'Muhammad' now a dirty word on 'South Park'

[mr_genius]

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010...ensorship-.html

 

For those who missed the drama, the show's 200th episode last week mocked the one "celebrity" that the series has been largely unable to depict, the Prophet Muhammad, who was hidden from view in a bear costume. A U.S.-based website RevolutionMuslim.com then warned Parker and Stone they could end up like Theo Van Gogh (the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by Muslim extremists after depicting Muhammad on his show) and even posted the address of the show's production office. The site has since been shut down.

 

Last night, "South Park" continued the controversial Muhammad storyline, but with a key difference: every instance of the words "Prophet Muhammad" was bleeped out, making the episode practically incomprehensible, especially to anybody who missed the previous week.

 

The character of Muhammad was once again also hidden from view, covered by a large block labeled "censored."

 

A Comedy Central spokesperson confirmed it was the network's decision to bleep the words.

 

 

I guess terrorism does work

Edited April 22, 2010 by mr_genius

[Balta1701]

LOL, that was the network's choice?

 

I did like the end where they just bleeped the entire "I learned something today" speech.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010...ensorship-.html

 

 

 

 

I guess terrorism does work

 

It really is a big deal to them. To me it seems ridiculous but i'm not going to place my religion over anyone else's. The extremism and backlash that comes with "blaspheming" Muhammad is totally uncalled for, obviously, but I'm not going to chastise them for how upset it makes them. In this instance, i'd say the network should have told Parker/Stone just to not go there.

[Jenksismyhero]

It really is a big deal to them. To me it seems ridiculous but i'm not going to place my religion over anyone else's. The extremism and backlash that comes with "blaspheming" Muhammad is totally uncalled for, obviously, but I'm not going to chastise them for how upset it makes them. In this instance, i'd say the network should have told Parker/Stone just to not go there.

 

Pssh. f*** that. It's called free speech. That was the beauty of the two episodes - they had Buddha doing coke lines, Jesus making gay jokes....EVERYTHING that was completely inappropriate and supposedly "offensive" (but clearly funny), yet they can't even show Muhammed, let alone make a joke about him. It's absolutely ridiculous. Comedy Central should have allowed it, and every network/publication should have replayed it over and over again.

 

Extremism 1,678,435 Freedom 0

 

I think we should also stop this entire war on terror too. Let them kill us. After all, we need to respect their beliefs. While we're at it, we should also stop allowing our women to see the light of day, and force them to cover their entire bodies. That's the reason bad s*** happens.

[CrimsonWeltall]

This is so lame.

 

Muhammad was already shown in the original Super Best Friends episode.

[Jenksismyhero]

This is so lame.

 

Muhammad was already shown in the original Super Best Friends episode.

 

As Trey/Matt said though, that was before 9/11. After that the country lost its balls and he suddenly became off limits.

[Rex Kickass]

As Trey/Matt said though, that was before 9/11. After that the country lost its balls and he suddenly became off limits.

Trey/Matt are only going there because it gets them attention.

[Jenksismyhero]

Lol, why the AP is full of old, out of touch writers:

 

During one scene, a mechanized Barbara Streisand robot is seen stomping through the town on a path of destruction. One voice is heard to say, "they've destroyed La Casa Bonita!"

 

"La Casa Bonita" is the name of Parker and Stone's production facility.

 

I think they were just bringing back the greatness of Casa Bonita (sopapillas!), not making a statement about the reaction to the episodes...

[southsider2k5]

Trey/Matt are only going there because it gets them attention.

 

Exactly, they know everyone watched the first time... To me South Park has fallen off of the map, and this is a desperate attempt to get noticed again. I'm waiting for one of them to get on Dancing with the stars...

[DukeNukeEm]

How is South Park still relevant?

[Balta1701]

How is South Park still relevant?

Because of things like this.

[DukeNukeEm]

Because of things like this.

Derp Derp Derp! Were making fun of Islam, look how counter-cultured we arE!!!

