Entertainment Geekly: A privileged, politically incorrect examination of politically correct privilege.
Its been a long time since we talked aboutSouth Parkas a TV show.
As an institution, sure.
Theyre contracted through 2019.
Why would they stop?
In their public statements, they sound perfectly willing to keep the show going until Comedy Central cancels them.
Comedy Central, in turn, seems perfectly willing to keep the show going until they quit.
But that first season finale was17 years ago.
Saying less people watchSouth Parkis like saying someone invented Netflix.
We treat it more like an animated op-ed column.
And, to be fair, the timeliness ofSouth Parkwas always one of its central virtues.
What doesSouth Parkthink about this topical event?
But the rush to timeliness could hurt the show, too.
Mid-periodSouth Parkhit something like Peak Topicality on Nov. 5, 2008, with About Last Night.
The episode portrayed the immediate aftermath of the election of Barack Obama.
Which never made the show bad, per se.
Nobody ever givesSouth Parkenough respect for its constant willingness to throw out its own playbook.
Even moreso thanThe Simpsons,South Parkembraced the possibility of the animation format to tell every kind of story.
The show could alternate between a human-scale school farce or a three-part cosmic spoof.
Mr. Garrison has occasionally been the shows heart.
FreakingCraiggets more to do than anyoneLostintroduced after season 4.
If you ever felt like checking out, the show offered plenty of opportunity.
The celebratory 200/201 two-parter macrocosm-ed the shows history into a massive celebrity showdownandfinally revealed who Eric Cartmans father was.
All three would have served fine as closing statements.
But then the show just kept going, going, going.
South Parkis six episodes into its 19th season.
Britneys New Look is one of the best things anyone has ever said about how America treats pop stars.
The two-part Cartoon Wars remains the definitive word onFamily Guy.
Every single thing that happens in Fishsticks is hilarious even funnier now that nobody remembers Carlos Mencia.
But its never really made sense to viewSouth Parkas a season kind of show.
That has changed, gradually and suddenly.
Last season also saw technology as a central topic.
Every show had this running theme: We cant keep up anymore, he said.
Something else changed in the shows production schedule.
Last season was when we first said werenotdoing that anymore, said Parker.
Those changes start early in the premiere, Stunning and Brave.
After 18 seasons, Principal Victoria has been replaced.
PC Principals first big speech is the show at its most meta, but the self-commentary has a purpose.
Students who still use the word retarded.
A teacher who said women without wombs should get an AIDS test.
Lemme ask you this.
Were in Colorado, right?
Where are the Hispanic kids?
WHERE ARE THE ETHNIC AND RACIAL MINORITIES?
People claiming to be advocates of transgender rights, but really just wanting to use the bathroom.
A white man who thinks hes Chinese and built a wall to keep out Mongolians.
What the f is this?
Are you fing kidding me?
Im telling you all, this is done.
Like it or not, PC is back, and its bigger than ever!
Thats the sound of 2015 pulling you over, people!
And that joke could have powered one solid episode.
Stunning and Brave is The Caitlyn Jenner Episode, but its not a Mel Gibson-style celebrity takedown.
Kyle and the other boys convince Cartman to try dethrone PC Principal.
The plan backfires violently: PC Principal brutally attacks Cartman for using un-PC language.
In the hospital, Cartman has an epiphany:
PC Principal is right, Kyle.
You and I are bigots.
And its time for us to grow up…
Were two privileged white boys who have their laughs about something they never had to deal with.
Kyle wont hear it: Im not going to apologize for saying Caitlyn Jenner isnt a hero.
In fact, I think shes most likely not a very good person!
Later in the episode, Kyle goes further: I didnt even say she wasnt a hero!
I just said shewasntaherotome!
What does being PC mean?
Ill tell you what it means.
South Parkhas never had to believe in anything.
But clearly, the shows creators believe insomething.
The real brilliance starts in episode 3, The City Part of Town, a gentrification fairy tale.
The townspeople are desperate to improve South Parks image as a backwards and old-fashioned.
SodoSopa is hipster city planning run amok.
Parker is 46, Stone 44.
Cards on the table: I was a teenager whenSouth Parkfirst launched.
Id be intrigued to know how Dunham responds to a joke like that.
You could certainly argue that Parker has never had todealwith the insults that Dunham has faced.
(That only happens to mewhen I explainwhyMan of Steelsucked.)
But the point this season is a subtle, complicated one.
Its not making fun of political correctness.
Its staging a full-frontal assault on the profiteers of political correctness.
And its having a serious conversation about the unforeseen side effects of politically correct culture.
Throughout Safe Space, the show keeps cutting back to poor, starving African orphans.
Randy doesnt like feeling ashamed.
The orphans dont like starving.
Is shame a human rights issue?
And if so, is it more or less important than starvation?
You say fat-shaming is wrong, so in response you show off your abs?
Youre the one fat-shaming, you idiot!
Thats a line from near the end of Safe Space, when the charity gala gets crashed by Reality.
Well, Im sorry, the world isnt one big liberal arts college campus.
We eat too much.
We take our spoiled lived for granted.
Feel a little bad about it sometimes!
Now, whenever Kyle eventhreatensto make a speech, people refuse to listen.
The people ofSouth Parkcheer.
What happens to the concept of victimization when anyone can be a victim?
(The first half ofParks final season might be called: Where My Pawnee Gone?)
But that show had faith in humanitys fundamental wacky decency.
OnSouth Parkseason 19, Cartman the eternal bully has become the victim.
Hes never been more powerful, never so stunning and brave.
