As is probably apparent from some of my earlier posts, I often become somewhat offended by the representation of minorities within film and television texts. I've been known to grow concerned at filmmakers, such as Michael Bay, who casually insert offensive stereotypes into their bodies of work.
I mention this, mainly because this post may come across as somewhat hypocritical, as the shows I want to discuss in this post are the situation comedies It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and South Park.
For anyone who's familiar with both of these sitcoms, you'll be aware that they are filled with countless politically incorrect jokes and make frequent use of some of the most racist, homophobic, sexist, religious, transphobic, and all kinds of other offensive slurs that the human mind has been able to generate.
However there is a huge difference in the use of such crude content in these shows, as opposed to the works of individuals such as Michael Bay.
Before talking about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, I want to first look at South Park; a sitcom which is hugely notorious for getting away with some outrageously politically incorrect modes of humor.
Many individuals have kicked up a fuss about the material which South Park contains, a criticism which has existed since the program's inception back in 1998. It is probably the only situation comedy in existence which has made it its soul aim to insult and ridicule every single group of people in existence.
No one is excused from South Park's roastings. Republican or Democrat; they happily rip the shit out of both. Man or woman; same again. Gay or straight; doesn't matter. South Park will belittle and metaphorically piss over every minority and majority that has ever walked on this rock. Nobody is safe from the scripts of Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
So let me admit right now that I love South Park. The new seasons have dipped in quality somewhat, but I still enjoy them, and some of the funniest moments of my life have occurred whilst watching this show. It's absolutely brilliant.
So how can someone who gets angry over the comic relief and sexually suggestive camera angles of Michael Bay go on to say this about a show which dicks over absolutely everybody?
Well, for that exact reason. South Park insults everyone. Nobody is treated any differently. Whilst other edgy shows such as Family Guy insults Republicans whilst leaving Democrats alone, South Park depicts both parties as being just as pathetic as the other.
In a bizarre and ironic way, everyone is made equal in South Park. Trey and Parker do not discriminate. We are all just as daft and hilarious as each other.
Also, such extreme assaults on every type of person also serves to reveal to viewers just how obscene our derogatory stereotyping is. When an ethnic or sexual minority is played up to the max in an episode of South Park, we don't automatically begin to believe that such people behave like that in real life. The very fact that these jokes are not subtle in anyway exposes stereotyping for the ridiculous nonsense that it really is.
Whilst many filmmakers stealthily incorporate their stereotyping into comic relief or eye candy characters, programs like South Park pretty much scream STEREOTYPE! at the top of their lungs; making everyone completely aware that the representation on screen is a load of absurd bullshit that has been fabricated by the idiots of our planet's nations.
Also, to be offended by something in South Park often exposes hypocrisy. People who get upset at programs that rip the shit out of everything are seldom offended by the whole text. Instead they are upset by one segment which affects them directly. They will happily laugh at all the other insults and jibes, but as soon as their group is attacked, they throw a tantrum; revealing that they are happy so long as they are not in the firing line.
Take Issac Hayes for example. Issac was the voice of Chef in South Park up until the year 2005. When Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to write an episode which belittled and ridiculed the church of Scientology, Hayes threw a wobbly and resigned. He claimed that he didn't want to be part of a show which insulted and laughed at people for their spiritual beliefs.
Hayes was a part of South Park for eight whole years before he came to that conclusion. He was happy to partake in all the other offensive material, but as soon as it came to his religion, he was having none of it. So it was fine for him to be apart of something which poked fun at all other groups of people, but as soon as his religion got the piss taken out of it, his entire opinion toward the show he happily worked on took a drastic u-turn .
So that's why I like South Park. No ones safe. It's offensive, it's horribly rude, and it can be down right nasty at times. But all groups are insulted and played up to the max in a perfectly equal manner; blasting the absurd nature of prejudice wide open for all to see.
A similar rule is used in the sitcom which I mentioned at the top of this post, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. This situation comedy centers around the characters Mac, Charlie, Diandra, Dennis and (from series two onward) Frank.
