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“South Park,” Comedy Central’s gold-standard animated sitcom, has launched its 27th season on America’s television screens and, with President Trump back in the White House, politics is back on the menu for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Much like our national media ecosystem, Trump and his presidency are the driving force behind almost every plot line in the first three episodes this year. Much of it is quite funny, but one does wonder: Where was all this hilarious hijinx regarding Joe Biden’s “Weekend At Bernie’s” presidency?
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The overarching premise of the season thus far is that, with the election of Trump, wokeness is finally dead. This development leaves Eric Cartman’s rotund character, who has been defined by his political incorrectness since before woke was in our parlance, in a tough spot: He’s not special anymore.
Cartman even considers taking his own life, and that of his little friend Butters, when wokeness fails to return by Tuesday, but they are foiled trying to asphyxiate themselves in an electric car, which is the kind layered comedy we expect from the show.
Thus far though, in every episode, all roads lead back to Trump, and the character created for him, including a photo animation of his head. And the shows have been replete with references to, and even depictions of, the president’s genitals.
With few exceptions, the actions of the real “South Park” characters are driven by Trump. For example, when he sues the town for millions of dollars, the cutbacks leave school counselor Mr. Mackey out of a job, leading him to take a position as an ICE agent.
Likewise, Randy Marsh is forced to turn his weed farm into a big tech concern with the assistance of ChatGPT after a ripped-from-the-headlines ICE raid leaves him with no Mexican workers. Trump is simply inescapable in this TV universe.
In a way, Parker and Stone are creating a fictional version of the fascism that so many progressives see in every corner of Trump’s America. Most Americans do not believe they live under a Trumpian authoritarian regime, but in “South Park,” the characters not only believe it, their lives are turned upside down by it.
This all comes with a healthy helping of the liberal fantasy that backwoods hicks are all suddenly regretting they voted for Trump, something that truly only belongs in the world of make-believe.
For Cartman, by the second episode, the Trump takeover provides opportunity, and in what may be the most notable development so far, he transforms himself into a clear version of conservative organizer and pundit Charlie Kirk, complete with debating against gaggles of woke college girls.
The real-life Kirk laughed off the tribute, in which he is described as a “masterdebater,” and that has been the attitude toward the parody from the right in general. Say what you will, MAGA knows how to laugh at itself.
And the inclusion of Kirk in such a central role actually does accurately depict how the new right has come to take over not just the Republican Party, but American conservatism in general.
People on the right can take a joke. It would just help if the jokes about MAGA could actually be funny.
Unfortunately, the least funny and entertaining moments this season are the ones that feature Trump and his administration. It’s just the same joke over and over: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shoots enough dogs to fill a pet cemetery and Vice President JD Vance is Tattoo from Fantasy Island. Okay.
Along with his alleged anatomical shortcomings, we see Trump in a sexual relationship with Satan, and as a buffoon being plied with gifts from the world’s most powerful people.
It all feels like the very familiar social media phenomenon, also ever present on late-night “comedy” shows, in which liberals say, “Trump and MAGA would hate it if you say this thing, or if you post this picture,” when really, nobody cares.
It also feels similar to California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent social media spree in which he mimics Trump’s posting style. Democrats are convinced that MAGA world is furious about this, but once again, the truth is, nobody really cares.
Despite the weakness of the political propaganda in this season of South Park, Parker and Stone are still gifted comedy writers and there are moments and bits that truly shine.
The marital problems between Randy and Sharon Marsh caused by his growing relationship with ChatGPT is a particular standout.
The writers perfectly capture the obsequious and sycophantic dulcet tones of female AI assistants, always saying, “what a great idea,” or “that must be tough, but we’ll work through it.”
Extra delicious is that Randy is using his AI to save his weed farm, leading to a ketamine addiction, as all these forms of Brave New World “soma” converge.
It is fair to accuse “South Park” of hypocrisy for focusing so much mirth on Trump and his team after ignoring Grandpa Joe Biden, and one does wonder if the more ridiculous figures on the Left, from Jasmine Crockett to, yes, Gavin Newsom, might appear.
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But, maybe the reason South Park hasn’t traditionally put politics so directly in the foreground before is that it’s not all that funny, at least not in the context of this show.
For 27 years, “South Park” has challenged convention, taken risks, and done things other shows wouldn’t. It was an early mocker of the trans movement, for example, but there is also a depth to the characters in the town that is entirely missing from every portrayal of Trump’s inner circle.
Fresh off of its new $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount, paid for perhaps in part by savings from canceling Trump-hating Stephen Colbert’s show, “South Park” is going to be with us for some time to come.
This is a good thing. People on the right can take a joke. It would just help if the jokes about MAGA could actually be funny.
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