Excerpt:
I never truly understood why the utter lack of propriety shown on South Park was so hilarious, until I watched the Season Nine episode titled “Best Friends Forever.” For those unfamiliar with this particular episode, allow me to elucidate.
South Park revolves around four little boys, Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, who all live in a small Colorado town. On this day, the always indelicate Cartman wakes his mother up bright and early so he can be the first in line to get the new Sony PSP. Unfortunately for Cartman, all the other kids in South Park got up bright and early too,...
Excerpt:
America has never been particularly comfortable with satire. A gentle poke at the powers that be is allowed, even encouraged — witness the success of good-natured softies like Jon Stewart or The Simpsons, nudging decency in the ribs and tipping a wink to the audience. But genuine, hard-hitting satire is frowned upon: somebody might really be offended, and nowhere in the Constitution does it allow for that. There’s no American equivalent of British figures like Peter Cook or Christopher Morris, authentic anti- establishment comics who nonetheless achieved mainstream success. Even...