South Park’s 20th season premiers this week and that’s got me both excited and feeling nostalgic about the show. I mean come on-- the only show that has ran continuously longer than South Park is The Simpsons, and I am certain that show will end when all the actors die. Anyway so I went and did some pondering about what is South Park to me. The show has been around for almost as long as I have and longer than some of the people I know. So I thought, "how does a show maintain its popularity for so long?" For that, I think the answer is right in our face as to what the show truly is.
Anyone who’s ever watched an episode knows it’s about the lives for four elementary school grade boys living in the fictitious town of South Park, Colorado. Every episode involves some random outlandish event happening involving aliens, politics, religion or even giant guinea pigs. Te boys are deeply involved, except for that one time involving STEM cell research. The show is satire, but there have been a lot of shows out there that satirized reality. Why did South Park survive when many others have either been canceled or finished? The answer is quite simple:
South Park has primarily been a satire of modern-day America and the world. It's not just "oh lets poke fun at something on a wide scale--" no, that’s too simple for Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Instead, these guys find one particular subject, whether it’s WikiLeaks, political correctness, prostitution or Scientology, and they rip them apart in the most over-the-top, completely nonsensical and hilarious way ever. To e honest, I’d love it if South Park ripped on me one day.
Of course it’s not just the fact these guys do what John Oliver does every Sunday night to current events but it’s the perspective that we see it from. You see, while other adult satire shows like Family Guy, Futurama, or even the Daily Show have their target audience being the same age of South Park’s intended audience, all those other shows give it from an adult's perspective. One of the greatest things about South Park is that it’s shown through a kid’s outlook on the world-- their mental state towards doing something or why they should not do something is from a child’s viewpoint. A common statement they often make is "are we going to get grounded if we do this?" Not "will this potentially kill us or end society as we know it." In the episode “Crippled Summer,” they get Towlie to quit his drug addiction not because it was for Towlie’s well-being, but because they were tired of him stealing their money. Or when they tried to hide Butters after hitting him in the eye with a Shuriken because they didn’t want to get in trouble-- it’s pure genius. So there you have it: my opinion as to what makes South Park great a satire of modern events through the eyes of four foul mouthed kids.
