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'201' | |||
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South Park episode | |||
Kyle gives a satirical speech about the effectiveness of threats and violence. During the original broadcast and DVD release of the episode the speech is completely obscured with a continuous audio bleep. Muhammad is visually obscured by a black box. Comedy Central was responsible for censoring the audio, drawing heavy criticism from audiences who felt the network did so in response to Muslim violence threats. | |||
Episode no. | Season 14 Episode 6 | ||
Directed by | Trey Parker | ||
Written by | Trey Parker | ||
Featured music | 'Time of the Season' by The Zombies | ||
Production code | 1406 | ||
Original air date | April 21, 2010 | ||
Episode chronology | |||
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South Park (season 14) | |||
List of South Park episodes |
'201' is the sixth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode, '200', in which a group of angry celebrities demand South Park produce the Muslim prophet Muhammad. In '201', a superhero-like group of religious figures team up to save South Park from the celebrities and their monster Mecha-Streisand, while Eric Cartman learns the true identity of his father.
- '200' and '201' are two Season 14 episodes of South Park that were banned after their original airing. Both of them follow Tom Cruise and many other celebrities on the show teaming up to destroy South Park. The celebrities want Muhammad's (The Prophet of Islam) 'goo' because he is the only celebrity able to be shown without being made fun of.
- South Park products available at Amazon and Comedy Central. Download South Park episodes in bit torrent format at South Park Complete or MrTwig. Read scripts of South Park episodes at South Park Stuff.com. The South Park Scriptorium, a good all around site for South Park information. The Wikipedia article on South Park. Search for.
- 'ALLSP.ch' (ALL Streaming Programs) is a streaming video indexing site for external media and is in no way associated with or authorized by Viacom or the Creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
Best place to find episodes 200-201 Hi All, I'm looking for the best place to find the seemingly impossible to find episodes 200 and 201. I only saw half of one when it originally aired and now can't find it for the life of me.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. Like '200', it alludes to several past storylines and controversies from previous South Park episodes, especially Comedy Central's refusal to show images of Muhammad on the network following controversies in 2005 and 2007 when cartoons depicting Muhammad ran in European newspapers, resulting in riots and threats. Prior to the broadcast of '201', the radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim posted a warning on their website that Parker and Stone risked being murdered for their depiction of Muhammad. Comedy Central modified Parker and Stone's version of the episode, obscuring all images and bleeping all references to Muhammad—to the effect of disruptively obscuring the entire two-minute moral conclusion of the story. Nevertheless, both '200' and '201' were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2010.[1]
The censorship drew strong criticism of Comedy Central. Critics said that the network's action would encourage further threats from radical groups. '201' was not shown in repeats, has not been made available on the South Park website, and has not been shown in Sweden, Hungary, Australia or the Netherlands. In most places the episode 'Sexual Healing' was shown instead of episode 201. In the United Kingdom, some parts were removed, and a short on-screen message appears, stating the outline of the removed parts and 'MTV (on Viva)' or 'Comedy Central' '...has refused to air an image of Muhammad on their network'. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 3.5 million viewers, making it the most watched cable television program of the night.
On January 31, 2014, the original uncensored version was leaked when it was pulled from the South Park Studios servers and was posted online in its entirety without approval by Comedy Central.[2]
- 2Production
- 5Reception
Plot[edit]
The episode opens with Cartman, as his hand-puppet persona Mitch Conner, narrating a flashback to Connor's 1972 medical discharge from his Vietnam Wartour of duty in a parody of a scene from the film Apocalypse Now as the song 'Time of the Season' by the Zombies plays in the background. Back in the present, Mr. Garrison refuses to reveal the identity of Cartman's father, and instead sends Cartman to Dr. Mephisto. Meanwhile, the Ginger Separatist Movement and the townsfolk are negotiating the handover of Muhammad when Mecha-Streisand begins to attack South Park. Muhammad, who is visually obscured throughout the entire episode by a black box superimposed with the word 'CENSORED', is taken by Stan, Kyle, and Kenny to Dr. Mephisto's lab. The Gingers arrive and take Muhammad and Cartman captive. The Super Best Friends are called to South Park to help; after their powers fail to subdue Mecha-Streisand, they pacify her by having Krishna adopt the form of Neil Diamond and providing her the opportunity to perform a duet with him.
The Gingers contact the celebrities and offer to share Muhammad in exchange for access to the celebrities' 'goo transfer machine', which transfers Muhammad's power to remain free from ridicule to a target individual. Tom Cruise is the first subjected to the process, gaining a 'CENSORED' box identical to Muhammad's, but further transfers are interrupted when the Super Best Friends arrive to free their comrade Muhammad. Meanwhile, Cartman is taken to the Ginger lair to meet Scott Tenorman, the Head Ginger. Depicted as a melodramatic madman, Scott has decorated his lair to represent the Chili Con-Carnival in which Cartman gained his revenge on Scott by tricking him into eating his own parents. He reveals to Cartman that they shared the same father, former Denver Broncos player Jack Tenorman, meaning that by his act of revenge against Scott, Cartman had killed his own father and fed him to his half-brother.
The fight between the Super Best Friends, celebrities, and Gingers spills over into the Ginger lair, and Tenorman escapes in the confusion. During the fight, Seaman leaps upon Cruise's back, leading Stan to observe, 'Tom Cruise has Seaman on his back.' The 'CENSORED' box over Cruise disappears, and all present continue to make jokes based on the fact that the words 'Seaman' and 'semen' sound the same. Cruise questions why they are able to do this, which leads to a monologue from Kyle, Jesus Christ, and Santa Claus explaining that the goo does not exist, and that threatening people with violence is the only true answer. In the censored version, this explanation is completely obscured by a continuous audio bleep.
As the town begins to rebuild following the Mecha-Streisand attack ('for the 39th time', according to Mayor McDaniels), Stan, Kyle, and Kenny find Cartman crying – not because he learned that he murdered his father, but because he is 'half-ginger'. Mitch Conner reminds Cartman that he is 'half-Bronco' as well and tells him that makes him 'pretty cool' and departs. The boys find Cruise crying for a place in which he can live without fear of mockery. Stan, Kenny and Kyle promise to help Cruise get to such a place. The episode's closing shot is of Cruise's corpse lying on the Moon's surface alongside the corpse of the orca featured in 'Free Willzyx'.
