South Park controversies
Encyclopedia
South Park
is an American
animated
sitcom. Its frequent depiction of taboo subject matter, unusual humor and portrayal of religion for comic effect has generated controversy and debate throughout the world over the course of its 14-year run. The show's creators, Matt Stone
and Trey Parker
, who both continue to be heavily involved in the writing and production of each episode, use the show to frequently lampoon a wide range of topics
and both sides of contentious issues.
Parker and Stone usually reply to such controversies by regarding themselves as "equal opportunity offenders". They reject the notion of political correctness
, and state that no particular topic or group of people be spared the expense of being subject to mockery and satire, out of fairness to any person or group of people who have been ridiculed before.
and Connecticut
suspended students for wearing South Park-related t-shirts, while a group of school principals in New Jersey
mounted a small campaign to notify parents of the show's content. In a 1999 poll conducted by NatWest Bank, eight and nine-year-old children in the United Kingdom voted the South Park character Cartman as their favorite personality. This drew the concern of several parent councils who were expecting a character from a television show aimed at children to top the list, and the headmaster of a Cambridgeshire
public school urged parents to prevent their children from watching the show. Parker and Stone, who are not opposed to allowing older children and teenagers to watch the show, assert however that the show is not meant to be viewed by young children, and the show is certified with TV ratings that indicate its intention for mature audiences.
The conservative advocacy group
Parents Television Council
has frequently criticized South Park for "over-the-top vulgar content" and "tastelessness", condemning the show as a "curdled, malodorous black hole of Comedy Central vomit" that "shouldn't have been made". Among the episodes that the PTC has criticized include, according to columns by its advisor and former president L. Brent Bozell III:
Action for Children's Television
founder Peggy Charren
, despite being an outspoken opponent of censorship
, claims that the show's use of language and racial slurs represents the depravity of Western civilization, and is "dangerous to the democracy".
Several other Christian activist groups have protested the show's parodies of Christianity
-related matter and portrayal of Jesus Christ— who South Park has depicted saying "Goddamn", shooting and stabbing other characters, and as unable to perform actual miracles. In its review of the South Park movie, the ChildCare Action Project stated that children who watch either the show or film would have their efforts to "understand or [develop] an understanding of the Gospel" hindered or corrupted. The Christian Family Network prepared an educational guide on how to "protect our youth from vile trash like South Park", and claims their efforts to "restore morality, and protect life for the individual, family, and community" would be impeded if children watched the series.
Matt Stone insists that "[kids] don't have any kind of social tact or etiquette, and claims that parents who disapprove of South Park for its portrayal of how kids behave are upset because they "have an idyllic vision of what kids are like".
Several groups have called for a boycott of the show, its sponsors, and the networks which air it. In attempts which have all been unsuccessful, fewer have pleaded with a network known to be more prone to peer pressure and complaints to remove the show from its lineup or prevent a specific episode from initially airing. In late 2008, a group of prosecutors in Moscow
, on behalf of Muslim activists and members of the Russian Pentecostalist Church
, sought to have the Russian channel 2×2 closed in an attempt to prevent them from broadcasting the series, which they claimed promoted "hatred between religions". Their appeal was rejected by Russian media officials, and the channel's broadcasting license was extended until 2013. Aside from the efforts in Russia, no group or individual in a country where the show is aired has mounted a significant campaign to ban the series and its availability on home media entirely.
's singular use of the word "shit", with the season five
premiere "It Hits the Fan
". A counter superimposed in the bottom left corner of the screen tracked each of the episode's utterances of the word "shit", which was said 162 times without being bleeped for censorship purposes, while also appearing uncensored in written form. The backlash to the episode was mostly limited to 5,000 disapproving e-mails sent to Comedy Central.
The PTC also criticized the show for its excessive use of the racial epithet "nigger
" in the season 11
(2007) premiere "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson
". Despite its 43 uncensored uses of the word, the episode generated relatively little other controversy, as most in the black community and the NAACP praised the episode for its context and its comedic way of conveying other races' perceptions of how black people must feel when hearing the word. While some in the Jewish community have praised the show's depiction of the character Eric Cartman
holding an anti-Semitic attitude towards fellow student Kyle Broflovski
as a means of accurately portraying what it is like for a young Jew to have to endure bigotry as an ethnic minority, other Jews have blamed South Park and Cartman for having found themselves surrounded by "acceptable racism".
in a short that aired as part of the 2000 MTV Movie Awards
. The short was entitled "The Gauntlet" and also poked fun at John Travolta
, a Scientologist. The season five
(2001) episode "Super Best Friends
" features illusionist David Blaine
forming his own cult
, called "Blaintology". Parker and Stone have acknowledged that this is meant to be a reference to Scientology.
