Photos
On last night’s episode of the Simpsons, Bart wrote “South Park–We’d Stand Behind You If We Weren’t So Scared.” This is in reference to last week’s Cartoon Scandals Picayune front page headline about yet another episode of South Park in which Trey Parker and Matt Stone attempted to animate Mohammed and found themselves “censored” by the network after threats of violence were received. Personally, I find it hard to believe this is a “thing.” I mean, on the one hand, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are definitely poking the hive, and since they’ve already been down this path once before, one begins to get the sense that they’re poking it for poking’s sake. I mean, while I respect their desire to make fun of whomever they want to make fun of whenever they feel like making fun of them, since this is America and organized religion is antiquated and backward, I also am pretty sure there are other jokes in the world. Like, they’ve been on the air for more than 150 years, and I am pretty sure that they’re capable of finding something else to talk about. On the other side of the issue, I understand why people might be complaining about Comedy Central’s refusal to air the full episode, claiming censorship and blah blah blah, but it’s important to remember that Comedy Central is a private capitalistic enterprise, not an activist member of the press. Moreover, we do live in a complicated world. I was reading an article in the New York Times this weekend, about an actual event happening in the real world, and this was the second paragraph in the article:
For more than two years, Ali Hussain Sibat of Lebanon has been held in a prison in Saudi Arabia, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. His head is to be chopped off by an executioner wielding a long, curved sword.
Uh, whut?
My point is that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are hardly the world’s foremost champions of free speech. They are Fart Joke Industry professionals with a particularly vocal moral stance, but at the end of the day they are still Fart Joke Industry professionals. And Comedy Central is a basic cable network that still airs reruns of Grandma’s Boy on a regular basis. It is not surprising that South Park attempted to do something that offends a large number of people, and it’s not surprising that a cable network (and a COMEDY-BASED cable network at that) declined to involve themselves in a cultural divide that currently has America fighting two fucking actual real life wars for real that are actual wars abroad. So, you know, so what? Although well-played on the part of The Simpsons, I guess, for getting a ton of publicity by piggybacking on this. Kind of.
Please feel free to discuss the South Park non-issue, or just post pictures of animals playing sports. Neither option will have any effect on the world we live in.
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Soccer Horse is outraged.
Man, you totally beat me to that picture guess I’ll have to go with dog playing football.
It has been too long since I’ve posted and I’ve apparently forgotten how to attach images
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!
Completely unrelated, but I love that there is a picture of Homer as an astronaut hanging on the wall in Ms. K’s classroom.
I’m shocked that Saudi Arabia allowed that TV mystic to be represented by a woman, even if she has to stay in Lebanon to be his official lawyer. Saudi Arabia’s laws are fucking gross.
Can you imagine? What if she gets her woman germs on him somehow? Or on an innocent child?
THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN
THINK ABOUT THE CHILDREN
wu-tang is for the children
This is especially funny because Wu-Tang is associated with the Five Percenters a group of American Black Muslims.
As an Buddhist Christian Indian who is one of my Mormon husband’s 14 wives, I believe I have far more reason to want to kill everybody than any stinking Muslim.
I mean, it’s Sea-MAN for Christ’s sake.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
I will fall on my sword in shame. Are we best friends now?
Since ‘Buddhist’ came first, it is reasonable to assume that Lulubelle was all geeked out on some uncut colombian when s/he commented. And won’t that just put one’s grammar right in the pail, eh?
I actually wrote all that in reverse order, but apparently that got posted in the alternate universe.
As a Muslim i find your tone very rude. Our prophet Muhammad is not to be made a mockery out of. Matt and Trey are Christians, it is their own faith they are mocking when they portray Jesus in that manner. (no offense to any Christians whatsoever). And it is the fault of any Buddhist, Mormon or any other person whose God/Prophet was portrayed badly in that or any other episode of any series, because they refused to speak up and defend their beliefs. As a Muslim speaking, it is a red-line to make fun of our prophet, a line that NO ONE should cross. And you, Lulubelle have no right to call us “stinking Muslims”. So please watch your mouth and respect all people.
Sam.
Welcome to America, Sam. You’re free to be pissed, and Lulubelle is free to think Muslims smell. I have a hunch she was joking, though… so relax a little. You’ll live longer.
Grandma’s Boy is funny, Gabe.
Adios, turd nuggets.
Word
And it also features Lindsay Weir as the love interest! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT GABE
Um, a cohesive plot, maybe?
Just kidding. Nick Swardson + Kevin Nealon × racecar bed = sold.
I was hoping someone would say this before I had to come in and take the hit. Way to go, dUb-ILL!
WHAT IS THIS? I mean, Who even watches the Simpsons anymore?
And who even watches South Park anymore?
This girl:
I watch South Park.
Being from CO, I enjoy the references to local CO landmarks.
But being a testicular cancer survivor, I did not enjoy the episode this season where Randy intentionally gets testicular cancer so he can score medicinal marijuana.
