Does anybody else know about this? Before you question whether or not this is a serious subject, South Park has won a Peabody award, so please read up a little before you spit.
Here's the summary: South Park was going to have an episode where they showed the prophet Muhammed, as part of an episode dealing with the Dutch comic-strip issue. Comedy Central censored the episode, not allowing them to show Muhammed, but in the [i]very same episode[/i] they allowed an image Jesus shitting on the American flag to pass unedited. I'm outraged. Not about the Jesus thing, I understand exactl why it was done. I'm outraged that Muhammed was edited, that Comedy Central (and hence Paramount) caved to fear of terrorism. I'm shocked that that sort of thing would happen in America. I am pissed-off that my own faith doesn't get any consideration or regard, in a country as much 'native ground' to us as any, apparently because we don't behead people enough.
What do you guys think? This just strikes me as so basically [i]wrong[/i], that it makes me want to sputter and stammer. Frankly, it makes me want to stand on a sidewalk waving a sign and chanting, though I'm confused as to why exactly I'm upset.
As a footnote, South Park has in the past had an episode that showed Muhammed, which was un-censored and un-controversial. It was also before 9/11. Apparently Comedy Central just wasn't as sensitive to Islamic mores back then. This is a show that had a season finale featuring a statue of Mary bleeding from her vagina. Not that I'm complaining, it was funny as hell.
I have been thinking about this issue some more.
I think it’s a shame that Muslims are being protected from criticism.
Muslims should be outraged that they aren’t being criticized.
Stone and Parker have really painted Comedy Central into a corner on this one. What’s their argument? Religion tolerance? One only needs to watch the show to know that’s baloney. Hell, watch that very same episode and you’ll know it isn’t true. The only excuse for their actions is that they are cowards who don’t want to get suicide-bombed. Like I said, I can’t believe people would cower like that, here in the States.
jesus bashing will not get the fearful reaction of the censors until there are suicide bombers willing to blow themselves and jesus blasphemers apart… it shows just how “free” free speech on private television is…
I agree it (censorship) is terrible… but maybe matt and trey were making an even larger point about what they knew would be censored and what would be allowed.
Yeah, I totally think that was the point. It’s either hypocracy or cowardice, there’s no good answer for why things turned out this way. And this isn’t the first time. Comedy Central is refusing to show reruns of the “Tom Cruise in the Closet” episode, because Tom Cruise threatened not to do any promotions for Mission Impossible III if they showed it again.
We don’t censor in this country, it’s all just false propaganda.
We politically decided that upon further review, and in light of current sensitivities from certain ethnic and religious groups of great nations, that it is less than prudent for our governmental representatives coughbankaccountscough well being to allow these sorts of heinous hate crimes to perpetrated against innocents. coughbullshitcough
I see no censorship here, just good socio-fascist governing of the ignorant and insensitive masses.
I would like to know why muslims are protected from critizsim? I mean, it is okay for a t.v show like south park to point fun at jewish and christians. But why when anyone makes ‘light’ humor about muslims there is a political uproar?
Simply becuase there are alot Muslims are willing to kill anyone who mocks Islam.
The worst part of this whole problem is that the people on South Park where making fun of those who censored the cartoons and they ended up getting censored anywho.
Muslims aren’t protected from criticism. Indeed, Muslims are generally portrayed in a pretty one-dimensional way in the press, almost always associated with terrorism or violence or oppression, almost always portrayed as stupid and aggressive. Now, most muslims that I’ve met get a bit stupid and aggressive when you question their religious beliefs but are otherwise normal people, that is to say, there’s a wide range of temperaments among Muslims.
As to ‘protected’ from criticism - you would have done much better to talk about the cartoons of Mohammed than South Park. South Park has always been a low-rent, bargain-basement comedy show. It’s targets are obvious, it’s method predictable and puerile. I’m not saying that it isn’t funny, it just should be taken seriously in any way whatsoever and this conversation should not even be taking place. It’s like discussing the political relevance of 2 children laughing at a bull trying to mount a cow.
