The Big Picture: Out of the Park

Jensu

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I thought that the main problem they had with scientology was the whole cult thing... Im not sure, but im pretty confident that Mormonism isnt a cult.
I enjoy watching you're videos though, always gives me something to think about :p
 

ChupathingyX

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Wait, wait, wait that's your real voice?

You mean to tell me this whole time we've been listening to generic radio voice when we could've had JFK?

C'mon Bob, do at least one episode in your normal voice.

OT: I honestly have never really watched South Park that much so I can't really comment.
 

Ubermetalhed

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i7omahawki said:
MovieBob said:
Out of the Park

You shouldn't turn to South Park for life lessons.

Watch Video
Y'know, I've learned something today. People shouldn't draw their personal philosophy or political beliefs from a cartoon on TV. We shouldn't rely on other people to tell us what to think, though it is reasonable to be influenced by others' beliefs and consider adopting them ourselves, our beliefs and opinions must always be ours. Culture is not a crutch, and we are each responsible for our decisions whether or not they were on TV.

Wait, this is the life lesson that is consistently presented on South Park, every disaster is caused (or made worse) by a mass response that isn't thought out by anybody...often influenced by television or celebrity.

What South Park provides is exactly what society needs right now, no - not fart jokes, but an eye for critical thinking and a reluctance to ever side with one side on every issue.

I think it's completely irresponsible to look at any philosopher / politician / thinker and draw the entirity of your beliefs from them. Most of all that's just lazy, but even worse is that it means the theory/belief is not being tested, just treated with blind faith. Any author/activist who doesn't actively spur and challenge their followers is irresponsible, and a pretty sucky leader. South Park, whatever their personal philosophy may be, acts in this way, and I'm glad the term "South Park Republican" has dissolved as it has.

I'm a bit unsure of these people saying: "Don't take South Park seriously!" because, well, the issues it deals with are serious, and they usually come up with some worrying points concerning them, all of which is very relevant. I wouldn't conflate "No explicit, concrete message," with "Nothing of worth to take away," because they do deal intelligently with issues, and often have something relevant to say that isn't raised elsewhere.

In a nutshell, South Park is fantastic precisely because it lacks a dogmatic message, but that doesn't mean it is 'just a cartoon' and therefore politically or philosophically irrelevant, just that its worth isn't in providing a consistent belief system, only a constant and consistent challenge to our beliefs and actions.
Wow. What a fantastic post, you really hit the nail on the head for me.

Great job!
 

General Vagueness

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Feb 24, 2009
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I haven't met anyone that takes the whole show as something to live by so I can't very well speak on their reasoning, but I will say I'd like to think most of the people that draw influence from it, whether they talk about it or not, realize there isn't any particular overarching thing to take away from it (except maybe, as someone said, "get some perspective", or maybe "don't take things too seriously"), but that a lot of individual episodes do have lessons or at least information that can be of help. I know it's provided me with a lot of things to think about, and I usually agree with the conclusion reached about them on the show in general or by the main characters, if there is one.
 

General Vagueness

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Calbeck said:
One such example? Right here in Bob's review, where he claims that the Mormon episode DOESN'T bash the religion in question like happened in the Scientology episode.
[snip]
For all that Mormonism is attacked as made-up-BS in South Park, it is also recognized that Mormons themselves turn out to be decent folks you wouldn't mind having as neighbors.
Do you see why your post is messed up? If not, I'll tell you didn't say they didn't bash Mormonism, he talked about the "overall positive point" (I'm paraphrasing here)... which is what you just brought up.
As for watching The Daily Show and The Colbert Report for news (where did you get "reality" from?), it's because I trust their reporting more than a lot of other reporting and because they're funny. I've seen the accusation about republican and democratic inequality on those shows and I don't think it holds, they attack any stupid idea that's funny enough-- which may be a key factor, a lot of stuff they could be talking about just isn't that funny. I don't know how you're classifying and sorting things but a lot of what you might see as saying democrats aren't being liberal enough is actually just talking about how they're weak.
 

Adahn one

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Jul 7, 2010
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It's funny I did not even realize that he speaks with an accent. Apparently if you're not out of the English-speaking country you dont get it.
As for South Park, it should not carry the message. Enough that it shows things from a different angle and did not hesitate of anything.
 

