Or maybe the whole thing is getting old to them and they are just phoning it in due to contract commitments. South Park hasn't fallen as far as the Simpsons, but it it is starting to get a little tired out. They are just relying on the "mock everyone" formula.
Probably because they’re the least qualified people to provide solutions, so the best they can do is show people the faults and let more experience or knowledgeable people fix the issues
@@coleisamole(I have the same notion) but well to play devil's advocate if you consider humans part of nature, then a gender spectrum does exists as some animals can automatically swap genders or be hermaphrodites so they aren't technically technically wrong like male seahorses give birth instead of females there's that too.
It's always been about presenting problems. It's never been about presenting solutions. Just bringing light to the problems and making fun of them. It's only been twisted to be the other way around lately because everyone "needs" to have an opinion nowadays.
The argument here is that southpark kind of always advocated for the middle way, they kind of spoon fed "solutions". Now it's so fucked up they seem to realise it's futile. I think the sp creators are growing up in a sense, or at least they are reevaluating their worldview.
I think Kenny is a metaphor for the world since everyone wants whats best for him but they can't agree on anything and just end up fighting. That's my take at least.
Because if you give it attention or credence, they would have to ask questions like, "is this just a joke or are there troubling implications about that line?" The Me Too era uncovered a lot of skeezy behavior, and if there's rumors that are out there that people can't legitimately back up like a "known secret", it only opens up a rabbit hole of questions that doesn't help anyone or anything.
Interesting. On black yt channels we are unable to put together the last 2 words. And we can never spell out that p word 🤔. Our comments get deleted immediately when they have that word
@@cloudzzzound This is so dumb. You're forgetting Epstein literally had a island where they'd do disgusting things to kids. Nothing gets looked into unless the people make enough noise but you'd rather society ignore it in case its not true. I would rather be wrong than a coward who lets child trafficking and abuse fly because of a "rabbit hole of questions"
"Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow." Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
Still from hannah Arendt: "Freedom of opinion is a farce unless factual information is guaranteed and the facts themselves are not in dispute." Crisis of culture, 1967
Reminds me of the end of MGS2 where the AI tells Raiden that there's too much junk data being created on the internet and that it will slow down social progress.
Good analogy. Now would it be the mentally Disturbed that are listening to the junk data or what else could it be a company spreading false lies for profit or organization of zealots can't seem to get themselves together psychologically. I'm actually cast we can only hope that we make the correct decisions in our everyday lives to help our fellow persons or Persons Unknown to do the right thing despite who they are and what they decide to do or how they see himself as just try to get the message across through the massive telephone game.
Kojima is always right. And after the great stranding where each individual is completely isolated from any public truth, we will have to reconnect America to survive.
I think Matt and trey have realized that humor about modern politics have gotten so crazy their literally is no way to satirize it, and just want to go back funny stories and emphasize less on modern politics and culture just through the lens of different southpark characters instead of the 4 boys Stan, kyle, Kenny, and cartman.
They were soft on Obama and devoted an entire season to dissing Trump and his supporters. Matt and Trey bias is super clear now, and this just shows that they don't have the balls to give Biden the same treatment.
@@KrodaStagg They could have did the Obama tan suit controversy or dijon-mustard gate. Would that have satisfied you? I am being sarcastic by the way. They didn't satirize Obama "and his supporters" because there is nothing to satirize. What you are doing right now, Trumptard, is called gaslighting. Stop gaslighting us.
It is evident that the creators are becoming more comfortable in their lives and positions. I have a feeling 2004 South Park would have a decidedly different take, but such hypotheticals are almost senseless. I think Wisecrack is trying a bit too hard to discredit "Libertarianism" in their commentary.
I still think it's reductive to conflate Parker and Stone's politics into textbook Libertarianism. It's safe to say they're conservative, but they've also made astute criticism of neoliberalism, unregulated capitalism, the freedom to infringe on the freedom of others, and commodification of social change. I don't know if they even know where they land on the spectrum. South Park promotes a cynical viewpoint, not a political one. Parker himself believes that people, especially children, are instinctively terrible to one another, and that social structure plays an irreplaceable role in correcting that behavior. More than anything, the show has always been strictly diagnostic, not prescriptive. It makes keen observations but is reluctant to provide answers, and considering it's a cartoon satire laced with fart jokes, that's probably for the best.
My problem with South Park is that it too often veers away from cynicism straight into fatalism. The "everyone and everything is shit and you're stupid if you care enough to try and fix it" attitude. The "douche and a turd" episode encouraged more apathy in my generation than any other piece of media I know, and I'd argue we are worse for it.
Agreed. And that's my biggest problem with South Park. It's too cynical, and that is often used as a get-out-of-jail-free card when Trey & Matt tackle the "big issues". Garrison is empirically wrong about how we react to crises. We're far more likely to co-operate and display altruistic behaviour than a nihilistic descent into a Hobbesian war of all against all.
Maybe this was their way of saying, "How about you people stop looking for answers from a show with a talking poo and a sentient towel constantly getting high?"
@@Antasma1 no they are not, one has to be taught to be selfish and also to be taught to be good and any other thing there is no such thing as natural when it comes to human behavior unless you are speaking of circumstance.
If you understand that this is being openly critical and exploring possibilities with humility then yes, it gives good reason to be worthy of consideration.
Not to overly simplify it, but Stone and Parker’s message has always been “it’s stupid to care about things,” and now we’re surprised that they can’t come up with a cohesive message when the answer is “maybe you should care about things.”
I don't think they believe to not care but the pop culture stuff we're 'supposed' to care about is always bullshit. But I agree that now there is something that affects the world it's harder to make fun of.
@@derekbrumbaugh6444 Of course, as I said, it's an oversimplification. But unfortunately, a good chunk of their fans have taken the wrong message. I think Stone and Parker, to some degree, drank their own Kool-Aid in that aspect. I think what happened is they got rich, maintained their center-right libertarian ethos, and found that the world they were trying to lampoon had way more nuance and intersections than they could understand. And tbh that's not necessarily negative, not everyone understands everything 100%.
Yeah why Wisecrack treats South Park as a serious effort of either critique or anything philosophy is beyond me. The dudes are and always have been 19 year old 90s hipsters stuck in the aging bodies of men who culture moved beyond years ago and continues to do so. Its immature, inexperienced and ignorant dorm room deep talk inspired by bad takes on Nietzsche, marketed as profound satire to an audience that is likely sincerely philosophically curious but too legitimately dejected to actually do the work of looking into either the events of the day or the historical philosophical/political frameworks that might contextualize those events. Think Ruston Cohle from season 1 of true detective, but with none of the confidence and even less self awareness.
yeah i think you almost nailed it, i think the point was that people are substituting power dynamics for information and facts when deciding their actions. and thats dumb as shit.
Interesting, you have more on this? I think it's true in general but I don't think I 'see' all the examples from the show on power dynamics and how they line up with our real-life power dynamics.
@@YTwoKay I think there’s a gap in the process outlined. First, everyone in a society agrees to follow one understanding of reality. Then that cohesion breaks down and people split into groups. To gain power in the new system, you need to join a group and believe what it believes unquestioningly. Then you climb up to the top of that social ladder. Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit
Its not "dumb"; its how the political world has always functioned. Politicians have always sought the "winning side"; its how they survive. The difference is that now thanks to social media; anyone can become a political voice/icon and therefore anyone can climb to power. Don't you see? The internet has completely opened the royal road to power for literally ANYONE; even your average imbecile. We all have equal opportunity to be popular; with all the absurdity that implies. That's the real problem.
Yup its the fact .. Reality doesn't matter because we have confirmation bias This show was about how we all just want to live in bubbles and any1 who doesn't agree with my ideas is a Nazi
The government is allowing misinformation by censoring any alternative information. By the way, why didn't earthquake sensors warn Haiti? Or is that just in the movies?
I think South Park has always been more about raising questions than actually answering them! What I like about Stone and Parker is that they’re not afraid of questioning their own beliefs! Something the ManBearPig thing has shown us! They went from questioning what they perceived as climate hysteria, to questioning their own beliefs about it being hysteria!
are most people in this comment section conflating being a libertarian with with being an anarchist? Pretty sure that's an overstatement to pigeonhole libertarianism like that. Upon further consideration libertarianism is a childish ideology perpetuated by people who believe if we lived in a Mad Max world they’d survive and thrive or people who don’t like the idea of societal issues
Depends on the libertarian. Not hard to find some that just want the government out of the way so that they can have their own private tyranny of might makes right.
@@chrishamilton2559 that’s not much of an argument. The term “libertarian” in the US has frequently been appropriated by people who are anything but - they’re pro-police, pro-prisons, pro-border restrictions, etc… but they don’t want to say they’re part of the GOP because that would make them “partisan” and they want to claim that they’re independent thinkers.
