gotta be a sick kid here mike did you
get the other things for us i did manage
to get the fda to officially change the
word field to tortured baby cow
welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down our picks for the top 10
times south park tackled serious issues
oh you have hiv hong kong guess it isn't
so funny now is it
very well if you want to apologize i
will accept
oh thank you mr jackson thank you brian
get a picture of mr marsh apologizing
hey wait a minute your side of town has
the post office
well your side has the grocery store for
this list we're looking at instances
where south park explored hot button
topics
demonstrating why it's often described
as the most fearless show on television
what do you think is the most serious
issue south park has tackled let us know
in the comments
number 10 voting and social pressure
paralleling the 2004 u.s presidential
election
south park elementary is given two
options for their new mascot
a giant douche or a turd sandwich
cartman is for team
turd kyle is a douche backer and stan
could
not care less did you just say that
voting is ridiculous
no i think voting is great but if i have
to choose between a douche and a turd i
just don't see the point although he's
pressured by the whole town
not to mention p diddy stan refuses to
vote
and is banished as a result dad isn't
this a little extreme
jesus i guess maybe you'll never
understand how important voting is
goodbye son as over the top as this
sounds the episode is eerily relatable
even when neither candidate is ideal
both sides of the political spectrum can
become aggressive about securing votes
turd sandwich brings the hope for change
a vote returned sandwich is a vote for
tomorrow the episode hilariously and
honestly explores boat shaming
which has only grown more common in the
social media era
ultimately stan casts his ballot
realizing that most elections boil down
to a douche or turd
number 9. whaling following a traumatic
birthday
at an aquarium stan becomes committed to
saving the whales and dolphins but hey
at least you still got your t-shirt
the episode revolves around whaling in
japan which remains a heavily protested
practice even to this date
of course the episode is also an excuse
to take shots at whale wars host paul
watson
whose anti-whaling tactics are depicted
as ineffective
you guys ready ready and throw the
stinky butter at them
haha you stink now despite this savage
roast
watson was supposedly happy that the
episode shined a spotlight on the issue
in the end the boys steered the japanese
government away from sea life
inspiring them to instead target
barnyard animals
although the episode doesn't offer a
realistic solution to whaling
at the very least it helped bring the
subject to the attention of a wider
audience
while also bringing the laughs number
eight
ice detention centers even before u.s
immigration and customs enforcement was
formed in 2003
immigration detention was a major
talking point opinions surrounding the
issue became especially heated with the
election of president donald trump whose
zero-tolerance policy has resulted in
numerous children being separated from
their families
so anyone can make an anonymous tip and
you can round up families and send them
away
nobody told me about this i thought
everything stuck now
do you have a card cartman being well
cartman sees this as
ample opportunity to get rid of kyle
you guys take the parents we'll take the
kids ice quickly realizes that kyle
sticks out like a sore thumb
and his jewish heritage doesn't help
their image yet that doesn't stop them
from picking up
cartman later on jimmy pissed me off
because he told the teacher i was
texting in class so i told jimmy i'd
have him sent to a migrant detention
center
he didn't believe me so i said i already
did it's a cow and stan heard that and
got pissed off and had me sent to a
migrant detention center the episode
depicts ice as an incompetent agency
that cares more about saving their own
skin than the psychological
ramifications detention centers have on
children
mexican joker i just want you to
remember that i helped you
jeff corrigan remember jeff was your
buddy now come on let's go mexican joker
number seven controversial flags now
more than ever
displaying the confederate flag is bound
to result in a passionate debate oh
jesus christ not this again this isn't
anything new however
even back in the year 2000 south park
was parodying flag controversy in this
episode
chef insists that the south park town
flag be changed due to its offensive
imagery how can a black man not be
bothered by it
jimbo meanwhile feels that the flag is a
part of the town's history
and therefore should be preserved the
episode wisely doesn't vilify chef or
jimbo
exploring the argument from both of
their perspectives in the end
they find a way to make both sides happy
the flag has changed to be more diverse
although it retains elements of the
original design 20 years after this
episode aired
people still aren't any closer to
reaching a compromise wait i don't get
it
no see there's people of all colors and
the other black guys one of the hangers
too so it's not racist
all right i have to admit it that is a
lot nicer number six
the treatment of amazon workers few
things are more satisfying than walking
out onto your front doorstep to find a
new amazon package
although it's the ultimate convenience
for the consumer many of the employees
responsible for shipping and delivering
those packages
have expressed dissatisfaction with
their working conditions
in this two-parter an amazon fulfillment
center is set up in south park
when one worker suffers a particularly
bizarre accident
a strike erupts can you get out of the
box
no my organs have been compacted so if
the box opens i spill out and die
earlier that year some called for an
amazon prime day boycott
and the stop bezos act was initiated
perhaps
you should no longer be a prime member
portraying founder jeff bezos as an
all-knowing overlord the episodes also
touch upon how the retail giant has
overshadowed smaller businesses
please you are the only customers we've
had the pleasure of assisting
since the fulfillment center opened hold
on a minute you all stay here because