Production[edit]
Written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, '201' was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode '200', the 200th entry of the series. Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone decided to celebrate their 200th episode by revisiting several subplots that had been featured throughout the show's 14 seasons. Multiple celebrities have been lampooned throughout the series' history, inspiring Parker and Stone to have all the past celebrities join in a class action lawsuit against the town of South Park.[3] The ginger kids—children with fair skin, freckles and red hair—have been featured in several past episodes, where they were ridiculed by Cartman, who views them with prejudice.[4][5] Cartman uses a hand-puppet con-artist named Mitch Conner who originally appeared in the seventh season episode 'Fat Butt and Pancake Head', in which Cartman pretends his hand is Jennifer Lopez and uses many Hispanic stereotypes in his portrayal of her.[6][7] Cartman regards Connor as a separate entity and has conversations with him, while Stan and Kyle do not accept this idea at all.
'201' also included several characters and subplots that were not featured in '200', such as the return of Dr. Alphonse Mephisto and Kevin, characters that had not been featured on South Park for about 10 years.[8] Other previously recurring characters made appearances in '201', including Mr. Hankey, Big Gay Al, Mr. Slave and Pip Pirrup. Scott Tenorman, and the references to Cartman's murder of Scott's parents, were from the fifth season episode 'Scott Tenorman Must Die'. At the end of '201', the dead body of Tom Cruise lies alongside the corpse of a killer whale, a reference to the ninth season episode 'Free Willzyx', in which the South Park boys help an orca escape a marine amusement park and flee to the moon, believing it to be a paradise.[9] Pip Pirrup, who became a background character after his own eponymous episode and made only two speaking roles after before completely disappearing from the show in Season 11, makes a brief appearance and is killed off when Mecha-streisand steps on him.
Muhammad storyline[edit]
An image of the Muslim prophet Muhammad was shown in the 2001 episode 'Super Best Friends', but was censored from the 2006 episode 'Cartoon Wars Part II' due to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. This change in Comedy Central's broadcast policy was mocked in the episode '200', which led to further censorship in '201'.
One of the most prominent storylines from '200', which continued into '201', was the characters' efforts to bring Muhammad into public view. This is based on two past controversies in 2005 (Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy) and 2007 (Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy), when European newspapers published cartoons of Muhammad, resulting in riots, global protests, and death threats toward the artists. As a result of those incidents, many publications and television studios have refused to broadcast images of Muhammad in any form, which was the inspiration behind Tom Cruise's efforts to harvest Muhammad's apparent immunity to satire and ridicule.[4][10][11] Parker and Stone have previously voiced dissatisfaction that images of Muhammad had been censored on the show despite the fact that his image was shown during the 2001 episode 'Super Best Friends', without any censorship, before the cartoon controversies began.[4][6] '201' continues the theme from '200' that argues against fear and censorship, and calls for support of free speech, both of Muhammad's image and any subject considered taboo.[12][13]
Threats and censorship [edit]
Apology from South Park Studios for not being able to stream the episode[14]
In the week between the broadcasts of '200' and '201', the website for the New York-based radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim posted an entry that included a warning to creators Parker and Stone that they risked violent retribution for their depictions of Muhammad. The entry stated that they 'will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show.' Van Gogh was a filmmaker who was murdered by a man named Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004 for making a short documentary on violence against women in some Islamic societies. The posting provided the addresses to Comedy Central in New York and the production company in Los Angeles. The author of the post, Zachary Adam Chesser, said it was meant to serve as a warning to Parker and Stone, not a threat, and that providing the addresses was meant to give people the opportunity to protest.
The entry included audio clips of a sermon by al-Qaeda imam Anwar al-Awlaki calling for the assassination of anyone who has defamed Muhammad, saying, 'Harming Allah and his messenger is a reason to encourage Muslims to kill whoever does that.'[15][16] Subsequently, the website for the organization was hacked, temporarily redirecting web traffic to images of Prophet Muhammad with a bomb on his head and an older Muslim man kissing a young boy passionately.[17]
Before '201' aired, the New York City Police Department increased security at the Comedy Central headquarters in direct response to the threats. Law enforcement officials said Revolution Muslim itself was 'all talk' and had never engaged in any actual violence but they were concerned that the website post could inspire violence from others.[18][19]
During the original broadcast of '201' on April 21, 2010, all references to Muhammad's name were obscured by audio bleeps. Several other portions of dialogue were also censored, including almost the entirety of three consecutive monologues spoken by Kyle, Jesus and Santa Claus at the end regarding the moral of the episode. Muhammad's name appeared in the previous episode, '200', without any such censorship. Both episodes obscured all images of what was apparently Muhammad with a black 'CENSORED' box. Immediately after the episode '201' aired, the series website South Park Studios posted a notice that said Comedy Central had inserted 'numerous additional bleeps throughout the episode' after Parker and Stone submitted their final cut to the network. The network later confirmed they were responsible for the audio censorship.[20][21]
On April 22, 2010, South Park Studios released a brief statement:[20]
In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it.
Some of these developments had been anticipated in the 2006 South Park episodes 'Cartoon Wars Part I' and 'Cartoon Wars Part II'. These episodes showed South Park's reaction to a controversy regarding censorship of Muhammad depictions on two (fictional) episodes of Family Guy.
In the United States '201' has never re-aired following its original debut as South Park would usually repeat during the week, and episodes from earlier in the season were shown instead. Although South Park Studios generally makes unexpurgated versions of their episodes immediately available to view, the notice indicated Parker and Stone did not have network approval to show their original version, and thus no version of '201' could be seen on the website.[12][22]
The Canadian Comedy Network aired '201' on April 25, 2010, though the episode was censored as the American broadcast was, breaking the channel's multi-year practice of airing South Park completely uncensored.[23] Neither '200' nor '201' were shown in the version of Comedy Central in the Netherlands,[24][25] and neither episode is available on the Dutch South Park Studios website.[26][27] The Swedish affiliate of Comedy Central also refused to broadcast '200' and '201' in Sweden, claiming:[28]
Comedy Central has decided not to air these two episodes of South Park. It is a decision we've made with great reluctance. Comedy Central believes strongly in creative freedom of expression; when unique and deeply insightful creative talents like those behind South Park are able to express themselves freely, we all benefit. However, the safety of our employees is our unquestioned number one priority, and therefore we have decided to take these precautionary measures.
'Super Best Friends' was also pulled from the South Park Studios site following the increased media attention from '201'.[22][29] Episodes '200' and '201' are also unavailable on Hulu, the iTunes Store, and other streaming and download services.