It's been several years since I began thinking that Stone and Parker don't give answers anymore. I think they have spent the 9 first seasons of South Park delivering clear libertarian answers to societies' challenges : it always comes down to the free will of individuals. If shit happens, don't blame society, don't blame a company, blame the human being that made the immoral decision, because he/she had free will and made a selfish choice. Blaming a system means denying free will of individuals, and this would just be an excuse. I think they spent the 10 next seasons realizing that people just never use their free will considering how they might lessen the freedom of others : they just use their free will to maximize their own immediate freedom, and will never care for the freedom of others : people are not true "liberals" ("age of enlightment" liberals), in the sense that they do not seek to maximize the freedom of everyone, they only seek to maximize their own. So, what can you do if you strongly believe in free will and strongly believe that free will is always used in a selfish/stupid way? You become nihilist, and I really think they have become nihilists : they don't even bother delivering message anymore. They just show us every week how foolish we all are. But in a way, why bother telling someone how stupid he/she is if you don't believe that person can change? So maybe they are not completely nihilists yet.
Do you watch satirical shows to get answers? To me it is more about ridiculing human and societal flaws, so that we think about it and maybe come up with answers ourselves.
@@bazzfromthebackground3696 Almost every single episode of South Park is some type of morality tell under the guise of libritarism what the hell are you talking about?
Honestly, it feels like South Park is in end game, Trey and Matt have been doing this for over 20 years, and South Park is green lit for another 2 seasons are so, I wouldn't be surprised if they plan to end South Park after those 2 seasons. This Deus Ex Machina is just a way to reset the series back to before it was heavily reactive to politics and focus on setting up a nice conclusion to the series
@@KrodaStagg Heh, Dems won't make any difference until they actually become left wing, instead of pretending to be, so they almost might as well be republican. Biden sure is.
Well that’s the thing, their comedy is literally based on the insanity that real life has become. They just hit it on the nose which makes it hilarious. But I do agree, life is just bat shit crazy these days
The problem with a show whose comic commentary nearly always comes down to BOTH SIDES EQUALLY BAD on every issue, it blows up when both sides are not actually equally bad. The show can't come down hard on one side without betraying its entire message and tone, but it also can't manage a balancing act of piss-taking when the sides of an argument are completely mismatched.
Oh sure.. I wonder which world view you believe. Hmm.. Must be wonderful to live in such a nuance free, binary universe but for most of us there remain grave concerns about the ethics and proportionality of the strategy adapted these last 15 months
Without having seen the episode, I'd say it sounds as if SP (South Park/Stone & Parker) are coming up against the limit of their own libertarianism. But it seems oddly consistent, maybe because it feels like their real point is not so much libertarianism but to not let yourself be made a fool of by rigid adherence to any ideology.
The deus ex machina is more of a probable prediction that once the pandemic is under control, society will quickly move on and not learn from the lessons that we were dealt with during the worst of it and those who perished will be taken for granted. Also that people will continue to promote the status quo that brought the worst of this pandemic in the first place.
That's exactly what I've been predicting since the beginning will happen. We have too much to distract us from things that are important and once life goes on and we are entertained and distracted the way we used to be, everything will quickly fade into the unconscious as if nothing ever happened. When the next pandemic occurs, and there will be one, it's inevitable we repeat the same old shit.
I'd argue the conclusion actually does make a statement. The statement it makes is that America is no longer the heroes of the world. That with this conflict, we wind up needing to be saved by other countries.
Feel like this has been the problem a lot with South Park since the 2016 election....it's not entirely clear what Matt and Trey are actually trying to say anymore. It's just a bunch of ideas thrown into an episode without a conclusion
I recently watched a similar analysis video that seemed to suggest a theme with the pandemic special being "Everyone wants so desperately for things to go back to normal, but with how the world and people are changing due to the pandemic and what it causes to happen, the simple fact is that nothing can ever be 'normal' again". That in contrast to the 'world' which implements a Dues ex Machina to get back to 'normal', the boys acknowledge that their broship has fractured under the pandemic and are committed to moving forward, doing the best they can for Kenny. Possibly hinting that the best you can do is acknowledge the damage that has been done and move forward trying to do the best you can for those you care about.
I took the Israel vaccine distribution in the episode as saying that if the government bailed everyone out and lessened our suffering as a result (aka socialism or social democracy), people would be way less likely to turn on each other when their material needs are being met.
I felt as though the point they were trying to get out with this episode is that the pandemic has turned the world into a mess where no one can argee on anything and no one can have their own opinion.
Random, unrelated thought, but I'd love for you to cover the ethical implications of child actors. And if we counted the early deaths and overdoes as work related deaths, where does "child star" rank in regards to the most dangerous jobs
God that would be depression. Should also perhaps compare that to other countries and see if it's just Hollywood being evil or a result of piling pressure and fame on an undeveloped mind
It's kinda hammering an anxiety into us. "What should you believe?" , a simple question was hard to handle so we switched it to "What do you WANT to believe?". Basically, when you cannot be sure in anything anymore, you rather believe what makes you happy, or what benefits you.
If you guys care about truth at all I’m gonna make it really simple. The world is ran by a cabal of satanic pedophiles and demons are real, objective morality exists and you don’t want to be on the wrong side. These are all objective facts, go about on your journey, it’s clear we are nearing the end times and denying otherwise is just pure cope. From the fake pandemic, fake history, blatant psyops, fake Mars mission, Epstein stuff, great reset and agenda 2030 being openly promoted now, and many other things, life as we know it will change. We are witnessing the total degeneration of society on a global scale that South Park and all other entertainment things have been complicit in. If you don’t want to believe me than fine, call me names, I hope you enjoy your vaccine passport and microchip and eating bugs to save the earth.
Because craving restaurant shrimp dishes is such a key facet of his character? Right next to "disciplines Butters for trivialities" and "repressed sexuality?"
I like how the show criticized itself throught the kids views. Cartman eventually says their period prank was lazy and the name "Lil' Qties" was betther than what they had. Kind of Parker and Stone doing some self deprecating
I find it strange that the entire gag about Trey and Matt being part of the Hollywood elite was skipped over. I don’t think their libertarianism (which I don’t think has ever been staunch enough to have this much explanation attributed to it) is what’s steering this episode. The two news anchors are more a representation of how frustrating it is when you give the anti-vax crowd the benefit of the doubt and consider that if they truly believe their insane ideas then they would be doing the right thing. If what they believed to be true were actually true then they would be in the right. But considering that is maddening because they are so clearly wrong and won’t be convinced. Then when you consider that Trey and Matt are making it a point to defend them that way but would still be categorized as Hollywood Elite by the people they are defending because the defense still comes with the conclusion that what they believe is absolutely ridiculous. Which they say outright and in doing so shows what their point of view is overall and also plays into the joke about the elite controlling the media which is done here by them being in control of the animation and the character changing and becoming more and more silly. With that I do think there was also the intent to show how many complexities there are to the issue by offering an impossible solution that addresses the cluster fuck we are in being specifically the result of our country and culture and politics and maybe even winking that it can be done, but not in America!
I think they were just trying their darndest to find the funny in a shitty situation, and itching to get Garrison back to 0 so that when new episodes start in earnest, he can just be the teacher again.
I kind of feel like Matt and Trey are just existing at this point. Instead of making a comment on society, they're just noting what we're looking at. I'm not sure if it is satire if it is just a dead-on-depiction of the way things are going.
This was one of their most cynical episodes. They couldn't come up with a strong, realistic ending so they went the DEM route, and the bro-ship split apart. Given how prophetic this show's been through the years I'm a bit nervous.
I think they were basically saying, "Look these people actually believe these crazy things and if you keep treating them like the villain you're only going to make them more committed to their beliefs because they'll see you as the enemy."
The real stupidity is thinking that q anon doesn’t talk about stuff that’s actually going on. Yea saying trump has a “plan” and he’s a god emperor is stupid, but if you don’t think the elites are literal satanic pedophiles you’re really just coping and in denial. Epstein should have woken everyone up, but people don’t care about what’s true, they care about what makes them feel good. Q anon is a high level cia psyop meant to pacify and make absurd people that can actually see through some stuff and to make people emotionally against the idea that elite child trafficking is a real thing. It’s been extremely effective at its purpose
@@JA-jx1hk We all know child trafficking is a thing. But people vote for the culture war and you end up with people like Matt Gaetz, voting against anti-trafficking laws and shuttling high schoolers around for creepy "eyes wide shut" types of sex parties.
The joke was if their really is a secret society (like many theorists say) people like mr.garrison would use their influence. After all using marginalized groups with high value was the theme of South Park 2016. So mr.garrison making a deal with a MARGINALIZED secret society with HIGH INFLUENCE seems right on the money.
Its not secret. The people who own the world meet in the open, do business publicly, make laws that benefit them... No tortured children or satanic cabal necessary.
The broship problems represent marriage problems. Air Israel comes in right after he says to make friends with the most powerful people, so I think the ending is a joke
This comment sounds like you're saying libertarianism isn't working out, but the market isn't free anyway (so we're not living in libertarianism). If we live in a non-libertarian society (which is true, we don't) how does that prove libertarianism isn't working? I'm not sure what you're saying here.