Bullshit. The London Bombings have never been shown to have any links to Al Qaeda.
Maybe South Park is finally outstaying it’s welcome. Like I say, it’s a childish show for childish minds and is taken far too seriously. If you call this censorship then ALL media, by definition, is censored.
The media is censored in the U.S.
The word fuck is a sin on TV.
Boobs are a big deal too.
A penis? Never will you see one on TV lest those poor southern bells faint!
South Park was censored. It’s a stupid show, but it has moments of brilliance.
I never said that the London Bombings were connected to Al Qaeda. I merely said that the media gives Islam more respect and consideration than Judaism or Christianity becuase they don’t want to be blamed for riots, bombings, death etc.
The Islamic terrorists are using our own fear as a weapon against us. They are also using guilt as a weapon against us. I believe they wait patiently for the west to make an attack on them in self-defence, then they use that attack to justify their proceeding attack, making the public of the west feel guilty, making them feel it’s their fault. When a westerner or arib gets killed for criticises these fundamentalists, we should congregate and demonstrate in great numbers against them. We are too fearful of them. It does take an extremely intelligent being to realise that strength grows in synchrony with the growth of numbers.
Find me a news article on the BBC website about Islam or Muslims that doesn’t in any way associate them with terrorism. Then find me 100 that associate Jews or Christians with terrorism. ‘The media’ may not print cartoons of mohammed but that isn’t the only discourse that’s going on.
Just becuase at this time in history there are more Muslims commiting terrorist attacks than there are Jews and Christians doesn’t mean that the media is part of this huge conspiracy that refuses to recognize the Judeo-Christian motives behind modern day terrorist attacks.
The cartoons don't matter at all to me, because they weren't in America. If Dutch people do or don't censor their newspapers, and if Syrians do or don't burn pictures of their Prime Minister (or whatever they have in Denmark), I couldn't care less, and I can't complain- the 1st Amendment has nothing to do with that happens in Holland. South Park is an American show, and so, it becomes relevant to me, and becomes relevant to the way speech in the country is supposed to operate.
But what's more important here is that South Park is extremely popular- it doesn't matter how low-brow it is. It's a popular show, and it's popular for doing a [i]specific[/i] kind of thing: very harshly and vulgarly making-fun of groups or individuals that generally have it coming. To show where exactly the limits are draw for a show like this -which has defied so many other limits- makes a broad statement, about Paramount at the very least.
What statement? That a moronic, low-brow show that should never have been taken seriously in the first place sometimes oversteps the mark? The fact is that South Park as a show is incapable of dealing with ANY issue in a sensible or informed manner. All it really achieves is pissing people off and widespread political apathy.
Freedom of speech is the freedom to stand in the street shouting ‘arse-rape your mother!’ at people passing by. Just as this is almost guaranteed to only make life worse and just as ‘freedom of speech’ is a crap justification for such things, so it is this South Park issue.
I don’t see South Park as defying other limits and I suppose that’s where we differ. You clearly like the show and buy into it’s ‘radical’ schtick. No offence, but I don’t. I just see it as a childish entertainment show that is essentially apolitical. Like I say, even discussing it in these terms runs against everything that I see in that show. It just isn’t that important. Sooner or later people who intend to insult (and little else) will end up crossing some line or other. So fucking what?
The first one and the last one are both examples of ones which make no mention of terrorism. One is simply a programme review and as such doesn’t really count as an article, the other one mentioned the London bombings twice in the opening half-page.
I’m not accusing the media of being part of a conspiracy but the fact remains that apart from the Irish no group in Britain is more associated with terrorism (in media) than Muslims. If I were a Muslim then I’d be a bit pissed off about that because tabloids newspapers are one thing, they are written by morons, for morons.
… are you talking about the south park episode with “Family Guy” showing muhammed and everyone burying their heads in sand, etc etc?
yeah… the comedy central censoring muhammed thing… that was just a joke, man. an ending to the show… don’t tell me you’re gonna go bomb comedy central headquarters or something because you think they went back on free speech… it was just a joke.
