“Caitlyn Jenner is the bravest woman in America!”
South Park returns for a 10th season, and with it comes a number of jokes at the expense of some hot button issues. South Park has always been a show seen in two very different ways by very different people. You either hate the show for its crude humor and vulgarity, or you love it because it uses those very things to give a much-needed social commentary on the world at large. The first episode of the season, “Stunning and Brave” doesn’t wait to get back to basics as in the opening line of the episode Mr. Mackey holds a PTA meeting to explain to the parents that someone refereed to rape as a, and I’m quoting here, “A hot Cosby.”
This leads to getting Principal Victoria –a long-standing character– fired from her position, only to be replaced by PC Principal. This new character is the amalgamation of everything going on in the news today, and looks to bring South Park Elementary into the modern age of respect and tolerance. We are less than five-minutes in and already this episode is going to stir up all sort of issues. I should also note that while PC Principal is addressing the crowd he makes mention of Chef, only for Butters to say he was brainwashed, a nice call-back and stab at Scientology, even after all these years.
PC Principal is the polar opposite of what South Park is all about, but not only that, it’s poking fun at the shows detractors and the knee jerk reactions they have with the show. It’s almost as if South Park is intentionally –of course it is– asking for it from the fringe end of the SJW crowd. The PC police in the episode takes the form of a college frat and strikes them right where it hurts; in the self-delusional, better than you mentality that kids get about reading the first chapter of Faust and a week after an ethnic studies class. Yes, I am poking fun, but I’m no doubt sure the comments will explode with hate; and that’s the point.
Stunning and Brave flips the narrative on its head not only by saying what people wanted to say about not only Caitlyn Jenner’s bravery, but more so about how that other side can themselves become the very thing they hate; bigots, fear mongers, and the kind of people who force beliefs on others. The PC police in this episode is a manifestation in the most extreme ways, so much so that even Cartman, a character that has carte blanche in the South Park world has to the power of the PC police.
South Park has seen its ups and downs in quality over the past few seasons, but “Stunning and Brave” sees the show return to form and drive its point home in a hilarious way that only the show at its best can. Couple all that with Cartman’s return to form thanks to the power of The New England Patriots, and you have an episode that you can’t afford to miss. This is the sort of conversation that we need to have within this country, and while I fully support Caitlyn Jenner and her choices, just as Kyle mentions on the show in conversation with Stan,
“I didn’t like Bruce Jenner as a person on the Kardashians, and I don’t suddenly like him now!”
“Her.”
“Her!”
Final Thoughts:
Kyle’s has the requisite ending speech this episode, but Cartman is the one that actually ends the episode with the wiser words
The Brett Fareve hand clap –which I had never seen– is uncomfortable to watch
Syrian refugees, Subway, call-backs galore, the episode had everything for everyone
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