you want to work it is
our purpose in the end the episodes
demonstrate how
instant gratification doesn't
necessarily mean that you'll be left
fulfilled in the long run
number five covet 19. hey do you people
mind
you're supposed to wear your mask over
your nose looks like you're wearing a
diaper for your chin
chin diapers don't help it was only a
matter of time before south park covered
the coronavirus
and they did not hold back the show's
first ever television special
takes a look at how the pandemic has
affected the citizens of south park
for the most part the episode is an
accurate portrayal of the virus's impact
on society i see
thomas turner out there thomas opened a
restaurant and soda sopa
doesn't seem like such a good idea now
does it turner from its effects on small
businesses to the dilemmas it's caused
with reopening schools the special
covers quite a lot of ground
however being that it is south park it
also takes time to ridicule the
situation as a whole
notably poking fun at the habits we've
adopted since the pandemic's inception
yeah that's good social distancing real
good
in the end the special hilariously
emphasizes that covet 19 is changing the
way we live our lives
and likely isn't going anywhere anytime
soon just
thank god for your pandemic special
thank god
it's a great special it really is number
four global warming
uh stan oh hey dad
hello
it's uh getting late boys why don't you
get in the car and i'll drive you all
home
climate change isn't going away
overnight hence why it remains a
recurring theme in south park
granted south park hasn't always taken
climate change very seriously
or should we say serially look you boys
have a chance to help me find and kill
man bear pig once and for all i'm
totally cereal
in a season 9 episode parodying the
response to hurricane katrina
shots were also fired at the day after
tomorrow and its take on global warming
the following season al gore tries to
warn everybody about a creature called
man bear pig
an obvious allegory for climate change
it is a creature which roams the earth
alone
it is half man half bear
and half pig although it seems that man
bear pig is imaginary
his existence is confirmed by season 22.
that's it
that's what i saw i saw a man bear pig
the two-parter leaves us with a grim
message climate change is real
it may be too late to reverse the damage
and most people would rather ignore the
problem than make a small sacrifice
i tried to warn you all but no one took
me cereal
you all just made fun of me didn't you
number three steroids
[Music]
from stan's stint as a guitar hero to
cartman's fried chicken operation
drug use has been parodied in a number
of south park episodes
one of the most effective examples
occurred in season eight when jimmy
entered the special olympics
to give himself a competitive edge jimmy
turns to steroids look it's really none
of your
beeswax timmy timmy timer
because i maybe i don't have what it
takes to win without it despite timmy's
qualms
jimmy continually justifies his actions
arguing that most athletes do this sort
of thing anyway
although his performance is enhanced the
steroids take a drastic toll on jimmy's
personality in relationships
south park may be a comedy but this
episode at certain points gets
surprisingly dramatic
and downright uncomfortable fortunately
jimmy learns his lesson by the end
thanks to timmy
and inadvertently cartman well guys i
guess now you see what i was up to all
along
i dressed up like a handicapped person
and lost the special olympics on purpose
so that jimmy could learn his lesson
about steroids number two censorship in
china
oh and then kenny learned to play bass
watching youtube videos of john lennon
with the dalai lama
oh oh oh oh yeah no no we don't want to
go there
talking about the dalai lama doesn't go
over well with the chinese
the the what being such a controversial
show censorship has always provided
commentary for south park
freedom of speech even led to a war
against canada in the 1999 feature film
while the us and the great white north
have since buried the hatchet randy had
a bone to pick with china
in season 23 due to china's economic
impact on the u.s
entertainment industry many american
companies have played ball with the
country's regulations
despite how unusual some of them sound
fine i can handle some healthy
competition
who else wants to go to china and get
some of their money
oh for crying out loud winnie the pooh
for example was banned in china after xi
jinping was compared to disney's
interpretation
some people said pooh looked like the
chinese president
so we're illegal in china now jesus
what kind of mad house is this it
shouldn't come as a surprise that this
episode got south park banned in china
randy and towley would have some harsh
words for the chinese government the
following
week wait wait tally come on i need you
i'm never working for a company that's
regulated by a communist government
okay okay no more selling to the chinese
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number one immigration one year after
the cbp was formed
south park delivered a satire of illegal
immigration that's still incredibly
relevant
the immigrants in this episode travel
from a bleak future where the world has
become overpopulated and destitute hey
stanley you need to understand something
those people from the future have had a
hard life
where they come from is dirty and
overpopulated and poor
you can't even imagine the kind of
depression they come from by venturing
back to the 21st century
people are able to make enough money to
provide for their families in the fourth
millennium looks as if the job at
wendy's did work for the original
immigrant
this second arrive he claims that man's
family is now much better off and wishes
the same for his family
modern workers however argue that this
is taking away their jobs or
gerbs as some might say they took our
jabs
as funny as the episode is it's also
harrowing to think that so little has
changed since 2004.
for all we know this could still be a
serious issue by the time we get to 30
45
after all satire may be our greatest
window into the future
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