And the big thing about “Why is South Park doing this Mohammed stuff again?” is only because for their 200th episode they wanted to do a story where they revisit all their past controversies. I found it really funny, and would like to know what the “You know, I learned something today” speech was, considering the whole thing was one long BEEEEEEEEP during it’s airing.
Hey, congrats on kicking cancer’s ass!
Thanks! It’s still something that I occasionally will give me “cancer scares.”
At the risk of sharing TOO MUCH, I’ve had 3 scares over these past 18 months because the treatment has left me prone to bacterial infections down there (akin to urinary tract infections except not in my urethra but in my testes’ plumbing). So day 1 is denial, where I pretend I don’t feel anything, Day 2 is where my brain has convinced me it’s cancer, back to reclaim my other one and I’m afraid to even inspect the area, and by Day 4 I find myself breaking down in the shower in a nice little corner of despair which finally motivates me to cough up the $100 and visit the ER for an ultrasound, reassurances that my guy is ok, and antibiotics!
FUN! (sorry guys, I have very few outlets for sharing this stuff- I’m done now!)
I didn’t find the testicular cancer thing funny either, because a) it was weird and not funny b) uhhhh cancer.
For the record I too don’t mind cancer jokes. I wasn’t angry with South Park and I did recognize the absolute extreme of a bad idea Randy’s method of getting weed was. I did enjoy the music they played whenever everyone was hopping around on their giant balls tho.
And people have already touched on this, but Trey and Matt have always had a “fair game” policy- either everything can be laughed at, or nothing can. I like laughing, and if at times those things are offensive to me or make me feel uncomfortable I understand that no one is making that thing specifically for me.
The cancer experience is a shitty one, and to see it trivialized can be a sore reminder of how heart-wrenching it actually is to experience, but I’m not going to fault anyone on trying to knock cancer down a peg.
South Park previously did a great bit with Russell Crowe fighting cancer around the world.
Shit! my comment above was a reply to dictums below. Sometimes these reply buttons can be so confusing.
My girlfriend has cancer, so I found that episode kind of unpleasant to watch, too. Actually, it’s hard not to be more aware of how many cancer jokes there are floating around. Just a few weeks ago, my friend was telling me that he wasn’t feeling so good, then joked it was because he had cancer, and then immediately went wide-eyed and started apologizing, although that time I actually did find it funny.
I don’t know how much to complain about this kind of thing generally, though, since nearly every joke a show like South Park makes is going to tweak somebody for some reason, so I don’t know about how fair it is to say that they shouldn’t make one particular kind of joke, even if that joke pertains to unambiguous tragedy. All I can really say is that cancer isn’t quite the laugh riot it used to be for me.
Doesn’t that basically encapsulate Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s point. They make fun of things for a living, why can they not make fun of this? Because these people are totally crazy?
I’m a cancer survivor and I personally don’t mind cancer jokes. I think it becomes that big pink elephant i the corner of the room that everyone ignores but if you joke about it usually lightens things up.
I hope things go well for your girlfriend.
Oh, absolutely, it does. If you want South Park to have free reign in mocking people, you’ve got to expect to eventually get burnt yourself. I can dislike their cancer jokes, but give them a pass if I want to keep enjoying their show (broadly speaking, anyway, since I haven’t liked the show as much lately). I think that South Park should show Mohammad if they want to and deal with the consequences if they’re prepared to do so. I don’t even mind if they did the episodes that they’ve done just to stir the hornet’s nest, because the discussion they’ve provoked is pretty interesting.
That said, Comedy Central, as their distributor, has the right to look out for their own interests, whether it goes as far as preventing people associated with the network from getting murdered (a PR no-no) or from creating negative buzz for the network. It’s not like they’re fucking over Matt and Trey or canceling their show or anything, it’s just something that goes beyond their line of comfort. And if Matt and Trey cared that much about their right to show Mohammad, they could do it outside the confines of South Park, or they could take their show elsewhere (god knows where if they didn’t choose to distribute it independently). They may be bothered by the censorship, but they can’t be that incensed. And anyway, they’ve made their point, certainly not ineffectively, with their depiction of the heavy-handed censorship that they have to deal with as a result of pusillanimous studio heads kowtowing to Muslim extremists.
Thank you, dictums. It’s not easy to paint cancer jokes with a broad stripe, because I’ve made some pretty funny ones myself! I think context is enormously important, though, and only the person with the cancer can really set the terms (and to use or abuse the superpower of instantly being able to make someone feel awkward with an especially black joke). So if I’m joking around with my girlfriend or friends, that’s one thing, but watching something like South Park and suddenly having cancer come back to the forefront of my mind isn’t a lot of fun. But it doesn’t bother me enough that I would want to make a fuss about it.
@zinco Totally.
Right after my orchiectomy I was like Buster from Arrested Development when he lost his hand. My roommate and my sister and my mom and friends and such would all uncomfortably smile and laugh as I joked with common phrases about balls but making ‘balls’ singular. Things akin to “I laughed my BALL off” or “suck my BALL” or “BALL to the wall.” But then one of them would attempt a joke and I’d be like “GET. OUT. OF. HERE. GET OUT! I’M A MONSTERRRRRRRR!!!!!”
