“South Park” has provided too much entertainment in my life for me to dismiss Trey Parker and Matt Stone outright. So … they made a bad movie. OK, South Park: Post COVID wasn’t just bad; it was dull and irresponsible. But, hey, Trey and Matt are hardly the most grown up grown-ups anyway. What did I expect?
Hence, I gave them another chance with South Park: Joining the Panderverse.
Was South Park: Joining the Panderverse better than South Park: Post COVID? Yes.
Was I rewarded for my decision? No.
Will I be watching more “South Park” any time soon? I’d sooner go through the entire history of “Family Guy.”
One day, the show’s protagonist-villain Eric Cartman (voice of Parker) is suddenly a black woman. Ok, that in itself is funny. The character most likely to believe in the alt-right propaganda fearmongering lies of “replacement theory” has literally been replaced. The “real” Eric Cartman is now trapped in an alternate universe where every one of his friends and neighbors has been replaced by a woman of color; it’s satire of both Spiderverse and the increasing diversity in Hollywood at the same time. And somehow, Disney executive Kathleen Kennedy is to blame.
Meanwhile, Stan’s father, Randy Marsh (also Parker) can’t seem to fix the oven door and -due to personal incompetence- cannot learn how and has to call a handyman. Randy isn’t alone. Thanks to the “uselessness” of college degrees, none of the citizens of South Park know how to solve any physical problem. This escalates to the point where “handyman” has become the most coveted and lucrative profession in the land. That’s funny, too, truth be told.
The ”fixit man” storyline works better. The film gets to the point where random handymen now have Elon Musk-like wealth and desires, which seems kinda funny, The Cartman parody doesn’t work as well because I don’t think they quite knew what to do with it. Kathleen Kennedy ordering a waiter to remake her lunch as she would “correct” every movie: “Put a chick in it and make her gay!” is amusing until you realize that’s really the only joke they have. There’s a decent premise here, but no follow-through, possibly because there’s nothing inherently funny or wrong about diversity itself.
The entire problem with “South Park” is that the world has changed and “South Park” hasn’t. The whole “South Park” shtick forever has been one of nihilism, one of “everybody sucks, hence, we shit on everybody.” This was a perfectly reasonable motto when fascism wasn’t a threat to the United States. Now? Taking no responsibility while calling everything bad is exactly how you get President Donald Trump. It comes from people who no longer care that there is right and wrong or that there are many, many shades of evil. Airline travel is evil, but it is necessary. Steve Bannon is evil. Period. Health care is a pain in the ass in every corner of the world. It is a necessary evil. But making health care a for-profit institution is pure evil. Learn the difference. It matters. And it matters now more than ever.
I have no problem with making fun of the move towards ultra-diversity in the latest generation. Yes, it has seemed random, haphazard, and manic. The decision to make Eric Cartman your “replacement” seems a good one. As the show’s most racist character, he can speak the anti-diversity position
and we know that’s not what you really mean. Where I draw the line is the subtle-but-insistent theme throughout the film that diversity has made the product suffer. In Panderverse, “Disney sucks now” is heard constantly – and believed constantly—it’s taken for granted that this is true. And it’s taken for granted that this is true precisely because of diversity.
That’s a crock of shit.
Disney has been producing both good and bad stuff for as long as I have lived and probably much longer. Diversity may not necessarily make a product better, but I can guarantee it is not making it any worse. And, on top of that, there’s now representation. And representation matters. Always. As for these “truisms,” this is the classic bi-product of the evils of unchecked and unopposed RW media. Repeat something often enough, no matter how untrue, and people will believe it. Does diversity and inclusion make us weaker? No. Quite the opposite. Are the southern borders open? No. Of course not. Don’t be silly. Is the Biden economy flailing? Not even close; it’s thriving. Look it up yourself. None of these things is true, but it’s possible you believe them anyway. Why? Because there is no LW propaganda to counter them (no, CNN is not LW; get a life) and people like Trey Parker and Matt Stone are either too lazy or too irresponsible to do the research when they present comedy.
And if you truly believe the country is hurt by diversity or the southern borders are open or that Bidenomics has not been a success, I suggest you do some research. Like, immediately.
Two fellas who claimed everything sucked
Decided responsibility was, at best, ducked
Oh, what a gaffe
I do hope we’ll laugh
When the world they made is completely fucked
Rated TV-MA, 48 Minutes
Director: Trey Parker
Writer: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Brian Graden
Genre: We still haven’t learned how NOT to endorse the Trumpworld
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: South Park junkies
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “You do realize the messages in this film still suck, right?”
