Irreverent controversial and always hilarious
South Park's near two decades on the Air have left a legacy of
Animated antics that fans continue to obsess over from Mecha streisand to a singing holiday poo and beyond the series has given us a multitude
Of pop culture benchmarks and references that continue to delight and appall viewers an equal measure a no-holds-barred commentary on the ever-evolving
zeitgeist South Park has always been utilized by creators trey parker and Matt stone to Critique criticize and make fun of current events and the
World at large often the show skews into zany Wildly inappropriate territory
And that's the reason it's endured so long never one to shy away from bathroom humor or crude jokes the residents of South Park have
Been served up every manner of Indignity known to man all so
we can get a good laugh though for a show that's not afraid to go there with the nuttiness
South Park is also a series with lessons to teach through every Madcap adventure the creators always install a kernel of truth about the human
condition And often serve reminders that the best way to not become a parody of yourself is to be a good person although it seems that
South Park isn't the Most likely place to turn for philosophical rumination
It has time and again proven to provide some wonderful gems for living a better life
so put on your snow caps because today we're going to be taking a look at some important life lessons that can be learned from
Cartman and the Gang let's go
( Up- Beat 8- bit music.)
everything in moderation including moderation
if the creators of South park have a strong opinion then it's that strong opinions tend to do more harm than good
South Park bombasts group after group by creating the logical Extreme of said group
I'm willing to bet that just about everyone myself included has been insulted by South park and all of its victims are taken down by
a handful of grade schoolers and not the best or brightest grade schoolers either and if you don't like South park because it's so mean that's
Okay
after all
Hating everything is extreme choosing to always live in the middle is extreme as well parker and stone seem intent to showcase that extremism
No matter the actual angle is not a healthy way to live one's life
Have your beliefs celebrate the beliefs of others challenge your beliefs and strive to be better
good friends help each other great friends commit crimes for each other one of the core values of the show is the importance of friendship
And few moments provided us with more insight about what it means to be a friend in the episode where Stan wanted to give Kyle
A kidney upon learning that kyle would need a kidney transplant to live Stan offers to give up one of his own only to discover
That he's not a match
Depressed over the looming and inevitable loss of his friend stan resolves to do anything in his power to help Kyle no matter the cost
When he discovers that Cartmen can provide the match needed Stan hatches a plan that could only be conceived in South Park
bloody beds midnight home invasions and falsified Medical
Records lead to stay in helping Kyle get the organ he needs and their friendship is ensured to see another day while we don't condone
Breaking the law or tricking anyone into giving up one of their vital organs Stan's commitment to Kyle shows us a lot about
selflessness and putting the needs of a loved one before our own few things hold more power than imagination or more dangerous in one of
the series most celebrated arcs the boys following a hunt to prove whether leprechauns exist find themselves in the midst of a war of
Imaginary creations instigated by a bet between Kyle and Cartmen over the complete impossibility
That an imaginary character could exist in the real world the escalating situation reveals that just because something is imaginary doesn't mean it's not real
utilizing the storyline to Lampoon many popular characters from other entertainment properties in Pop culture the heart of the
Imagination land story was about the importance of dreaming the boys learn that just because something may be imaginary
It doesn't mean it doesn't have
significance to the person who believes in it as such the characters and ideas we hold dear become very real and help shape who we
Are and how we see the world so if you can imagine it then in some ways it's real and will take strawberry shortcake
Hostage when Satan
Learned that it's okay to be alone sometimes it seems unlikely that we learn anything of Moral or personal value from the Devil himself
But then again parent groups the world over would tell me that South park has no lessons to teach
Satan has a potential to provide us with a good life lesson
Longtime viewers of the show and it's feature film Spin-off are well aware that Satan had a long and complicated
Romantic relationship with one-time Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein a complicated relationship that led to at least one instance of near Nuclear war satan's
Association with Saddam is the definition of unhealthy which when it's a love affair between the devil and one of history's most wicked tyrants
we can't imagine it would be anything other than
problematic
Utilizing the fractured relationship to showcase a very real issue of people who feel trapped in toxic
Situations because they can't separate their feelings from the very dangerous reality
South Park's creators used a rather funny pairing to shine a spotlight on a very real situation that many people have struggled through Satan pulls
himself up by the bootstraps and Kicks Saddam to the curb finding a sense of peace and
completion and being himself and that moment Satan realizes
It's better to be alone than to be with someone who doesn't make you want to strive to be the best version of you
They say the devil's in the details and in this case of self-empowerment
We couldn't agree more that censorship isn't a replacement for talking to your kids
Censorship and complaints over content are no strangers to the creative team behind South park from the beginning parent groups often said that the bathroom humor
And foul language has a big negative for younger viewers and would demand comedy Central pull the show from the air
so when the series was given a big screen adaptation
in the form of South park bigger Longer & Uncut the film's Story line about the censoring of a subversive
television program had an air of familiarity
Attacking the notion of Censorship head-on the film shows Kyle's mom bringing about a nuclear
Armageddon in an effort to take a television show she deems reprehensible off the air in one of the movies more prescient moments, Mrs.
