South Park "Cartoon Wars:" Missing The Point?

It was only a cartoon, but some people missed the point. We all know about the Danish press’ act of “blasphemy” when it published cartoon pictures of Mohammed, which subsequently provoked radical Imams to urge Muslims to riot and kill in protest. Much of the world-wide media gave in to the Islamists by refusing to publish the controversial cartoons.
Thus is the stage set for the latest South Park controversy. In a two part story, based on the premise that the Fox Television animated series Family Guy would televise a show featuring Mohammed as a cartoon character, the citizens of South Park, and the media, are terrified that the show would bring retaliation from Al Qaeda. At the last minute, Fox decides to censor the image of Mohammed, and the citizens are “saved” from an imaginary terrorist retribution.

After a very funny “Muslim sensitivity training” class, in which we learn that the Muslims are angry because they can’t “have sex until they are married, can’t (masturbate), and they have sand stuck somewhere in their body, probably up their crack (because they ‘live in sand’),” the citizens learn that Fox plans to air yet another Family Guy episode featuring Mohammed. They hurriedly throw together a town meeting in which an “expert” suggests that they all bury their heads in the sand. Another character objects, saying, “We have to stand together and show the terrorists that they can not take away our constitutional rights,” or something to that effect. The townspeople debate the matter likw this: “I like the bury our heads idea.”
“Yeah, me too. It sounds easier.”

There is another satirical scene worthy of note: President Bush is holding a press conference, explaining that he can’t stop Family Guy from airing because of First Amendment protection. The White House Press Corps, in true-to-life fashion, assails him with such questions as,

“What, exactly, is this First Amendment?”
“Didn’t you realize, when you started the First Amendment, that there would be this kind of problem?”
“If you didn’t start the First Amendment, who did?”
“How long has this First Amendment thing been going on?”

When the time comes for the scene featuring Mohammed, a notice appears on the television screen, reading,

“In this scene, Mohammed hands the Family Guy a football helmet with a plastic fish on top of it. Comedy Central has declined to show this scene in deference to the sensitivities of the Muslims.”

In the cartoon, Al Qaeda responds with a cartoon of their own, offensive to Christians and Americans. On the show, the retaliatory cartoon is shown on television.

As you can see, South Park creators and writers Trey Parker and Matt Stone were cleverly lampooning the liberal media, which refuses to show anything offensive to Muslims, while showing productions from Al Jazeer and other Arab media which Christians and Americans find offensive. In the process of that parody, they also made fun of those who would bury their head in the sand rather than stand up for their rights. Those who do not watch South Park, but merely heard about the episode, and those who do not understand satire and parody, would be offended by the program, thus making themselves the butt of the typical Parker/Stone joke. That is the point.
After all, the disclaimer which appears at the beginning of every South Park episode contains the words, “This program includes scenes which may be offensive to everyone, and should not be viewed by anyone.”
The truth is, the show was not at all meant to offend Christians, but to celebrate the fact that we do not react to cartoon representations, or graven images, if you will, the way the Muslims did. And, just as in every South Park program, it celebrates the freedom of speech we enjoy in America.

Personally, I am a regular viewer of the show, and find the humor uniquely clever. In fact, I consider myself a “South Park Conservative.” I sincerely hope that the fanatical backlash to this show does not hamper or prevent Parker and Stone from continuing their excellent comedy.