South Park (Season 11) 720p - (2007 Lang: English)

Maybe the most intelligent show on TV...

No-one should make the critical error of underestimating Trey Parker. It takes a very intelligent and rational person to create such a clever, balanced mix of sharp satire and plain ol' buffoonery.

SP is a blessing. The main reason for this is that viewers like me finally got a comedy show that is politically INcorrect in the purest sense of the term. There are other TV shows and programs that CLAIM to be un-PC (like the ironically titled "Politically Incorrect" with its liberal, left-wing, politically correct, ridiculously biased and nearly retarded host Bill Maher), but SP is one the truly rare ones with its heart in the right place (alongside "Penn & Teller", and perhaps "The Howard Stern Show").

Stone and Parker may appear as a couple of lunatics at first (in the best possible sense), but they are cynics/skeptics of the finest sort, hence anyone who perceives SP as just a dumb cartoon with round-faced kids who say "f***" all the time must be either a Left-wing extremist, a Right-wing moron, or someone who has never seen more than one episode. Sure it's sometimes just silly nonsense, but more often than not the show targets specific political or social themes in such a wonderful, straight-forward, and clear-headed manner that I sometimes wonder how they get away with it.

How do they get away with all those racial themes (black stereotypes, SARS-infected Chinese getting smeared on carpets, Indians who sing like Indians etc.)? How do they get away with Affleck getting oral sex from J-Lo (i.e. Cartman's hand) or Cartman wrestling with a preachy dwarf? How do they get away with a thousand other things I thought were hilarious? Probably the high ratings; it might be that simple.

SP wasn't nearly as wild, consistent, and well-written in its early seasons as it had become from approximately season 4 onwards. The momentum has grown, the world-wide popularity giving them the freedom to go really nuts and molest any celebrity and expose any hypocrisy they deem worthy of the show's very high standards. Anybody and anything is fair game, it seems. True, sometimes they go too far: as is the case with Steve Irwin's death, Dawkins having cartoon-sex with the sex-changed teacher, or Cartman having Butters' penis in his mouth (as a prank), but on the other hand WHERE can you find Gandhi and Princess Diana as inhabitants of Hell!

One of the things that are most enjoyable about SP is that they nearly always make fun of celebrities that are the most despicable, exposing them for the morons and a**holes that they are. (That episode ending with lice inhabiting Anjelina Jolie's genitals is PRICELESS!)

Parker's creation is politically pretty much neutral, making it one of extremely few shows/movies that deal with political and social issues without taking the side of one political flank. Hence it isn't mere propaganda, as "The Simpsons" or any George Clooney or Michael Moore movie, but offers a fair assessment of both sides to any issue. Parker had the balls to be the only one in show-biz not to present Bush as a moron or a criminal at the height of the anti-Bush bashing craze.

SP is the show "The Simpsons" could have been, were it not controlled by its ex-hippie, Marxist producers: "The Simpsons" had Lisa to preach its liberal – i.e. politically correct - messages, and in the most unfunny and annoying New-Age manner. Homer and Bart are great, but that show was good only for a couple of seasons after which it degenerated.

SP, on the other hand, continually improves with time. It is baffling that some people think the show has lost its edge after season 7 or 8. If anything, the opposite is true; seasons 9, 10, and 11 are just as good as 5-8, if not better. The stories are getting more absurd, funnier, the writing is tighter, while Eric Cartman is being established as a cultural "icon" of the best/worst kind (depending on whether he is exterminating hippies or playing a neo-Nazi).

In times of mass media dominance and mind making machines forged by huge corporations it is quite important to have a counterparts challenging the created common standards.

South Park may be obscene, politically incorrect, exaggerated or even perverted, but in the end is one thing: Honest! Frankly I don't agree with most of the ways certain issues are being dealt with in this show but I have to give credit for the fact that it delivers aspects worth looking at on a lot of topics. Matt Stone and Trey Parker dare to ask subtle questions which are truly worth being asked, and even more, they base a lot of their thoughts on important human emotions which have a justified reason to be explored. In a society of terrorism, (pseudo)-tolerated religions and homosexuality, racism, stupidity and mistrust towards governments all that people have left is objectivity.

South Park doesn't just try to suggest an opinion, it goes even further, it presents both sides of the problem and leaves the opinion mostly to the viewer. This is precious in a lot ways, for one it offers choices, a point that should really be considered in times of an opinion controlled by the mass media. In another way it forces the audience to approach important issues from both colliding sides. Furthermore it dares, a fact that may chase many people away, but in the end it's those people who don't dare to confront themselves with the real issue itself. So in another way it distinguishes the cowards from the (real) brave.

South Park sympathizes with the idea of self esteem, openness and thought, and by exaggerating it I believe they do a very good of illustrating those points. Let's face it, we are being lead by MTV, VH1, CNN and Fox News... People don't know who to trust anymore, all becomes a show of "who's more trustworthy?", a commercial, a campaign, a fake... Real intentions are being blurred by phony commitments and promises, so why not have a look on the side? This show may be very offensive to a lot of people, I respect that, but if people just let go of prejudices and fake beliefs, South Park offers a perfect interface for global cultural acceptance and understanding. In some way it's stupid, but on the other it tries to make you realize how stupid reality even is. Very interesting!

I'm going to break with tradition here and pen a love letter. "South Park", which I absolutely worship, is the funniest show currently on TV, and right up there with the funniest things ever made for the big screen or the small screen. The key to all things funny is the writing, and the writing for "South Park" is incredible. Parker and Stone have also created a character, Cartman, who is right up there with all-time TV favorites such as Thurston Howell The Third ("Gilligan's Island"), Doctor Smith ("Lost in Space") and George Costanza ("Seinfeld"). They've also created "Jimmy", one of the funniest, most three-dimensional screen retards ever, "Timmy", another hilarious retard, "Mr. Garrison", "Mr. Hanky", "Mr. Hat", "Kenny", the list is endless. You also have to bow to any show that features a character such as "Towelie", a truly pathetic piece of talking cloth.

There are a few misses amongst the hits, but what would you expect? The guys are human. And they're permitted their indulgences since it is THEIR show, goddammit!!! For a movie and TV lover such as myself, the non-stop media referencing strikes a chord every time and Parker/Stone's ability to crank out shows that address totally current issues deserves massive respect. Favorite eps? Too many to list here, and who the f. cares, anyway. Let's just say that "South Park" is one of the most intelligent, perceptive, brilliant pieces of pop culture you are ever likely to see. And everything you need to know about life can be found within its humble frames. Respect the authorataaahhhh of this classic show!