this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025
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Unpopular opinion here I imagine but I'll stand by South Park.
Have they said a lot with which I vehemently disagree? Absolutely! But I think there's little to no value in only watching or reading things with which you agree.
And their perspective, while different than mine, seems to have helped them nail things in a much better and often more interesting/sophisticated way than anyone else. Or before others really get it.
And goddamn, they've had me howling with laughter more than a few times each season. Thinking on their highlights over a damn near 30 year run and despite marginal dips in quality, I'm in.
Edit: An example of one trend/issue etc they nailed way before anyone else (as far as I know) was PC Principal. Using frat bros to represent social justice culture was absolutely brilliant and I didn't even realize how accurate it seemed to others until I talked with a Conservative friend about it (to anyone outside of the progressive bubble, the early 2010s felt like a bunch of elites/rich kids using the plight of others to finally be the bullies, albeit online.) And I think that pretty accurately predicted the blue collar/non college grad backlash to all of it, which is the tide that trump rolled in on.
Agreed. Not many shows kept running and be funny and relevant at the same time. Like a good stand-up comedian, South Park keeps delivering and probably going will become timeless when it ends.
Oh absolutely. I mean, some of their episodes from 20 years ago already feel like timeless classics. Just looked over the season 9 lineup, which somehow was 20 years ago. You've got Randy fighting Bat Dad in the Losing Edge, the Death of Eric Cartman, and Die Hippie Die. And, while the episode may not have been as great, the end of Willzyx absolutely slays me.
The issue with South Park is that it targets a narrow audience and I am not part of it. The best episodes are going to be studied as master pieces of political humor, but when I try to watch it in season order, those episodes are sandwiched between episodes that are offensive and obscene just for shock value. I am not opposed to those episodes existing but watching them feels like a waste of time.
I totally get being too offended to enjoy it but I don't think it's particularly accurate to claim it only has a narrow audience, it is literally one of the most valuable franchises on television in part because it targets a large swathe in the middle. (Despite what the internet would have us believe, I think there is a large group of folks in the middle who can laugh at the craziness on both the Left and Right.)
I'm reminded of my mom's stance on rap and hip hop, which is essentially, it might be really good and a valid form of art but there's just too much vulgarity and misogyny for her to ever enjoy it, which is fair.
But, comedy is subjective. When I look back at the last few years, the specials over the last half decade, I come to quite the opposite conclusion, there are great episodes with an occasional dud but a hit ratio higher than most shows currently on air and a "oooh, that's an interesting take" miles beyond anything else.
This year has been very good because there's just so much material to work with. But for years and years they've only had 1-2 good episodes per season. They're not particularly good writers because unless society gives them something easy to mock, they struggle hard. They're basically bullies that if you don't give them easy material to work with, they've got nothing.
Those low quality episodes are worse than a waste of time. They directly detract from the satire that South Park otherwise survives on.
"Satire requires a clarity of purpose and target lest it be mistaken for and contribute to that which it intends to criticize."
Their insistence on making fun of everything makes them no more politically significant than all of the punk bands of the 80's and 90's... A footnote in history that otherwise did nothing but make the uninformed fools clutch their pearls and a bunch of teens cheer for that which they could never understand.