In the season nine
(2005) episode "Trapped in the Closet", Stan Marsh
is recognized as the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
before denouncing the church as nothing more than "a big fat global scam". Tom Cruise
, a Scientologist as well, is seen in the episode locking himself in Stan's closet and refusing to come out, as other characters plead for him to ambiguously "come out of the closet
" in a parody
of rumors involving Cruise's sexuality. One scene retold the story of Xenu
, a story Scientology normally attempts to keep confidential and only reveals to members once they make significant monetary contributions to the church. The show's closing credits billed every member of the episode's cast and crew as "John Smith" and "Jane Smith" in a parody of both Cruise and the church's reputations for litigiousness
.
, Isaac Hayes
, the voice of the character Chef
, quit South Park. A press release cited his objections to the show's attitudes toward and depiction of various religions. While the press release did not specifically mention "Trapped in the Closet", Parker and Stone assert that he quit due to the episode and its treatment of Scientology, as Hayes was a member. Stone commented that Hayes practiced a double standard regarding the treatment of religion on South Park: "[We] never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we [lampooned] Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin". Fox News suggested that, because he was still suffering from the effects of his stroke, Hayes was hospitalized and not in a position to make a rational decision to leave the show. Fox also reported that Hayes left the show because of the external pressure forced by his fellow Scientologists and that the decision was not voluntary, noting that Hayes had previously defended the episode after having an amicable discussion with Parker and Stone about its content. Fox also claimed that the original press release announcing his departure was put out by someone who was not authorized to represent him.
(1998) episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
". The controversy that soon followed was dubbed "Closetgate" by the Los Angeles Times
. Representatives of Comedy Central insist that the episode was changed as a tribute to Hayes following his departure. Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom
, also owns Paramount Pictures
, which was set to distribute the then-upcoming film Mission: Impossible III
, which stars Cruise. Several media outlets alleged that Cruise threatened to boycott the publicity tour for the film unless Viacom canceled the episode's rebroadcast. Comedy Central, as well as Cruise's representative and publicist, immediately denied the allegations. Cruise himself later said that he would not "dignify" the rumors by personally addressing whether or not they were true.
In response to the episode being pulled, Parker and Stone issued the following statement, with several mocking references to Scientology:
Mission: Impossible III was released on May 5, 2006, while "Trapped in the Closet" was rebroadcast without controversy on July 19, 2006. Stone stated that he and Parker would have threatened to end their relationship with Comedy Central had the network refused to finally rebroadcast the episode. The episode was nominated for an Emmy, and is included on South Park's 10th Anniversary DVD, called "South Park — The Hits, Volume 1".
highlighted the episode "All About Mormons
" among "Top Choice" picks in television. Chris Quinn of the San Antonio Express-News
placed the episode at number 7 on his list of: "Top 10 Most Offensive South Park Episodes and Therefore, Maybe The Best, List". The episode was used as an exhibit in discussing Mormonism in popular culture, by Utah Valley State College
religious studies professor Dennis Potter, in a presentation titled: "The Americanization of Mormonism Reflected in Pop Culture". The LDS Church called the episode a "gross portrayal of Church history".
took offense to the season nine
(2005) finale "Bloody Mary
". In the episode, a statue of the Virgin Mary
is portrayed as releasing copious amounts of actual blood while undergoing overt menstruation
, while characters had declared the phenomenon as a miracle when they had initially thought the blood was flowing from her rectum. Another scene also features Pope Benedict XVI
closely inspecting the anal and vaginal regions of the statue before being sprayed with blood. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights demanded an apology from Comedy Central and unsuccessfully campaigned to have the episode both removed permanently from the network's rotation and never be made available on DVD. Viacom board member Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
issued formal complaints with then-Viacom CEO Tom Freston
.
In February 2006, leaders from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Council of Christians and Muslims, and other religious groups together lobbied media conglomerate CanWest
to stop the episode's debut airing and potential rebroadcasts in New Zealand
on the music channel C4, while protesters condemned the lobby for attempting to take advantage of the New Zealand people
's lack of a guaranteed right to the freedom of speech
. The network rejected the plea, and was allowed to air the episode, doing so ahead of schedule to take advantage of the media attention surrounding the campaign.
episodes "Cartoon Wars Part I
" and "Cartoon Wars Part II
" feature a plot in which the Fox network
plans to air an episode of the animated show Family Guy
that contains an uncensored cartoon depiction of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad
. Residents of South Park panic, fearing a terrorist response and a repeat of the real-life violent protests and riots that occurred worldwide after some Muslims regarded the prophet's cartoon depiction in a Danish
newspaper as insulting and blasphemous. The first episode had a cliffhanger ending instructing viewers to watch part two to find out whether the image of Muhammad would be shown uncensored. In the second episode, Kyle persuades a Fox executive to air the Family Guy with the image uncensored, while echoing Parker and Stone's sentiments regarding what should or should not be censored of "[either] it's got to all be OK or none of it is". Within the universe of the episode, the Family Guy episode is aired uncensored, despite a retaliation threat from Al-Qaeda
. However, the actual South Park broadcast itself ran a black screen that read "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network" instead of the scene containing Muhammad's depiction, which Parker and Stone say was neutral and not intended to insult Muslims.
