South Park - 3/31/04 (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

Yes, they killed him in the Christmas episode and I don't think I recall him making an apearance after that episode...

Now that I think about it, wasn't that also the episode where they brought Kenny back to life????

Maybe Kenny is JESUS????

 

[Shea]

Maybe you didn't, but obviously it helped a lot of people to SEE it. Some people can know something or be told things over and over and they won't get the full impact unless they see it. Some comments sound like people think it's wrong for a movie to strengthen someone's faith. Why? People aren't perfect, sometimes folks get doubts or stray or don't care so I don't see what's wrong if this movie helped them out. Personally didn't help me, I like you didn't need to see this although it did make an impact and I thought it was a great film.

As for this episode, I thought it missed the mark too, just wasn't as funny as I expected it would be..

 

[Mike Broadman]

I don't think anyone says that. It's just that many people are confused by the idea that this movie that strengthens faith focuses on suffering, pain, torture, and death. These comments wouldn't be made if it was a film that focused on Jesus as a healer, peacmaker, or compassionate leader.

I'm not saying it's "wrong," just offering an explanation for those who are confused by the film's affect on some people.

 

[Shea]

I see but in that case those folks aren't qualified to comment on it in the first place if they don't understand why his sacrifice could effect people in such a manner, including Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Considering that Christianity is the single most influencial and defining philosophical force in Western civilisation for the past 2000 years, everyone is qualified to comment because we all have to deal with it. Anyway, it's not the sacrifice itself that they were commenting on, it's the violent nature of it and how the violence itself is effecting people, or that they and the film seem to latch onto the violence rather than the sacrificial act. But most importantly, the episode was just about how different people see what they want in it and that these situations reveal more about the viewer than the film.

 

[Pete-D]

I have to admit the

"Passion really guilt-trips me into wanting to be a better Christian"

line the woman says after leaving the theater had me rolling as well as Mel Gibson's martyrdom fetish.



I found the episode to be one of the better ones done recently although not quite as sharp as the Lord of the Rings episode. Still hilarious.

I agree they could have done more with it, but I have the feeling the "crazy" Mel Gibson will be back in a future episode.

 

[MarkHastings]

Just like Stan and Kenny's disgust that people are being moved so much by a stupid movie. That's the kind of stuff the I love about South Park, where the town goes overboard on an emotion or idea and the kids (i.e. Stan or Kyle) come out and say: "Dude! Lighten up, it's just a freakin movie (or whatever they're complaining about)!"

 

[Pete-D]

The random insert of Alan Alda cracked me up too, lol. Cartman's Mel Gibson poster as well.

It's amazing this show is in its 8th season and is still consistently fresh and funny. Actually I think the newer episodes are better than previous ones. Unfourtunately that's not the case with the Simpsons.

Also as daring as "The Family Guy" is, a show like that wouldn't have this kind of leeway.

 

[MarkHastings]

Ah, but SP is only in it's 8th season. Just look at the gems in the Simpsons 8th season:
http://www.snpp.com/episodeguide/season8.html

I mean, Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious and Frank Grimes are enough to make the seaoson a hit

 

[Pete-D]

I think the problem with the Simpsons is it lost a lot of writers and what not.

South Park I think can remain funny as long as Stone/Parker continue to stay on.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But that wouldn't be in any way this film. Certainly, a film that focused on Jesus as a healer would be safer. More universal. But it wouldn't have been central to Christianity, either. (or atleast Mel's interpretation thereof) It wouldn't have been about Jesus's sacrifice. It would have been about everything BUT His sacrifice.

Back on topic, it's not the fact that Passion was satired that left me cold; it was the way it was satired. It was controversial without a message to merit the controversy. And it undermined a key character, from my standpoint atleast, in the process.

 

[Shea]

I mean that something shouldn't be criticized if you don't understand it. Folks with that opinion of it don't understand the point of the movie. The violence he goes through is part of the sacrifice, part of what he has to endure to make the sacrifice. So if what you say is true and people think the violence alone is affecting people then they are wrong, it's the sacrifice, of which the violence is apart of. If people who see the movie are Christians and believe Jesus is the son of God and their savior, and see his last hours that include violence against him and the sacrifice it leads to, why in the world wouldn't it have a significant spiritual impact on them? Not always the best at getting my point across but I'm not sure how folks can't understand the point of the movie unless they either don't see the film or go in with too much bias to admit it or see what is there.

 

[TheLongshot]

Personally, I enjoyed the episode. While it might not have been one of the best episodes, it was pretty darn good in many ways.

One thing that wasn't mentioned about Mel's behavior was that they highlighted the fact that he tends to take rather brutal roles where he gets the shit kicked out of him a lot. So, him acting like a masochist was hilarious to me. I also laughed at the Road Warrior chase. I also liked some of the silly expressions that they got out of Mel.

As for Cartman being evil, oh please. The "Scott Teneman" episode was far more disturbing to me than this one. Personally, I don't think Cartman knew what the phrases ment either. All he's doing is being a leader the only way he knows how: to emulate his idol, Adolf Hitler. And it works, because the Christians are so blind with their faith. It is a good point, and appriciated the irony.

Course, I don't expect perfection, and expect some misses. There certainly were some here, with a little too much whacky Mel. Still some good stuff...

Jason

 

[MarkHastings]

More disturbing? Possibly. Probably because Cartman actually did kill someone, but this episode was more about how evil he really is. Just because he never actually killed anyone in this episode, doesn't mean he's less evil. His intensions were a lot more evil than the "Scott Teneman" episode (where he only eliminated two people) because he was building up to a point where he was about to eliminate a lot more than just two people.

Who's to say he'd actually go through with it, but if he was willing to kill Scotts parents (whom he never showed any hatred toward) just to make fun of Scott, why wouldn't he want to kill a large group of people whom he actually DOES hate?

I guess when you actually compare the two episodes, they both seem evil. I mean, killing two people for a joke is what evil is all about, but we're also talking about a cartoon here and not real life. I think we (the audience) tend to give exception to death if it is done as a joke. The deaths in the "Scott Teneman" episode were done as a joke so I guess we dismiss that as something evil, whereas this latest episode, Cartmans evilness wasn't done as a joke, so we think of it as evil when we don't laugh. It definitely is a fine line, but we cross it all the time in TV shows.

The difference between offensive and non-offensive has nothing to do with the subject material, it's wether people laugh at it or not.

 

[Neil M]

It was a joke and I laughed my ass off. Cartman never killed anyone.

 

[Pete-D]

According to Showbizdata.com , the "Passion of the Jew" episode was South Park's highest rated since 1998...

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ may have been a stupendous success at the box office, but 4.4 million viewers -- equally stupendous by cable TV standards -- tuned in to watch last week's episode of South Park, titled "The Passion of the Jew." It was the highest ratings the Comedy Central show has received since 1998 and was the top-rated cable telecast last Wednesday in the 18-49-year-old demo.

 

[Robert Anthony]

Damn..
...now if only those guys had tuned in and caught that first episode. THAT was classic.

The Passion episode was a mixed bag. But the best line was Stan's, as usual.

"Focusing so hard on how Jesus died is what people did in the DARK AGES, and that didn't turn out so good."

That got a chuckle out of me.


..well, that and when Mel Gibson shit on Cartman's face.