Like many of you, I saw the clips from the new South Park show and it's caused quite the stir.
Many people are shocked by what they saw, but I've been watching Matt Stone and Trey Parker make movies and television shows since I was a kid, and this is what their content looks like in its purest form. The guys have never shied away from shock, but to be honest, it's the absurd lens through which they show you uncomfortable truths.
Without going too far into detail about the episode, I really think Stone and Parker make fun of Trump and conservatives even in a very healthy way, and I know they're doing so in a healthy way because they are, themselves, more right leaning. Why go after the right if they exist there ideologically?
Because the philosophy Stone and Parker live by is that no sacred cow should survive. It's a philosophy that is a Western value, which means it's one that conservatives themselves find important. We absolutely lived by that when the left was in power, making it socially unacceptable to criticize this group, or that person, or the cause célèbre. We were of the mind that everything should be questioned and that the truth should be a priority.
It was a philosophy that, I believe, helped win us the last election handily, and it's one that we should stand by as a moral foundation.
However, I do think there are certain elements that we've become lax about after Trump's election. For some, you can't just be in his corner, you have to be all the way in, or a sizable group of conservatives may dog pile you. You can't express nuance about what you do or don't like about certain things Trump does, or acknowledge his struggles in certain areas, because it could damage him and open the door for the return of the Democrats.
There are moments where I feel like we're living in both fear of the Democrats and each other, and that reminds me a lot of how the left was when Biden was President.
Stone and Parker decided to shrug off that fear and paint an exaggerated picture of both Trump and conservatives that bears an element of truth. Trump walks through a party out in front of the White House as people wearing crosses act debacherous. Women in barely-there bikinis walk by as a song that says "we're bringing back Christ" plays.
Is it a super-accurate depiction of MAGA? Not by and large, but it is an element of it, and it's kind of funny to have that pointed out.
Trump is dropping lawsuits left and right, and one of the ones most highlighted is against CBS and Paramount, which becomes a running gag for Trump within the show, with him threatening to sue everyone. Stone and Parker have the South Park Jesus character descend to make it clear that he doesn't want to be involved, but he has to because of the Trump lawsuit with Paramount and if they don't go with the flow, Trump could sue them and cancel South Park for good. This forms a meta joke about the entire situation that is, frankly, brilliant.
In South Park created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker , Jesus Christ tells everyone to Shut up and Eat the Bread or President Trump will sue everyone and get cancelled like Stephen Colbert . pic.twitter.com/lDZHpKha7x
— Burnouts3 (@Burnouts3s3) July 24, 2025
Then there's the issue around depicting Trump as a person with a small penis and who is in bed with Satan. On the surface, it looks exactly like a direct reference to the Saddam Hussein character, which is hinted at twice in the episode. Hussein had a gay relationship with Satan in the show as well, and I have a feeling as this season progresses, we're going to see things play out in a way we don't expect involving the Saddam Hussein.
While I'd argue that most conservatives seem to be laughing this off as they understand South Park lampoons everyone, some conservatives are going to get very angry and lash out.
Let me be the one to break the bad news to you: Stone and Parker hope you do get angry. They thrive on blowback. They ended episodes during one season by flashing the hashtag #CancelSouthPark. Outraged responses are their bread and butter.
But I would say that they aren't generating outrage via shock value and rage bait for the fun of it. South Park has always been one of the more intelligent shows that people didn't know was so intelligent because it always wore fart jokes and cursing kids as a mask. Beneath the crassness is a show that's always pointed out that the emperor has no clothes, and oftentimes in uncomfortable ways.
And it does it to both sides. The running rumor going around is that the show failed to attack Democrats, but that's demonstrably false. South Park has attacked both sides of the aisle on multiple occasions, and while direct references to leaders aren't as on the nose as the recent Trump episodes, the show has always attacked the extreme elements in both sides.
The show was absent for most of Biden's time as President, and the creators have said that often, directly referencing politics can be tiring and not very fun. I can understand this, as the show would become a tedious slog of trying to balance out political commentary while getting away from what made the show great, which is cultural commentary mixed with absurdism.
Stone and Parker have always been creative with their jokes, and if I'm being honest, Biden and Harris presented too easy a target to begin with, and moreover, they weren't exactly a huge cultural moment... but they did give birth to one.
Trump's election was a landmark moment in society and as such, Stone and Parker are going to use it as joke fodder to the best of their ability, and I truly think that's healthy. We shouldn't be so offended and willing to get angry over jokes that, to be honest, we haven't seen completely play out yet. If you got made fun of by Stone and Parker, then that's kind of awesome. Today it's you, tomorrow it'll be another group, and all of you will be better for having those jokes told about you.
The show might not be for you, and that's fine, but you should know that South Park's been one of the most unbiased shows that ever aired. Everyone gets roasted, no one gets a pass, and I think society needs that kind of court jester.
