South Park, the catalyst of Violence

In the United States television shows are a source of relief of the outside pressures of the world. They take the things that we hear and see every day and flip them into a different way of viewing things. As an avid South Park fan I watch the new season that is now four weeks in and already one of the most controversial. For the 200th episode and a following sequel the creators have made the top figures of all religious groups as the main topics of the episodes. This has caught world-wide attention due to the threat of violence directed at the creators Matt and Trey if they did not censor the Muslim prophet Muhammad. In 2004 Theo Van Gogh a Dutch film-maker was shot and stabbed to death for his depiction of Muhammad in a film about Muslim women. With a warning from Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee a leader of a Muslim group saying that the same would happen to South Park creators Matt and Trey, the show quickly changed its tune. Not only did they bleep Muhammad’s image but also his name when it was spoken, which both creators did not agree with stating that nothing in the world would change if either were viewed. With already releasing a picture of Muhammad in 2001 as a part of the Super-best friends’ episode passing without comment it is hard to figure out why this time around it has become so serious. It may be because of the other depictions of religious figures being so racy that the Muslim leader had to step in and not allow their prophet to be slandered in such ways as the others. Such Buddha snorting cocaine, Jesus being flambouant, Moses making up stupid ideas, and the founder of Mormonism made into a superhero. As hard as it is to take seriously all South Park episodes have a message that they try and get across in a way that normally isn’t viewed. The controversial episodes although censored put the message across that it doesn’t matter whether you are seen or hidden people are going to find a way to make comments about you. I believe that the reason behind Muhammad’s image never being depicted is that once it becomes and image then it has become free game. For example, nobody knows what Jesus looks like and there are big debates over that, but an image has been used for many years and it has become a way of related and or picking on Jesus. If South Park had created and made fun of Muhammad then the door would be open to others to put a spin on his image. In a show that has terrorist taking over our imagination in Imagination Land being able to pass and Muhammad already shown in an earlier episodes it is hard to take the Muslim group serious, not in their “warning” because I believe that violence would occur, but that you can’t choose when things can and can’t happen, especially when the character Muhammad wasn’t doing anything bad, just being wanted by everyone in the episode for their own reason.