Cultural references[edit]
During Mitch Conner's flashback of the Vietnam War at the beginning of the episode, 'Time of the Season' by English rock group the Zombies plays in the background. The scenes between Cartman and Scott Tenorman closely mirror a scene from the 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke where the Joker tortures and taunts Commissioner Gordon.[8][9][30] Mecha-Streisand is defeated by her inability to resist performing duets with Neil Diamond, a pop singer-songwriter.[8] During one scene, Mecha-Streisand crushes a building and someone screams, 'The Casa Bonita is gone!' This is the name of a real-life restaurant that had been seen in the episode 'Casa Bonita', and after which Parker and Stone's production facility was named.[31]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
In its original American broadcast on April 21, 2010, '201' was watched by 3.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched cable television show of the night.[32] It outperformed the previous week's episode, '200', which was seen by 3.33 million viewers.[33]
Reviews[edit]
The A.V. Club writer Sean O'Neal said '201' was an improvement over '200', but nevertheless felt '201' was 'less a cohesive episode than a grab bag of balls-out crazy scenes and cameos only loyal fans would really appreciate.' However, he also said, 'it's sure to become one of, if not the most talked-about episode of South Park ever.'[9] Even after Comedy Central announced they were responsible for the censorship in '201', he speculated as to whether it was possibly a publicity stunt by Parker and Stone to create controversy and increase viewership.[34] Ramsey Isler of IGN said the episode built on the events of '200' and delivered a strong payoff, particularly with the subplot about Cartman's father and the way it tied back to 'Scott Tenorman Must Die'. Isler said the bleeps added by Comedy Central provided some unintentional laughs and underscored the episode's underlying theme opposing censorship.[8]
Response to censorship[edit]
The real culprits here are not Muslims, but the cowards at Comedy Central. We no longer need a genuine terrorist threat to scare us into submission. We're quite capable of doing it to ourselves. Caving in has almost become a cultural reflex.
Margaret Wente,
The Globe and Mail[12]
The Globe and Mail[12]
According to a Zogby International survey conducted after '201' aired, a majority of Americans opposed Comedy Central's censorship of the episode. 71% disagreed with the network's decision to censor '201', with only 19% agreeing with the decision. 47% of those who disagreed with the censorship said they disagreed strongly, with only 5% who agreed claiming they felt strongly.[35] Some commentators suggested because Comedy Central responded to Revolution Muslim's warnings by censoring depictions of Muhammad, the Muslim extremists scored a significant public victory.[36][37][38]
Michael Cavna of The Washington Post wrote, 'To invoke the revivified phrase: The terrorists win.'[36]Toronto Sun columnist Mike Strobel pointed out Revolution Muslim is a relatively small group of 'a half-dozen wannabe Osamas', but said because of Comedy Central's response, 'The loonies and terrorists win one. No doubt, they'll try this stunt again.'[39] Likewise, Jean Marbella of The Baltimore Sun said, 'It's not even that the terrorists have won, it's that wannabe terrorists have won.'[40]Margaret Wente of The Globe and Mail said the censorship of '201' could be 'the lowest point in the history of American TV', and that it represented a gravitation toward fear in a post-September 11 attacks world.[12]Los Angeles Times columnist Patrick Goldstein said there were 'no easy answers' and that he was not surprised Comedy Central took the threat seriously, but added, 'in a democracy, artists and political satirists should be allowed to say what they believe, even if it offends some of its audience'.[41] Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant suggested Comedy Central actually drew more attention to the Muhammad controversy, not less, by censoring the episode.[42]UCLA School of Law Professor Eugene Volokh said Comedy Central's actions risk empowering other extremists:[37]
The consequence of this position is that the thugs win and people have more incentive to be thugs. There are lots of people out there who would very much like to get certain kind of material removed, whether religious or political. The more they see others winning, the more they will be likely to do the same. Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated.
Seventeen Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists protested the threats in a petition released April 27, 2010. Among the signatures were those of Garry Trudeau, Mark Fiore, Tony Auth, David Horsey and Paul Szep. The petition stated:[43]
We, the undersigned, condemn the recent threats against the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, by the extremist organization, Muslim Revolution. Freedom of expression is a universal right and we reject any group that seeks to silence people by violence or intimidation. In the United States we have a proud tradition of political satire and believe in the right to speak or draw freely without censorship.[44]
During the April 22 broadcast of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart responded to the censorship of '201' with a ten-minute monologue about the death threats, expressing disgust toward Revolution Muslim, culminating with a song telling Revolution Muslim to 'go fuck [themselves]'. Stewart criticized Comedy Central's decision to alter the episode, while simultaneously acknowledging they likely did so to protect their employees from 'possible harmful repercussions'.[36][41]Bill Maher, host of the HBO talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, said the threats against '201' demonstrated the importance of the First Amendment and other American civil liberties, and said, 'When South Park got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Muhammad, it served—or should serve—as a reminder that our culture isn't just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It's better.' He added jokingly, 'If you don't get that, and you still want to kill someone over a stupid cartoon, please make it Garfield.'[45]
As a result of Revolution Muslim's statement, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris suggested that many people draw and publish pictures of Muhammad on May 20, 2010, which she dubbed the 'first annual Everybody Draw Mohammed Day'.[46][47] However, very few cartoonists actually joined her in criticizing Islam or depicting the prophet Muhammed; instead, much like Maher and Stewart, they merely praised her for her efforts and condemned the idea of censorship. Norris herself went into hiding, shortly thereafter, on the advice of the FBI.[48] Animated comedy series Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane voiced this ambivalence on the part of the creative community, saying 'No one is a bigger critic of organized religion than I am', but nevertheless added, 'It's tricky. You pick your battles. You have to judge how real the threat is against how funny the joke is. How much do I care about the joke?'[49] And The Simpsons also addressed the apparent hypocrisy of those who claimed to stand with South Park in a chalkboard gag during the opening sequence of the April 25, 2010 episode 'The Squirt and the Whale', with Bart Simpson writing 'South Park—We'd Stand Beside You If We Weren't So Scared'.[50]
In a 2016 oral history of South Park in The Hollywood Reporter, Vernon Chatman, the voice of Towelie as well as a writer and producer on the show said that after Comedy Central censored the episode, series co-creator Trey Parker purchased a ticket to South Africa and showed it to the head of the network as a threat because Dave Chappelle had fled to Africa, though Parker never actually went.[51]
Sri Lanka ban[edit]
The depiction of Buddha snorting cocaine in '200' and '201' prompted the government of Sri Lanka to ban the entire series outright.[52]
Home release[edit]
South Park Episode 200 Unedited
The fourteenth season of South Park was released April 26, 2011 to DVD and Blu-ray, including the episode '201'. When playing the episode, prior to the theme playing, a text card appears saying: 'The following episode appears as it originally aired on April 21, 2010. After it aired Matt Stone and Trey Parker released the following statement' and then shows the original message that was released after the episode aired. Consequently, Muhammad, his name, and the speeches made by Kyle, Jesus, and Santa are still censored as in the broadcast version. Although the end speeches are still censored, the bleeps are accompanied with music on DVD, unlike the April 21, 2010 airing, which featured a raw audio bleep.