Parker and Stone note the contradiction in being allowed to feature a profane depiction of Jesus, while being forbidden to feature a purely benign depiction of Muhammad, but claim they harbor no hard feelings toward Comedy Central for censoring the scene, since the network confessed to being "afraid of getting blown up" rather than claim they refrained from airing the scene uncensored out of religious tolerance. Parker and Stone claim the only regrets they have over the incident was that their mocking of the show Family Guy in the episode generated more attention than its commentary on the ethics of censorship. Previously, Muhammad was depicted uncensored and portrayed in a heroic light in the season five
(2001) episode "Super Best Friends
", which resulted in virtually no controversy. Muhammad also appears among the large crowd of characters gathered behind the main characters and "South Park" sign in some of the show's previous opening sequences.
Parker and Stone repeated this plot for the 200th episode "200
". Again, the depiction was censored throughout the episode. After the episode aired, a leader of Revolution Muslim
, an obscure New York-based radical Muslim organization, targeted South Park’s creators for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of Muhammad. The author of the post, who goes by the username Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, wrote on twitter that he prayed for Allah to kill the show’s creators and “burn them in Hell for all eternity.” He also posted a similar entry on his blog and on the Revolution Muslim website. The post included a picture of the assassination of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh
by a Muslim extremist in 2004 with the caption: "Theo Van Gogh – Have Matt Stone
And Trey Parker
Forgotten This?" He also noted: "We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh if they do air this show.
Following the airing of this episode, Malaysia's conservative Islamic PAS party demanded that the makers of the satirical cartoon sitcom South Park apologize to Muslims around the world for its portrayal of the prophet Muhammad dressed as a bear, though it was later shown that it was actually Santa inside the suit. "Even though they have added the audio bleeps, South Park's producer and broadcaster should apologize to the Muslims, as this is a sensitive issue," said PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar. "The show itself spells of bad intention, and the depiction of the Prophet is provocative. It creates religious tension."
The following episode "201
" censored the word "Muhammad" throughout the episode, as well as several lines from the "Super Best Friends" during the final act. According to the South Park Studios webpage, episode "201" was censored by Comedy Central after the studio delivered the episode, but before it was aired. The studio advises that the episode is not available online because they do not have network clearance to air the uncensored episode.
Due to the controversies, the episode "201" was removed from the British Comedy Central TV schedule, and replaced it with a repeat of "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs," and the repeat of "200" was replaced with a repeat of "Sexual Healing". The episode "Super Best Friends", previously available via the South Park Studios website has been made unavailable. Additionally, the Netflix streaming version of the episode, also previously available, has been changed to "Disc Only". "Super Best Friends" was also removed from the iTunes
store as well as the Xbox Live
Video Marketplace.
Despite the controversies, "200
" and "201
" are available on the "South Park - The Complete Fourteenth Season" disc. The episodes were censored and so were the commentaries regarding the episodes.
The Region 4 release of "South Park - The Complete Fourteenth Season" has had both "200" and "201" removed for undisclosed reasons, despite the packaging claiming that all fourteen episodes are included in the set.
(2006) episode "Hell on Earth 2006
" for its depiction of Steve Irwin
with a stingray
stuck in his chest.
The episode originally aired seven weeks after Irwin, an internationally-popular Australian TV personality and wildlife expert, died when his heart was pierced by a stingray barb. Several groups and even devout fans of the show derided the scene and its timing as "grossly insensitive" and "classless", while Irwin's widow Terri Irwin
expressed concern that her children could one day see the episode.
" several world leaders were depicted, including Mexican President Felipe Calderón
failing to deal successfully with an international crisis. MTV
withdrew the episode in Mexico causing controversy amongst Mexico
's South Park fans who felt it was censorship; MTV denied this, claiming they had just failed to get permission in time to show the Mexican flag on TV.
around each other. The child characters on the show find Terrance and Phillip, who debuted in the season one
(1997) episode "Death", to be hysterical, while their parents find them to be horribly offensive. An entire episode
featuring the duo aired on April 1, 1998. It was broadcast in lieu of an episode that was supposed to continue from the show's previous episode from six weeks earlier, which ended with a cliffhanger promising to reveal the identity of Cartman's father in the show's next airing. Several fans were angered by the April Fools' Day
prank, and Comedy Central received thousands of e-mail complaints. Comedy Central moved the planned air date of the next show up a month, so that fans could sooner watch the actual show they originally expected to see.
. Stone discussed his experiences growing up in the Littleton
area and the social alienation that might have contributed to the Columbine High School massacre
. Stone, who is a gun-owner himself, said that Moore's presentation of their interview was fair, but he criticized the director for a short animated segment that followed the interview. The cartoon, which is about the history of guns in the United States, implies that there is a connection between the Ku Klux Klan
and the establishment of the National Rifle Association
. Matt Stone, who did not have anything to do with that short cartoon, criticized Moore for making the cartoon "very South Park-esque" and argued that Moore deliberately sought to give viewers the incorrect impression that he and Trey Parker had produced the animation, by playing these two completely separate segments consecutively. "We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore. I did an interview, and he didn't mischaracterize me or anything I said in the movie. But what he did do was put this cartoon right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon." Although the animation actually appears later on in the film, Stone called it "a good reference to what Michael Moore does in films [...] he creates meaning where there is none by cutting things together." The pair responded by depicting Moore in an unflattering light before having his character blow himself up in their 2004 film Team America: World Police
.