Not only is this show incredibly offensive on all imaginable levels, but the main characters are some of the most horrible individuals who have ever been assigned the role of sitcom protagonists. They are possibly the most narrow minded, heartless, self-centered characters that I've ever come across in a television show. There's nothing redeemable or likeable about these people. They are there to be hated and laughed at.
And that is how this show works. When one of the characters ends up saying something absurdly racist, we are in no way on their side. They are hopelessly stupid and selfish. We are laughing at them and their pathetic nature. There is simply no other way to read this text. These characters are complete and utter pigs and anyone who spends more than five minutes watching this show becomes completely aware of this.
Take the story arc of Mac and Carmen as an example. Carmen is a transgender woman who Mac ends up falling in love with. Mac is hopelessly in awe over Carmen throughout numerous seasons, but the fact that she was born a man distresses him deeply. Not only does Mac express much discomfort of Carmen's biological history, but the other characters also get grossed out when they find out that Mac sleeps with her from time to time.
When Carmen moves on to settle down and marry another person - after loosing patience with Mac and his sexually insecure approach to their relationship - Mac grows incredibly jealous and tries to get them separated by law; claiming that it is classed as gay marriage.
On top of all this, Mac and the other protagonists of the show have a rather explicit obsession with the fact that Carmen still has male genitalia. Numerous jokes of a highly crude nature are frequently made in regards to this fact.
It all sounds horribly offensive, but never once are we in agreement with these characters. This show is not having a hate-fueled dig at transgender people. Mac is clearly hopelessly in love with Carmen, but both he and his friends are such ignorant idiots that they cannot help but act like a bunch of brain dead tossers whenever she becomes the center of the narrative.
The audience are never once invited to laugh at this transgender character who has accidentally stumbled into Mac's tiny minded world, they are laughing at the five morons who appear on the show each week.
Going back to South Park for a moment, the same rule can apply for the character of Eric Cartman. Cartman is a racist pig of a human. He is one of the most bigoted fictional characters to appear regularly on a well known television program. Not only that, but he is also one of the most popular fictional characters of the 21st century. This isn't because a majority of today's population are bigot sympathizers, it's because people love to despise him. Like the cast of Sunny, Cartman is revolting. Everyone watching knows he is horrible, and that's why we like to watch him.
I've always likened these sitcoms to that of Jeremy Kyle and Jerry Springer. As I've mentioned before, the human race loves to turn their noses up at those who they think are below them. We love to watch shows such as Springer and Kyle because there are people on that program who we are convinced are beneath us.
This same sensation could quite easily be extract from fiction too. We love to look at monstrous bigots like Mac, Dennis, Diandra, Charlie, Frank and Eric Cartman because we like to convince ourselves that we are not like them.
We turn our nose up at their offensive attitudes, knowing that we would never think or behave in the way that they do. When they sprout racist bile from their tongs, we laugh in disbelief at their grotesque behavior. We also feel a sense of smug satisfaction at the thought that we will never be like them (except for the people who are actually like them, but they are usually too stupid to know they're bigots anyway).
The advantage of Sunny and South Park over shows like Kyle and Springer is that the characters we look down on are not real. We often forget that when we are sneering at the guests of Jerry Springer and Jeremy Kyle, we are actually insulting real human beings (well I heard a lot of Springer was fabricated, so maybe that one doesn't count).
Sitcoms such as South Park and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia consist entirely of fictionalized characters. This allows us to exercise and express our judgmental attitudes on imagined personalities.
These shows are not written by people who are narrow minded bigots. They are made by individuals who are highly aware of the absurd nature of prejudice attitudes. They use the sitcom platform to exploit and remind us of just how pathetic and absurd prejudice behavior is; simultaneously reminding us of the idiocy that the people who frequently like to exercise such attitudes possess.
South Park and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are not endorsing intolerance, they are sticking their middle finger up at it, reminding the world of how fucking stupid the whole thing is.
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