MrEctomy

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This might be the first episode of The Big Picture where I completely disagree with moviebob. As far as I can understand, bob's problem with people adopting stances from South Park is that South Park doesn't have an overaching philosophy, and hence shouldn't be taken seriously? What? It sounds like moviebob feels that something can only be a legitimate source of philosophy unless it assigns itself to a specific group or ideology. But why can't you have differing opinions on different issues? There are independents and moderates (like me!) who maybe believe a few things the Republicans say, and a few things the Democrats say. Or a few things the Objectivists say and a few things the Subjectivists say. Why can't Trey Parker & Matt Stone be against one thing and for another? It's not contradictory if they're not r...elated. And besides, issues aren't so cut & dry.
By the way, the mormonism vs. scientology episodes are actually not contradictory at all. They are just as offended by Mormonism as they are by Scientology. Only they attack the lack of critical thinking and stupidity of its followers in regards to Mormonism (I found these gold plates! NO, you can't see them, just trust me), and Scientology they just take a step further because it's so completely insane. I honestly don't know how anyone could think that Trey Parker & Matt Stone are "okay" with Mormonism. The whole Book of Mormon play is a no holds barred mockery of the religion. "I Believe" points out all the ridiculous things that Mormons actually believe (much like they did with the Scientology episode). "All American Prophet" summarizes the history of the Mormon church, complete with Trey & Matt's signature mockeries interspersed. "Turn if Off" mocks the belief that Mormons have that Homosexuality is wrong and if you get those urges you should just "turn it off". I could go on, but the point is that Trey & Matt are far from okay with Mormonism. They mock it just as much as they do Scientology.
Okay, so with that out of the way, I fail to see what point bob is trying to make about something requiring a consistent or overarching philosophy in order to be legitimate enough to take seriously. There is nothing wrong with approaching issues individually and exploring them one at a time. There doesn't need to be an overarching philosophy with South Park because each episode is its own self-contained entity. Sure, there are characters and a general storyline like in any other series, but one day mecha-streisand is marching through South Park, and the next day there's a giant pile of rednecks having gay sex in the town square. It's silly. It's a comedy show primarily, but this is a comedy show where the creators love to express their stances on issues intelligently, fully, and in such a way that there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't seriously consider their arguments. And they KNOW that. They WANT people to listen to them, and consider what they say. The "What did we learn today?" segments at the end of each episode are slightly tongue-in-cheek, yes, but they use that time to summarize what point they were trying to make, and even though the episode itself might have been silly as hell, there is a legitimate argument in there.
 

veloper

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No Bob, you don't need a general philosophy to be able to make a good point.

The Great ideas are all dead anyway and have been for decades now.

If they make a good point on South Park, by all means link the scene to your own rant. A good argument is always a good argument nomatter where it comes from. Besides it's usually a good laugh.
 

Razzigyrl

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Well, Bob, I think your normal speaking voice rocks, whether or not most people will think 'Scout' or 'JFK'. In my region, our accent is flat & boring American Standard, and it's incredibly cool to hear something that's not that or the tiny occasional southern twang. I can't speak for others, of course, but I'd like to hear more of it. :)

More about the point of this video, it seems (to me, at least) to be a bad idea in general to stick to one source of info on which to base your opinions and philosophy. Whether you draw from one book or one show or even one musician, you're limiting yourself to the content of one person's outside perspective. Unfortunately, lots of folks are quite lazy, and to learn, a person has to put forth effort. In the end, I can only hope that the people saying 'I got this from South Park!', or really any non-documentary TV program, are just trolling.

One can hope, right?
 

00slash00

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im not sure i believe thats his real voice. im not saying hes lying, necessarily...but it kinda sounds like a stereotype of a new york accent
 

roostuf

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people who actually take lessons from southpark shouldn't be aloud to breed.

OT: Scot>JFK
 

Harbinger_

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I'm sorry but if you honestly think that South Park is one of the most single important things to hit TV then you've really lost alot of points in my books. And you're right the people that do trumpet it are really annoying.
 

qeinar

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Well some episodes got some good points, but it's not like i would use south park in a political argument. : P
 

Primus1985

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Im kinda torn on the subject of South Park personally. I whole hearty agree with bob that people shouldnt try to take South Park as a philosophy,(which begs the question of how moronic americans are that they take advise from that) however as far as the show goes...Meh


I used to like it, hell I'd eagerly await new episodes for awhile, but lately within the past few years its been very hit and miss. The Cartoon Wars and Imaginationland eps where my favorites in the series, but those gems are the few diamonds. I feel that within the past 3-4 years Matt and Trey have gone a bit far with some of the jokes and jabs not necessarily things that even need to be joked about.


Really alot of South Park is a little on the extreme side, I know thats part of the gag but even Family Guy doesnt go so far.

Ive grown out of SP and I dont think I'll really watch it again.
 

Tarik94

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Sep 13, 2008
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When I think of Boston accent, I imagine people with fedora's, coats, suits and are serious and professional.
 

SOCIALCONSTRUCT

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1. Maybe South Park guys just have different opinions about different religions. There are a number of different positions besides you can take besides just a blanket "they are all equally good/bad." They see Mormonism are silly and benign and Scientology as even more silly and pathological. This isn't very difficult to understand.

2. I can think of at least one political stance consistently backed by South Park. South Park hates political correctness.
 

brainslurper

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Aug 18, 2009
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Honestly the episodes themselves have no real message you should be following at all. But if you understand the background of some of the stuff going on behind the show, it is a lot more morally correct.
Example: Episode 200 and 201 were censored by comedy central for depicting Mohammed (And tom cruise). Because CC threw such a shitfit, they decided the mid season finale (Episode after 201) would be entirely making fun of disabled children, and wasn't censored by comedy central at all. I really admire them for appealing to stupid people who take the show literally, and the people who understand it's context, and doing both better then any other show out there. Family guy appeals to stupid people... and thats about it. The Simpsons is way too politically correct to have any purpose at all.