In the episode's audio commentary, Parker only comments on the opening scene, noting that they did the episode as intended and sent it in. He and Stone comment that they are not supposed to talk about it. For the next several moments, a large audio beep obscures the commentary before Stone says 'Yeah, that's pretty much it.' During the commentary in both '201' and '200' Parker and Stone never mention Muhammad directly, referring to him only as 'the prophet of the Muslim faith'.[53] Despite the package claiming otherwise, both '200' and '201' were omitted from the Region 4 release[54] and have been completely omitted from the Region 2 (which contains the predominantly Islamic Middle East and North Africa) release as well.[55]
Online leak of uncensored version[edit]
On January 31, 2014, the original uncensored version of this episode was illegally leaked and distributed online without any approval of Comedy Central after a user on 4chan realized that the episode existed on the official website's web server and could be downloaded using rtmpdump.[2][56]
Kyle: That's because there is no goo, Mr. Cruise. You see, I learned something today. Throughout this whole ordeal, we've all wanted to show things that we weren't allowed to show, but it wasn't because of some magic goo. It was because of the magical power of threatening people with violence. That's obviously the only true power. If there's anything we've all learned, it's that terrorizing people works.
Jesus: That's right. Don't you see, gingers, if you don't want to be made fun of anymore, all you need are guns and bombs to get people to stop.
Santa: That's right, friends. All you need to do is instill fear and be willing to hurt people and you can get whatever you want. The only true power is violence.
Stan: Yeah.
— The closing speech, which was censored by Comedy Central[2]
Despite having been leaked uncensored, '201' as well as 'Super Best Friends' and '200' have still not aired in reruns and are still only legally available on DVD.
References[edit]
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- ^Strobel, Mike (April 24, 2010). 'Have you heard the one about the Muslim extremist...'Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on 2010-04-28. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^Marbella, Jean (April 24, 2010). 'South Park characters silenced by threat'. The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^ abGoldstein, Patrick (April 23, 2010). 'Muslim threats to 'South Park': Did Comedy Central cave in to knucklehead extremists?'. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 26 April 2010. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^Catlin, Roger (May 4, 2010). 'Times Square Bomb: 'South Park' Connection, or: Terror at TRL'. Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on May 7, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^Cavna, Michael (April 29, 2010). 'Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists condemn censorship of 'South Park''. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2010-10-10. Retrieved May 2, 2010.
- ^Petition, 'Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonists issue condemnation of threat against South Park Creators' (sic), dated April 27, 2010, as posted on the Washington Post website. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- ^Cavna, Michael (May 3, 2010). ''SOUTH PARK': Bill Maher to radical Muslims: Freedom of speech is 'not negotiable''. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2011-05-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^Cavna, Michael (April 25, 2010). 'Comic Riffs: 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!' grows in reaction to 'South Park''. The Washington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2010.
- ^'On the Advice of the FBI, Cartoonist Molly Norris Disappears From View'. Seattle Weekly news. September 15, 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-17. Retrieved July 8, 2012
- ^Johnston, Ian (May 3, 2010). 'Nobody, not even Muhammad, is off limits: MacFarlane'. Metro Canada. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^Abramson, Dan (April 26, 2010). ''The Simpsons' Come To The Defense Of 'South Park.' Almost. (VIDEO)'. The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
- ^Parker, Ryan (September 14, 2016). 'Holy Shit, 'South Park' Is 20! Trey Parker, Matt Stone on Censors, Tom Cruise and Scientology's Role in Isaac Hayes Quitting'. The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^'American Television Depicts Buddha Snorting Cocaine'. The Sunday Leader. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
- ^Parker, Trey (April 2011). South Park: The Complete Fourteenth Season: '201' (Audio commentary DVD). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2012-03-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'South Park – Season 14 [DVD]'. Amazon.com. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
- ^'4chan archive'. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: 201 |
- '201' Episode guide at South Park Studios
- '201' on IMDb
- '201' at TV.com
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=201_(South_Park)&oldid=914726145'
'200' | |||
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South Park episode | |||
Episode no. | Season 14 Episode 5 | ||
Directed by | Trey Parker | ||
Written by | Trey Parker | ||
Production code | 1405 | ||
Original air date | April 14, 2010 | ||
Episode chronology | |||
| |||
South Park (season 14) | |||
List of South Park episodes |
'200' is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 200th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010. In the episode, Tom Cruise and all other celebrities who have been mocked by residents of South Park in the past plan to file a class action lawsuit against the town, but Cruise promises to end the lawsuit if the town can get the Islamic prophet Muhammad to meet him.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. To celebrate their landmark episode, Parker and fellow series co-creator Matt Stone combined many of South Park's past storylines and controversies. The Muhammad subplot, similar to the one previously featured in the season 10 episode 'Cartoon Wars', refers to Comedy Central's past refusal to allow images of Muhammad to be shown on the network in response to the riots and threats generated from controversial cartoons in 2005 and 2007 of Muhammad in European newspapers.
'200' includes many celebrities that have been mocked in previous episodes, including Cruise, Rob Reiner, Steven Spielberg, Kanye West, Paris Hilton, George Lucas, Mel Gibson and Barbra Streisand. An additional subplot includes Cartman learning he may not know the true identity of his father. The 1998 season 2 episode 'Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut' claimed that Cartman's hermaphroditemother is his father, but the events of '200' and the subsequent episode reveal that this is not the case.
'200' received mostly positive reviews. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 3.33 million viewers, making it the most watched cable television program of the night. Both '200' and the sequel episode '201' were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2010.[1]Within a week of the episode's original broadcast date, the website for the radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim posted an entry warning Parker and Stone that they risked being murdered for airing the episode, which several media outlets and observers interpreted as a threat. As a result, Comedy Central heavily censored portions of '201' by removing references to Muhammad and the episode's closing speech.
- 3Theme
- 5Reception
Plot[edit]
While on a school field trip to a candy factory, Butters spots actor Tom Cruise working there, packing fudge into boxes. Stan, who previously told Cruise that his acting is not as good as others' in 'Trapped in the Closet', accidentally insults him again by calling him a 'fudge packer', as Cruise claims to be fly fishing. Cruise then recruits 200 other celebrities who have been ridiculed by the town of South Park to bring a class action lawsuit against the town. Stan returns to the factory with his father Randy to try to apologize and convince Cruise to drop the suit, but also finds it difficult not to call him a fudge packer as well since he was literally packing fudge while they spoke. An angry Cruise agrees to do so, but only if they can help Cruise meet Muhammad. This causes an uproar because depictions of Muhammad are forbidden, and the townsfolk fear that forcing Muhammad to appear in public will drive Muslim radicals to bomb the town. Stan and Kyle go to the Super Best Friends, a squad of superhero-like religious figures (Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Moses, Krishna, Laozi, Joseph Smith) of which Muhammad is a member, to request he return with them to South Park. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Cruise and the other celebrities only want Muhammad for his 'goo', as Rob Reiner, previously shown to be filled with 'goo' in 'Butt Out', has invented a machine to transfer Muhammad's 'goo' to the celebrities, which they believe will make them immune to ridicule, just like Muhammad.