Broflovski points out that
It's easier to blame the television than take the blame as parents for not doing their job time and again when incidents occur within
communities fingers get pointed at video games cartoons and film content as the blame for violent attitudes and behavior taking this argument into
consideration parker and stone use a movie to turn the finger back around at the accuser pointing out that it's not so much the content of
The art but the dialogue that surrounds it in the home one can see a violent movie and know that violence is reprehensible
it's more about talking things out not hiding away from them and pretending they don't exist with the South park movie the creators show us
That censoring never leads to solutions
it just Creates more problems without means to Express them don't get too focused on a single goal one of the most infamous
Episodes of the Show's first decade was one titled make love not
Warcraft which saw our favuorite bus stop ]gang gets sucked into the all too addicting world of online role-playing games as the boys descended further
And further down the rabbit hole of gameplay they started to eschew real life in social situations becoming incapable of living Beyond
What was happening on the screen
Furthermore Beyond inspiring online
Competition the game led to real-life contention among the friends as well as a few extra pounds on Cartmen's part as much as we being
Citizens of the internet and all hate to admit it the boys learned that it's good to unplug and step away from our lives online
and take a minute to appreciate the world and people around us the boys lost themselves to fantasy in another episode where they got a
little too into Lord of the rings leading to some very
Enlightening moments for butters as we mentioned earlier the show encourages flights of fantasy and using your imagination to take you to new heights
but keeping in line with park and stones ever-present warning of not taking things to extremes
they like to remind viewers that it's okay to appreciate the real world and strive to make that better too
Confidence is a key component of success despite the limitations of living in a small
snowed-in town in Colorado the gang from South Park never let the world get in the way of their dreams in fact for all their
Failings one thing you can say about the residents of the Icy little village is that they have no problem going after their dreams which
Has led to international fame for the characters on the show on more than one occasion
take for example the fact that the boys once created their own teen pop band or that randy was revealed to be the pop singer
Lorde all this was achieved because they believed in themselves
South Park shows the importance of setting a goal and working to achieve it few characters
Exemplify this more than Eric cartmen whose schemes are often heinous in Nature remember that one
time he made a kid eat his own parents? because we're still sure having dreams about that, but almost always executed in his favor
This is because Cartmen who refuses to acknowledge or see the failings of his plans never doubts that they can be achieved
Thanks to his convictions Cartmen has been the spokesperson for cheesy poofs spot a theme park and time and again
one-upped Kyle
and otherwise nonsense bits all of these successes and
occasional successful failures
Poster child for Nambla episode can be attributed to cartman's belief in himself whether it's becoming a pop star or a world leader
South Park continues to show the audience that the key to achieving your dreams is confidence in your abilities to make them happen though for the
Sake of us all try and make sure your goals are a little more noble than Cartmen's
We want to be able to sleep at night adults
Don't always have the answers
One thing consistent fans of South Park can tell you there's not a single character on the show that gets out unscathed
Structured to mock after-school specials of yesteryear the series format follows the adventures of Kyle Stan Cartmen and Kenny and the rest of the elementary
set as they discover the world and learn lessons in similar shows when things get dire for the children
They know they can always turn to their parents for advice and insight however South Park being well
South Park the adults are often as clueless if not more so than the kids
Often this leads to their own series of adventures whether it's Kyle's mom leading a war against Canada or Randy Marsh attempting to Impress Stan
with his guitar the adults of South Park often add to the general Chaos of the series by
Often revealing that they don't know what the hell is going on most of the time not only does this add to the humour of
The show but it also humanizes adults in a way that most shows centered around children
Do not truth is no one ever feels like they've grown up even grown-ups by making the parents as irreverent as a kid
South Park reminds us that sometimes
Adults don't have all the answers or just trying to get by just like everybody else even if this does mean Randy gets into fistfights
With other people's dads often you can find humor in anything
And you should perhaps the ultimate
Lesson that can be learned from South Park is the most obvious one take nothing too seriously just as parker and stone were able to
use the movie to laugh at their own issues with
Censorship the show reminds us that overall it's important to take the time and laugh at yourself on occasion
Nothing is too serious that it doesn't deserve a good humorous roast from time to time because often in humor we also find essential truths
Life is short. Just ask Kenny. So we might as well. Have a good laugh
Have you learned a valuable lesson from South park? Maybe you're just here to tell us how much you love butters?
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