I’ve had a lot of cancer seriousness in the last few years, and will decline to share further. The episode with the medicinal marijuana did make me wince, but I am still capable of laughing at even things that are sad and horrible, because hey.
Let me say to any member of the Vgum community who has been similarly affected that I’m glad you’re alive, and I hope your whole family and all your friends are alive too.
This guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-pKsNiINk
Damn, I’m off my proper reply spot game today!
If we are going to be discussing IMPORTANT news events like South Park censorship and actual beheadings, can we get our priorities straight? Bret Michaels is in the hospital, you guys, with like a bleeding brain.
Hospitals suck!
IDK how to use that twitter thing yet, so I’ll just write it here: Sorry to hear you were in the hospital DS3M.
Thanks man. I appreciate all the support a ton! Ill make a MB card for all of you guys to say thanks for awesome energy lo the last few days
I am drinking an adult beverage in his honor.
Perhaps from a shot glass sticking out of a skank’s hooha?
I’d like to know what Bleedin’ Gums Murphy has to say about all of this (no, I wouldn’t.)
nothing because he died, and nobody cared, except for me and Lisa
When that episode first aired I thought Bleedin’ Gums Murphy was a real person, and was so excited to tell my dad about it (he is a big jazz fan) and I got so sad when he laughed at me.
I love South Park because I am sixteen years old and have recently experienced a “political awakening”.
Sorry, Napoleon Complex. I’m a child too and South Park is pretty much the worst. Matt and Trey are weird neocon assholes and their “work” (lol?) is really mediocre
You’re right. You are a child.
I love bagging on South Park because I’m in my late twenties and distance myself from everything I used to like cause I’m “super grown-up” now.
Hehehe. Adults r so stoopid!!
[JK I wish I was an adult UGH SO MUCH TEENAGE ANGST GET OUT OF MY ROOM MOM!!!!]
Can’t we all just peep some giraffes?
I saw a giraffe’s penis when I was at a zoo in Berlin the other day. This is topical, right?
(I’ve been lurking here for a while and I am so very sorry this is my first post. I think I did it wrong.)
You made me choke on my coffee (complete with wheezy, choking gasp-snorts).
comedee: ur doin it rite
Oh, and try to say “gasp-snorts” 5 times fast.
Coincidentally, that was the day I learned to use the setting on my camera that can get good pictures of things in motion.
So now I have a few ‘action shots’ as a reminder of my wonderful experiences with animal erections.
I just realized that this made it sound like I was on the receiving end of the giraffe and trying to take pictures of the whole thing.
I’m bad at life.
I live with my dad (yeah, I KNOW), and caught him walking around in his underwear. VERY CLOSE to your penis story, I’m afraid.
The point about “they’ve already been down this path once before, one begins to get the sense that they’re poking it for poking’s sake” isn’t strictly true. The first time South Park featured Mohammed there was no censorship, and no-one took any offence at it. It was only after those cartoons ran in Denmark that it became an issue.
Apologies for the lack of sarcasm and/or ironic use of ebonics in the above.
Agreed! And they made good point regarding the depiction of Muhammad.
Here’s a drawing of Muhammed just for you:
Shit quick Gabe delete this comment. Dem radicals are gon be pisssssssssssssssed!
RIP Mr. Hausfrau… I hope you made the ball a couple times.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that guy somewhere before.
Is this the same guy?
Gross.
WHAT IS THIS? WHERE THE HELL DO PEOPLE LIKE YOU GET OFF MAKING FUN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S RELIGIONS??? YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU GUYS ARE STARTING TO REALLY PISS ME OFF!! THIS IS OFFENSIVE!
I think you need a lie down.
Does prostitution count as a sport? And is a Gremlin considered an animal?
I want to upvote this times infinity. You are the best commentator
You know, I missed out on the big South Park Scandalpalooza, due to have been peer pressured by a volcano into staying in Finland a week longer than I should have. I had concerns over losing my job due to not being there and taking vacation time I didn’t have, as well as failing out of college because the end of the semester is approaching and I have missed several deadlines. Now that I’ve finally caught up, I realize how minute my problems really are, compared to people not being able to see an entire episode of a cartoon.
Or, you know, compared to your constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech being truncated due to adherents of one particular religion demanding special treatment and threatening death to anyone who doesn’t grant that.
Freedomgum out. WOLVERIIIIINESSSS!!! (Red Dawn reference, you guys.)
The Constitution only protects your free speech from the government.
True, but in the US we expect freedom of speech and no state religion as a fact of our overall social contract with each other, not just as a carefully proscribed legal guarantee. It might not be in the Constitution exactly, but it is in our constitution.
Okay, now I’m going to go watch Two Mohammads, One Cup. America, amirite?!?