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
is an American
Television in the United States
Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...
animated
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
sitcom. Its frequent depiction of taboo subject matter, unusual humor and portrayal of religion for comic effect has generated controversy and debate throughout the world over the course of its 14-year run. The show's creators, Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
and Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, who both continue to be heavily involved in the writing and production of each episode, use the show to frequently lampoon a wide range of topics
Subject matter in South Park
South Park has attempted to cover and satirize a large number of topics over the course of its run. In more recent years, the use of computer animation has made it possible to edit episodes in days, quickly commenting on recent events...
and both sides of contentious issues.
Parker and Stone usually reply to such controversies by regarding themselves as "equal opportunity offenders". They reject the notion of political correctness
Political correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
, and state that no particular topic or group of people be spared the expense of being subject to mockery and satire, out of fairness to any person or group of people who have been ridiculed before.
Criticism and protests
As the series first became popular in the US, schools in the states of GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
suspended students for wearing South Park-related t-shirts, while a group of school principals in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
mounted a small campaign to notify parents of the show's content. In a 1999 poll conducted by NatWest Bank, eight and nine-year-old children in the United Kingdom voted the South Park character Cartman as their favorite personality. This drew the concern of several parent councils who were expecting a character from a television show aimed at children to top the list, and the headmaster of a Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
public school urged parents to prevent their children from watching the show. Parker and Stone, who are not opposed to allowing older children and teenagers to watch the show, assert however that the show is not meant to be viewed by young children, and the show is certified with TV ratings that indicate its intention for mature audiences.
The conservative advocacy group
Advocacy group
Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
Parents Television Council
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
has frequently criticized South Park for "over-the-top vulgar content" and "tastelessness", condemning the show as a "curdled, malodorous black hole of Comedy Central vomit" that "shouldn't have been made". Among the episodes that the PTC has criticized include, according to columns by its advisor and former president L. Brent Bozell III:
- "It Hits the FanIt Hits the Fan"It Hits the Fan" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 66th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 20, 2001. In the episode, the word "shit" is said uncensored on television on...
" for excessive use of the expletive "shitShitShit is usually considered vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun it refers to fecal matter and as a verb it means to defecate or defecate in; in the plural it means diarrhea...
". - "Red Sleigh DownRed Sleigh Down"Red Sleigh Down" is episode 96 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on December 11, 2002. The episode is notable for the return of Kenny from his death in Season Five...
" for depicting a desecrationDesecrationDesecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful or contemptuous treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.-Detail:...
of Jesus Christ. - "Proper Condom UseProper Condom Use"Proper Condom Use" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 72nd episode of the series overall. "Proper Condom Use" originally aired in the United States on August 1, 2001 on Comedy Central.-Plot:...
" for depiction of teaching sex educationSex educationSex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...
to young children.
Action for Children's Television
Action for Children's Television
Action for Children's Television was founded by Peggy Charren and Judy Chalfen in Newton, Massachusetts in 1968 as a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the quality of television programming offered to children...
founder Peggy Charren
Peggy Charren
Peggy Charren founded Action for Children's Television , a national child advocacy organization, in 1968, in an effort to encourage program diversity and eliminate commercial abuses in children's television programming....
, despite being an outspoken opponent of censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
, claims that the show's use of language and racial slurs represents the depravity of Western civilization, and is "dangerous to the democracy".
Several other Christian activist groups have protested the show's parodies of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
-related matter and portrayal of Jesus Christ— who South Park has depicted saying "Goddamn", shooting and stabbing other characters, and as unable to perform actual miracles. In its review of the South Park movie, the ChildCare Action Project stated that children who watch either the show or film would have their efforts to "understand or [develop] an understanding of the Gospel" hindered or corrupted. The Christian Family Network prepared an educational guide on how to "protect our youth from vile trash like South Park", and claims their efforts to "restore morality, and protect life for the individual, family, and community" would be impeded if children watched the series.
Matt Stone insists that "[kids] don't have any kind of social tact or etiquette, and claims that parents who disapprove of South Park for its portrayal of how kids behave are upset because they "have an idyllic vision of what kids are like".
Several groups have called for a boycott of the show, its sponsors, and the networks which air it. In attempts which have all been unsuccessful, fewer have pleaded with a network known to be more prone to peer pressure and complaints to remove the show from its lineup or prevent a specific episode from initially airing. In late 2008, a group of prosecutors in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, on behalf of Muslim activists and members of the Russian Pentecostalist Church
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
, sought to have the Russian channel 2×2 closed in an attempt to prevent them from broadcasting the series, which they claimed promoted "hatred between religions". Their appeal was rejected by Russian media officials, and the channel's broadcasting license was extended until 2013. Aside from the efforts in Russia, no group or individual in a country where the show is aired has mounted a significant campaign to ban the series and its availability on home media entirely.