[WhiteSoxfan1986]

So I went to watch the replay of the episode at 11 p.m. last night, and they had they were showing the scrotie mcboogerballs episode. And I go to southparkstudios.com today to watch it, and they said it wasn't available.

[Jenksismyhero]

Derp Derp Derp! Were making fun of Islam, look how counter-cultured we arE!!!

 

That wasn't what they were after, nor what they were doing. It was the 200/201st episode "special," which brought back the majority of characters and storylines. It was pretty good actually.

[mr_genius]

Derp Derp Derp! Were making fun of Islam, look how counter-cultured we arE!!!

 

haha. that s*** was funny. especially the Kim Jong Il stuff. lol

 

like when he gets Hans Blix to go into the shark tank. classic.

[DukeNukeEm]

That wasn't what they were after, nor what they were doing. It was the 200/201st episode "special," which brought back the majority of characters and storylines. It was pretty good actually.

Oh I'm sorry, substitute making fun of Islam with making fun of <George Bush/Kanye West/Tom Cruise/anybody the suburban entitlement white kids think they can look down on>. The only comedy I can get out of that show anymore is how much they've become what they always tried to poke fun at.

[lostfan]

Pssh. f*** that. It's called free speech. That was the beauty of the two episodes - they had Buddha doing coke lines, Jesus making gay jokes....EVERYTHING that was completely inappropriate and supposedly "offensive" (but clearly funny), yet they can't even show Muhammed, let alone make a joke about him. It's absolutely ridiculous. Comedy Central should have allowed it, and every network/publication should have replayed it over and over again.

 

Extremism 1,678,435 Freedom 0

 

I think we should also stop this entire war on terror too. Let them kill us. After all, we need to respect their beliefs. While we're at it, we should also stop allowing our women to see the light of day, and force them to cover their entire bodies. That's the reason bad s*** happens.

I actually think Parker and Stone and Comedy Central can do whatever they want, but GMAB with the free speech stuff. No s*** there is free speech, nobody is disputing that, but sometimes there are consequences and it's up to the person to decide whether they actually want to deal with them. Too often people want to have their cake and eat it too which is dumb. "I want to say offensive things, how dare you take offense to me being offensive you p****, I have free speech!"

[southsider2k5]

I actually think Parker and Stone and Comedy Central can do whatever they want, but GMAB with the free speech stuff. No s*** there is free speech, nobody is disputing that, but sometimes there are consequences and it's up to the person to decide whether they actually want to deal with them. Too often people want to have their cake and eat it too which is dumb. "I want to say offensive things, how dare you take offense to me being offensive you p****, I have free speech!"

 

Not to mention that if they owned their own network, and had their own signal, they could do whatever they want. There is nothing that forces their bosses to agree to air it.

[Balta1701]

Don't you guys realize that the point isn't "They could start their own network" or "They're being deliberately offensive"? You're fundamentally missing the point here.

 

Even if they do wind up censored...that's the point...and not for marketing/money reasons either.

 

This has been true since pre-Carlin. When a comic is being deliberately offensive to the point of provoking a societal response...the point is to make you, the viewer/listener, sit there and think whether or not the societal response is appropriate.

[southsider2k5]

Don't you guys realize that the point isn't "They could start their own network" or "They're being deliberately offensive"? You're fundamentally missing the point here.

 

Even if they do wind up censored...that's the point...and not for marketing/money reasons either.

 

This has been true since pre-Carlin. When a comic is being deliberately offensive to the point of provoking a societal response...the point is to make you, the viewer/listener, sit there and think whether or not the societal response is appropriate.

 

Easy, if it was a right winger, this would be to insight hate-crimes. If it was a left-winger it would be a thoughtful attempt to changes minds and attitudes.

[Balta1701]

Easy, if it was a right winger, this would be to insight hate-crimes. If it was a left-winger it would be a thoughtful attempt to changes minds and attitudes.

The creators of south park are left wingers?

[Jenksismyhero]

Don't you guys realize that the point isn't "They could start their own network" or "They're being deliberately offensive"? You're fundamentally missing the point here.

