By D. Shayne Christie and Chris Jackson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 2, 1997

'South Park' is no kids' playground

Arizona Daily Wildcat South Park

There are levels of offensiveness.

"The Simpsons" was deemed mildly offensive.

"Beavis and Butthead" was deemed very offensive.

"South Park" is off the chart.

To quote "The Simpsons" movie star Troy McClure (who you might remember from such films as "Leper in the Backfield," "Electric Gigolo" and "The Revenge of Abe Lincoln"), "no children allowed ... it gets a little 'blue.'"

And, while "blue" might not be the best word, as there aren't any sex scenes or naked women on the show (so far), there is plenty of cussin', racial stereotypes and scatological humor (read: potty mouth).

In the tradition of "Beavis and Butthead," "South Park" has stirred up a mountain of controversy. Angry viewers have written, e-mailed and otherwise bombarded Comedy Central in protest of its questionable humor.

It's just what one would expect from the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the guys who made an animated "Christmas card" (soxmas.mov - it can be found all over the Internet) which depicts Jesus and Santa Claus in a knock-down, drag-out brawl, with the "South Park" gang looking on.

Jesus calls Santa a "pussy" as he has him pinned, punching him in the midsection.

So . . .

"South Park" is about four kids: Cartman, the fat one; Stan, the cute one; Kyle, the smart, Jewish one; and Kenny, the one who dies in every episode. They live in a town in Colorado called South Park and attend elementary school together.

Odd things constantly happen in South Park (making for a lively show), including alien abductions, genetic engineering mishaps, volcanic eruptions and homosexual pet escapades.

The disclaimer before the show states that "nobody should watch this show for any reason."

The easily offended might want to pay attention to that.

This show is far from PC.

The school's chef is a black man who sings R&B to the kids every time they ask him for advice (actually the voice of soul man Issac Hayes; Primus is also featured on the show - they do the South Park theme song.)

Whether they need advice on assisted suicide or locating aliens who've kidnapped Kyle's little brother, the song always goes something like this:

"I'm gonna make love to ya' woman, I'm gonna lay you down by the fire. Gonna work your heavenly body, and make you mo-o-a-n with desire ..."

The signature of every episode, besides the chef's R&B love song, is that Kenny is always brutally killed. He has been impaled on a flagpole, cooked in a microwave, run over by a truck, crushed by a boulder and even offed by Death himself.

The response from Kyle is always, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny! You bastards!"

Now that's humor for you - repetition, violence and potty talk.

And it doesn't stop there. Babies are kicked around, various woodland creatures are shot full of holes, Cartman farts fire on his classmates; there are jokes about the Holocaust, the Rodney King beating and everything else that borders on bad taste.

Despite questionable taste, though, some of the stuff is downright hilarious. Like Big Gay Al's Sanctuary for Homosexual Pets, where gay dogs, cats and parakeets can dance to techno and live in peace.

Stereotypical? Yeah. Funny? Also yeah.

For the most part, the show works best when it's knee-deep in satire, rather than just having a group of third-graders sitting around and cursing, though Cartman's constant comments, "Kick ass!" and "I'll kick you in the nuts!" are still amusing every time you hear them.

"South Park" is certainly not for all tastes, but you should check it out now, in case the network is convinced to pull it, just to see how far the boundaries of taste can be pushed on basic cable.

"South Park" airs on Comedy Central, Wednesday's at 10 p.m.

Comedy Central, not currently available through TCI cable, can be found on Jones Intercable, by satellite and in the University dorms.