By this time, Cartman arrives with 'Mitch Conner', a face painted on his hand as one-half of a ventriloquist act. Previously, Connor had successfully impersonated actress Jennifer Lopez in 'Fat Butt and Pancake Head', and now Cartman and Connor return to the Lopez imitation in order to get involved in the lawsuit along with the other celebrities. Connor soon secretly convinces Cartman that they should steal Muhammad's goo for themselves to sell on the black market for more than the lawsuit could offer. Meanwhile, Kyle and Stan convince the Super Best Friends to let Muhammad come to town, but only if he stays in the back of a U-Haul truck and is not seen. When the townspeople realize they must bring Muhammad to Cruise's limo, they allegedly put him inside a bear mascot outfit. South Park is about to give Muhammad to the celebrities when the exchange is interrupted by a bomb planted by the Ginger Kids, a group of fair-skinned, red-haired children who are tired of being made fun of for their physical appearance. The Gingers want Muhammad for themselves, hoping to use his goo for their own means. They threaten to blow up the town if Muhammad is not turned over to them.
The people of South Park decide to turn Muhammad over to the Gingers, fearing the violence that will befall their town if they do not. The celebrities are angered by this change in events, but refuse to resort to violence for fear of ruining their careers. Instead, the celebrities decide to awaken the rebuilt Mecha-Streisand, a giant mechanical monster form of Barbra Streisand, who previously terrorized the town of South Park before being destroyed. The celebrities hope to use Mecha-Streisand to force South Park to accept their demands. Meanwhile, due to the chain of events, Cartman decides Connor's scheme has become too complicated and tries to quit, but Connor convinces him to stay involved by revealing that the townspeople of South Park have lied to Cartman about his true father. Although they previously claimed his hermaphroditicmother was also his father, Connor insists this is a lie. Cartman confronts his school teacher Mr. Garrison and Garrison's old hand puppet Mr. Hat, who admits to Cartman there was indeed a cover-up. Mecha-Streisand roars threateningly and continues her reign of destruction as the episode ends.
Production[edit]
We kind of came up with the idea of, like, let's take our sort of most popular moments in the show and then put them all together and write them into a new show. So basically, revisit a bunch of stuff but give the show all its own plot. Which at first sounded like quite a head-fucker.
Trey Parker
South Park co-creator[2]
South Park co-creator[2]
Written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, '200' was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010. It was the 200th episode of the series.[3] Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone conceive, write and produce most South Park episodes within a week of their broadcast date in order to maintain a sense of energy and timeliness.[4] The idea for '200', however, was conceived before the fourteenth season began in March 2010, and before any of the season fourteen episodes that preceded it were conceived.[5] While trying to decide how to celebrate the 200th episode, Parker and Stone started reviewing the plots and controversies of previous episodes, many of which had a common thread of mocking a particular celebrity. This led to the idea of the having all the celebrities band together in a class action lawsuit against the town. Parker said their reactions mirrored the real-life reactions some of the celebrities had to their portrayals, adding, 'If they could join forces, they probably would.'[2]
Stone said in writing the episode, they were determined not to produce a clip show, but to merge all of the old ideas into a new, original script. The process proved challenging for the duo because it involved incorporating many ideas, subplots and characters into a single episode.[2] Parker and Stone included a joke about this process at the start of the episode, when Cartman and Kyle are fighting with each other, and Stan accuses them of just 'rehashing a bunch of old stuff'.[6][7] In honor of the 200th episode, the website SouthPark200.com was launched, offering a forum to fans to post their congratulations to South Park and view those posted by others. Various people have contributed to the site, including the creators of the animated series The Simpsons (who used the opportunity to revisit another previous South Park theme, the episode 'Simpsons Already Did It', saying 'We already [produced 200 episodes]. Twice.'[8]), members of the rock band Rush and Denver Nuggets basketball player Chauncey Billups. The site also includes congratulations from All in the Family creator Norman Lear, who guest-starred in the 100th episode 'I'm a Little Bit Country', and figure skater Brian Boitano, who was featured in the song 'What Would Brian Boitano Do?' in the 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.[9]
Theme[edit]
Muhammad subplot[edit]
An image of the Muslim prophet Muhammad was shown in the 2001 episode 'Super Best Friends', but was later banned from the 2006 episode 'Cartoon Wars' due to controversies regarding Muhammad cartoons in European newspapers. This contradiction is mocked in '200'. In 2010, the episode which relates to this picture was removed by South Park Studios and is no longer available for viewing.