Vulgarity and depiction of racism
The show further lampooned the controversy surrounding its use of profanity, as well as the media attention surrounding the network show Chicago HopeChicago Hope
Chicago Hope is an American medical drama series created by David E. Kelley that ran from September 18, 1994, to May 5, 2000. It takes place in a fictional private charity hospital.-Premise:The show stars Mandy Patinkin as Dr...
South Park (season 5)
Season five of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on June 20, 2001. The fifth season concluded after 14 episodes on December 12, 2001...
premiere "It Hits the Fan
It Hits the Fan
"It Hits the Fan" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 66th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 20, 2001. In the episode, the word "shit" is said uncensored on television on...
". A counter superimposed in the bottom left corner of the screen tracked each of the episode's utterances of the word "shit", which was said 162 times without being bleeped for censorship purposes, while also appearing uncensored in written form. The backlash to the episode was mostly limited to 5,000 disapproving e-mails sent to Comedy Central.
The PTC also criticized the show for its excessive use of the racial epithet "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
" in the season 11
South Park (season 11)
Season 11 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 7, 2007. The 11th season concluded after 14 episodes on November 14, 2007. This is the first season to have uncensored episodes available for DVD release...
(2007) premiere "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson
With Apologies to Jesse Jackson
"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" is the first episode of the American animated television series South Park, and the 153rd episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 7, 2007...
". Despite its 43 uncensored uses of the word, the episode generated relatively little other controversy, as most in the black community and the NAACP praised the episode for its context and its comedic way of conveying other races' perceptions of how black people must feel when hearing the word. While some in the Jewish community have praised the show's depiction of the character Eric Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
holding an anti-Semitic attitude towards fellow student Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
as a means of accurately portraying what it is like for a young Jew to have to endure bigotry as an ethnic minority, other Jews have blamed South Park and Cartman for having found themselves surrounded by "acceptable racism".
Lampoon of Scientology
South Park parodied ScientologyScientology
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science fiction and fantasy author L. Ron Hubbard , starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics...
in a short that aired as part of the 2000 MTV Movie Awards
2000 MTV Movie Awards
The 2000 MTV Movie Awards were hosted by Sarah Jessica Parker. In conjunction with the success of a certain HBO Original Series at the time, the awards show presented a parody of Sex and the City and The Matrix during the program's opening...
. The short was entitled "The Gauntlet" and also poked fun at John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
, a Scientologist. The season five
South Park (season 5)
Season five of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on June 20, 2001. The fifth season concluded after 14 episodes on December 12, 2001...
(2001) episode "Super Best Friends
Super Best Friends
"Super Best Friends" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 68th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 4, 2001. The episode depicts several religious figures, including Muhammad,...
" features illusionist David Blaine
David Blaine
David Blaine is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records...
forming his own cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
, called "Blaintology". Parker and Stone have acknowledged that this is meant to be a reference to Scientology.
In the season nine
South Park (season 9)
Season nine of the American animated television series South Park began airing on March 9, 2005. This season is home to two of the show's most controversial episodes : "Trapped in the Closet" Season nine of the American animated television series South Park began airing on March 9, 2005. This...
(2005) episode "Trapped in the Closet", Stan Marsh
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
is recognized as the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
before denouncing the church as nothing more than "a big fat global scam". Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, a Scientologist as well, is seen in the episode locking himself in Stan's closet and refusing to come out, as other characters plead for him to ambiguously "come out of the closet
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
" in a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of rumors involving Cruise's sexuality. One scene retold the story of Xenu
Xenu
Xenu ,also spelled Xemu, was, according to the founder of Scientology L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in a DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs...
, a story Scientology normally attempts to keep confidential and only reveals to members once they make significant monetary contributions to the church. The show's closing credits billed every member of the episode's cast and crew as "John Smith" and "Jane Smith" in a parody of both Cruise and the church's reputations for litigiousness
Scientology and the legal system
The Church of Scientology has been involved in court disputes in several countries. In some cases, when the Church has initiated the dispute, question has been raised as to its motives. The Church says that its use of the legal system is necessary to protect its intellectual property and its right...
.
Departure of Isaac Hayes
On March 13, 2006, nearly two months after suffering a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
, Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
, the voice of the character Chef
Chef (South Park)
Jerome "Chef" McElroy is a fictional character on the Comedy Central series South Park. He was voiced by Isaac Hayes. A cafeteria worker at the local elementary school in the town of South Park, Colorado, Chef was generally portrayed as more level-headed than the other adult residents of the town...
, quit South Park. A press release cited his objections to the show's attitudes toward and depiction of various religions. While the press release did not specifically mention "Trapped in the Closet", Parker and Stone assert that he quit due to the episode and its treatment of Scientology, as Hayes was a member. Stone commented that Hayes practiced a double standard regarding the treatment of religion on South Park: "[We] never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we [lampooned] Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin". Fox News suggested that, because he was still suffering from the effects of his stroke, Hayes was hospitalized and not in a position to make a rational decision to leave the show. Fox also reported that Hayes left the show because of the external pressure forced by his fellow Scientologists and that the decision was not voluntary, noting that Hayes had previously defended the episode after having an amicable discussion with Parker and Stone about its content. Fox also claimed that the original press release announcing his departure was put out by someone who was not authorized to represent him.