I felt like the constant reference to "the broship" was a reference to how in times of crisis pundits and news shows always focus on the economy and use that abstraction to distract from the concrete, direct examples of what's going on in peoples lives. Idk maybe I read too deep into it but I think it does hold water if you watch it from that perspective also
Maybe we should all accept that Stone and Parker have reached their intellectual limit, just like American libertarianism. This crisis required a collective response. One couldn't be responsible and be safe. Everyone had to be. Retreating into nihilism is just a fancy way people with resources say "I surrender". Look at South Park as a comedy. Don't look for deeper meaning and don't take it seriously. And be sympathetic to anyone who does. As Dave Chappelle said, we trust comedians because we don't expect them to be perfect but they try not to lie. Every other institution were suppose to trust, lies to us.
10:45 The morale of the episode, as stated by Mr Garrisson, is obviously the opposite of what common sense would dictate. Just as with the season with the constant school shootings.. in which the lesson was to stop being angry and instead learn to live with it. Obviously the unhealthy thing to do. I feel this Wisecrack episode didn't bring any interesting points, but that Vaccination Special certainly did. I think Matt & Trey's ultimate point was that everyone is affected and copes differently by the events of the last year(s): everyone is on edge, most characters flip out, the core group has relationship issues that normally wouldn't be there, and some characters turn to bonkers but reassuring conspiracies. They just explored current life through several lens, with some heart, some ridicule, to let the viewer reach their own conclusions. That's what they do.
I feel like the Covid specials have been doing what a lot of folks have been trying to do: survive, endure, and keep it together long enough for the world to return to “normal”. Stan losing his shit in the two specials hits way too close to home for me.
I think the absence of information is information. The fact there was no moral means they acknowledge there's no real solution to the problem. I don't think the problem is P&S not being able to admit that better government is necessary, I think they just couldn't answer the question of "How do you get all these different views to agree on anything anymore?" I also think the two specials speak very deeply about how the show will work going forward. Randy saying "Maybe I'll do a bunch more specials" followed by Cartman's various schedules would suggest that P&S were still working out the kinks of a new format and haven't decided how to go forward. It's hard to offer a real moral when your own show is in limbo in some ways.
This was always bound to happen. The reason South Park can’t provide a cohesive answer, and has been so rapidly unraveling since 2016, is that it’s nihilistic too-cool-for-school approach to politics, so evocative of its late 90s origins, doesn’t have what it takes to keep up with a society where the stakes have been raised so high. They’ve been pontificating on this exact issue for several years as well. In Season 21, the episode where Kyle begins acting like his mother and forms an Anti-Canadian group is pondering over this very dilemma. The creators were asking themselves if they still had a place in a world where actually caring about the issues has become more and more important. It seemed that in that instance, they decided that South Park still had a few years left in it. But if these last two specials are anything to go by, then Kyle was right, Terrence and Phillip are obsolete, and therefore so is South Park.
I don't think it is very wise to make assumptions on Matt and Trey's personal politics because they belong to a certain political party. What is the word for that??? Oh yeah Stereotyping. Libertarians are for LIMITED government. What that means is a government restricted to those roles that are inherently governmental. No one would argue that the military is inherently a governmental function. Do Matt and Trey see public health as a proper role of the government? I don't know. Maybe you should ask before you assume.
Look I don’t know if I’m the only one that feels this way but I personally believe that we need to start making RUclips videos have slots for commercials like TV does in the sense that it comes to a natural stop and then you get your ad
If I'm not mistaken, the creators decide where the ads go, so they could do it that way. A creator named TRO (The Right Opinion) makes awesomely edited, long form, documentary type videos, and his ad placement is exactly what you're describing.
I have premium (which I love) But it does keep me from knowing what creators are getting a bit greedy) Although shortly after I went premium ,the creators started doing sponsor ads 😣 Advertising:you can run,but you can't hide!
The problem with libertarianism is that sometimes a free market creates problems it's not equipped to solve, ie climate change. In recent years, I think SP has become more aware of this phenomenon. Sure, the free market is efficient, but having a strong democratic government can go a long way in ironing out the kinks. (seriously, if the free market was capable of solving our environmental crisis, it would've done so by now)
@@bigbrisk8423 It is a crisis: climate change is real, a natural process that should take thousands of years is happening rapidly over decades. Through carbon dating, scientists were able to pinpoint the climate shifting to when humans started the Industrial Revolution. Global temperatures are increasing consistently, and many are pointing to it as the cause of storms and hurricanes intensifying in the last decade.
@@NobodyC13 i didnt say climate change wasnt real it would have happened naturally so we sped it up a little its not a crisis though lmfao the world aint ending because of it. The world has been around for how long now? You say its supposed to take thousands of years but its been billions bahahah the world has iced over its been a full on tropical heat climate where the bugs and reptiles were bigger its been all sorts of things. To say its a crisis is laughable tbh. Without people doing what we do how many more animals wpuld be around overpopulating the planet causing the greenhouse gasses same as we do lmfao if we werent here it would have happened regardless to say otherwise is ignorant.
Michael hit the nail on the head talking about how a libertarian point of view can't cope with a pandemic. Much of the nuttiness exhibited during the pandemic has been worldviews crashing into reality, particularly belief in small government meeting a crisis only big government can cope with. Now add on the fear of the logical conclusion, that there are other crises or serious problems that require a big government solution. I wonder if exploding heads spread COVID-19?
I'm not surprised Parker and Stone couldn't come to a solution since their typical response is just to tell people to shut up and mock them if they don't.
Nah, I think you hit the nail on the head with this. The whole philosophy of individualism does not mesh well at all with being in a situation where everyone has to work with each other to survive. South Park has nothing meaningful to say about it because the philosophy doesn't work with current events.
I think it’s the libertarian position being exposed. I considered myself libertarian for about a decade, but the last 3-4 years have made it clear that it doesn’t have very good answers for when things go really wrong, like having a fascist type of president or a global pandemic. I voted for the Green party in 2020 because, unlike libertarians, or even Democrats, that party is leading the way with actual solutions to things like climate change, global diseases, high unemployment, etc. It’s become clear that we need things like Universal Basic Income, Universal Healthcare, Free Education, Open Borders, and stuff like that (all Green party positions) because things are a lot better when people are taken care of collectively instead of trying to have everyone fend for themselves. And that’s the problem with South Park, they have been preaching that libertarian position for about two decades, about how dumb people are in large groups and government and whatnot, but now they are starting to see that kind of thinking provides no useful tools or answers for really serious stuff. IMO the show has gone really downhill since Trump was elected because all their episodes leading up to the 2016 election used Garrison as a way to mock him and show how absurd his campaign was, but then they were shocked and completely unprepared for him to actually be elected and realized there was no libertarian answer for it. The libertarian “answer” would have been “it’s not possible for someone like Trump to be elected because people can individually make good choices and this is clearly a bad choice.” Same with masks, people will obviously wear a mask because that’s the right choice… But it turns out people don’t always make good choices and libertarianism has no rebuttal for when that happens. And maybe that is what they are trying to show here, excuses: that people are only making bad choices because they have bad information, but if your whole ideology falls apart just because some people make bad decisions some times, maybe your ideology was pretty flawed in the first place.
To be honest I liked this episode a lot more than most of the other recent-ish ones. The Tegridy farm and Skankhunter arcs in particular were beyond annoying and I couldn’t finish them.
It seems like this episode abandoned any attempt to push their viewpoint and was actually pointing out how the world is complicated and they have no idea how to solve the current crisis with some perfect answer.
Skankhunter was terrible, but even Trey and Matt admit that. They had a plan that was messed up. Tegridy Farms had a few solid laughs here and there but it did get old. They have more good episodes that forgettable ones tho lately imo
Are they still Libertarian though? I remember when they dabbled in it but it seems like the late 2000s/early 2010s libertarian fad faded a bit and I haven't heard that much about it since with Matt and Trey. Maybe I'm just not paying attention as much.
What i didn't understand is how giving precedence to vulnerable categories like the elderly is even a problem, it seems the obvious thing to do, like giving your seat on the bus to a pregnant woman.
Individual ethics doesn't matter when you're starring down the barrel of an SSBN. You should do a video on MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). There was a great episode of "The Expanse" involving this.
11:40 i dont think its nihilistic i think it showing you the reality we live in. and i think you guys are calling it nihilistic cause its part of the stage of denial of grief.
As a recovering libertarian, I think your take on libertarian philosophy and a global pandemic is accurate. But I don't watch South Park, so I can't speak for that.
Pages of regulations -covering retail grocery, transportation, medicine, hiring, and tons of other fractal facets of life - all of them were waived by executive and administrative fiat over the last year. Which should come back?
This episode felt like Stan's line: "I don't even know what to do! If you ask me, this whole pandemic has been a giant waste of time! [leaves]" ... Also - watch 'Sassy Justice'
This might be a real growth moment for them, only time will tell. Reconciling libertarianism with the public is something a lot of leftists go through in their political lifetimes. I certainly did.
@@Jay-sy4kd Yeah, because your takes are nothing but gold, I'm sure. You people blame everyone but yourselves for Trump, and you'll blame everyone but yourselves the next election you lose. Politics are for psychopaths and losers.
That episode left me mildly upset. Because it said less than nothing imo. It may have been too soon, like cool a deus ex machina saves the fictional characters of South Park, but what do we real people still dealing with everything get out of watching that? I really enjoyed the first half where they're getting a divorce and having to share Kenny days though.