This is a bit ridiculous, sure, but it’s very very far from censorship. I think you guys maybe use that word too much but don’t enough about it.
Don’t *know* enough, argh.
You know what might cheer you up? Escaping into the hilarious world of entertainment, maybe south park or maybe something else like video of a horse kicking a soccer ball, just for a little while. Because that’s the idea.
I here ya, buddy.
I was stranded in Berlin for about a week extra and I missed 3 finals and spent an extra $300-400 in travel expenses!
That being said, missing my favorite cartoons makes me sad. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.
I’m just going to wait for coppercabs official statement on the issue.
I’m waiting for his official statement on the new MIA video.
Ugh, I can’t unsee that video.
Me too… I’m hanging out for it actually
I don’t want to preach to the choir, but it really is lame that everyone has to bow down to the death threats of extremists because of a joke. Just sayin’.
We will see how Gabe feels about this scandal once The Captains of Interwebs make him censor any image or mention of Topher Grace due to death threats from the Toby Mcguire Fan Club
Whats Up With *BEEEEEEEP*?
I have to admit was pretty gung ho about DUDE FUCK COMEDY CENTRAL, HOW DARE THEY CENSOR THE blah blah blah until I read this tumblr post by guess who! (NEVER FORGET.) I thought it was pretty thoughtful, and now I’m a bit more conflicted.
I read that too, but why should people who didn’t post gruesome photos of a murdered Dutch filmmaker next to the address of a building have to apologize on behalf of people who did? Thats a ridiculous outlook. Even if Trey Parker and Matt Stone are assholes (they are), they aren’t for that reason. BTW, Revolution Muslim are a NY based group. They hang out in front of the Islamic Cultural Center in NYC, where they actively call for a jihad, the overthrow of our government, the creation of a theocratic Ayatollah state, and they encourage the use of terrorism to reach those goals. I guess you can look at the whole Southpark thing as a non-issue, but the fact that this sort of fear mongering is coming from within the same country thats being targeted makes me feel that this IS an issue. That being said…
Revolution Muslim’s website has been shut down because of this.
that being said…SPAGETT!
I feel like you don’t have to be on one side or the other. First, I think that death threats are stupid and asking the rest of the world to have higher standards for your religion over others’ is arrogant and unfair. Obvs people should be able to have opinions without threats of death.
BUT. When you depict Mohammed in cartoon form, you know what’s going to happen. And you are deliberately incensing people to prove your point. Even if your point is correct. So it’s not a which side is right thing. They are all assholes.
here’s something that lindsay (lindsay!) wrote about it.
http://lindsayrobertson.tumblr.com/post/540884909/trey-parker-and-matt-stone-are-gigantic-assholes
Sorry Linds, but I think we should be writing blogs where we are pissed off that someone is making death threats to fucking cartoon show creators. Excuse me, not someone (hate to repeat the offensiveness of last week, lessons learned, etc), but rather Radical Muslim Extremists (AKA Under educated over indoctrinated fucking idiots). If these muslims were true muslims, they would be pissed that Jesus the Christ (of Nazareth) has been depicted on this show for almost two decades. Not a momentary appearance by a dude being billed as muhammad but obscured in an animal suit. (Muslims feel strongly about NOT depicting any prophets – Buddha (hence taliban actions in 1999-2000 in afghanistan-blowing up 200 foot high carvings of the buddha), Jesus, Muhammad, whomever)
i dont think she is saying that people should be encouraged to make death threats. nobody wants that. but why would you criticize an organization for taking the safety of its employees seriously? and what holy temple of free speech are we upset about silencing exactly? carlos mencia marathons? network television wont even allow tampon commercials to say the word “vagina.” its fine to be upset at using the threat of violence to put pressure on an organization, but its an abstract to you, as opposed to the secretary who works there. it’s very real for that person.
When they came for the tampon commercials, I said nothing, for I was not a secretary working at a company that made tampon commercials…
By saying “Muslims feel strongly about x” you’re already generalizing way too much about something as specific as visual depictions of secondary prophets. The vast majority of Muslims don’t care about Jesuspics. There are Christian holy sites all across the Middle East with depictions of Jesus that have been around for centuries. Islamicate societies have historically been among the most religiously tolerant societies in the world. Until the second half the 20th century and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Muslim-majority areas like the Middle East and North Africa were a much better place for Jews than Europe.
And equating radicalism with idiocy is a dangerous underestimation–a lot of these people are very smart and very well-educated. Osama Bin Laden comes from an obscenely wealthy family and went to elite schools. Ayman al-Zawahiri is a surgeon. The Underpants FAILBomber got a mechanical engineering degree at University College London, one of the top 5 higher education institutions in the world. Yousef Al-Khattab, the guy who runs the Revolution Muslim website, reads Chomsky. It’s easy to just write them off as idiots, but they’re not and it’s important to be wary of that.
Andy, thanks for all your thoughtful comments (and photos) on the subject. I really appreciate what you’re contributing to the discussion.
