Review: SOUTH PARK (NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN)

Overview

After it’s discovered that a teacher at South Park Elementary has an OnlyFans page, Randy is compelled to take a closer look at the seedy underbelly of the world of online influencers

Our Take

When I was in the 7th grade, my mother had put me in a Catholic Junior High School that I won’t name, though that wouldn’t matter anyway because the school has since shut down. In any event, while there, I remember maybe only a week or two in my teacher had me standing in front of the class admitting to the fact that I called one of the other kids a “dildo” and that I had heard the word on an episode of South Park. Years later, a good portion of my professional career has been writing reviews about that very same show and looking back I can safely say I made the correct choice. I’ve never been in jail, I’ve never really hurt anybody, nothing.

For decades the debate over the media’s influence on children has raged on. When I was a kid, I remember Oprah Winfrey telling my mom that Mortal Kombat would cause me to go nuts and pull a Columbine, neither of which has happened. You may recall that I had a debate with the head of the Parents Television Council about this very same topic. And while I still think fictitious media really doesn’t have a sway, I could hear an argument on how non-fictitious programming and advertiser-influenced magazines can help nudge the minds of those of whom are uneducated and immature in understanding of basic principles of comprehension. So, Matt Stone and Trey Parker surprise releasing a new made-for-Paramount+ event all about social media platforms like Only Fans and YouTube has irony dripping all over it.

We’ve seen Matt and Trey’s scripts tackle a similar notion before, the underlying question of “Are WE A Part of This?”. Regardless, the guys can’t help but stuff as many jokes as they can in 44 minutes of the sweet, sweet nectar that is South Park. Right away, anybody pissed off about the fact that Netflix’s Big Mouth has a bunch of full frontal nudity, note, you’re going to be mad about this week’s episode. Granted, there isn’t any underage animated nudity involved, but there is a BUNCH of full frontal male-nudity, largely contributed by the legendary Randy Marsh who often is on the receiving end of quick directorial cuts in a number of strategic poses that makes sure you know that Stan’s dad is packing heat. I do think this special will be an important difference maker for the future of Paramount+’s adult animation push due to the fact that a lot of their animated originals are often censored and they needed a South Park to push down those doors and make the powers at be understand that if you want to be legit contenders in the streaming wars against the likes of Netflix and Prime Video, you need to step up your game, and this special does just that.

As for “B” story surrounding the kids and jonesing for soft drinks, I think we’ve seen a number of episodes, usually headed by Cartman, where the kids jockey for who is the coolest with the latest gadgets or “”Chinpokemon”, but Matt and Trey do two things smart here to kid of mix things up : 1) They used Clyde instead of Kyle as the protagonist and 2) while there is a fair amount of episodes that deal with “the coolest kid has ‘X'” in their collection, the focal point is on the social media influencers and how they are essentially pawns to sell you shit much in the same way TV used to do in the nineties. The big reveal at the end was a bit underwhelming and I noticed some coloring issues when Clyde visits Nathan behind the school building that almost made it look like Clyde was floating, but the episode just had laughs EVERYWHERE, and yes, I know the miners bit was kind of a Louis CK bit, but I think the visual sets it off. Randy’s plot specifically is one of the funniest of all-time and is up there with some of his best work.

If you’re looking for an early Christmas treat from the best adult animated sitcom property of all-time, well this is the way to go. The year 2024 is going to be having us South Park fans eating well with the announcement of a new game, new episodes, new home releases, and, hopefully, a couple of new exclusive events like this for Paramount+ so we’ve got a lot to look forward to.