"Closetgate"
"Trapped in the Closet" was scheduled to rebroadcast on March 15, 2006 on Comedy Central, but the broadcast was canceled without prior notice, and was replaced with a repeat of the season twoSouth Park (season 2)
Season two of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on April 1, 1998. The second season concluded after 18 episodes on January 20, 1999...
(1998) episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
"Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" is the ninth episode of the second season of the animated television series South Park, and the 22nd episode of the series overall. "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" originally aired in the United States on August 19, 1998 on Comedy Central.-Plot synopsis:Park City, Utah...
". The controversy that soon followed was dubbed "Closetgate" by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. Representatives of Comedy Central insist that the episode was changed as a tribute to Hayes following his departure. Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
, also owns Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, which was set to distribute the then-upcoming film Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III
Mission: Impossible III is a 2006 spy film, the third based on the spy-themed television series Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise who reprises his role of IMF agent Ethan Hunt....
, which stars Cruise. Several media outlets alleged that Cruise threatened to boycott the publicity tour for the film unless Viacom canceled the episode's rebroadcast. Comedy Central, as well as Cruise's representative and publicist, immediately denied the allegations. Cruise himself later said that he would not "dignify" the rumors by personally addressing whether or not they were true.
In response to the episode being pulled, Parker and Stone issued the following statement, with several mocking references to Scientology:
Mission: Impossible III was released on May 5, 2006, while "Trapped in the Closet" was rebroadcast without controversy on July 19, 2006. Stone stated that he and Parker would have threatened to end their relationship with Comedy Central had the network refused to finally rebroadcast the episode. The episode was nominated for an Emmy, and is included on South Park's 10th Anniversary DVD, called "South Park — The Hits, Volume 1".
Mormonism
Cameron Adams of the Herald SunHerald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
highlighted the episode "All About Mormons
All About Mormons
"All About Mormons", also known as "All About the Mormons?", is the twelfth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 108th overall episode of the series. It was originally broadcast on Comedy Central in the United States on November 19, 2003...
" among "Top Choice" picks in television. Chris Quinn of the San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News
The San Antonio Express-News is the daily newspaper of San Antonio, Texas. It is ranked as the third-largest daily newspaper in the state of Texas in terms of circulation, and is one of the leading news sources of South Texas, with offices in Austin, Brownsville, Laredo, and Mexico City...
placed the episode at number 7 on his list of: "Top 10 Most Offensive South Park Episodes and Therefore, Maybe The Best, List". The episode was used as an exhibit in discussing Mormonism in popular culture, by Utah Valley State College
Utah Valley State College
Utah Valley University or UVU, is a publicly funded university in located in Orem, Utah. With a current enrollment of 32,670 students as of 2011, Utah Valley University is now the largest public university in the State of Utah. UVU is a teaching institution which provides opportunity, promotes...
religious studies professor Dennis Potter, in a presentation titled: "The Americanization of Mormonism Reflected in Pop Culture". The LDS Church called the episode a "gross portrayal of Church history".
Depiction of the Virgin Mary
Several CatholicsCatholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
took offense to the season nine
South Park (season 9)
Season nine of the American animated television series South Park began airing on March 9, 2005. This season is home to two of the show's most controversial episodes : "Trapped in the Closet" Season nine of the American animated television series South Park began airing on March 9, 2005. This...
(2005) finale "Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary (South Park)
"Bloody Mary" is the fourteenth episode of the ninth season of the series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 7, 2005. In the episode, Randy drives drunk and loses his driver's license. He then forced to go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where he...
". In the episode, a statue of the Virgin Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
is portrayed as releasing copious amounts of actual blood while undergoing overt menstruation
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
, while characters had declared the phenomenon as a miracle when they had initially thought the blood was flowing from her rectum. Another scene also features Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
closely inspecting the anal and vaginal regions of the statue before being sprayed with blood. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights demanded an apology from Comedy Central and unsuccessfully campaigned to have the episode both removed permanently from the network's rotation and never be made available on DVD. Viacom board member Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
Joseph A. Califano, Jr.
Joseph Anthony Califano, Jr. is Founder and Chairman of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, an independent non-profit research center affiliated with Columbia University in New York City...
and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...
issued formal complaints with then-Viacom CEO Tom Freston
Tom Freston
Thomas E. Freston is an American entertainment industry executive. He currently is a principal in Firefly3 LLC, a consulting and investment company. Currently he consults Oprah Winfrey, among others....
.
In February 2006, leaders from the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Council of Christians and Muslims, and other religious groups together lobbied media conglomerate CanWest
CanWest Global Communications
Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate brand Canwest, was a major Canadian media company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place...
to stop the episode's debut airing and potential rebroadcasts in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on the music channel C4, while protesters condemned the lobby for attempting to take advantage of the New Zealand people
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's lack of a guaranteed right to the freedom of speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
. The network rejected the plea, and was allowed to air the episode, doing so ahead of schedule to take advantage of the media attention surrounding the campaign.
