‘South Park’ Fan Roasted for Admitting That the Show Is Their Primary News Source
South Park is a better source of information on current events than any news outlet in the mainstream media, or so say some fans who get their news exclusively from South Park.
Twenty-eight years ago today, the first-ever episode of South Park, “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe,” premiered on Comedy Central and captured the hearts and minds of America’s disaffected, crass and contrarian youth like no other comedy series before it. For the better part of three decades, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been using their satirical series to tap into the enormous market of young-to-now-middle-aged men who distrust what politicians and pundits tell them about their country and who believe in their ability to see through the bullshit narratives pushed by the rich and powerful.
To some South Park fans, Parker and Stone’s topical humor, their consistent skepticism and their refusal to align with any one political ideology, movement or party makes them the country’s premiere source of brave, unbiased and accurate reporting on current events. But to other, smarter South Park fans, saying that your main source of news is a cartoon that’s aired two new episodes in the last two years is more embarrassing and pathetic than admitting that you ride a motorcycle.
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In a viral thread from the South Park subreddit titled, “I Actually Find Out More About Current Events Where There Are New South Park Episodes Streaming, and the Reporting Is More Accurate Too,” other South Park fans advised the original poster to read a newspaper, any newspaper.
“You should be embarrassed to say something like this,” the top commenter told the original poster.
“Dude… I love Southpark but this is very unhealthy,” another responder wrote. “I doubt the creators would want you to feel this way as well. For current events check multiple news sources with conflicting opinions and try your best to understand what’s going on in an unbiased manor (sic). A cartoon will not help you to understand the world even if its political commentary is on point. I know you can do better than this.”
A different fan advised, “You should pay more attention to the world you live in.”
“how old are you because that's pretty sad,” another user added.
While the writer of the post quickly backtracked and claimed that the title was supposed to be sarcastic, other users revealed that the sentiment is sadly true for much of the South Park fandom. “You can literally use season by season as accurate historical record vs the rewriting of events done repeatedly by the media and politicians,” one such non-reader wrote.
“I agree. Every legacy media and some podcast too are just bending the knee. But not South Park,” said another South Park fan who bravely watches Comedy Central instead of listening to society’s lies.
“Fiction ironically really is more honest about politics than the news. Especially cartoons,” said another fan/philosopher, adding, “Reality simply is more unbelievable.”
Unfortunately for the median IQ of the South Park fandom, to many non-political comedy fans, simply pointing out that the prevailing narratives pushed by news corporations and political parties are often biased is enough to convince the uninformed that the show is the only source of truth in a deceitful world. Understanding the angles and nuances of national issues requires an intellectual rigor that is too great for many non-voters, and South Park has, perhaps unintentionally, perpetuated the myth that anyone who takes a side that’s supported by any politician or reporter in political debates is automatically dumber than the fence-sitters who proudly proclaim that “both sides are equally stupid” before loading up a bowl and re-watching “Douche and Turd.”
Reality is more grim and boring than a half-hour cartoon that synthesizes current events into easily digestible satire, which is probably why Donald Trump hasn’t yet done to South Park what he just did to 60 Minutes — you know, the news show South Park defended two episodes ago?
