Trey Parker Says South Park Didn't Get Political, But "Politics Became Pop Culture"
https://consequence.net/2025/11/south-park-trey-parker-politics-became-pop-culture/Open linkView original on piefed.social475
Comments93https://consequence.net/2025/11/south-park-trey-parker-politics-became-pop-culture/Open linkView original on piefed.social
Trey and Matt have always been political. Remember when they ridiculed California for empathetic homelessness policies? Some might even say Team America: World Police may be perceived as political
I guess manbearpig wasnt poltical either.
Don't worry, they did a milquetoast apology episode decades after the original where they mocked Gore!
Are the Manbearpig episodes still in rotation, generating ad revenue?
Once Trump became a very public and very loud cult public ridicule became inevitable.
I wonder if the dumbest members of society will fly Trump flags in 100 years just like they fly confederate flags now.
It’s aBoUt hOnOrInG OuR HeRiTaGe, Ya gOd dAmN LiBtArD! nOw tElL YoUr sIsTeR-MoThEr tO GrAb mE AnOtHeR BeEr
He will be deified by the poor, conservative-voting folk in the same way that rich conservatives do Reagan.
Flags will likely be a mainstay forever more, even when/once the Epstein Files get released and he is forever-more proven to be a child molester in the public eye.
There will be statues. I guarantee it.
Only if we don't learn the lesson from the last two times
Think the statues sleeves and tie will be two sizes too big for it?
And Jr high schools.
And Jr high school girls locker rooms.... hmm, nope. Nope. Grossed myself out.
I doubt Trump flags will last more then a few weeks after he dies. This is assuming he croaks of old age, or a fall or something.
I doubted america would be either stupid or vindictive enough to reelect him a second time... Turns out I was wrong on both counts
Only if we don't finish Reconstruction this time. We already know how they feel about free speech.
They just want the freedom to say ethnic slurs while nobody else can talk about politics or their own rights.
Famously non-political South Park episodes:
Black people who complain about racism are the real racists (Chef Goes Nanners, S04E7)
Asking a doctor to do a gender reinforcng operation is the same as asking a doctor to make you black or a dolphin (Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina, S09E1)
Global warming was made up by Al Gore (Multiple, starting with ManBearPig, S10E9)
They also joined in on the War on Christmas narrative with "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", S01S09.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no8RJpC0nn4
Also
The Iraq War proves we need to have a balance between pro-war and anti-war (I'm a Little Bit Country, S07E04)
Rainforests should not be preserved and they are the reason developing countries have shantytowns and prostitutes (?????) (Rainforest Shmainforest, S03E01). Before you say that's clearly satire, a quote from wikipedia
My god, could he be any more American?
There was an episode where they praised the arrival of Starbucks, as the mom and pop coffee shops all served shit.
Also one episode with a hippie Woodstock kinda thing where Cartman breaks the whole thing with a giant "Journey to the center of the earth" type of drill
They're just centrist potheads who think they're smarter then everyone. Sometimes their message is agreeable and cathartic, but rarely informative.
I was raised by conservatives. I know what they look like.
wasnt south park alway political, why are conservatives acting like it suddenly became it. whats up with all the conservative comments not knowing what sOUTH park is about.
It was always political. But I dont think it was always primarily about politics. Like, back in the day episodes wouldn't be interconnected with each other. And not all episodes would tackle any sort of political agenda. Only during presidential run of 2015-2016 South park became pretty much all politics.
I remember hearing an interview where Trey Parker said that Trump began to steal the show, occupying majority of the story and that Trey and Matt hated it and got tired of Trump. They also promised not to become serialized after that.
It managed to ignore genocide for two years so no. It is a milquetoast liberal show.
You think genocide has only existed for two years?
Jst the one which was in global media for 2 years and a major political subject internally. But somehow fully ignored by South Park.
Name another massive political subject which they decided to spend no attention on.
The war in Ukraine
I think the war in Ukraine meets many of standards of genocide. They've stolen thousands of children to be raised as Russians, they are erasing the Ukrainian language and culture and replacing it with Russian.
I didn't realize people were waiting on the comedy adult cartoon South Park, known for characters such as a talking piece of shit and a towel that gets high, to comment on global issues.
Gen Xers who've been conditioned to think politics were for losers their whole lives unable to comprehend their own politics well into middle-age.
You act like the "Gen Xers" are all one person. That's just silly.
You're right, they're like three kids of people.
Reading the comments is weird because to me it feels like either people are unaware of the context, or are ignoring it on purpose.
His response was about this season’s unusual targeting of the administration. South Park was always political, but it is unusual for the show to focus so much on the current administration of the US, that’s what he was talking about and asked about.
Maybe he could’ve used different words but to me it’s clear what he meant.
It isn't unusual. South Park has dedicated an episode or three to mocking US and foreign politicians, NGOs, and popular figures going back to their first season. This feels like the old "When Did Star Trek Get Political?!" whine.
That hasn't been true in decades. The episode About Last Night... pillared both '08 presidential hopefuls. A year before that The Snuke bashed Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, a character who has appeared in no less than fifteen episodes. On the flip side, Bush Jr got an appearance in thirteen episodes, starting as early as 2001. And they weren't afraid of taking some deeper cuts, too. FFS, Gary Condit appeared three times.