@@freddiebarry93 I mean I did pay for the episode... But after 24 years of watching south park it has given me expectations that have not been properly met with this specific episode. So no it doesn't owe me anything but im definitely am ENTITLED to my opinion. You could've just not commented anything if you believed your own words.
@Kenny McCormick Yeah, I understand that they wanted to fix the unfortunate situation of Garrison. I have the idea that it said less than nothing because it felt like the episode seemed to not know how to properly make fun of anything or outsmart any of its real situations by the second half. The recent "specials" have all tried to say something meaningful or at the very least attempt to. This felt as if they gave up, like this is just to rework their world and hopefully that's what it is.
@@markmurex6559 wow great job stereotyping something you probably dont even understand. What's next? Calling all socialists welfare queens and all capitalists greedy pigs? Come on bigot tell me why nihilists are all suicidal... I would love to hear you attempt to rationalize the idiocy you commented
Oh, South Park. Kind of impressive how it manages to be so superficially offensive and ultimately bland and harmless at the same time. Can't take the wrong stance if you're equally against everyone, after all …
I think there is a little truth in the perceived truth, and a little bit of truth in the perceived paranoia. The lesson- we should be questioning both.
It's simple. Everyone has gone crazy. Doesn't matter who you are, what you believe, who you voted for, etc. You are not exempt, and we've all lost our minds.
Really I think the broship is the ultimate point. It's not until the reality is faced that they actually start to move forward. Up until that point they are just pawns for someone else.
the answer to your final question IMO : South park's strong suit isn't its social or political commentary, it's its jokes. I don't think they were trying to make any clea point at all, just make fun out of the shittyness of the situation and the state of the world
I think the point is being missed here. South parks job has always been presenting the problem, making fun of it and leaving you there to think for yourself. People who get mad at the show often miss this when it presents a problem they contribute to, yet they don't acknowledge it exists. they think SP is trying to ram an opinion down their throat when all its REALLY doing is holding up a funhouse mirror
Remaining in favor of the powerful is if nothing else an effective survival tactic. I don't think Wisecrack missed the point, but it's hard to keep such insanity grounded so just carry on, I suppose.
I think it was more or less South Parks humor that is trying to keep with the misinformation that it ended up being an ex machina that ties in with their absurdity
i think you're spot on, but didn't touch on a vibe i got where 'bro-ship' = south park tm, and they thought about wrapping it up, only to power through.
I feel like the initial assumption is faulty: South Park has NEVER taken a strong stance on any political issue, choosing instead to take the easy (and lucrative) middle position. You open with a reference to the giant douche vs turn sandwich debate, which is the EPITOME of tepid both sides what about ism, the weakest of stances that could be taken. South Park doesn't ask us HOW we can navigate and trust a world full of disinformation, it just delights in pointing that out and laughing at the existant chaos. LIKE THEY'VE ALWAYS DONE Also, I don't believe for a second Parker and Stone considered Israel's Universal Healthcare in their finale. They just looked for the most convenient hated-but-powerful minority punching bag, as always
Yeah, frankly there is no answer to the problems of digital misinformation and public division, and libertarianism is no more equipped to deal with it than any other ideology. We're just fucked 🤷
Stone and Parker put a priority on holding up a mirror to expose how far each side of an issue can stray from reason and good sense. They do this more often than not without putting their personal politics front and center.
It does explain what is really going own in our own world. This is what is really going on in our real world. Also what Q has been saying all this time has really been coming to light especially about the kids.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker seem less interested in solutions and more about showing how cultures and institutions are deeply flawed.
Becoming aware of the problem is the first step in finding a solution.
@@chloecanine absolutely
Or maybe the whole thing is getting old to them and they are just phoning it in due to contract commitments.
South Park hasn't fallen as far as the Simpsons, but it it is starting to get a little tired out.
They are just relying on the "mock everyone" formula.
Because noone else will obviously that's not how the elite manufacture the mirage that is politics, sports,etc
Probably because they’re the least qualified people to provide solutions, so the best they can do is show people the faults and let more experience or knowledgeable people fix the issues
"look, you have a right to believe what you believe. But what you believe is really stupid."
lmfaoo im like this unapologeticly
@@jeremyjamesjohnsonjasonjan1688 same
@@coleisamole(I have the same notion) but well to play devil's advocate if you consider humans part of nature, then a gender spectrum does exists as some animals can automatically swap genders or be hermaphrodites so they aren't technically technically wrong like male seahorses give birth instead of females there's that too.
@@coleisamole wow that name really suites a dumb fuck comment.
@@coleisamole This comment comes from a biologist: please read a book.
Sometimes comedy ain't about presenting solutions but presenting the problems
👆🏽
It's always been about presenting problems. It's never been about presenting solutions. Just bringing light to the problems and making fun of them. It's only been twisted to be the other way around lately because everyone "needs" to have an opinion nowadays.
The argument here is that southpark kind of always advocated for the middle way, they kind of spoon fed "solutions". Now it's so fucked up they seem to realise it's futile. I think the sp creators are growing up in a sense, or at least they are reevaluating their worldview.
Matt and trey never had any answers to begin with
It's literally social commentary
I think Kenny is a metaphor for the world since everyone wants whats best for him but they can't agree on anything and just end up fighting. That's my take at least.
YEEEAH
And also trey going through a divorce with his daughter.
Deep
I think they said in an interview a long time ago Kenny just represents the poor. That's why he doesn't have a voice and things just happened to him.
@@justanothertinypartofthisi4651 yes, did you not get that?
You missed the most important scene of the whole episode is the very last scene where Mr. Garrison says thank you satanic pedophiles
Because if you give it attention or credence, they would have to ask questions like, "is this just a joke or are there troubling implications about that line?" The Me Too era uncovered a lot of skeezy behavior, and if there's rumors that are out there that people can't legitimately back up like a "known secret", it only opens up a rabbit hole of questions that doesn't help anyone or anything.
Interesting. On black yt channels we are unable to put together the last 2 words. And we can never spell out that p word 🤔. Our comments get deleted immediately when they have that word
@@Xara_K1 usually does. RUclips algo can be a bit dodgy at times, letting some people say stuff then deletes others.
Southpark is what it is!! Fractured but whole!!!!!
@@cloudzzzound This is so dumb. You're forgetting Epstein literally had a island where they'd do disgusting things to kids. Nothing gets looked into unless the people make enough noise but you'd rather society ignore it in case its not true. I would rather be wrong than a coward who lets child trafficking and abuse fly because of a "rabbit hole of questions"
"Mass propaganda discovered that its audience was ready at all times to believe the worst, no matter how absurd, and did not particularly object to being deceived because it held every statement to be a lie anyhow."
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism
@Olaf Sigurson You're thinking of Ayn Rand, bud.
Still from hannah Arendt:
"Freedom of opinion is a farce unless factual information is guaranteed and the facts themselves are not in dispute."
Crisis of culture, 1967
@@Shuyin781 That's really good.
fuck off
Nah fam, only the left does propaganda. The T in Trump Train stands for TRUTH
Reminds me of the end of MGS2 where the AI tells Raiden that there's too much junk data being created on the internet and that it will slow down social progress.
Yep that and the original Deus Ex I hope we can trust people to adapt to the new Information Age
When I played it almost two decades ago this seemed like such a nefarious concept. Now I'd pay double my taxes just to see it realized.
Good analogy. Now would it be the mentally Disturbed that are listening to the junk data or what else could it be a company spreading false lies for profit or organization of zealots can't seem to get themselves together psychologically. I'm actually cast we can only hope that we make the correct decisions in our everyday lives to help our fellow persons or Persons Unknown to do the right thing despite who they are and what they decide to do or how they see himself as just try to get the message across through the massive telephone game.
Kojima is always right. And after the great stranding where each individual is completely isolated from any public truth, we will have to reconnect America to survive.
But... is Rose real???
I think Matt and trey have realized that humor about modern politics have gotten so crazy their literally is no way to satirize it, and just want to go back funny stories and emphasize less on modern politics and culture just through the lens of different southpark characters instead of the 4 boys Stan, kyle, Kenny, and cartman.
What's crazy is you don't even have to exaggerate modern politics to poke fun at it. Reality has become the satire.
They were soft on Obama and devoted an entire season to dissing Trump and his supporters. Matt and Trey bias is super clear now, and this just shows that they don't have the balls to give Biden the same treatment.
@@KrodaStagg biden is boring there's not that much to poke fun at
@@KrodaStagg They could have did the Obama tan suit controversy or dijon-mustard gate. Would that have satisfied you?
I am being sarcastic by the way. They didn't satirize Obama "and his supporters" because there is nothing to satirize. What you are doing right now, Trumptard, is called gaslighting. Stop gaslighting us.
@@KrodaStagg they made him a shit spitting duck lol
It was hilarious how butters is just happy to be there
Hyyyyeeeeaaaahhh!!!
"I just needed something to get me out of the house, I didn't care what it was."
It is evident that the creators are becoming more comfortable in their lives and positions. I have a feeling 2004 South Park would have a decidedly different take, but such hypotheticals are almost senseless.
I think Wisecrack is trying a bit too hard to discredit "Libertarianism" in their commentary.
@Poodl Puff Just as easy it was for you to not give one
I hope more cartoons will make a Standpoint against Anti-Science and Fake-Science.