That seems like an awful lot of just picking and choosing whatever parts you want to believe in and study, or to which tenets of a religion you will adhere. Organized Religion in any form is not on my list of awesome, so forgive my ignorance on the topic of Muslims and imagery of prophets I guess. Just sick of people being bullied over stupid shit. We should be free to do what we want when we want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone and at the end of the day images of prophets do nothing to anyone except those with poisoned minds.
im glad some people realize that we are humans of the same level. we do not ride cammels to school and we do not live in tents with wireless internet routers in the tents. we have villas and german cars. clubs & worldclass DJs. world class schools and universities and the same education that you guys get, whether it be IGCSE (England) or SAT (U.S.A)
and DS3M, its not “poisoned minds”, its just taking offense when someone riddicules the leader of your religious faith. It is stricktly forbidden in our religion to depict ANY prophet whatsoever. and honestly you said that you should do what you want, when you want, “as long as it does’nt hurt anyone” well, it is extremely offensive and hurtfull to us, the Muslim faith when our prophet is depicted in a bear suite or cartoon form, or even when an attempt at mimicking his voice from the back of a UHaul is made.
I think the issue with the Afghan Buddhas was that they were “representational art” not the depiction of a prophet, per se. #talibangum
Not to mention, the Taliban are among the nuttiest of the nutty, especially back then. Safe haven for Al Qaeda, after all.
You speak truth, DS3M. Everyone’s looking at this from the censorship angle, and I think that’s missing the point. Why should anyone have to be afraid of violent repercussion for simply depicting a character? It’s not like Trey and Matt were gonna have Mohammed taking a load in the face or anything. He was going to be shown onscreen OMG sacrilege!!! It’s bullshit, and I think we’re all little PC pansies for not talking about how fucked up a religion has to be to inspire anger and threats of violence on this level. If a radical Christian group made death threats against South Park, we liberals would be outraged and bloggin’ up a storm about how religious fundamentalism is out of control in this country.
I guess what I’m trying to say is “NUT UP, CRAZY RELIGIOUS FREAKS! STOP BEING SUCH PUSSIES!”
Side note: I just googled “Mohammed” and there’s not an “image results for…” on the main search page. Well played, Google.
[Woops, forgot about multiple picture posts getting the "awaiting moderation" treatment. But this is important I think so sorry if the full comment appears later and it basically becomes a double post.]
Pictures of Muhammad are fairly common in Iran. Here’s one:
[Sorry to all you pious Sunnis who are also vgum monsters, if these offend you. Don't mean to insult, just trying to show the diversity of Muslim belief and practice.]
Here’s another one:
Doesn’t he look like White Jesus? That’s not an accident–all goes back to the Medici family and their dashing good looks/so much money, and how the “cultural divide” talk is pretty much total bullshit, the Christian and Muslim “cultures” are actually super deeply involved with each other. In fact there’s a whole book about it, “The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization” by Richard Bulliet, which everyone should read.
And here’s yet another, this time with some of his family members, plus the Angel Gabriel.
Muhammad is the big dude in the center. The veiled woman is his daughter Fatima (the burqa is pretty anachronistic, Arab women in Muhammad’s lifetime were not usually veiled so thoroughly), the guy with the bow is Ali, his cousin and son-in-law (the marital practices and politics of 7th century Arab clans were not unlike all of European royalty forever), and the kids are Ali & Fatima’s kids, Muhammad’s grandkids. In the red is Husain, in green is Hasan. These five are of particular holiness in Shia tradition.
The big difference between these types of representations and those of South Park and the Danish cartoonists is that they’re respectful devotional items, while the cartoons are pointedly mocking and derisive, critiquing with an attitude of authority something which they have not tried very hard to understand. The irony of the radicals’ vitriol against such breaches of respect is that they engage in the same kind of ignorance and misunderstanding of us in their anti-Western rhetoric. It’s pretty much an endless feedback loop of
Anyway, Food For Thought / The More You Know.
Oh, also:
Here’s Muhammad on the frieze of the Supreme Court building. he’s one in a line of 18 historical figures commended as “lawgivers” long with Hammurabi, Moses, and John Marshall. The book he’s holding is the Qur’an. You’ll notice that while he’s holding a sword, he’s holding it by the blade with the handle facing up, a decidedly non-combative stance, which goes along with the Qur’an’s preoccupation with the just application violence and military action.
Sorry to get all IslamicStudiesgum on yall with these comments. Hope it wasn’t boring.
Thank you, Andy, for the IslamicStudiesgum. It’s hard to respect something you don’t understand, and it’s hard to learn enough about something TO understand when its loudest and most visible attributes are fringe elements that seem to hate you for things you can’t control.
There’s a book called In An Antique Land. I forget the first name of the author, but the last name is Ghoush, and it does a lot to explore and expand on everything you’re talking about, particularly about the complicated relationship between Islamic civilizations and Jewish and Christian and everything else. Everything all came down to commerce and adaptability, and a lot of tolerance came out of this mutual incentive to do business.
