South Park Sociology

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South Park is one of the most remarkable shows that can be seen on television in the modern day. Not only is it one of the most successful animated TV shows; it consistently delivers important social and moral messages in almost every episode. South Park portrays a vision of the world, what it should look like, how people should treat one another, and in the end how people can all function together in harmony. Over the course of the show many major political parties have attempted to associate South Park as an attack on their own views of the way of life. The creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have repeatedly disregarded any political labels and insist that they hate both the left and the right and want to stand between the…show more content…
The show follows the lives of four eight year old boys named Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman who are all in elementary school. They live in the small fictional town of South Park where a mix of characters can be found such as students, families, and other residents who regard South Park as a quiet place to live. The most prominent settings or places on the show are the elementary school, the bus stop, and various neighborhoods surrounding the town. These are where the main characters can be found and majority of the plot takes place. According to Helen Nixon, the shows’ settings are based on similar locations that resemble the town of Fairplay, Colorado. Backgrounds in the show can include the surrounding snowy landscapes which are seen in every episode and local businesses along the town's main street. Also in episodes the writers use actual Colorado landmarks to portray that the show is just like an ordinary town found in the western part of the…show more content…
In Phil Chidester’s scholarly review of the show, he talks about how each individual character represents a different person in society today. According to him, Stan can be portrayed as the “everyman” in the show. His character is based around family rituals and personal morals. Also Stan’s observations and contributions to conflict arising in the show can be seen as normal when it comes to social interaction. Kyle on the other hand is “foul-mouthed as a means for the writers to display how they claim young boys really talk when they are alone” (Chidester). He also claims that even though Kyle is sometimes cynical and profane, there is an "underlying sweetness" to his character. The relationship that Stan and Kyle have represents best friends in young kids. The characters interact with each other in a way that shows an establishment of long lasting friendships when maturing though

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