Cause that is on the Rise.
Which is worrying.
They literally only made fun of qanon. I’m thinking y’all didn’t watch the episode. That’s their position - anti weirdo conspiracy ppl
Conservatism =/ Libertarianism
I still think it's reductive to conflate Parker and Stone's politics into textbook Libertarianism. It's safe to say they're conservative, but they've also made astute criticism of neoliberalism, unregulated capitalism, the freedom to infringe on the freedom of others, and commodification of social change. I don't know if they even know where they land on the spectrum.
South Park promotes a cynical viewpoint, not a political one. Parker himself believes that people, especially children, are instinctively terrible to one another, and that social structure plays an irreplaceable role in correcting that behavior. More than anything, the show has always been strictly diagnostic, not prescriptive. It makes keen observations but is reluctant to provide answers, and considering it's a cartoon satire laced with fart jokes, that's probably for the best.
Well said.
This.
A nice statement of South Park.
My problem with South Park is that it too often veers away from cynicism straight into fatalism. The "everyone and everything is shit and you're stupid if you care enough to try and fix it" attitude.
The "douche and a turd" episode encouraged more apathy in my generation than any other piece of media I know, and I'd argue we are worse for it.
Agreed. And that's my biggest problem with South Park. It's too cynical, and that is often used as a get-out-of-jail-free card when Trey & Matt tackle the "big issues".
Garrison is empirically wrong about how we react to crises. We're far more likely to co-operate and display altruistic behaviour than a nihilistic descent into a Hobbesian war of all against all.
Maybe this was their way of saying, "How about you people stop looking for answers from a show with a talking poo and a sentient towel constantly getting high?"
People just want answers of convenience, not anything involving details and expertise.
@@bazzfromthebackground3696 That's right; when I want details, it's because I'm gambling on them.
Humans are naturally selfish I guess?
@@Antasma1 no they are not, one has to be taught to be selfish and also to be taught to be good and any other thing there is no such thing as natural when it comes to human behavior unless you are speaking of circumstance.
@@nebsam7137 I mean the idea of humans being selfish is what it looks like the episode is trying to say.
Can we even trust that this video is informing us? Can we even trust Wisecrack?
No, you can never trust a single source of information. Gather as much as you can and make your own opinions.
If you understand that this is being openly critical and exploring possibilities with humility then yes, it gives good reason to be worthy of consideration.
Has Jared turned into a smurf Genghis Khan?! I'M JUST ASKING QUESTIONS!!!!
Everyone has their biases
but everyone is trying to find clarity
So, take it with a grain of salt
Of course not, I don't trust anything or anyone, everything is a LIE!!!
It's really nice to see the creators still putting in effort to say something new after 20+ seasons.
I hope more cartoons will make a Standpoint against Anti-Science and Fake-Science.
Cause that is on the Rise.
Which is worrying.
It's pretty telling that the only person who died at the end of this episode was perhaps the show's most normal, sane and rational character.
if it was Kenny for 1000th time it woudn't be sad as miss Nelson
How did she die?
@@annebruecks7381 She wasn't vaccinated in time and died of Covid.
@@FootballPsychoPS3T She died of Covid ten feet from a vaccine. Lol
Those people tend to meet grim fates on SP.
Not to overly simplify it, but Stone and Parker’s message has always been “it’s stupid to care about things,” and now we’re surprised that they can’t come up with a cohesive message when the answer is “maybe you should care about things.”
Nailed
Exactly.
I don't think they believe to not care but the pop culture stuff we're 'supposed' to care about is always bullshit.
But I agree that now there is something that affects the world it's harder to make fun of.
@@derekbrumbaugh6444 Of course, as I said, it's an oversimplification. But unfortunately, a good chunk of their fans have taken the wrong message. I think Stone and Parker, to some degree, drank their own Kool-Aid in that aspect. I think what happened is they got rich, maintained their center-right libertarian ethos, and found that the world they were trying to lampoon had way more nuance and intersections than they could understand. And tbh that's not necessarily negative, not everyone understands everything 100%.
Yeah why Wisecrack treats South Park as a serious effort of either critique or anything philosophy is beyond me. The dudes are and always have been 19 year old 90s hipsters stuck in the aging bodies of men who culture moved beyond years ago and continues to do so. Its immature, inexperienced and ignorant dorm room deep talk inspired by bad takes on Nietzsche, marketed as profound satire to an audience that is likely sincerely philosophically curious but too legitimately dejected to actually do the work of looking into either the events of the day or the historical philosophical/political frameworks that might contextualize those events. Think Ruston Cohle from season 1 of true detective, but with none of the confidence and even less self awareness.
yeah i think you almost nailed it, i think the point was that people are substituting power dynamics for information and facts when deciding their actions. and thats dumb as shit.
Interesting, you have more on this? I think it's true in general but I don't think I 'see' all the examples from the show on power dynamics and how they line up with our real-life power dynamics.
@@YTwoKay I think there’s a gap in the process outlined.
First, everyone in a society agrees to follow one understanding of reality. Then that cohesion breaks down and people split into groups. To gain power in the new system, you need to join a group and believe what it believes unquestioningly. Then you climb up to the top of that social ladder. Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit
Its not "dumb"; its how the political world has always functioned. Politicians have always sought the "winning side"; its how they survive.
The difference is that now thanks to social media; anyone can become a political voice/icon and therefore anyone can climb to power.
Don't you see? The internet has completely opened the royal road to power for literally ANYONE; even your average imbecile. We all have equal opportunity to be popular; with all the absurdity that implies.
That's the real problem.
Yup its the fact .. Reality doesn't matter because we have confirmation bias
This show was about how we all just want to live in bubbles and any1 who doesn't agree with my ideas is a Nazi
The government is allowing misinformation by censoring any alternative information. By the way, why didn't earthquake sensors warn Haiti? Or is that just in the movies?
I know one of the answers for sure, Absolutely South Park is saying that the powerful get their story and version of events told.
💙🔥
I think South Park has always been more about raising questions than actually answering them!
What I like about Stone and Parker is that they’re not afraid of questioning their own beliefs!
Something the ManBearPig thing has shown us!
They went from questioning what they perceived as climate hysteria, to questioning their own beliefs about it being hysteria!
are most people in this comment section conflating being a libertarian with with being an anarchist? Pretty sure that's an overstatement to pigeonhole libertarianism like that.
Upon further consideration libertarianism is a childish ideology perpetuated by people who believe if we lived in a Mad Max world they’d survive and thrive or people who don’t like the idea of societal issues
It is in a way if you don't have healthcare. And if you have great healthcare the quality sucks no matter what the politicians tell you.
Depends on the libertarian.
Not hard to find some that just want the government out of the way so that they can have their own private tyranny of might makes right.
@@Justanotherconsumer that's a b u l l s h i t red herring meant to stigmatize a legitimate ideology.
But way to go with your assessment there.
The term was invented by Anarchists so the ideologies are more or less interchangeable.
@@chrishamilton2559 that’s not much of an argument.
The term “libertarian” in the US has frequently been appropriated by people who are anything but - they’re pro-police, pro-prisons, pro-border restrictions, etc… but they don’t want to say they’re part of the GOP because that would make them “partisan” and they want to claim that they’re independent thinkers.
It's been several years since I began thinking that Stone and Parker don't give answers anymore.
I think they have spent the 9 first seasons of South Park delivering clear libertarian answers to societies' challenges : it always comes down to the free will of individuals. If shit happens, don't blame society, don't blame a company, blame the human being that made the immoral decision, because he/she had free will and made a selfish choice. Blaming a system means denying free will of individuals, and this would just be an excuse.
I think they spent the 10 next seasons realizing that people just never use their free will considering how they might lessen the freedom of others : they just use their free will to maximize their own immediate freedom, and will never care for the freedom of others : people are not true "liberals" ("age of enlightment" liberals), in the sense that they do not seek to maximize the freedom of everyone, they only seek to maximize their own.
So, what can you do if you strongly believe in free will and strongly believe that free will is always used in a selfish/stupid way? You become nihilist, and I really think they have become nihilists : they don't even bother delivering message anymore. They just show us every week how foolish we all are.
But in a way, why bother telling someone how stupid he/she is if you don't believe that person can change? So maybe they are not completely nihilists yet.
Do you watch satirical shows to get answers? To me it is more about ridiculing human and societal flaws, so that we think about it and maybe come up with answers ourselves.
Hey so, they write a cartoon. Not discourses on morality.
Well, even nihilists need to pay rent
@@bazzfromthebackground3696 Almost every single episode of South Park is some type of morality tell under the guise of libritarism what the hell are you talking about?
Since "free will" is in great part an illusion, so is libertarianism...
Honestly, it feels like South Park is in end game, Trey and Matt have been doing this for over 20 years, and South Park is green lit for another 2 seasons are so, I wouldn't be surprised if they plan to end South Park after those 2 seasons. This Deus Ex Machina is just a way to reset the series back to before it was heavily reactive to politics and focus on setting up a nice conclusion to the series
Kind of convenient that they suddenly don't want to be political when the Dem gets in.
I hope this is the case. I truly love this show but it’s reached the end of its lifespan IMO.
