9: New South Park

In the South Park episode that premiered last Wednesday, Trey Parker and Matt Stone really epitomized the self referential humor that the show is known for. Having read J.D. Sallinger's "Catcher in the Rye", Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny decide to write a more obscene book that will certainly be banned by the schools.  Fearful of the trouble they will be in when Stan's mother reads the book, they claim that Butters is the author, not realizing that the public thinks the book is brilliant. This episode is a personal analysis of the debate over and about South Park, and a thourough synopsis of the shows history.

The book, "Scrotie McBoogerballs", represents the basic obscenity that Parker and Stone intended with their show when they first developed it. Like Cartman, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle, Parker and Stone intended to shock the establishment with the crassness of South Park. However, once it premiered the public thought it was brilliant, and refused to acknowledge its crudeness.

Also, when some of the critics in the episode are analyzing the book, they claim that it is both liberal and conservative. This is a reference to the debate around Parker and Stone's political leanings. In 2005 Brian C. Anderson published a book called "South Park Conservatives" claiming that the show's creators emphasize a new form of conservatism on television. Once the book was published, leading liberal scholars disagreed and published works arguing for the liberal bent of South Park. Parker and Stone have repeatedly denied political affiliations, their basic stance seems to stand with libertarians, and with neither liberals nor conservatives.