The early seasons were largely an expression (abet, significantly more abstract relative to any sitting politician) of Matt and Trey's own libertarian brand of politics - including their takes on gay marriage, gun ownership, climate change, drug policy, state censorship, the anti-muslim/pro-war post-9/11 politics. And they tip-toed around naming names until they'd built up a brand.
But to imply the show wasn't critical of contemporary administrative policies, you really need to squeeze your eyes shut and refuse to read some pretty naked allegories and references.
To be clear, I didn’t say that it never did, what I said is that it never did >as much< as it’s doing now. Because in this season, so far, it’s been every single episode
:-/ South Park does news-of-the-day cartoons and the news-of-the-day is overwhelmingly this shit.
… hum, you lost me
News of the day != administration
Like, I’m double checking the article, what I wrote, what you wrote, and I find myself scratching my head if there’s something obvious that I am missing in the middle of all this
I’m reading the first two paragraphs and they show, clearly, that his quote is in reference to them talking about the administration this season. Which, as I said, it’s unusual how vicious and non stop it has been. (Deservedly, but that’s a tangent and another discussion)
This is what I was talking about, this was the point I made. I have no clue what you are talking about
It is when the administration is at the center of the news cycle day after day.
Yes, like what’s happening now. Thus, what he said
I used to think it's just a reddit thing but now I don't think anyone actually reads the article and instead just argues their interpretation of the article.
Dude, people dont even read the comment sometimes. Ive had people get super mega angry at me for the first sentence in a comment, and they had proceed to spew information at me... that I had put in the rest of the comment. It is 100% not just a reddit thing.
I think it's a bot and zealot thing.
They don't have enough buffer to fully process what you said so they take the smallest digestible chunk and extrapolate the argument they wanted to have.
Bots are weighted to use language that prompts an emotional response and zealots are genuinely frustrated that their ideals don't match reality.
What Lemmy lacks in bots it more than makes up for with tankies so blatant bad faith arguing is going nowhere.
The headline makes it sound outrageous with "get political".
South Park wasn't always pop culture either. The best South Park episodes are kids being kids where the scenario is forced to a kid-logic conclusion.
Fun Times with Weapons is the best example of that.
That episodes makes a direct references to the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction earlier that year as well as pointing out the double standard between portraying violence compared to nudity in American culture.
I know what you mean with the kids being kids story, but that episode was referencing pop-culture and was political.
Sheep needs a maga hat
Perfection
I mean, it always kinda was. It's just a bit more directly central to the story now?
Before they always tried to wrap episodes up with "I guess both sides are wrong in a way" which I found tiring and very hard to apply to trump.
I guess it's good they moved left at least.
They haven’t moved left but the overton window shifted to make it look like they did.
Everything is political, and South Park has been one of the most political popular shows. I guess he means it didn't explicitly feature politicians as much.
I think it’s a little bit of both
nothing says not political like making an entirely new character called "starvin' marvin" to mock food inequality and famine in african countries.
South park has always been political. Fucking idiots
The weirdest thing is how true this statement is:
They're out of touch, libertarian, centimillionaires. Fucking hilarious out of touch, libertarian, centimillionaires, but still, no one should take them seriously.
I present, the one good video moviebob made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TttI60-mjQ
Just a reminder that they are also
TERFsTransphobic.Edit: I originally called them TERFs, what I meant was transphobes. They are transphobes and thus not the great allys everyone wants them to be.
Source? That isn't just an episode making fun of trans?
When I said TERFs, I meant transphobes. My bad.
They are transphobes and reactionary, but not feminists.
You are correct,I have corrected my post.
It's ok, no one believes TERFs are real feminists either
rofl no
the president is a reality TV star.
South Park has a LONG history of failing at political satire.
not sure what that has to do with my point, which is "politics became pop culture".
Define how politics has become pop culture. Don't just reference Turnip. Define what is now popular and politics, without saying Trump.
You will then have your answer on how this shitshow started, and I'd wager South Park contributed to it.
Easy, social media. Social Media has turned politics into pop culture.
Saying social media doesn't describe how.
Social media has replaced newspapers and broadcasts. Politicians relied on those to get their message out. In the newspapers and tv shows they'd be presented to the audience with other political topics to people specifically looking to be informed. On social media they are competing with the costco guys and podcasters for likes, they need to game an algorithm, and an effective way of doing that pop culture bullshit.
oh ok, so let's just eliminate the single biggest driving force in politics for the last 10 years. other than that everything is totally normal.
Such as?
Mr garrison went from rando character to proto gay/trans avatar to trump avatar to just pretty much nothing.
The show has flubbed this shit plenty…
I love that you downvoted me just for asking. Lol
Sorry? You took a position of ignorance while discussing pop culture. It’s not weird
ignorance being the word you should reflect on.
One word = ManBearPig
Combined with their lack of media literacy, you're right on the money to explain these failures downvoting me.
I don't even dislike the show. I can just recognize they suck at satire.
"butbutbut saying 'Trump is fucking Satan' is taking chances!"
I don't mind too much if the show keeps making dumb jokes, since it's not like they've ever made many poignant statements, but the dickriding is seriously crazy.
I'm surprised more folk didn't grow out of it. It was funny for 2 years, but then pretty meh.
Yet it has this weird cult-like following.