'200' features jokes and references to past South Park episodes, storylines, characters and controversies.[2][6][10] The episode revolves heavily around efforts to bring Muhammad into public view. This is based on two past controversies in 2005 (Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy) and 2007 (Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy), when European newspapers published cartoons of Muhammad, which was responded to with reactions of violent riots, global protests and death threats toward the artists. As a result of those incidents, many publications and television studios have refused to broadcast images of Muhammad whatsoever, which was the inspiration behind Tom Cruise's efforts to harvest Muhammad's apparent immunity to satire and ridicule.[11][12][13] Parker and Stone addressed the Muhammad issue in their two-part tenth season episode 'Cartoon Wars', during which they attempt to show an image of the prophet, only to reveal that Comedy Central has forbidden any such image from being broadcast on their network. However, Muhammad had already been featured on-screen in the fifth season episode 'Super Best Friends', in which he is among a band of religious figures modeled after the superheroes in the Super Friends cartoons from the 1970s and 1980s. (The Super Best Friends are featured once again in '200'.) The episode 'Super Best Friends' aired in 2001, before the Jyllands-Posten and Vilks controversies. Stan makes reference to that past use of Muhammad's image in '200' by saying of Muhammad, 'I saw him once...a while ago...'[6][14] This reference was purposely included to reflect the irony that an image that was previously not a problem had suddenly become an issue due to new circumstances. Stone said, 'Something that was OK is now not OK, and that's just fucked up.'[2] The 'Super Best Friends' episode continues to be run uncensored by Comedy Central in repeats, even though new images of Muhammad remained prohibited.[2]
Additionally, Muhammad has long been featured as one of the many characters shown in an image of dozens of South Park residents during the show's opening credits. That image, however, has gone largely unnoticed, and thus has not drawn much controversy.[14] When asked whether they feared retribution for mocking Muhammad, Parker said, 'We'd be so hypocritical against our own thoughts, if we said, 'Okay, well let's not make fun of them because they might hurt us. Okay, we'll rip on the Catholics because they won't hurt us, but we won't rip on [Muslims] because they might hurt us.'[2][14] The Muhammad subplot in '200', like the 'Cartoon Wars' episodes, advocates for free speech and speaks out against censorship, both of Muhammad's image and any subject considered taboo.[6][15] '200' also demonstrates the double standard in the handling of offensive images of Muhammad and other religious figures, particularly in the scene in which Muhammad is censored altogether, but Buddhism founder Gautama Buddha is shown snorting cocaine in front of the South Park children.[6][15] The extreme measures the South Park boys go to in order to conceal Muhammad, like hiding him in a window-less truck and dressing him as a mascot, demonstrate the absurdity of the fear in showing the prophet, as does the fear of retaliation that the South Park residents show after Randy draws a stick figure-like drawing of him, which is not censored.[15]
Celebrities[edit]
Actor Tom Cruise(pictured), who was previously parodied in the South Park episode 'Trapped in the Closet', is mocked more than most of the other celebrities in '200'
'200' includes many celebrities that have been mocked in previous episodes.[12] One of the most prominently parodied is Tom Cruise, who was the center of the ninth season episode 'Trapped in the Closet'. Cruise spent much of that episode hiding in a closet, a reference to rumors about his sexuality. In '200', he is found working in a fudge factory as a 'fudge packer', a reference to alleged homosexuality.[16][17] The episode also reveals Cruise's house consists mostly of closets, a reference to both homosexuality and the original episode in which Cruise was mocked. [7] Since Saddam Hussein is a dangerous celebrity, he does not appear in this episode. Other celebrities mocked in '200' include:
- Actor Ben Affleck ('How to Eat with Your Butt', 'Fat Butt and Pancake Head')[18][19][20]
- Film director Michael Bay ('Imaginationland Episode I', Cartmanland)[18][21]
- Pope Benedict XVI ('Bloody Mary', 'Fantastic Easter Special')[9][22]
- al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ('Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants')[18][23]
- Magician David Blaine ('Super Best Friends')[18][24]
- U2 vocalist Bono ('More Crap')[11][25]
- Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett ('Tonsil Trouble')[6][26]
- Politician Hillary Clinton ('The Snuke')[7][27]
- Lawyer Johnnie Cochran ('Chef Aid')[18][28]
- Singer/songwriter Phil Collins ('Timmy 2000')[7][29]
- Politician Gary Condit ('Butters' Very Own Episode')[18][20]
- Comedian Bill Cosby ('Trapper Keeper', 'Here Comes the Neighborhood', 'Clubhouses')[7][20][30]
- Actor Russell Crowe ('The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer')[9][31]
- Actor Michael Douglas ('Sexual Healing')[18][32]
- Actor David Duchovny ('Sexual Healing')[16][33]
- Subway spokesman Jared Fogle ('Jared Has Aides', 'Stunning and Brave')[6][34]
- Film character Indiana Jones ('The China Probrem')[18][35]
- Actor Mel Gibson ('The Passion of the Jew, Imaginationland')[9][36]
- Television host Kathie Lee Gifford ('Weight Gain 4000')[18][20]
- Socialite Paris Hilton ('Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset')[11][37]
- Wildlife expert Steve Irwin ('Hell on Earth 2006', 'Prehistoric Ice Man')[7][38]
- Politician Jesse Jackson ('With Apologies to Jesse Jackson')[7][39]
- Singer Michael Jackson ('Dead Celebrities, The Jeffersons')[17][40]
- Actress Angelina Jolie ('Lice Capades')[16][41]
- Talk show host David Letterman ('Sexual Healing')[9][42]
- Film director George Lucas ('Free Hat', 'The China Probrem')[12][43][44]
- Actress Liza Minnelli ('Freak Strike')[7][45]
- Disney mascot Mickey Mouse ('The Ring')[9][46]
- Actress and television host Rosie O'Donnell ('Trapper Keeper')[40][47]
- Singer and activist Yoko Ono ('World Wide Recorder Concert')
- Actress Sarah Jessica Parker ('The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs')[9][48]
- Actor and film director Robert Redford ('Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls')[18][20]
- Film director Rob Reiner ('Butt Out')[9][49]
- Actor Michael Richards ('With Apologies to Jesse Jackson')[18][50]
- Actress Winona Ryder (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut)[18][51]
- Actor and television host Bob Saget ('Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut')[18][20]
- Actor Fred Savage ('Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls')[18][20]
- Actor Charlie Sheen ('Sexual Healing')[16][33]
- Actress Brooke Shields (South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut)[18][52]
- Film director M. Night Shyamalan ('Imaginationland Episode I')[18][21]
- Actor and retired football player O. J. Simpson ('Butters' Very Own Episode')[18][20]
- Actor and rapper Will Smith ('Here Comes the Neighborhood')[18][20]
- Film director Steven Spielberg ('Cripple Fight', 'Free Hat', 'The China Probrem')[12][43][44]
- Singer Britney Spears ('Britney's New Look')[40][53]
- Television host Martha Stewart ('Eat, Pray, Queef', 'Red Hot Catholic Love')[9][54]
- Actress Sally Struthers ('Starvin' Marvin,' 'Mecha-Streisand,' 'Starvin' Marvin in Space,' 'The Death of Eric Cartman')[6][55]
- Actor Billy Bob Thornton ('Sexual Healing')[7][33]
- Actor John Travolta ('The Entity', 'Trapped in the Closet')[18][20][56]
- Animal rights/Environmental activist Paul Watson ('Whale Whores')
- Rapper Kanye West ('Fishsticks')[2][57]
- Talk show host Oprah Winfrey ('Here Comes the Neighborhood', 'A Million Little Fibers')[11][58]
- Golf pro Tiger Woods ('Sexual Healing')[11][42]
