[yasr_overall_rating]
The misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
I remember the good old days of “South Park”’s first seasons. How revolutionary it was, with its cardboard-cutout visual simplicity and clashes of cuteness and crudeness, in-your-face poop jokes and sophisticated satire. With their middle fingers pressed tightly against the pulse of politics and entertainment, creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone were THE provocateurs of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The genius of the show was that somehow they made us care for their motley crew of rebellious, foul-mouthed, utterly adorable hat-wearing prepubescents. There’s the always-scheming manifestation of everything that’s wrong with America, Eric Cartman; the intelligent Jewish outcast in the all-white gang, Kyle Broflovski; the voice of reason, typical next-door kid, Stan Marsh; and the constantly-dying-in-horribly- gruesome-ways (at least, for the first seven seasons or so), muffled-voiced Kenny McCormick. And who can forget the dozens of side-characters, including some of the funniest: Chef, Mr. Garrison (“mm-kay”), Mr. Slave, Butters and, my personal favorite, the constantly-stoned Towelie.
Now, 21 seasons and going strong, “South Park”’s basic structure – following the heroes’ storylines while taking a broader look at the world outside their town – has remained the same, but certain things have changed. A slew of new characters have been added, with hit-and-miss results. The effortlessness with which Stone and Parker dished out insults (remember that Mel Gibson episode? Or Tom Cruise coming out of the closet?), as well as their shock value, are largely missing in the toon’s 21st year. While the characters remain endearing, the satire, for the most part, feels forced, the humor as strained as the relationship between Cartman and his girlfriend Heidi – one of the funniest threads running through the middling season. Perhaps we are so desensitized in 2018 that it takes a lot more than weak jabs at North Korea to startle and shock us.
Episode one revolves around Cartman’s love for the perfect girlfriend that is Alexa, and the moderately funny “House Hunters” spin-off titled “White People Building Houses.” The quality factor dips lower in the second episode, with its cheap stabs at North Korea (Tweek tweets with Kim Jong-un), and Cartman’s suicide prevention quest. The fact that the jokes are in bad taste isn’t the problem – their obviousness is disheartening. Things pick up in the third episode, though only half of it works, and it’s not the one that deals with canceling Columbus Day. Rather, it’s the storyline about an organization called DNAandME, which allows one to trace their heritage and discover that they’re actually “13% victim.” The tempo continues to escalate with a welcome return from Coon and Friends in a special Franchise Prequel, wherein they face a whole new nemesis… FACEBOOK. A deranged Mark Zuckerberg blocking people left and right helps to keep the laughs coming.
Episode five may be the season’s highlight. A senior citizen home is compared to a jailhouse, run by a Soprano-like 80-something-year-old godmother. Deals involve crochet pillows, Hummels (little German figurines… just watch it) and, of course, drugs. At one point, our heroes perform memorable choir renditions of classics like “Insane in the Membrane” and “Milkshake” in front of a crowd of indifferent elderly folks. Skipping right past the forgettable Halloween episode – which centers around Randy and his gang of witches – the seventh episode uneasily blends half-assed political jabs with an intimate look at Heidi and Cartman’s complex relationship (“He called me a whore and pushed me out of the car!”). Episode eight portrays a “Cartman-efied” Heidi – oh, and it contains water bears, tiny microbes that dance to pop music. The ninth episode may be another highlight, acutely dealing with workplace harassment (also: R.I.P. Toronto). The season finale weirdly, incoherently, pointlessly portrays Donald Trump as clown Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It,” haunting South Park.
By attempting to take jabs at too many issues – bigotry, Trump, victimization, etc. – Stone and Parker fail to properly satirize most of them. Worse so, some of the messages are questionable, as if the notorious co-creators no longer try to provoke but rather appease both sides. They still know how to build a laugh and carefully balance that crudeness/eloquence ratio (“Netflix, you’re greenlit, who am I speaking with?” is one of my favorite lines of the entire season). Our heroes remain as lovable/repugnant as ever. Problem is, the world itself has become so absurd and tumultuous, it’s increasingly difficult to satirize. Like a character points out in the show, “You can’t be subtle in today’s society anymore.” While they give it a valiant attempt, the sharpness is gone, the gasp factor missing. Too many jokes sadly fall flat.
The creators certainly deserve a hand for endurance. Apart from maybe “The Simpsons” – currently on its 29th (!) season – and a couple of soap operas and crime shows, no one can boast that kind of run. Yet perhaps it’s time for the kids to finally grow up.
Available on Blu-ray & DVD June 5th