@@KrodaStagg Heh, Dems won't make any difference until they actually become left wing, instead of pretending to be, so they almost might as well be republican. Biden sure is.
Real life has become even more disturbing, funny and stranger than what even South Park creators can come up with.
Well that’s the thing, their comedy is literally based on the insanity that real life has become. They just hit it on the nose which makes it hilarious. But I do agree, life is just bat shit crazy these days
The show has went from being satire to being "documentary"
@@mynameisinigomontoya8179
It used to be satire, now it’s just reality presented to us in a slightly funnier way than the news!
@@gorillaguerillaDK crazy eh? I wish it was still all satire and not slightly altered news lol
@@mynameisinigomontoya8179
Men too buddy, me too...
Sounds to me like they are saying "we're fucked unless a miracle happens to save us from ourselves." lol
I mean that's why it seemed so empty as an episode, there is no libertarian solution so they didn't try to find one.
@@GorrilazWarfare There's nothing we can do about it, that is basically psychology.
@@saricubra2867 psychology? You're basically an idiot lmao that's common sense, we've been like this since what? Since we evolved into homo sapiens?
@@that_deadeyegamer7920 Common sense is relative. Psychology isn't.
The problem with a show whose comic commentary nearly always comes down to BOTH SIDES EQUALLY BAD on every issue, it blows up when both sides are not actually equally bad. The show can't come down hard on one side without betraying its entire message and tone, but it also can't manage a balancing act of piss-taking when the sides of an argument are completely mismatched.
Oh sure.. I wonder which world view you believe. Hmm.. Must be wonderful to live in such a nuance free, binary universe but for most of us there remain grave concerns about the ethics and proportionality of the strategy adapted these last 15 months
It's not 'nuanced' for insisting 'BOTH SIDES EQUALLY BAD' on every occasion, it's lazy.
Sometimes telling people everyone is equally bad, is simply disinformation
Of course lefties are certain that "they're not as bad"
@@pinoarias8601 - We are reality-based. You are alternative-reality-based.
Without having seen the episode, I'd say it sounds as if SP (South Park/Stone & Parker) are coming up against the limit of their own libertarianism. But it seems oddly consistent, maybe because it feels like their real point is not so much libertarianism but to not let yourself be made a fool of by rigid adherence to any ideology.
We need a Deus Ex video this is the perfect time in history for it
Yes please
People's brains need a douche - you know who you are.
*Ahem* ruclips.net/video/q6WqJYq9jx8/видео.html
I never asked for this.
@@WisecrackEDU please do a philosophy of the weekend
If the bank wont give you a car loan they’re doing you a favor
.... Oh because of the Petal sponsorship.
The deus ex machina is more of a probable prediction that once the pandemic is under control, society will quickly move on and not learn from the lessons that we were dealt with during the worst of it and those who perished will be taken for granted. Also that people will continue to promote the status quo that brought the worst of this pandemic in the first place.
That's exactly what I've been predicting since the beginning will happen. We have too much to distract us from things that are important and once life goes on and we are entertained and distracted the way we used to be, everything will quickly fade into the unconscious as if nothing ever happened. When the next pandemic occurs, and there will be one, it's inevitable we repeat the same old shit.
I'd argue the conclusion actually does make a statement. The statement it makes is that America is no longer the heroes of the world. That with this conflict, we wind up needing to be saved by other countries.
Feel like this has been the problem a lot with South Park since the 2016 election....it's not entirely clear what Matt and Trey are actually trying to say anymore. It's just a bunch of ideas thrown into an episode without a conclusion
I recently watched a similar analysis video that seemed to suggest a theme with the pandemic special being "Everyone wants so desperately for things to go back to normal, but with how the world and people are changing due to the pandemic and what it causes to happen, the simple fact is that nothing can ever be 'normal' again". That in contrast to the 'world' which implements a Dues ex Machina to get back to 'normal', the boys acknowledge that their broship has fractured under the pandemic and are committed to moving forward, doing the best they can for Kenny. Possibly hinting that the best you can do is acknowledge the damage that has been done and move forward trying to do the best you can for those you care about.
I took the Israel vaccine distribution in the episode as saying that if the government bailed everyone out and lessened our suffering as a result (aka socialism or social democracy), people would be way less likely to turn on each other when their material needs are being met.
So no bailing the banks or corporations out
I felt as though the point they were trying to get out with this episode is that the pandemic has turned the world into a mess where no one can argee on anything and no one can have their own opinion.
We need a South Park “Internet Karen” episode!
I hope more cartoons will make a Standpoint against Anti-Science and Fake-Science. Cause that is on the Rise.
Which is worrying.
Good call
Random, unrelated thought, but I'd love for you to cover the ethical implications of child actors. And if we counted the early deaths and overdoes as work related deaths, where does "child star" rank in regards to the most dangerous jobs
God that would be depression. Should also perhaps compare that to other countries and see if it's just Hollywood being evil or a result of piling pressure and fame on an undeveloped mind
It's kinda hammering an anxiety into us.
"What should you believe?" , a simple question was hard to handle so we switched it to
"What do you WANT to believe?". Basically, when you cannot be sure in anything anymore, you rather believe what makes you happy, or what benefits you.
If you guys care about truth at all I’m gonna make it really simple. The world is ran by a cabal of satanic pedophiles and demons are real, objective morality exists and you don’t want to be on the wrong side. These are all objective facts, go about on your journey, it’s clear we are nearing the end times and denying otherwise is just pure cope. From the fake pandemic, fake history, blatant psyops, fake Mars mission, Epstein stuff, great reset and agenda 2030 being openly promoted now, and many other things, life as we know it will change. We are witnessing the total degeneration of society on a global scale that South Park and all other entertainment things have been complicit in. If you don’t want to believe me than fine, call me names, I hope you enjoy your vaccine passport and microchip and eating bugs to save the earth.
@@JA-jx1hk Bugs are a delicacy in some countries.
Hey nice video and analysis, but I just felt the need to point out that “shrimp guy” wasn’t just some rando. That was Butters’ dad!
Because craving restaurant shrimp dishes is such a key facet of his character? Right next to "disciplines Butters for trivialities" and "repressed sexuality?"
I like how the show criticized itself throught the kids views. Cartman eventually says their period prank was lazy and the name "Lil' Qties" was betther than what they had.
Kind of Parker and Stone doing some self deprecating
I find it strange that the entire gag about Trey and Matt being part of the Hollywood elite was skipped over. I don’t think their libertarianism (which I don’t think has ever been staunch enough to have this much explanation attributed to it) is what’s steering this episode. The two news anchors are more a representation of how frustrating it is when you give the anti-vax crowd the benefit of the doubt and consider that if they truly believe their insane ideas then they would be doing the right thing. If what they believed to be true were actually true then they would be in the right. But considering that is maddening because they are so clearly wrong and won’t be convinced. Then when you consider that Trey and Matt are making it a point to defend them that way but would still be categorized as Hollywood Elite by the people they are defending because the defense still comes with the conclusion that what they believe is absolutely ridiculous. Which they say outright and in doing so shows what their point of view is overall and also plays into the joke about the elite controlling the media which is done here by them being in control of the animation and the character changing and becoming more and more silly. With that I do think there was also the intent to show how many complexities there are to the issue by offering an impossible solution that addresses the cluster fuck we are in being specifically the result of our country and culture and politics and maybe even winking that it can be done, but not in America!
I think they were just trying their darndest to find the funny in a shitty situation, and itching to get Garrison back to 0 so that when new episodes start in earnest, he can just be the teacher again.
I kind of feel like Matt and Trey are just existing at this point. Instead of making a comment on society, they're just noting what we're looking at. I'm not sure if it is satire if it is just a dead-on-depiction of the way things are going.
If Scott has diabetes, he prolly shouldn't be eating Frankenberry for breakfast.
He has type 1 not type 2.
Maybe its sugarless frankeberry.
This was one of their most cynical episodes. They couldn't come up with a strong, realistic ending so they went the DEM route, and the bro-ship split apart. Given how prophetic this show's been through the years I'm a bit nervous.
Have you heard of the book "The Fourth Turning"? We're not out of the woods yet, and we won't be for almost a decade.
" The heart has big responsibilities and power, but it can't exist without and is in no way better than the veins that it supplies with blood "
That’s touching instead of 1 grain of rice I’ll send 1/2
@@FrozenFungus LOL
I think they were basically saying, "Look these people actually believe these crazy things and if you keep treating them like the villain you're only going to make them more committed to their beliefs because they'll see you as the enemy."
This is exactly why trying to win a debate ensures that both sides will lose.
The real stupidity is thinking that q anon doesn’t talk about stuff that’s actually going on. Yea saying trump has a “plan” and he’s a god emperor is stupid, but if you don’t think the elites are literal satanic pedophiles you’re really just coping and in denial. Epstein should have woken everyone up, but people don’t care about what’s true, they care about what makes them feel good. Q anon is a high level cia psyop meant to pacify and make absurd people that can actually see through some stuff and to make people emotionally against the idea that elite child trafficking is a real thing. It’s been extremely effective at its purpose
@@JA-jx1hk We all know child trafficking is a thing. But people vote for the culture war and you end up with people like Matt Gaetz, voting against anti-trafficking laws and shuttling high schoolers around for creepy "eyes wide shut" types of sex parties.
