by Joe Buffaloe
Daily Lobo
Television has always struggled to stay socially and politically relevant.
It's not exactly where you go for intelligent entertainment most of the time. Who turns to "The OC" or "The O'Reilly Factor" for mature discussions of important, controversial issues?
Luckily, there are always cartoons.
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Cartoons, unburdened by realism, budget or expectations, have the freedom to address topics network television can't touch.
"South Park," now in its 10th season, is the first program outside of public access to take on the 9/11 Truth Movement, which revolves around a theory that President Bush and the CIA were secretly responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Of course, I can't repeat what the show says about the supporters of this theory - it's not nice - but, just as a hint, the show revolves around the mystery of who went No. 2 in a urinal in the boys' bathroom. The symbolism is obvious enough.
The main argument "South Park" gives against the conspiracy theory is this: 9/11 was, in the words of the show, "the most brilliant, perfectly executed, well-thought out plan ever," and honestly, who gives President Bush or the Republican Party that much credit?
Maybe it's crude, but one has to commend "South Park" for taking on issues like this so fearlessly. This incredibly immature show about foul-mouthed 8-year-olds has somehow become one of the most sophisticated forums on television for important political topics. There's even a term for the style of satire the cartoon has created. It's called "South Park conservatism" - in short, it's for people who aren't Republicans but sometimes get fed up with the self-righteous dookie in the urinal of the bathroom that is liberal America.
Stepping on toes has become a habit of the show. In 2004, Diddy appeared at a PETA rally and killed members of the group during his Vote or Die campaign; after seeing "The Passion of the Christ," Cartman tried to exterminate the Jews; and in a brilliant satire of media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case, the boys discovered that Kenny's wish, if ever in a vegetative state, is to not be humiliated on television - this coming after weeks of 24-hour news coverage and intense campaigning and protesting by both sides.
Ten years in, "South Park" is still at its creative peak. Luckily, it's not always serious. One of the show's assets is that it can have a smart political satire one week, and the next, base an entire episode on the end of the world - of Warcraft.
Hey, who wants to be serious all the time?
