The Show South Park Weaves A Few Good Morals And Lessons In Their Episodes.
I have basically watched every episode of south park, and all I hear about that show is how its immature, violent, and filled with crude humor and course language. I never hear about how each episode brings irony, and well taught lessons on society and how it works. You mustn't judge it without witnessing it.
Of course they do. Remember the episode Sexual Harassment Panda? That taught a lesson that says
lawsuits (especially those that make no sense) can in fact cause harm to society because as Sexual
Harassment Panda in the end said "All that money has to come from somewhere." They also seem to deal
with personal life problems as well.Like Family Guy and The Simpsons it's a political cartoon set to
Television. I know it makes fun of people and has a lot of rude and foul language but, it seems that
many people do not seem to understand that it has good political messages on it.
For me it hits the nail on the head for so many issues that society faces today. South Park, and
indeed the Team America film from the same guys, seem to cut through all the c rap and sum it up
perfectly nearly every time. "Don't do drugs, drugs are bad" is what we hear all day from the
politicians and social commentators yet if the speech by one of the characters (I forget who), about
pot making you waste your life away giggling at inane rubbish, was shown to every kid there would be
far fewer potheads. For the simple fact that it was the truth that no one else seems brave enough
to say. The bit about A**holes, pussies and dicks in Team America was brilliantly put. I think if
these two ran the country we would probably be better off, and it would be dam funny too.
South Park episodes often exemplify the complexity of social issues through the continuous
disagreements among the characters and the exaggerated conditions. I recommend that my psych
students watch certain episodes that focus on psychological issues.
Behavioral modification was fairly portrayed on the "Cartman Whisperer" show. The episode about John
Edwards demonstrated how individuals will eagerly accept vague cues and supply the data themselves.
The episode in which the teacher got a sex change operation, Kyle was transfigured into a tall black
guy, and Stan's father became a dolphin illustrates exemplify the importance of theories of
causation, because those theories direct the type of treatment applied.
About 25 to 30% of my students watch the show often enough to understand the references.
Oh -- "Seinfeld" was also a show that illustrated many of the concepts in psychology. The show
"Frasier," on the other hand, was apparently written by guys who got all their psych info from old
cartoons.
17 Aug 2008 08:25
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