@@shawniscoolerthanyou preying on the same demographic of poor Florida girls Epstein started from.
The joke was if their really is a secret society (like many theorists say) people like mr.garrison would use their influence. After all using marginalized groups with high value was the theme of South Park 2016. So mr.garrison making a deal with a MARGINALIZED secret society with HIGH INFLUENCE seems right on the money.
Marginalized and great influence simultaneously?
Its not secret. The people who own the world meet in the open, do business publicly, make laws that benefit them...
No tortured children or satanic cabal necessary.
The broship problems represent marriage problems. Air Israel comes in right after he says to make friends with the most powerful people, so I think the ending is a joke
Liberitarianism isn't working out. The market isn't free and it never will be.
Liberitarianism is great, when you're wealthy and able
Socialism doesn’t work either. Regulating prices will only cause shortages in the future (Venezuela) and stifle innovation (China copying everything)
@@natelarouge7620 the fuck are you on about?
"The Bill of Rights isn't working out"
This comment sounds like you're saying libertarianism isn't working out, but the market isn't free anyway (so we're not living in libertarianism). If we live in a non-libertarian society (which is true, we don't) how does that prove libertarianism isn't working? I'm not sure what you're saying here.
I felt like the constant reference to "the broship" was a reference to how in times of crisis pundits and news shows always focus on the economy and use that abstraction to distract from the concrete, direct examples of what's going on in peoples lives. Idk maybe I read too deep into it but I think it does hold water if you watch it from that perspective also
Maybe we should all accept that Stone and Parker have reached their intellectual limit, just like American libertarianism. This crisis required a collective response. One couldn't be responsible and be safe. Everyone had to be. Retreating into nihilism is just a fancy way people with resources say "I surrender". Look at South Park as a comedy. Don't look for deeper meaning and don't take it seriously. And be sympathetic to anyone who does. As Dave Chappelle said, we trust comedians because we don't expect them to be perfect but they try not to lie. Every other institution were suppose to trust, lies to us.
Trey Parker is one person. I assume you wanted to refer to Matt Stone.
@@dynamicflashy Yep. Will edit
10:45 The morale of the episode, as stated by Mr Garrisson, is obviously the opposite of what common sense would dictate. Just as with the season with the constant school shootings.. in which the lesson was to stop being angry and instead learn to live with it. Obviously the unhealthy thing to do.
I feel this Wisecrack episode didn't bring any interesting points, but that Vaccination Special certainly did. I think Matt & Trey's ultimate point was that everyone is affected and copes differently by the events of the last year(s): everyone is on edge, most characters flip out, the core group has relationship issues that normally wouldn't be there, and some characters turn to bonkers but reassuring conspiracies. They just explored current life through several lens, with some heart, some ridicule, to let the viewer reach their own conclusions. That's what they do.
So this South Park wasn't the Wire, it was the Sopranos?
I feel like the Covid specials have been doing what a lot of folks have been trying to do: survive, endure, and keep it together long enough for the world to return to “normal”. Stan losing his shit in the two specials hits way too close to home for me.
I think the absence of information is information. The fact there was no moral means they acknowledge there's no real solution to the problem. I don't think the problem is P&S not being able to admit that better government is necessary, I think they just couldn't answer the question of "How do you get all these different views to agree on anything anymore?"
I also think the two specials speak very deeply about how the show will work going forward. Randy saying "Maybe I'll do a bunch more specials" followed by Cartman's various schedules would suggest that P&S were still working out the kinks of a new format and haven't decided how to go forward. It's hard to offer a real moral when your own show is in limbo in some ways.
This was always bound to happen. The reason South Park can’t provide a cohesive answer, and has been so rapidly unraveling since 2016, is that it’s nihilistic too-cool-for-school approach to politics, so evocative of its late 90s origins, doesn’t have what it takes to keep up with a society where the stakes have been raised so high.
They’ve been pontificating on this exact issue for several years as well. In Season 21, the episode where Kyle begins acting like his mother and forms an Anti-Canadian group is pondering over this very dilemma. The creators were asking themselves if they still had a place in a world where actually caring about the issues has become more and more important.
It seemed that in that instance, they decided that South Park still had a few years left in it. But if these last two specials are anything to go by, then Kyle was right, Terrence and Phillip are obsolete, and therefore so is South Park.
1st paragraph was 100% based af
South Park always tries to expose both sides. Which usually upsets both sides unless one side thinks their agenda is getting more credit.
Wisecrack: puts out a video on South Park's Vaccination Special.
Me: Watches entire special then watches Wisecrack video.
Literally exactly what I did. I had no idea there was a new SP special out until I saw the wisecrack notification.
Same!
I don't think it is very wise to make assumptions on Matt and Trey's personal politics because they belong to a certain political party. What is the word for that??? Oh yeah Stereotyping. Libertarians are for LIMITED government. What that means is a government restricted to those roles that are inherently governmental. No one would argue that the military is inherently a governmental function. Do Matt and Trey see public health as a proper role of the government? I don't know. Maybe you should ask before you assume.
Look I don’t know if I’m the only one that feels this way but I personally believe that we need to start making RUclips videos have slots for commercials like TV does in the sense that it comes to a natural stop and then you get your ad
If I'm not mistaken, the creators decide where the ads go, so they could do it that way. A creator named TRO (The Right Opinion) makes awesomely edited, long form, documentary type videos, and his ad placement is exactly what you're describing.
I have premium (which I love)
But it does keep me from knowing what creators are getting a bit greedy)
Although shortly after I went premium ,the creators started doing sponsor ads 😣
Advertising:you can run,but you can't hide!
The problem with libertarianism is that sometimes a free market creates problems it's not equipped to solve, ie climate change. In recent years, I think SP has become more aware of this phenomenon. Sure, the free market is efficient, but having a strong democratic government can go a long way in ironing out the kinks.
(seriously, if the free market was capable of solving our environmental crisis, it would've done so by now)
It aint a crisis the world heats up and cools down has been happening for years and will happen for years its natural
@@bigbrisk8423 actually read the science. These changes are meant to happen over thousands of years, not decades
@@bigbrisk8423 It is a crisis: climate change is real, a natural process that should take thousands of years is happening rapidly over decades. Through carbon dating, scientists were able to pinpoint the climate shifting to when humans started the Industrial Revolution. Global temperatures are increasing consistently, and many are pointing to it as the cause of storms and hurricanes intensifying in the last decade.
Theres literally no such thing as a free market... a market needs a set of rules inorder to operate....
@@NobodyC13 i didnt say climate change wasnt real it would have happened naturally so we sped it up a little its not a crisis though lmfao the world aint ending because of it. The world has been around for how long now? You say its supposed to take thousands of years but its been billions bahahah the world has iced over its been a full on tropical heat climate where the bugs and reptiles were bigger its been all sorts of things. To say its a crisis is laughable tbh. Without people doing what we do how many more animals wpuld be around overpopulating the planet causing the greenhouse gasses same as we do lmfao if we werent here it would have happened regardless to say otherwise is ignorant.
Michael hit the nail on the head talking about how a libertarian point of view can't cope with a pandemic. Much of the nuttiness exhibited during the pandemic has been worldviews crashing into reality, particularly belief in small government meeting a crisis only big government can cope with. Now add on the fear of the logical conclusion, that there are other crises or serious problems that require a big government solution. I wonder if exploding heads spread COVID-19?
I'm not surprised Parker and Stone couldn't come to a solution since their typical response is just to tell people to shut up and mock them if they don't.
Nah, I think you hit the nail on the head with this. The whole philosophy of individualism does not mesh well at all with being in a situation where everyone has to work with each other to survive. South Park has nothing meaningful to say about it because the philosophy doesn't work with current events.
4:50 - “IMMUNITY”?
LMAOYD
I wouldn't be surprised if there having a hard time knowing what to think about the pandemic there "pandemic special" was equally as unfocused
Who does anymore though? That's the point.
I think it’s the libertarian position being exposed. I considered myself libertarian for about a decade, but the last 3-4 years have made it clear that it doesn’t have very good answers for when things go really wrong, like having a fascist type of president or a global pandemic. I voted for the Green party in 2020 because, unlike libertarians, or even Democrats, that party is leading the way with actual solutions to things like climate change, global diseases, high unemployment, etc. It’s become clear that we need things like Universal Basic Income, Universal Healthcare, Free Education, Open Borders, and stuff like that (all Green party positions) because things are a lot better when people are taken care of collectively instead of trying to have everyone fend for themselves.
And that’s the problem with South Park, they have been preaching that libertarian position for about two decades, about how dumb people are in large groups and government and whatnot, but now they are starting to see that kind of thinking provides no useful tools or answers for really serious stuff. IMO the show has gone really downhill since Trump was elected because all their episodes leading up to the 2016 election used Garrison as a way to mock him and show how absurd his campaign was, but then they were shocked and completely unprepared for him to actually be elected and realized there was no libertarian answer for it. The libertarian “answer” would have been “it’s not possible for someone like Trump to be elected because people can individually make good choices and this is clearly a bad choice.” Same with masks, people will obviously wear a mask because that’s the right choice… But it turns out people don’t always make good choices and libertarianism has no rebuttal for when that happens.
