South Park: the latest irreverent, funny cartoon

By Jennifer Richler

Wednesday nights are a big deal for me. In fact, I look forward to my ritual 10 p.m. date all week. Okay, so my secret rendezvous is with four guys named Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny; but before you laugh, remember that many of you seem to be enjoying their company too.

Those of you who do not know that I am referring to Comedy Central's South Park must be living on another planet (perhaps you were abducted by aliens, like Cartman). Stories of South Park's popularity have made the covers of national magazines including Newsweek, Spin, and Rolling Stone. South Park websites, on which you can download popular songs like "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch," number in the hundreds. And if you haven't heard anyone walking around campus doing South Park impersonations, you must be blocking your ears.

There's something about the humor of South Park that is eternally funny. In fact, for the true South Park fan, lines from the show become funnier the more often they are repeated. While this behavior may seem obsessive to non-South Park fans, the show's faithful understand one another's need to revel in its off-beat humor. A piece of...er...fecal matter that comes out of the toilet to sing Christmas songs, a cafeteria chef who bursts into erotic songs whenever the boys ask for advice. How could anyone not love this show?

Apparently, some people don't. A recent article in Time suggested that the show is already lacking in originality and may soon run out of ideas. This is a point that even I, a die-hard fan, must consider. South Park definitely does have some routine occurrences, such as Kenny's death (in every episode but one) and Cartman's craving for Cheesy Poofs.

The show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, suggested in Rolling Stone that it was exactly this kind of formulaic and predictable style they hoped to avoid.

But while Parker and Stone might not be happy to hear this, I think these "regulars" are part of the show's appeal. Watching the show with other fans becomes a bonding experience in which fans can recite along with Stan and Kyle, "They killed Kenny...you bastards!"

Of course, I realize that this kind of routine can get boring, but the show always redeems itself with characters or plot twists that make you say "This is really insane." Cartman dressing up like Hitler for Halloween and Jesus taking on Satan in a boxing ring are only a few examples.

South Park dissenters will probably not be satisfied yet, as they usually have two other major problems with the show: its reliance on toilet humor and its political incorrectness.

Allow me first to address the issue of toilet humor. South Park does rely on jokes about things such as bodily functions in order to get laughs. But there's one good reasons for that: they're funny! Whether we want to admit it or not, we are instinctively amused by such matters.

Anyone who has seen the show and still denies this, tell me you didn't laugh when Cartman was shooting balls of fire out his behind. (I couldn't even write that without laughing to myself.) South Park may be far from subtle, but this doesn't mean it's not still hilarious.

The political incorrectness is a more complex issue. People claim that South Park's humor is often offensive to certain groups, including women and blacks. I won't try to deny that some of the lines are definitely a bit risqué.

Still, as a friend pointed out, the people that South Park really pokes fun at are the bratty, white-bred children and the others who live in the backward, conservative town in Colorado.

Nothing said on the show should be taken too seriously. I doubt that Parker and Stone are bigots, and I doubt that they are attempting to be satirical or send some kind of political message. They claim the show is really about being a kid and all of the semi-traumatic things that go along with it. As absurd as some of the plot lines and characters are, there are some aspects of South Park to which we can all relate.

I guess that's really what's so appealing about it. So, if there are any South Park virgins still out there, watch it this Wednesday and tell me you don't love it. And to all you South Park fans out there, remember that song by Loverboy: "Pig and elephant DNA just won't splice."

Jennifer Richler is a freshman in Berkeley.

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