It’s a good read for anyone who’s interested.
Andy: “The big difference between these types of representations and those of South Park and the Danish cartoonists is that they’re respectful devotional items, while the cartoons are pointedly mocking and derisive, critiquing with an attitude of authority something which they have not tried very hard to understand.”
Actually, the first, completely uncensored and not at all talked about depiction of Muhammad on South Park was the closest to derisive or pointedly mocking, as he was a super hero along with other religious figures like Jesus, Moses, etc … And Seaman. However, it didn’t actually mock or deride him.
The first episode that was censored, which was mostly about making fun of Seth McFarlane (i.e. the Worst) was just going to show him. Like with the most recent episode, they were making no attempt to mock or deride Muhammad. They were mocking and deriding the very idea that he cannot even be shown because of the threat of violence. And then, of course, they get censored even FURTHER, not just removing his image, but censoring audio as well. Because of the threat of violence.
It’s basically a trap of course, as South Park saying they want to show Muhammad would cause one to ASSUME that it would be derogatory. However, since they know they’ll get censored anyway (or in hopes of avoiding censorship) they do anything in their power to make it as non confrontational as possible. Passive aggression at it’s finest. The original episode that was censored was to have Muhammad sitting at a table and drinking tea. Definitely something to be offended about and make threats of violence about.
I think, generally, the problem I have with all of this is that it is kind of letting the terrorists/ extremists win.
Bloodshed is the only “win” for terrorists. They love it when someone does something they see as blasphemous, because that means they get to kill people and it’ll be “justified.”
Terrorism is basically political propaganda. Anytime they convince anyone that they have more power than they do, they win.
Fair enough. But a dead American body is unequivocally a much bigger win for the terrorists than a censored cartoon.
Well, a dead American body that is shown on TV. If someone went out and just shot a random person, they wouldn’t see that as a win. It’s about publicity as much as murder. Terror-ism, the word is in the title. Spreading fear. Killing people, and having it known (or at least suspected) that terrorists are responsible is great (for them), but the continuous after the fact fear of possible future attacks continues their campaign of fear without them having to do anything about it.
As long as no one attempts to talk shit about muhammad/islam on vgum, We should be good.
The grammar nazi message boards just issued a fatwa against Gabe for that last sentence.
I’m sure Steve Winwood is on it.
“POKER ISN’T A SPORT!!!!!!” – My dad.
Can we post pics of our pets Gabe? They don’t play sports, but since Birdie doesn’t have a daily post schedule yet, we can met the monsters’ pets, right?
here’s Chetos:
Tina:
and I’m currently taking care of my sister’s pet rabbit Fuzzykiss:
HELLO BUNNY!!!!
This reminds me of my bunny named Bun! We just had to have him put to sleep on Sunday because a giant tumor was growing out of his face and started growing into his brain. He was 12.
R.I.P. Bun NEVER FORGET!
We had to put my kitty Josie to sleep last Wednesday because her heart was malformed and couldn’t pump blood properly.
RIP Josie!
I’m sorry to hear that.
Yeah, it’s really sad.
Thanks for your kind words before, I really appreciated it.
It’s really sad when you have to put down an animal. Its like they are your babies for about a decade and then they become your grandparents. I put down my Chow Chow about 4 years ago and I still feel sad about it. As far as the discussion about depicting images that some may find offensive goes and/or censorship goes, the thing about that is…is….TINA!.. . TINABEAR!! …..ohh Shit:
Really? I have to put some space between that and my cat.
I like how the last cat finally came to terms with the fact that that happened. its like the different stages of cat grief of in here.
Let me introduce my cat, Typee:
She’s pretty great.
Typee, the red-nosed kitteh!
Cat of the day! Congratulations Typee!
I wish I could post a picture of my cat Bubbles but I don’t have one here at work and I would probably screw it up anyway. So just imagine a totally awesome grey tabby cat and that is Bubbles.
I find it doubtful that The Simpsons writers sat around, decided that not enough people knew about their show and made a publicity grab.
I don’t find it doubtful that the Simpson writers have seen their viewership teeter out over the last five years or so and wanted to get back in the headlines to maybe convince some people its still a good show.
Its not exactly a “censorship” thing, but it is definitely a “lame” thing. Of course comedy central routinely airs Gabriel Iglesias’ stand up. They clearly know a thing or two about being lame.
They definitely know more than two things about being lame. Remember when Carlos Mencia had his own show?
Ooooo, Gabe says, “I was reading an article in the New York Times this weekend” — Oooo, And were you daintily sipping your extra-hot venti skinny chai latte while parked in your Volvo station wagon, waiting for your kid’s lacrosse game at St. Xavier’s preparatory academy to be over? EAST COAST LIBERAL MEDIA ELITIST! THE WAR IS ON YOU!
REELLL MURRRKINSS TAKE R COUNTRY BAKK!!!!!