Near the end of '200', the celebrities seek assistance from singer and actress Barbra Streisand, who resembles a giant two-legged mechanical monster. This is a reference to Streisand's appearance in the first-season episode 'Mecha-Streisand', in which she transforms into a monster in the style of Mechagodzilla from the Godzilla franchise.[11] The Mecha-Streisand featured in '200' is designed with more sophisticated computer imagery than the original, which was a simple cut-out style cartoon like the rest of South Park.[6][10] Although Parker and Stone have maintained that most of the celebrities they mock in South Park are chosen at random, with no personal animosity behind it, Barbra Streisand is one of the few they actively and vehemently dislike.[59] Streisand, in turn, has been critical of South Park and her portrayal in it, and has accused the show of adding 'to the cynicism and negativity in our culture, especially in children'.[60]
Cartman's father[edit]
The episode ends with a cliffhanger involving Cartman's father.[10][17] The identity of Cartman's father made up a major plot point at the end of the first season, culminating in the second season episode 'Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut', in which it is revealed Cartman's mother, Liane Cartman, is a hermaphrodite and, in fact, is Cartman's father. '200' is the first episode to return to the matter and suggest this was not the actual truth.[12] Throughout the episode, Cartman uses a hand-puppet con-artist named Mitch Conner, who had, presumably, just been made up by Cartman in trying to fool Kyle in the seventh-season episode 'Fat Butt and Pancake Head', resuming his role in pretending to be Jennifer Lopez and utilizing many offensive Hispanic stereotypes in his portrayal of her.[6][10] The hand puppet portrayal is very similar to the work of Spanish ventriloquist Señor Wences.[12]
Several other references to previous South Park episodes are featured throughout '200'. It marks the reappearance of Mr. Hat, a hand puppet that had been frequently used by Mr. Garrison during the early South Park seasons, but had long been abandoned in later episodes.[10][12] During the second half of '200', an army of red-haired 'ginger kids' attempt to capture Muhammad themselves. Several South Park episodes, most prominently the ninth-season episode 'Ginger Kids', have featured the ginger kids, which are children with fair skin, freckles and red hair. In most cases, they have been made the subject of ridicule by Cartman, who views them in an offensively stereotypical way.[12][61]
Cultural references[edit]
During one scene, a frustrated Tom Cruise angrily jumps up and down on a couch while Oprah Winfrey sits next to him. This is a reference to an incident on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2005, in which Cruise repeatedly jumped on the couch next to Oprah, fell to one knee and loudly professed his love for actress Katie Holmes. Cruise has been repeatedly mocked for his behavior.[11] In another scene, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are shown to have actor Harrison Ford leashed, chained and ball-gagged, as the actor wears the fedora he wore in the Indiana Jones films. This is a reference to the twelfth season episode 'The China Probrem', in which Lucas and Spielberg literally rape Indiana Jones repeatedly, which served as a commentary by Parker and Stone for the poor quality of the 2008 Spielberg/Lucas film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.[12] A cartoon image of film director Tim Burton is featured in the episode, despite having not been previously ridiculed by the show. In the episode, Burton is mocked for not having an original idea since the 1988 comedy horror film Beetlejuice, and for his tendency to feature film actor Johnny Depp in so many of his films that he should 'just have sex with him [Johnny Depp] already'.[6] Cartman's Jennifer Lopez hand-puppet repeatedly demands food from the American restaurant chain Taco Bell, particularly enchiritos, which is one of the many Hispanic stereotypes utilized by the character.[6] Also, when the celebrities are discussing who to bring in to help capture Mohammed, Barbra Streisand is referenced as 'her,' to which the discussion goes 'her who?' 'her' 'oh...her.' This is slightly reminiscent of the movie Little Shop of Horrors when Rick Moranis and Steve Martin are talking about Audrey, who the dentist had physically abused, where Steve asks 'what did I ever do to you' and Rick answers 'it wasn't what you did to me, it was what you did to her' Steve: 'her? oh...her'[citation needed][62]
Reception[edit]
Ratings[edit]
In its original American broadcast on April 14, 2010, '200' was watched by 3.33 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, making it the most watched cable television show of the night.[63] It outperformed the previous week's episode, 'You Have 0 Friends', which was seen by 3.07 million viewers,[64] and it was seen by roughly 177,000 more viewers than its closest competitor on April 14, USA Network's In Plain Sight. The episode received an overall 2.0 rating/3 share, meaning that it was seen by 2% of the population, and 3% of people watching television at the time of the broadcast. Among viewers between ages 18 and 49, it received a 1.9 rating/5 share, and among male viewers between 18 and 34, it received a 3.7 rating/13 share.[63]
Reviews[edit]
This was South Park distilled to its essence: Cartman and his friends caught up in the stupidity all around them, created by absurd, neurotic, fearful, repressed adults. Parker and Stone set themselves apart from all this by insisting on remaining juvenile — something like genius juveniles.
Ken Tucker
Entertainment Weekly[12]
Entertainment Weekly[12]
The episode received mostly positive reviews. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly said he was surprised by the complexity of '200' and the amount of South Park references and subplots it encompassed, especially the questions over Cartman's father. Tucker praised the episode, and said, 'With jokes raining down like hell-fire, the 200th episode spared no one except the South Park kids themselves.'[12] Ramsey Isler of IGN said it was fun to identify all the references to past South Park moments, but felt '200' itself didn't stand out as a great episode. Isler said the new material wasn't very funny, and that the rehashed material was not as funny as the first time they were shown, which was disappointing due to the hype surrounding the episode.[10]The A.V. Club writer Sean O'Neal said the episode was funny, but that the original material was far outnumbered by rehashed jokes. O'Neal said the use of all the celebrities demonstrated how South Park had been more original in early episodes, but now had 'morph[ed] into something whose default mode is mocking famous people in the news'.[6]
Watch South Park Episode 200
Douglas Murray of The Daily Telegraph said of the episode, 'I can't recommend it enough',[15] and particularly complimented the episode scenes with Buddha snorting cocaine and the South Park townspeople hiding Muhammad. Murray said, 'They make the point about the absurd self-censorship and thuggish intimidation surrounding the Islamic faith better than anything else I've seen.'[15] Amy Duncan of Metro said it 'certainly was an episode to remember'. Duncan praised the story, which she said 'develops with [South Park's] usual rude inferences and below-the-belt remarks'.[65] Ryan Broderick of The Hofstra Chronicle said the episode 'came together so simply, so smoothly, and so hilariously that it forgives the last couple lame duck episodes of the season'. Broderick said it avoided the pitfalls of most landmark episodes by providing an original story in addition to the throwback references.[66] Nick Zaino of TV Squad said the episode did not offer much new, but also offer good throwbacks and celebrity spoofs, and didn't 'pull any punches'. Zaino said the episode has 'a wonderful sense of the absurd', particularly through the use of Mecha-Streisand and Cartman's hand-puppet.[7]
South Park Episode 200 Torrent List
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights and advocacy group, said they were aware of the depiction of Muhammad in '200', but declined to put out a formal statement about it because they did not want to draw any more attention to the show. The group's spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, said, 'People are pretty tired of this whole 'Let's insult the prophet Muhammad thing.'[67]
Revolution Muslim entry[edit]
We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.