Censorship of the depiction of Muhammad
The season 10South Park (season 10)
Season 10 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 22, 2006. The tenth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 15, 2006...
episodes "Cartoon Wars Part I
Cartoon Wars Part I
"Cartoon Wars Part I" is the third episode of the tenth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 142nd episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 5, 2006. It is part one of a two-episode story, which concludes with "Cartoon Wars Part II"...
" and "Cartoon Wars Part II
Cartoon Wars Part II
"Cartoon Wars Part II" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 142nd episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 12, 2006...
" feature a plot in which the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
plans to air an episode of the animated show Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
that contains an uncensored cartoon depiction of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. Residents of South Park panic, fearing a terrorist response and a repeat of the real-life violent protests and riots that occurred worldwide after some Muslims regarded the prophet's cartoon depiction in a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
newspaper as insulting and blasphemous. The first episode had a cliffhanger ending instructing viewers to watch part two to find out whether the image of Muhammad would be shown uncensored. In the second episode, Kyle persuades a Fox executive to air the Family Guy with the image uncensored, while echoing Parker and Stone's sentiments regarding what should or should not be censored of "[either] it's got to all be OK or none of it is". Within the universe of the episode, the Family Guy episode is aired uncensored, despite a retaliation threat from Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. However, the actual South Park broadcast itself ran a black screen that read "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network" instead of the scene containing Muhammad's depiction, which Parker and Stone say was neutral and not intended to insult Muslims.
Parker and Stone note the contradiction in being allowed to feature a profane depiction of Jesus, while being forbidden to feature a purely benign depiction of Muhammad, but claim they harbor no hard feelings toward Comedy Central for censoring the scene, since the network confessed to being "afraid of getting blown up" rather than claim they refrained from airing the scene uncensored out of religious tolerance. Parker and Stone claim the only regrets they have over the incident was that their mocking of the show Family Guy in the episode generated more attention than its commentary on the ethics of censorship. Previously, Muhammad was depicted uncensored and portrayed in a heroic light in the season five
South Park (season 5)
Season five of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on June 20, 2001. The fifth season concluded after 14 episodes on December 12, 2001...
(2001) episode "Super Best Friends
Super Best Friends
"Super Best Friends" is the third episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 68th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 4, 2001. The episode depicts several religious figures, including Muhammad,...
", which resulted in virtually no controversy. Muhammad also appears among the large crowd of characters gathered behind the main characters and "South Park" sign in some of the show's previous opening sequences.
Parker and Stone repeated this plot for the 200th episode "200
200 (South Park)
"200" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 200th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010...
". Again, the depiction was censored throughout the episode. After the episode aired, a leader of Revolution Muslim
Revolution Muslim
Revolution Muslim is a radical Islamist organization and hate group based in New York City that advocates the establishment of a traditionalist Islamic state, the removal of the current rulers in heavily Muslim populated nations, the destruction of Israel, and an end to what they consider "Western...
, an obscure New York-based radical Muslim organization, targeted South Park’s creators for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of Muhammad. The author of the post, who goes by the username Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, wrote on twitter that he prayed for Allah to kill the show’s creators and “burn them in Hell for all eternity.” He also posted a similar entry on his blog and on the Revolution Muslim website. The post included a picture of the assassination of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh
Theo van Gogh (film director)
Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor.Van Gogh worked with the Somali-born writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which criticized the treatment of women in Islam and aroused controversy among Muslims...
by a Muslim extremist in 2004 with the caption: "Theo Van Gogh – Have Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
And Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
Forgotten This?" He also noted: "We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh if they do air this show.
Following the airing of this episode, Malaysia's conservative Islamic PAS party demanded that the makers of the satirical cartoon sitcom South Park apologize to Muslims around the world for its portrayal of the prophet Muhammad dressed as a bear, though it was later shown that it was actually Santa inside the suit. "Even though they have added the audio bleeps, South Park's producer and broadcaster should apologize to the Muslims, as this is a sensitive issue," said PAS vice-president Mahfuz Omar. "The show itself spells of bad intention, and the depiction of the Prophet is provocative. It creates religious tension."
The following episode "201
201 (South Park)
"201" is the sixth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode, "200", in which a group of angry...
" censored the word "Muhammad" throughout the episode, as well as several lines from the "Super Best Friends" during the final act. According to the South Park Studios webpage, episode "201" was censored by Comedy Central after the studio delivered the episode, but before it was aired. The studio advises that the episode is not available online because they do not have network clearance to air the uncensored episode.
Due to the controversies, the episode "201" was removed from the British Comedy Central TV schedule, and replaced it with a repeat of "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs," and the repeat of "200" was replaced with a repeat of "Sexual Healing". The episode "Super Best Friends", previously available via the South Park Studios website has been made unavailable. Additionally, the Netflix streaming version of the episode, also previously available, has been changed to "Disc Only". "Super Best Friends" was also removed from the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
store as well as the Xbox Live
Xbox Live
Xbox Live is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It is currently the only online gaming service on consoles that charges users a fee to play multiplayer gaming. It was first made available to the Xbox system in 2002...