Andy, I can’t reply to your pictures of Mohammed so I’ll post here. All your comments on this thread are great and helpful and informed. MORE COMMENTERS LIKE ANDY PLZ
Agreed.
how da fck do you post images
You’re doing it the right way; it just doesn’t work if you’re trying to post a picture of Mohammed.
Just post the link straight with no tags. Just the link by itself.
Bless your patience werttrew.
This wins so hard.
sports?
photo: i am prally doing it wrong
great job
I know it’s not really a thing, but I will go with Jon Stewart on this one and just say that I’m glad we live in a country (or HEMISPHERE, sorry Canadians!) where you can joke about other religions without it being against the law or whatever. Also thanks to Jews, Mormons, Christians, Hindus, normal Muslims and Buddhists for being cool about all the jokes. Relax, technoextremists.
Also,
I can’t believe they made my boyfriend wear that dorky red vest!
Safety First!
Is there really such a thing as San Antonio Salsa Lay’s? Cause those sound amazing!
That dog’s not even using a cue! Cheater dog!
Great. Something else a dog is better at than me.
I choose animal playing sports.
Comedy Central is a private entity, but I don’t understand why that should make its precedent-setting irrelevant. The highest profile beacons of US culture are private entities (Google, network TV, etc.). What if they all allowed their content/functionality to be dictated by jihadist websites? Fun! Allowing censorship based on religious values hasn’t spared European capitals from the horror of suicide bombings. It won’t spare Americans, either. Bully vetoes are 100% unacceptable. I’m going to go watch a video of a bunny eating a flower now.
What bullshit? Oh yeah, there’s plenty of censorship to appease Muslims in Europe. Like the censorship of minarets or headscarves or mosques. Here, I can do you you too: Fun! Kill Muslims for a decade and blame cartoons at their anger.
You are very good at flying off the handle and misreading the intent of blog comments (and putting words in others’ mouths). Excellent job! Check plus! As a reward, I offer you this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SqBdS0XkV4
You evacuate a building when a credible bomb threat has been made against it, don’t you? Why put your own employees in danger over a stupid cartoon? Whatever wins or losses for free speech the censorship of this stupid cartoon incurs, I think everyone will go to sleep more comfortably knowing that no one has been murdered over it.
When someone phones in a bomb threat you don’t bulldoze the building. The war of attrition against free speech gets pretty scary pretty fast. How bad would it need to get for you to not sleep so comfortably? PS I feel super weird being serious on Videogum. I don’t like it!
It’s hard to place where the line is on that. But I have no problem with a private commercial entity self-regulating its own output to both protect its employees and not further mock and demean the religious beliefs of a group of people (Sunni Muslims in general, not Revolution Muslim and radical fringe groups like it) who have already been unfairly maligned in public discourse. Especially when said output was unfunny and in poor taste to begin with. If that’s the worst “violation” of free speech we have to deal with in America, I will sleep the sleep of the just.
So, if Borders, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and Amazon all announce they’re not going to sell any humorous books or CDs anymore, because someone humorless with a bomb made a credible threat to blow up a city (one of our more hilarious cities, presumably), you’d sleep better? Because you’d know no one was going to get hurt, and a lot of those books and movies were in poor taste anyway? Gah.
@hotspur for some reason I can’t directly reply to your comment so this will have to do. First of all, “any humorous books or CDs” is a super broad category. South Park experienced limited censorship of this single episode out of 200. Most of this episode aired without alteration, and the majority of South Park episodes have been only mildly censored for language or nudity, and are available uncensored for purchase as DVDs. Hardly an industry-wide collusion to appease critics of comedy in general. The situation you describe would indeed be deeply troubling, because of how impossibly broad it is.
Also, the controversy surrounding the censorship made whether images of Muhammad were actually broadcast a moot point. The controversy over the episode pre-airing drew way more news and attention (and probably ratings–$$$) than just airing the episode uncensored and with no warning would have done.
Jesus has been hosting a talk show on South Park for years. And the prophet wasn’t singled out for particularly harsh treatment. It’s not self-regulating when someone is threatening violence. It’s actually the textbook definition of racketeering.
@Andy, sure, I was broad in my example, but that doesn’t change the principle behind it. Why should we accept that we must censor ourselves out of fear that some hyper-sensitive lunatic is going to kill us unless we give his personal beliefs special treatment? But, okay, let’s play it your way — what do we do next year when Jihad Jihad Revolution grows in membership and demands South Park be taken off the air completely? And the year after that when they say The Stranger by Camus can’t be sold in book stores because of its callous portrayal of killing an Arab? And when they want The Cure removed from iTunes? If you cave on one of these, why not on the next one?
You aren’t just getting rid of a joke that some people (but not all) would have found in poor taste; you are blocking certain ideas from being expressed, including the idea that there is no single historical figure so important he can’t be drawn, the idea that all religions deserve equal respect, and the idea that comedians can risk being unfunny even while taking on authorities and personal beliefs. You personally don’t have to find South Park funny — but the solution here is that you are free to not watch it.
