'South Park's greatest controversies: From Jesus and 'Grey's Anatomy' to Scientology and Mormonism
Even though there have been more than 300 episodes of 'South Park', very few of them have been declared banned. 'South Park' has made an effort to push the limits of what can be shown ever since it first began. When 'South Park' later transitioned to a primetime TV show, the animated series made the most of the creative freedom its co-creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, were granted. The long-running dark comedy originally started life as an e-card portraying Jesus and Santa Claus in a bloody battle to the death.
As the world grew more complicated, 'South Park' transformed from a show that was content to play in the sandbox of largely unbiased toilet humor into a cultural beacon, shedding light on the issues of the week through sharper Swiftian satire that made a sport out of rounding up our sacred cows and shooting them for laughs. Now in Season 23, 'South Park' has endured and continues to be a mirror that reflects the condition of things.
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Even the first episode of 'South Park' included one of the primary characters being anally examined by aliens, serving as a preliminary warning that the forthcoming material would not be suitable for the easily alarmed. The fact that only ten episodes of 'South Park' have been removed from airing is surprising given how unabashedly offensive its first few seasons were. Nonetheless, each of the few 'South Park' episodes that were banned acquired this doubtful distinction because of some genuinely divisive material.
'It Hits the Fan' (Season 5, Episode 1)
In this episode, following the network television program 'Police Drama's unfiltered use of the term "s**t," the word is in high demand in South Park. Everyone in town starts using the swear word because it has become so commonplace, but the guys soon learn that all the gratuitous S-bombs are tied to a string of horrific murders. Soon after being awakened, the Knights of Standards and Practices invade South Park to banish the word.
The first time Comedy Central permitted 'South Park' to screen "s***" without censorship was in 'It Hits the Fan', which parodied the CBS drama 'Chicago Hope's then-recent airing of "s**t" 162 times. Although it didn't cause as much controversy as the other episodes, it nevertheless marked a fundamental shift in the way that basic cable standards were perceived.
'The Death Camp of Tolerance' (Season 6, Episode 14)
To file a lawsuit against the school for discrimination and receive a sizable payout, Mr Garrison seeks to provoke Principal Victoria into dismissing him for being too gay. To achieve this, he uses several crude gestures, such as humiliating his new assistant, the masochist Mr Slave, by shoving the class gerbil Lemmiwinks up his behind. The young ones are taken to the Museum of Tolerance for a dose of compassion after complaining about Garrison's behavior. When that doesn't work, they are transported to the Death Camp of Tolerance for re-education, where a German soldier dressed as a Nazi forces them to fingerpaint scenes of racial harmony.
The episode 'The Death Camp of Tolerance' is noteworthy for still being one of the ugliest South Parks ever, with a graphic illustration of Mr Slave punching Lemmiwinks in the butt, followed by multiple extreme close-ups of his sphincter. However, the episode's message regarding tolerance vs acceptance feels a bit outdated by today's standards.
'All About Mormons' (Season 7, Episode 12)
The boys despise Gary Harrison, a new student in South Park. Stan is told to beat Gary up on the playground but finds out that he's a kind man. Stan eventually finds himself having supper at his place, where he discovers that the Harrisons are devout Mormons. Randy visits the chipper family to warn them against proselytizing his son after Stan hears the origin tale of Mormonism from the chipper family. After learning about the Harrisons ' extraordinarily kind nature, Randy determines that he and his family must become Mormons.
The LDS Church described the show as "gross" in a statement but refrained from calling for an apology or the cancellation of reruns.
'Trapped in the Closet' (Season 9, Episode 12)
After Stan joins Scientology and is hailed as L Ron Hubbard's second coming, church members — including Tom Cruise and John Travolta — flock to South Park hoping to see their new savior. Nevertheless, after Stan makes fun of Cruise, the actor locks himself in Stan's closet, sparking a string of double entendres as a worried public tries to persuade Cruise to eventually come out of the closet. R Kelly testifies through song in the meantime.
It's simple to forget that Scientology's core principles and many cases of abuse were formerly tightly guarded by church authorities and little known to the general public until a few daring journalists and famous defectors brought them to light.
'Bloody Mary' (Season 9, Episode 14)
Randy leans in and soon becomes permanently intoxicated and wheelchair-bound after learning from the AA sessions that drinking is a condition over which he has no control. Randy and Stan decide to visit the bleeding Virgin Mary statue in Bailey, in the hopes that the blood will cure Randy of his ailment. The Catholic Church initially considers the bleeding to be a miracle, but after Pope Benedict is doused in blood by the statue, his holiness decides that the bleeding is menstruation and not a miracle because "chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time."
The first scheduled re-run of the program was ultimately canceled by Comedy Central in response to the Catholic League's requests, and Viacom board member and practicing Catholic Joseph Califano released a statement of his own strongly denouncing the episode.
'Hell on Earth 2006' (Season 10, Episode 11)
Satan arranges a huge Halloween party on Earth in the style of MTV's 'My Super Sweet 16', but things start going wrong. Biggie Smalls, who is furious that his trip to the celebration has been made more difficult by the fact that he is alive, is summoned by the guys from the dead in the meantime.
South Park frequently strikes below the belt purely for the fun of it, as it did in this episode, even though many of the series' boundary-pushing controversies are in service to a broader satirical point.
'With Apologies to Jesse Jackson' (Season 11, Episode 1)
When trying to answer the problem of the N-word, whose clue is 'People That Annoy You,' Wheel of Fortune contestant Randy, who is famously stupid, makes a really bad assumption. The correct response is 'N-word.' The entire town of South Park is shocked as soon as Randy is dubbed the 'N-word Guy' and the object of widespread mockery.
This episode ought to be among the most controversial in South Park's lengthy, illustrious history of courting controversy. The N-word is used 43 times without being censored, Jesse Jackson is portrayed as the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of Black People', and Cartman gets involved in a subplot about sensitivity training at South Park Elementary. Parker and Stone expertly navigate the fine line between sharp satire and gratuitous cruelty.
'Holiday Special' (Season 21, Episode 3)
Columbus Day is canceled at school as a result of parental outrage at Columbus' mistreatment of Native People. The group is led by Randy, who shames anyone who exhibits even the slightest fondness for Columbus. But when Randy's background as a Columbus superfan is revealed, he intercepts to show that he understands the struggle of indigenous people by kissing a Native American and getting a DNA test to confirm his lineage.
'Holiday Special' ruthlessly mocked hypocritical white people who sought moral superiority by siding with oppressed minorities amid Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American ancestry, the large influx of white aid to Standing Rock, and the rise of ancestral DNA tests.
