The rather awe-inspiring season premiere of South Park last night looked, at first, as though it was going to pander to its audience by making fun of the Jonas Brothers, but once again triumphantly turned the tables on pop-culture hypocrisy. Invoking the time-honored power of rock music to inspire feelings of joyous lust, the 13-season opener found Kenny with his first girlfriend, Tammy, a Jonas fan who was moved to perform certain sexual acts in thrall to Jonas-music… until the noble band convinced her and legions of other fans to wear purity rings and abstain.
But this being South Park, the satire quickly expanded exponentially. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone suggested that perhaps the Disney company, as embodied here by a squawking, expletive-spewing Mickey Mouse, “can sell sex to the little girls” deviously: the Jonas Brothers are packaged as safe and chaste, even as their music inevitably gets the kids all hot ‘n’ bothered. When the Jonas boys decide they’re being used, Mickey yelps that he’s been in control of pop culture “since the ’50s” and goes on a cynical rant against Christianity that’s picked up by an open microphone and broadcast to a vast audience.
Thus did South Park ultimately come down on the side of religion and sexual freedom, with lots of big laughs in the bargain. Cartman’s delightfully clueless, crude warnings against sex must be seen and heard in context (I dare not print his magnificently warped view of the female anatomy here, but you can catch a rerun). And don’t worry, the show retained its traditions: Kenny dies, but in a new way I wouldn’t dream of spoiling for anyone who missed it.
All this, plus Cartman offers the most definitive, pungent critique of Grey’s Anatomy ever. This was an episode Kevin, Joe, Nick Jonas and you could get behind. Especially if you think a purity ring should actually stand for something. Trey and Matt are off to a great 13th-season start.
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I agree, I thought it was pretty funny and was a good start. But I’m not too share that they were too nice to the Jonas Brothers. Sure, they weren’t the center for critique, but I think that they were parodied in a very funny way, with all the gay jokes and crappy music. But I love how they turn the tables on us. All in all, very funny.
I disagree. Very disappointing start to the season. I’m sick of them putting all of these celebrity characters and real people on the show; it’s not even about the South Park characters or absurd stories anymore. I want to be entertained and South Park used to be great at crossing boundaries to make a point. Now they are the ones spewing their views. Might be time for them to call it quits.
Dudee… they’ve ALWAYS made fun of celebs…
I’m sorry you misunderstood the primary focus of this episode. But ignorance is no excuse for your comment. It wasn’t about the jonas brothers it was about the disney corporation and its evil agenda.
Hilarious!
This was funnier than any episode last season!
This is coming from a JB fan, by the way
That one was really funny mickey line who sent you dreamworks was funny .
If you don’t like parody, watch Family Guy. No one’s making you watch things you hate.
I hope Trey and Matt have good lawyers….Disney Corp cannot possibly be too happy…..but I am! My god, that was uncomfortably funny!
“…not about the absurd stories anymore…”
“…used to be great at crossing boundaries…”
so, i guess a violent, profanity spewing ‘mickey mouse’ is not absurd or crossing boundaries (come on, did you see ‘mickey’ with the chain saw?)
It was only durin the first part of the episode that they made the JB look just as they do – fools- But then in the end they gave JB an innocent scape-goat though their desire to get out the the whole act, untill ass kicked into submission by Mickey. Then it’s all about oh, man it isn’t the JB that’s brain fuc***….it’s Disney!
The satire on boy band infatuation and hyper-sexualized pop teen culture was hilarious.
I didn’t think it gave a fair shake to the purity ring movement, but maybe this author is correct in asserting that it actually exonerated the Jonas Brothers in the end.
More at http://www.principallypolitical.com
I agree…it was a smart and timely critique of Disney…sure, it viewed the Jonases more through the eyes of the South Park demo (mincey, naive, iffy music) but that’s OK, no Jonas fan (I’m one) thinks anything is going to change minds about that right now. If only the Jonases COULD walk away from Disney so easily.
“I’m sick of them putting all of these celebrity characters and real people on the show…”
Dude, did you just start watching last year or something? They’ve been doing celebrity spoofs since the very first season. If you’re sick of it, what the hell took you so long?
“But I’m not too share that they were too nice to the Jonas Brothers”
I’m guessing you mean they WERE too nice, and yeah, maybe. But they’ve already chastised boy bands (“Something You Can Do With Your Finger” – Season 4), so it’s pretty well-covered territory by this and many other shows. Besides, queermo’s or not, the Jonas Brothers are just kids and are pretty accurately depicted as cogs in the wheel of Disney’s mass manipulation. Speaking of which…
“I hope Trey and Matt have good lawyers….Disney Corp cannot possibly be too happy…..”
If they can get away with blowing most of Mickey’s head off in “Imaginationland”, I think they’ll be safe this time around, too.
Awesome start to the season.
I will have to watch imaginationland again, I do not remember them killing Mickey. Anyway, everything is screened before they air it. Comedy Central gets rights, etc, before they allow anything. Disney had to allow them to use their trade mark character. If they had done it without permission from the company, then this would have been the last season.
Once again Trey and Matt have shown their superiority over Seth Macfarlane by creating actual satire that is both clever and funny.
South Park does not need to mindlessly reference pop culture gags, or repeat annoying bits over and over (have you heard about the bird?).
My main concern is. How is this show even still on?
South Park is always so fresh, how can you ever compare anything else 2 it. Come on, this episode was great cant wait 4 more.
“I hope Trey and Matt have good lawyers….Disney Corp cannot possibly be too happy…..”
Satire isn’t covered by libel or slander laws. If it was, Tom Cruise would have sued them to hell and back over the “In The Closet” episode.