“Pure evil!” — Somebody
“since this is America and organized religion is antiquated and backward”
Gabe, if you don’t take this post down, I will put on my knickerbockers, ride my horse to your town and burn down your barn. “A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man”, and this Quaker is pissed.
It’s a perfectly cromulent word.
Don’t you mean it’s a perfectly scrumtrulescent word?
Ah, crud. Wasn’t meant to be signed on to facebook and do that. Oh well. Secret identity revealed.
I like that you’re reading this post without your knickerbockers on. And on the good parlour furniture, too.
Hey guys, I started a facebook group on this issue. My thinking is, if everyone changed their profile pics to an image of Mohammed, assholes like the people at Revolution Muslim will have no choice but to get the fuck over it. If you feel similarly, check out “I’m Changing my Profile Pic to Mohammed because I am not Afraid of Assholes.” http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=116325491724879&v=info&ref=ts
Oh please don’t make us have to do a for-reals R.I.P. Ass Dan
I understand where this is coming from and sympathize with it, but by doing so you’re also thumbing your nose at the vast majority of Muslims who a) are already a put-upon minority in this country, b) have to endure other people’s ignorance and misunderstandings about their beliefs and their culture on a daily basis, c) believe that it is morally wrong to visually depict the Prophet Muhammad, especially as a goof to piss off insane people or make a cheap joke about farts, and d) are not total assholes about it.
Also, assholes like the people at Revolution Muslim will never get the fuck over anything. To argue with a fool is a fool’s errand.
youre a wise little kitten.
Andy! I’m thrilled to live in a world where someone representing themselves as a kitten proves to be the most rational, informed voice in a largely theological debate. And I want to add my thanks for the pics earlier. Theologygum.
Andy, you are the champ of this post. And thanks for saying what has bothered me about this whole thing from the beginning. It’s not like the crazy extremists are the only ones affected by it.
The whole “terrible things happen in the world so this not-quite-so-terrible thing doesn’t matter at all” shtick is getting old, Gabe. Most people can think about more than one thing at a time. Busting out some bullshit “but children are STARVING all over the world!” quip whenever some issue temporarily receives a lot of attention does absolutely nothing to resolve either the issue of starving people or whatever else we’re paying attention to at that moment.
I know there are children starving in Africa. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have an opinion about my local tax rates or health care reform or South Park being censored. Believe it or not, it’s possible to be aware of, and have opinions on, all of those things at once. Amazing!
People who live in America (where, ironically, they are free to say just about whatever they want) threatened to MURDER someone over a drawing. That is fucked up. It just is. It’s not as fucked up as children starving to death or war or whatever else you bust out of your Magic Hat Of Cliched Terribleness, but it is still fucked up. And it is a legitimate issue to be receiving attention, because it’s bad when a culture allows some of its members to be threatened with death over a fucking drawing.
This isn’t a huge issue, and South Park is certainly utilizing it for their own PR purposes, and it’s fine to disagree with the particular slant most media coverage has taken or to just say “eh, I just can’t really bring myself to get worked up over this one”. But stop reverting to “stop talking about this because there’s WAR GOING ON”. It’s disingenuous (after all, most of us are not dedicating our lives to stopping war or poverty or anything); based on the false premise that we’re only capable of thinking about one thing at a time, so it had better be the most terrible, serious thing in the world; and also just really annoying.
TL;DR: in conclusion:
Maybe this isn’t the place but…Personally, I find it odd what an exaggerated sense of their own ‘freedom’ many in the US seem to have. In practical terms, (education, law) many states seem more censoring and controlling of the individual than most of Europe and many other places to me. But that word ‘freedom’ sure gets thrown around a lot. Also with the flags. All the time. Just saying.
Oh shit. Here we go.
Nah, you’re dead right, Cooperman (not a threat).
/sigh
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I don’t like you.
I like you.
Umm, you talking to me?
Right, because that’s an accurate representation of what has been said.
All I can say it that it annoys me that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are considered champions of free speech. I would consider them more champions of their pocket books. Sure they’re fighting some sort of fight but I think I’ll sit this one out and concentrate on the more important free speech issues that come up in America every day.
file:///C:/Users/Laura/Desktop/pikachu76s.jpg
I tried again.
A sorcerer is going to be beheaded with a scimitar and we are talking about South Park? This post should have been called “Hey Guys, A Sorcerer is Going to Be Beheaded With A Scimitar.”
file:///C:/Users/ChrisTrash/Desktop/pupppies_and_kiities_playing_rugby_with_bunnies_dressed_like_cheeerleaders.jpg
Does it occur to anyone else that Comedy Central banning depictions of Mohammed actually stirs up controversy aka free promotion for the episode?
Win-win for CC = playing it safe AND getting nerds to argue on the internet about a show half of them don’t watch regularly (but will probably watch this episode).
In conclusion, things, stuff, and this is my actual dog, not the internet’s:
That was the least The Simpsons could do. Literally.
The least they could do would be nothing.