 

Even if they do wind up censored...that's the point...and not for marketing/money reasons either.

 

This has been true since pre-Carlin. When a comic is being deliberately offensive to the point of provoking a societal response...the point is to make you, the viewer/listener, sit there and think whether or not the societal response is appropriate.

 

Oh I totally agree and acknowledge that this was their intent, but that doesn't mean they don't have a really good point - there are certain topics which are supposedly off limits for no good reason. Shift the example from South Park not being able to show Muhammed and replace it with the uproar over the Dutch newspaper. Still a valid argument. We (western society) keep appeasing that crap, and giving into the threats, and guess what, they "win."

[Soxbadger]

Comedy Central shouldnt have censored it. Im sorry but the entire point of the episode was to show how ridiculous it is to say "this is off limits" because you are afraid of the consequences.

 

You cant live in fear, you cant let a small group of people dictate how we are going to live because we are afraid they might "bomb us." If we have that fear, we are not truly free and they have already won. What is great about America is that you have the right to have whatever godforsaken opinion you might have. That doesnt mean that you wont get beaten up, that doesnt mean that there are no consequences for being a douche, it just means that if you want to be a douche or a nazi or whatever, you can be as long as you dont physically harm other people.

 

Last I checked, words, mockery, comedy dont physically harm people. No Buddhists were harmed when Buddha did a line of coke, just like no Muslims will be harmed if South Park shows Muhammad, just like no Jews are harmed if other people break kosher or if Cartman says "f***ing Jew" a thousand times over the course of the series.

 

I dont see how this is about hate, I dont see how this is about racism. If everyone is fair game, then you arent a racist.

 

If we want the freedom that America stands for, there are going to be consequences, there are going to be times when extremists are unhappy and try and intimidate us, but we cant let that happen. You have to give respect to Matt and Trey for not being afraid and for standing up in what they believe in (the right to speak freely).

 

 

[Rex Kickass]

Comedy Central shouldnt have censored it. Im sorry but the entire point of the episode was to show how ridiculous it is to say "this is off limits" because you are afraid of the consequences.

 

You cant live in fear, you cant let a small group of people dictate how we are going to live because we are afraid they might "bomb us." If we have that fear, we are not truly free and they have already won. What is great about America is that you have the right to have whatever godforsaken opinion you might have. That doesnt mean that you wont get beaten up, that doesnt mean that there are no consequences for being a douche, it just means that if you want to be a douche or a nazi or whatever, you can be as long as you dont physically harm other people.

 

Last I checked, words, mockery, comedy dont physically harm people. No Buddhists were harmed when Buddha did a line of coke, just like no Muslims will be harmed if South Park shows Muhammad, just like no Jews are harmed if other people break kosher or if Cartman says "f***ing Jew" a thousand times over the course of the series.

 

I dont see how this is about hate, I dont see how this is about racism. If everyone is fair game, then you arent a racist.

 

If we want the freedom that America stands for, there are going to be consequences, there are going to be times when extremists are unhappy and try and intimidate us, but we cant let that happen. You have to give respect to Matt and Trey for not being afraid and for standing up in what they believe in (the right to speak freely).

 

However, maybe the owners of a comedy channel decided, in this case, that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Or maybe they decided that by doing this censorship thing, it heightens the profile of both the show and the network and helps both equally.

 

[mr_genius]

They aren't censoring it because it offends people; that show gets tons of complaints. For example, 'scientology' followers are completely offended and super pissed about the show, the guy that did the voice of 'Chef' left the show because he was a 'scientologist'. Or the episodes about mormons, there were a lot of people offended. There are a whole lot of examples.

 

The reason it isn't airing is not because they don't want to offend people, it is because they are scared of terrorist retribution. so basically, terrorism does work when you empower it by giving into bulls*** demands. they are so terrified that they will censor their shows to accommodate demands from that group.

 

but if that's what they want to do, it's their network. they still suck for doing it.

Edited April 23, 2010 by mr_genius