Discrimination in South Park PDF

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Trey Parker’s South Park episode, “Cartman Sucks” shows forms of discrimination in society towards homosexuals and the LGBTQ community....

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Discrimination in South Park Trey Parker’s South Park episode, “Cartman Sucks” shows slight forms of discrimination in society towards homosexuals and the LGBTQ community in general. This episode aired almost ten years ago in 2007, and society back then was much less accepting of members in the LGBTQ community. When Cartman shows his friends the incriminating photograph he has with Butters, they immediately point out that what he is doing makes him gay. In this context, their tone, along with Cartman’s reaction to their comments, perceives “gayness” in a negative manner. The writer and producer, Trey Parker, developed the plot from the point of view of a liberal. He created a more conservative and “anti-gay” environment in the storyline, and got his point across through the characters’ remarks on homosexuals, and the atmosphere created at “Camp New Grace- Pray the Gay Away.” Parker has a liberal stand, and that is made clear throughout the entire show of South Park. In this specific episode, he depicts the parents as more conservative, especially Butters’ father, who sends him off to the camp because he believes he is “bi-curious”. The word “bi-curious” has a pretty complex definition, but it basically means that a person is unsure, or has doubts, about their sexual preferences. Butters gets sent off to a camp that is supposed to “cure him of his gayness”, which is nonexistent. He is definitely confused, but not about his sexuality. Throughout the entirety of the episode, Butters repeats the words, “I’m confused”. I believe this was the writer’s way to communicate his ideas with his audience without sounding discriminating. He made Butters’ character sound ignorant and oblivious to the issue discussed about sexuality and preference, to avoid Butters’ responses to everything an adult was saying to him.

There were many ups and downs in this episode along the lines of being sent off to the camp, and the show and tell activity in school which embarrassed Cartman more than anything. He tried to pass off the photograph as a statement against the war in the Middle East, but it clearly backfired on him. Cartman learned to never try to justify a wrongdoing with another wrongdoing. There were many lessons to be learned from this episode, but the moral of the story is to never assume important characteristics of a person, and to be more understanding of everyone’s sexual preferences.

Bibliography South Park "Cartman Sucks" Dir. Trey Parker. Comedy Central, 2007. Television Show....