing to become something they are physically not, have surgery to become tall and black, and a dolphin, respectively. The show concludes with Mrs. Garrison comfortable with her new gender and Kyle and his father realizing that mutilating their bodies was a selfish and inappropriate choice that showed they did not accept who they truly were. Three seasons later, in "Eek, A Penis!", Mrs Garrison is unhappy with her decision and manages to get a sex change back to being a man.