Video Marketplace.
Despite the controversies, "200
200 (South Park)
"200" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 200th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010...
" and "201
201 (South Park)
"201" is the sixth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode, "200", in which a group of angry...
" are available on the "South Park - The Complete Fourteenth Season" disc. The episodes were censored and so were the commentaries regarding the episodes.
The Region 4 release of "South Park - The Complete Fourteenth Season" has had both "200" and "201" removed for undisclosed reasons, despite the packaging claiming that all fourteen episodes are included in the set.
Depiction of Steve Irwin
Several viewers criticized the season 10South Park (season 10)
Season 10 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 22, 2006. The tenth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 15, 2006...
(2006) episode "Hell on Earth 2006
Hell on Earth 2006
"Hell on Earth 2006" is the 150th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on October 25, 2006 and marked the series' fourth Halloween episode....
" for its depiction of Steve Irwin
Steve Irwin
Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...
with a stingray
Stingray
The stingrays are a group of rays, which are cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes, and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae , Plesiobatidae , Urolophidae , Urotrygonidae , Dasyatidae , Potamotrygonidae The...
stuck in his chest.
The episode originally aired seven weeks after Irwin, an internationally-popular Australian TV personality and wildlife expert, died when his heart was pierced by a stingray barb. Several groups and even devout fans of the show derided the scene and its timing as "grossly insensitive" and "classless", while Irwin's widow Terri Irwin
Terri Irwin
Theresa Penelope "Terri" Irwin, AM is an Australian-based, American-born naturalist, author, the widow of Australian naturalist Steve Irwin and owner of Australia Zoo at Beerwah, Queensland, Australia...
expressed concern that her children could one day see the episode.
Mexican flag
In the 2009 episode "Pinewood DerbyPinewood Derby (South Park)
"Pinewood Derby" is the sixth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 187th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 15, 2009 and in the United Kingdom on April 17, 2009...
" several world leaders were depicted, including Mexican President Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
failing to deal successfully with an international crisis. MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
withdrew the episode in Mexico causing controversy amongst Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's South Park fans who felt it was censorship; MTV denied this, claiming they had just failed to get permission in time to show the Mexican flag on TV.
April Fools prank
One of Parker and Stone's earliest responses to the show being condemned as "nothing but bad animation and fart jokes" was creating a show-within-the-show about two even-more-crudely-drawn characters named Terrance and Phillip who do little else but pass gasFart
Fart is an English language vulgarism most commonly used in reference to flatulence. The word "fart" is generally considered unsuitable in a formal environment by modern English speakers, and it may be considered vulgar or offensive in some situations. Fart can be used as a noun or a verb...
around each other. The child characters on the show find Terrance and Phillip, who debuted in the season one
South Park (season 1)
The first season of the American animated television series South Park initially ran for 13 episodes on the US network Comedy Central, from August 13, 1997 to February 25, 1998. The creators of the series, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, wrote and directed most of the season's episodes, while Dan...
(1997) episode "Death", to be hysterical, while their parents find them to be horribly offensive. An entire episode
Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus
"Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" is the second season premiere of the animated television series South Park, and the 14th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 1, 1998...
featuring the duo aired on April 1, 1998. It was broadcast in lieu of an episode that was supposed to continue from the show's previous episode from six weeks earlier, which ended with a cliffhanger promising to reveal the identity of Cartman's father in the show's next airing. Several fans were angered by the April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...
prank, and Comedy Central received thousands of e-mail complaints. Comedy Central moved the planned air date of the next show up a month, so that fans could sooner watch the actual show they originally expected to see.
Michael Moore
Michael Moore interviewed Matt Stone for his 2002 film Bowling for ColumbineBowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
. Stone discussed his experiences growing up in the Littleton
Littleton, Colorado
Littleton is a Home Rule Municipality contained in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Littleton is a suburb of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Statistical Area. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and the 20th most populous city in the state of...
area and the social alienation that might have contributed to the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
. Stone, who is a gun-owner himself, said that Moore's presentation of their interview was fair, but he criticized the director for a short animated segment that followed the interview. The cartoon, which is about the history of guns in the United States, implies that there is a connection between the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
and the establishment of the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
. Matt Stone, who did not have anything to do with that short cartoon, criticized Moore for making the cartoon "very South Park-esque" and argued that Moore deliberately sought to give viewers the incorrect impression that he and Trey Parker had produced the animation, by playing these two completely separate segments consecutively. "We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore. I did an interview, and he didn't mischaracterize me or anything I said in the movie. But what he did do was put this cartoon right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon." Although the animation actually appears later on in the film, Stone called it "a good reference to what Michael Moore does in films [...] he creates meaning where there is none by cutting things together." The pair responded by depicting Moore in an unflattering light before having his character blow himself up in their 2004 film Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police, often referred to as simply Team America, is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated television series South Park...
.