Abu Talhah al Amrikee[12]
The website for the organization Revolution Muslim, a New York-based organization, posted an entry that included a warning to creators Parker and Stone that they risk retribution for their depictions of Muhammad. It said that they 'will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show.' Filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by an Islamist in 2004 for making a short documentary on the violence against women in some Islamic societies. The posting provided the addresses to Comedy Central in New York and the production company in Los Angeles. The author of the post, Zachary Adam Chesser (who preferred to be called Abu Talhah al Amrikee),[68] said it was meant to serve as a warning to Parker and Stone, not a threat, and that providing the addresses was meant to give people the opportunity to protest.
The entry included audio clips of a sermon by al-Qaeda imam Anwar al-Awlaki, calling for the assassination of anyone who has defamed Muhammad, saying, 'Harming Allah and his messenger is a reason to encourage Muslims to kill whoever does that.'[69][70] It also included a link to a 2009 Huffington Post article that gave details of Stone and Parker's mansion in Colorado,[70] and images of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, an activist writer and critic of Islam, who lives in permanent security protection because of threats.[71] Comedy Central declined to comment on the post.[70] Before writing the Revolution Muslim post, Chesser wrote an April 15 entry on his Twitter page: 'May Allah kill Matt Stone and Trey Parker and burn them in Hell for all eternity. They insult our prophets Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses.'[67] Chesser was subsequently sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment for this and other offenses.
Despite Chesser's statements that the website entry was a warning, several media outlets and observers interpreted it as a threat.[72][73][74] Ayaan Hirsi Ali dismissed claims that the website entry was just a warning, calling it 'an assault on the freedom of expression' that should not be marginalized or overlooked. She said of the episode, 'The 'South Park' episode of last weekend was not just funny, and it wasn't just witty. [It] addressed an essential piece in the times that we are living. There is one group of people, one religion[,] that is claiming to be above criticism.'[72]New York City Police CommissionerRaymond Kelly said he was aware of the website posting, but said, 'We don't think that this threat, as [it] is currently assessed, rises to a crime right now.'[75]
CNN journalist Anderson Cooper said of the episode, 'You might not like South Park the cartoon. You might think it's offensive. [But] the notion that some radical Islamic group in America would make a threat, even a veiled one, against two men's lives because of it is chilling.'[72]Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly said he would have advised Parker and Stone not to do the episode out of fear of retaliation: 'On the one hand you do have to admire their courage. But I don't know whether the risk–reward [ratio] is worth it.'[73]The Daily Telegraph writer Douglas Murray said the entry only gave '200' more legitimacy, writing, '[It] of course just confirms the point that the South Park boys were making. [...] I'd have said that was point proved. South Park 1: Islamists 0.'[71] On the April 22, 2010, episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, host Jon Stewart went into a ten-minute tirade about the alleged death threats, expressing disgust at the alleged hypocrisy of Revolution Muslim's speech while its members enjoy the American lifestyle and freedom of speech.[76][77]
In response to the Revolution Muslim post, the South Park episode '201', which aired the following week and concluded the unresolved storylines from '200', was heavily censored by Comedy Central. The channel inserted audio bleeps over all references to Muhammad's name and other portions of dialogue, including the entirety of the ending speech by the show's main characters.[78][79]
The Dutch version of Comedy Central began airing commercials for '200' during the week of April 26, with the show scheduled to air on April 30. However, 'The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs' was shown instead. When asked about this, a spokesperson for Comedy Central Netherlands said they had reluctantly decided the episode to be pulled,[80] along with the episode '201'.[81] Neither episode is available on the Dutch South Park Studios website; the same applies to the German website as of May 9, 2010.[82][83] The Swedish affiliate of Comedy Central also refused to broadcast '200' and '201' in Sweden:[84]
Comedy Central has decided not to air these two episodes of South Park. It is a decision we've made with great reluctance. Comedy Central believes strongly in creative freedom of expression; when unique and deeply insightful creative talents like those behind South Park are able to express themselves freely, we all benefit. However, the safety of our employees is our unquestioned number[-]one priority, and therefore we have decided to take these precautionary measures.
Possible link to Times Square car bomb attempt[edit]
On May 1, 18 days after the episode's original airdate, a failed car bomb attempt was discovered by the New York City Police Department near the eastern corner of 1 Astor Plaza in New York City, on West 45 Street, on a side street near the location of the world headquarters of Viacom, Comedy Central's parent company. Some news outlets reported that police are looking into a possible link between the attempted bombing and the warnings of violence against Trey Parker and Matt Stone, although no such link has yet been established.[85][86] Such speculation was also fueled by statements from U.S. Congressman Peter T. King, who described as one possible motive 'the whole issue with 'South Park,' which Islamic terrorists were threatening to have retribution for.' However, King stressed the theory was 'one possibility out of a hundred'.[87] Revolution Muslim has denied any involvement with the incident. Younus Abdullah Muhammed, who runs the group's website, was in Times Square at the time speaking out against President Barack Obama with a loudspeaker. But he said of the failed car bomb, 'What do you think, I commanded somebody to blow up a building in the middle of Times Square? [...] It had nothing to do with the 'South Park' controversy. It was not an attack targeting Viacom.'[88] NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said of the theory, 'We certainly wouldn't rule that out.'[89] However, media reports indicated Faisal Shahzad, the suspect arrested in connection with the attempted bombing, had trained for months prior to the first broadcast of '200.'[90]
Sri Lanka ban[edit]
The depiction of Buddha snorting cocaine in '200' and '201', prompted the government of Sri Lanka to ban the entire series outright.[91]
Digital censorship[edit]
The day after the episode aired, the episode was available for streaming on the site. After a week, like the other Muhammad episodes, it was taken off due. The message presented to the user for this episode is 'We apologize that South Park Studios cannot stream this episode.'[92] The sequel episode, '201', also has not been made available for streaming, but a different message describes an intent to potentially post that episode. Similarly the episode and its sequel are not available to stream or buy on services Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, or Amazon on Demand. Furthermore, digital copies of these episodes that were purchased prior to their ban from digital distribution are no longer available for streaming or download.
Home release[edit]
Although '200' was not currently available on the internet legally, and had not re-aired since April 2010, it was confirmed on February 11, 2011 that '200' will be released on DVD.[93] '200' along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's fourteenth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-ray set in the United States on April 26, 2011.[94]
South Park Episodes 200 201
The version presented on the DVD and Blu-ray is the uncensored version, with Muhammad's name unbleeped,[95] unlike the episode that follows, '201', which is presented on disc in its original network censored version. During the commentary in both '200' and '201' Parker and Stone never mention Muhammad directly, referring to him only as 'the prophet of the Muslim faith'.[96]Despite the package claiming otherwise, both '200' and '201' were completely omitted from the Region 4[97] and Region 2 releases.[98]
References[edit]
South Park Episode 200 Uncensored
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