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terpfan1980
terpfan1980
Join Date 08/2004
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South Park censored yet again -- while skewering censorship

April 14, 2006 7:50:46 AM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
* Warning spoilers about South Park's shows "Cartoon Wars" follow in the text below *

Over the last two weeks the South Park folks have had fun at the expense of their own network, even as they been fighting censorship of their own show on the same network (Comedy Central).

South Park, which previously included an image of the prophet Muhammad in an episode entitled Super Best Friends, used the last two weeks to put on a two part episode that confused many fans (myself included) and left us wondering whether we were seeing a real fight between South Park and Family Guy, and yet also very clearly was aimed at tweaking the suits at Comedy Central that apparently bowed to pressure and opted to 'pull' an episode of South Park that skewered Tom Cruise and Scientologists in general.

The two most recent (as of this writing) episodes were part 1 and part 2 of "Cartoon Wars." Cartoon wars involved the show Family Guy as one of the main targets of their humor and as a tool to poke at the recent furor over the 'Muslim world' getting upset at cartoons of the prophet Muhammad found in Danish newspapers. The cartoon wars episodes went on to basically point out that people that ignore censorship have their heads buried in the sand, and even so the censorship won't work as people that threaten or commit terrorism over images such as cartoons will still commit terrorism, regardless of whether images are shown or not.

By the end of the second part of the episode, the terrorists that were incited by the showing of the prophet in the 'show within the show' opted to get revenge by producing their own show -- one with excrement (crap, manure, fecal matter, etc.) hurled at George W. Bush, Jesus and other symbols that would be recognized by the Western public.

The trigger for the terrorist response came during the second part of the episode when an episode of Family Guy that contained an image of the prophet Muhammad was supposed to be aired. At that point a very simplistic slide image came up to indicate that Comedy Central had opted to censor the episode and that the image of Muhammad wouldn't really be shown.

This censorship marks yet another in a string of times that South Park has found itself censored, or had an episode pulled. Fans of the show were left unsure whether there really had been censorship in the episodes that just aired, but news in the last few days has confirmed that the joke wasn't really a joke, even as the show went on to point out just how stupid censorship can be, and just what a slippery slope bowing to demands to censor shows can be.

More news on the issue can be found here: "South Park" Censored.
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terpfan1980
Tova7
Join Date 09/2005
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Reply #1 April 16, 2006 5:05:02 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

I was visiting a gal pal when this episode aired at her house (the one that censored Muhammad at the door)....It was the first time I watched South Park and I thought it was WAY WAY too preachy.  There were small bits of comedy but not worth the constant preaching.....

My friend's son told me SP wasn't usually so sucky.

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terpfan1980
terpfan1980
Join Date 08/2004
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Reply #2 April 16, 2006 9:23:29 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
South Park almost always is preachy, though this episode went over the top -- on purpose -- with the preachiness.

Parker and Stone (the creators of South Park) were very upset over the censorship issue, especially given recent events around a few of their episodes -- most specifically, Comedy Central apparently caving into pressure to pull the 'Tom Cruise is in the Closet' episode that poked fun of Tom Cruise and Scientology/Scientologists in general.

This episode was also clearly pointing out the idiocy of giving into demands and pressures over publishing cartoon images of the Islamic Prophet Muhammed (sp?) because of fears of riots like were seen in Europe.

Preachy yes, humorous yes, sadly ironic yes.
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terpfan1980
abdoismx
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Reply #3 April 17, 2006 11:35:46 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Comedy Central have done the right thing. They chose to censor the face of the Prophet Mohammed rather than having another worldwide protests and riots around the world. I am sure no one in this whole planet wanna see that happening again, so I guess Comedy Central was really smart by censoring the Prophet Mohammed`s face.
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terpfan1980
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Join Date 04/2004
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Reply #4 April 18, 2006 1:40:01 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Comedy Central have done the right thing. They chose to censor the face of the Prophet Mohammed rather than having another worldwide protests and riots around the world. I am sure no one in this whole planet wanna see that happening again, so I guess Comedy Central was really smart by censoring the Prophet Mohammed`s face.


Maybe so, however in a country where supposely freedom reigns it's unfair to show something that is not illegal. Like the cartoon said, they will commit terrorism regardless if cartoons are shown or not.
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terpfan1980
terpfan1980
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Reply #5 April 18, 2006 2:49:14 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Reply By: abdoismx(Anonymous User)    Posted: Monday, April 17, 2006Comedy Central have done the right thing.


Actually I believe Comedy Central did exactly the wrong thing. That was the point of the show. Parker and Stone were pointing out the idiocy of putting one's head in the sand to ignore problems, and they were also pointing out the stupidity of terrorist acts just because of an image that is published or spread through the media.

No one knows what the image of Muhammad would have looked like on that Comedy Central broadcast of South Park. It may have been an image of Muhammed (spelling?!) being carried like a hero by the Muslim faithful, it may have been an image of Muhammed standing by God, or it may have been an image of Muhammed bent over a log or bending someone else over a log. Regardless, it wasn't broadcast because of 'concerns' and sensitivity for a religion that has shown repeatedly that it's leaders are not interested in peace, and has been shown repeatedly to be one where the only thing that is recognized is power.

Western society should not have to fear a religion that would do the things that the final segment of the South Park episode show -- throw crap on other leaders and authority figures, kill, maim and torture just because someone isn't of the same faith, or otherwise do things that are abhorrent.

If the Muslim faith is to be respected, it's leaders and followers must show themselves to be worth of respect, and must use peaceful means to spread their messages. They must also show, in deeds, that their religion is one of peace. Until they do, they are nothing but a religion of thugs that should be ignored, or dealt with militarily until they bow before the supreme might that they do understand.
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terpfan1980
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Reply #6 April 20, 2006 1:50:58 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
, first I think South Park is a waste of time and material, sort of like colorforms no? Having said that, I find it extremely funny that the so-called "cutting edge" nature of the show falls flat on its' face as they buckle to the worries and concerns of scientologists and islamists. Yes, I know it is comedy central that is at fault but lets' face it, if south park creators really wanted to sppof this subject they would find a way.
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