WHY THE WORLD NEEDS SOUTHPARK

some say that the world is going to waste. they also say that today's youth are arrogant, crude know-it-alls with mixed morals. they say that the next generation is a bust and will never be up to the task of fixing the U.S. in years to come. how can a bunch of whiny emo kids (which are just like goth kids, only wimpier) get their act together and resolve the international conflicts that other generations have done such a bang up job with up to this point. racism, sexism, homophobia, gas prices, taxes, education, welfare, social security, health care and giant walls at every port and boarder are just too daunting for today's snot-nosed brats. simply put, we have raised a bunch of pussies.

kids today dont have a good system of morals because we havent told them where to find them. we used to say go to your parents, but, let's face it, we are no better than they are. children of the hippie revolution are just as messed up as any other generation. the problem is that it is a perpetual cycle of ignorance and stupidity. they have resorted to sources like mtv, comedy central, the internets and, of course, friends (blind leading the blind = dumb leading the dumber).

a couple months ago i watched a little film called "idiocracy." not the best film i've ever seen but it was still pretty funny and it made an interesting point. the basic idea is that the doctors and lawyers of our generation are either too busy to have children or they use birth control, have abortions, etc, and the only people who are having children nowadays are stupid people. so in 500 years natural selection will wipe out anyone with even half a brain and our precious democracy will be replaced with a dumbed up version called "idiocracy." sadly, this is actually a pattern you can see. of course, this theory doesnt take into account religious peoples which discourage birth control (probably for this very reason).

so how does southpark fit in to all of this? you see, people often dont realize the moral lessons hidden inside every episode of southpark. the basic formula of a southpark episode is as follows: take a controversial topic; show both sides of the topic at their absolute most extreme; explain that both sides are bad/stupid/extreme; show an alternative way, usually some sort of compromise down a middle path.

case and point: they did an episode on homosexuality and political correctness. mr garrison realizes that he can do anything he wants at school because if the school reprimands him, he can claim prejudice towards him for being gay. eventually the whole town gets sucked into this overly protective mentality and no one can stop mr garrison as he slowly turns southpark into a gay-pride orgy in the streets. everyone just lets it happen for fear of being politically incorrect. finally, the kids show the towns folk that just because some one is gay doenst mean it is politically incorrect to call them perverted or out of line if that is exactly what they are. be accepting of people's differences but if they cross the line of social appropriateness call them on it. no one is above anyone else. if we are all equal, we should all be held to the same standard. this goes for all groups, races, sexes and religions.

well, so what? the point im trying to make here is that today moral codes are hard to come by. sure southpark can be crude and push the boundaries of entertainment (how else are they supposed to get your attention while myspace and youtube are running strong), but when you look at the target audience of southpark (teenagers and young adults--america's future) and their other sources of entertainment (and ethics), it really is their best source of right and wrong.