And maybe that is what they are trying to show here, excuses: that people are only making bad choices because they have bad information, but if your whole ideology falls apart just because some people make bad decisions some times, maybe your ideology was pretty flawed in the first place.
@@zeekltk9893 You're probably still a Libertarian but have been lied to about what it really is. Read Mutual Aid: A Factor in Evolution.
To be honest I liked this episode a lot more than most of the other recent-ish ones. The Tegridy farm and Skankhunter arcs in particular were beyond annoying and I couldn’t finish them.
It seems like this episode abandoned any attempt to push their viewpoint and was actually pointing out how the world is complicated and they have no idea how to solve the current crisis with some perfect answer.
I actually loved those, particulary Skankhunt
Skankhunter was terrible, but even Trey and Matt admit that. They had a plan that was messed up. Tegridy Farms had a few solid laughs here and there but it did get old. They have more good episodes that forgettable ones tho lately imo
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But thanks to your sponsor, I can now buy all the pedals I want. Thank you!
Are they still Libertarian though? I remember when they dabbled in it but it seems like the late 2000s/early 2010s libertarian fad faded a bit and I haven't heard that much about it since with Matt and Trey. Maybe I'm just not paying attention as much.
What i didn't understand is how giving precedence to vulnerable categories like the elderly is even a problem, it seems the obvious thing to do, like giving your seat on the bus to a pregnant woman.
South Park is extremely chaotic neutral. It sometimes doesn't have a stance. And I love it. EVERYONE gets talked about at some point.
Individual ethics doesn't matter when you're starring down the barrel of an SSBN.
You should do a video on MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). There was a great episode of "The Expanse" involving this.
Late season 3?
@@MRCKify Early season 3; episode 3.
@@Brownyman OH YEAH.
I live in Colorado and teachers were given priority. Pretty much every state has deemed them to be essential and moved them up in the vaccine line
What Colorado news do you follow?
@@MRCKify I work at a school.
@@theshrimp1657 But what Colorado news outlets do you follow? I'm looking for suggestions
@@MRCKify KDVR is your best bet if you want local coverage. Edit this is for every state. You local news will be the best source for regional news.
well I know my college professors all starting getting the vaccine very early, in Texas btw
11:40 i dont think its nihilistic i think it showing you the reality we live in. and i think you guys are calling it nihilistic cause its part of the stage of denial of grief.
As a recovering libertarian, I think your take on libertarian philosophy and a global pandemic is accurate. But I don't watch South Park, so I can't speak for that.
If you give all your money to the government- you will be better off.
Pages of regulations -covering retail grocery, transportation, medicine, hiring, and tons of other fractal facets of life - all of them were waived by executive and administrative fiat over the last year. Which should come back?
This episode felt like Stan's line: "I don't even know what to do! If you ask me, this whole pandemic has been a giant waste of time! [leaves]" ... Also - watch 'Sassy Justice'
I never knew a cartoon show that uses fart and butt jokes would be this deep.
It's the only one that is besides the Longview of Beavis and butthead
Butt jokes can be very deep, especially in prison.
@@stephen3164 myth but you want to believe.
This episode aged like milk now lmao, especially with the Shaman out
The Petal Card! Starts at we charge you 1/5 of interest on your purchase and goes all the way up to paying in Euros when you’re American!
Damn 😐
The harsh realities of the real world finally broke Trey and Matt's simple libertarian brains.
This might be a real growth moment for them, only time will tell. Reconciling libertarianism with the public is something a lot of leftists go through in their political lifetimes. I certainly did.
@@magnopere I guess when it comes to growing up, it's better to be late than never. I'm still gonna have a hard time forgiving them for 2016 though
@@Jay-sy4kd What did they do in 2016?
@@Chips402 They pushed out terribly bad takes about US politics that helped normalize trump
@@Jay-sy4kd Yeah, because your takes are nothing but gold, I'm sure. You people blame everyone but yourselves for Trump, and you'll blame everyone but yourselves the next election you lose. Politics are for psychopaths and losers.
That episode left me mildly upset. Because it said less than nothing imo. It may have been too soon, like cool a deus ex machina saves the fictional characters of South Park, but what do we real people still dealing with everything get out of watching that? I really enjoyed the first half where they're getting a divorce and having to share Kenny days though.
@@freddiebarry93 I mean I did pay for the episode... But after 24 years of watching south park it has given me expectations that have not been properly met with this specific episode. So no it doesn't owe me anything but im definitely am ENTITLED to my opinion. You could've just not commented anything if you believed your own words.
@Kenny McCormick Yeah, I understand that they wanted to fix the unfortunate situation of Garrison. I have the idea that it said less than nothing because it felt like the episode seemed to not know how to properly make fun of anything or outsmart any of its real situations by the second half. The recent "specials" have all tried to say something meaningful or at the very least attempt to. This felt as if they gave up, like this is just to rework their world and hopefully that's what it is.
Nihilism is not a synonym for hopelessness...
Nobody stays a Nihilist for very long. If they do- they are dead.
@@markmurex6559 wow great job stereotyping something you probably dont even understand. What's next? Calling all socialists welfare queens and all capitalists greedy pigs? Come on bigot tell me why nihilists are all suicidal... I would love to hear you attempt to rationalize the idiocy you commented
@@nihilistnick5094 It's a joke. Not all Nihilists kill themselves, obviously.
@@markmurex6559 bigotry... Hilarious haha
@@echohotel7975 really? Laughing about people you supposedly know commiting suicide?... And you bigots call nihilists sociopathic...
Oh, South Park. Kind of impressive how it manages to be so superficially offensive and ultimately bland and harmless at the same time. Can't take the wrong stance if you're equally against everyone, after all …
Why do they need to take a side? It's a fictional tv show
I think there is a little truth in the perceived truth, and a little bit of truth in the perceived paranoia. The lesson- we should be questioning both.
"A little truth in the perceived paranoia"? So there *IS* something to the flat earth theory! 🙄
@@JackSparrow-re4ql maybe? Or maybe not. 😣😀
@@JackSparrow-re4ql it's really limitless what people can believe
It's simple. Everyone has gone crazy. Doesn't matter who you are, what you believe, who you voted for, etc. You are not exempt, and we've all lost our minds.
I'm an engineer from Israel, and the government took 624$ from my last paycheck (and every paycheck) to pay for "government funded" health care
Idk about everyone else, but I notice most planes that fly over my head
Really I think the broship is the ultimate point. It's not until the reality is faced that they actually start to move forward. Up until that point they are just pawns for someone else.
I mean the episode also has a takeaway of the Stone Parker duo just wanting to stop making South Park's setting in the covid era
the answer to your final question IMO :
South park's strong suit isn't its social or political commentary, it's its jokes. I don't think they were trying to make any clea point at all, just make fun out of the shittyness of the situation and the state of the world
I think the point is being missed here. South parks job has always been presenting the problem, making fun of it and leaving you there to think for yourself. People who get mad at the show often miss this when it presents a problem they contribute to, yet they don't acknowledge it exists. they think SP is trying to ram an opinion down their throat when all its REALLY doing is holding up a funhouse mirror
Remaining in favor of the powerful is if nothing else an effective survival tactic. I don't think Wisecrack missed the point, but it's hard to keep such insanity grounded so just carry on, I suppose.
Wow, this episode went way way way over your head. The satire was so strong, it was one of the smartest episodes ever.
Let me guess, I’ll need to have a high IQ.
@@Liliquan You do need to have a high IQ and it sound like that's going to be a problem. 157 here. 1560/1600 SAT, 2 Stanford degrees
I think it was more or less South Parks humor that is trying to keep with the misinformation that it ended up being an ex machina that ties in with their absurdity
8:51 COME ON! You cut before "Here, let me show you"? That was one of the funniest parts
“Mom!” 🤣
i think you're spot on, but didn't touch on a vibe i got where 'bro-ship' = south park tm, and they thought about wrapping it up, only to power through.
I feel like the initial assumption is faulty: South Park has NEVER taken a strong stance on any political issue, choosing instead to take the easy (and lucrative) middle position.
You open with a reference to the giant douche vs turn sandwich debate, which is the EPITOME of tepid both sides what about ism, the weakest of stances that could be taken.
South Park doesn't ask us HOW we can navigate and trust a world full of disinformation, it just delights in pointing that out and laughing at the existant chaos. LIKE THEY'VE ALWAYS DONE
Also, I don't believe for a second Parker and Stone considered Israel's Universal Healthcare in their finale. They just looked for the most convenient hated-but-powerful minority punching bag, as always
Yeah, frankly there is no answer to the problems of digital misinformation and public division, and libertarianism is no more equipped to deal with it than any other ideology. We're just fucked 🤷
Respect my authoritah.
Stone and Parker put a priority on holding up a mirror to expose how far each side of an issue can stray from reason and good sense.
They do this more often than not without putting their personal politics front and center.
It does explain what is really going own in our own world. This is what is really going on in our real world. Also what Q has been saying all this time has really been coming to light especially about the kids.
I'm so glad that some people are waking up.