Comedy Central Wimps Out
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are mad at Comedy Central now. Why? Well, because CC censored their most recent episode.
The two-part episode was making a point about self-censorship motivated by fear, a growing thing in recent years. The most notable recent story was the Danish papers daring to depict Mohammad. Never mind that Denmark wasn't an Islamic country and that nobody even knows what Mohammad looked like, much less if any of the drawings looked like him. If I call a smiley face "Mohammad" is that depicting the prophet?
The bigger issues are hypocrisy - nobody cares if depictions of Jehovah or Jesus are made despite the same technical prohibition and putting one of those depictions in a bottle of urine or covering it in manure is considered a great thing. Suddenly the same artists and art supporters, voices for freedom of expression, etc. are on the censorship bandwagon, even demanding prosecution of artists under hate laws or new laws against it. Rowan Atkinson and a few others just fought down such a law in the UK.
Extreme believers take the prohibition against idol worship (which is what the prohibition against depicting Mohammad is based on) to include depictions of any animal or human. Movies and TV were forbidden in many Islamic countries based on that belief for decades. Some sects, like the Taliban still want recordings and video banned as unholy. If any other religion had such beliefs (and some do) they would not be defended and honored, they'd be made fun of and minimalized.
The difference is mainly that Muslims are very PC right now and also that they will kill people all over the world if displeased. The Danish artists are still in hiding and the UN even condemned their actions. No protection murderous fanatics = you are on your own.
So South Park bucked the PC line and tried to make a point about doing what our enemies want every time they threaten us. Where does or can it end? Our entire society and culture is offensive to these people. Toleration of gays, unveiled women, most of our freedoms, entertainment, arts, and just about anything else you care to mention are offensive to them. Should we abandon all of these because they threaten, riot, and bomb when they see them?
And how do we know what South Park even showed as Mohammad? Remember how they show God? As a multi-species goober, nothing at all like what people expect gods to look like.
Of course, it wouldn't matter what Mohammad looked like on the show. It might even have just been a cab driver named Mohammad. The fear was that Muslims would have a fit anyway.
And that was what Matt & Trey were trying to get across and what Comedy Central was afraid of.
The sad part is that Comedy Central was right too. They knew they stood to be at the center of an international incident no matter what was shown.
The real story is not that Matt & Trey are mad or that Comedy Central is spineless, it's that we are now dancing to a new tune, one that demands we give up our freedoms under threat of violence. Nobody hesitates to offend harmless groups. You can show Pat Robertson trying to conquer another planet, make fun of Christian Rock, show Catholics as child molesters taking orders from alien spiders, a statue of the Virgin Mary shooting menstrual blood in the pope's face, Jesus on a cable access show and fighting with Santa, and - in the same episode just censored - it was OK to have Jesus shitting on people, but don't even think about offending the Islamic faith by showing a character called Mohammad.
And don't play the "tolerance" or "respect for their beliefs" cards. The people saying that are NOT concerned in the least about those things. They don't accord ANY other faith those courtesies. Only the one that will kill them for it.
They aren't being "considerate" or "respectful" they are cowards and don't want to say it. They see the truth but deny it as admitting it would mean they had to concede that their political opponents were right all along.
Previous generations faced similar threats and fought them. That's why we could say and hear what we wanted all this time. Now it's different. We boast about our "rights" and "freedoms" but cheerfully throw them away when people in another country tell us to.
A billion Christians and Jews don't bother people. They don't care if they offend them because it's a freebie. No cost, even benefit, for doing it. Buddhists? Hindus? No worry.
But a billion Islamics do matter. Enough of them WILL kill innocents and guilty, issue fatwas, riot, and destroy when offended in the smallest way to make any artist think twice about even speaking against them. Worse, our own PC elite will join in the attacks. They embrace it as a tool to shut people up.
Tyranny works!
Where will it end? Where could it end? It can't end until someone stands up and fights. But nobody will.
Comedy Central is just joining Google, NYT, and every other Western institution.
But it is nice to see the idiots who used to play sooo brave when taking on "The Church" exposed for the cowards and hypocrites they always were. It's easy to attack non-threats and brag how brave you are, knowing they won't do a thing but turn the cheek and grumble. It's quite another to take on a real threat that will play rough and actually kick your ass.
Ask Salmon Rushdie, the Danes, Comedy Central, and Matt & Trey.
I don't like sounding like this but keeping silent is what got us here and it won't be getting better. Following the herd can result in you running off the edge of a cliff. Bucking the popular wisdom can ruin you but following it can and will ruin everyone and everything.
I'd rather joke and poke fun.
So would Matt & Trey. But how long will we be allowed to in days to come if this isn't nipped in the bud?
The two-part episode was making a point about self-censorship motivated by fear, a growing thing in recent years. The most notable recent story was the Danish papers daring to depict Mohammad. Never mind that Denmark wasn't an Islamic country and that nobody even knows what Mohammad looked like, much less if any of the drawings looked like him. If I call a smiley face "Mohammad" is that depicting the prophet?
The bigger issues are hypocrisy - nobody cares if depictions of Jehovah or Jesus are made despite the same technical prohibition and putting one of those depictions in a bottle of urine or covering it in manure is considered a great thing. Suddenly the same artists and art supporters, voices for freedom of expression, etc. are on the censorship bandwagon, even demanding prosecution of artists under hate laws or new laws against it. Rowan Atkinson and a few others just fought down such a law in the UK.
Extreme believers take the prohibition against idol worship (which is what the prohibition against depicting Mohammad is based on) to include depictions of any animal or human. Movies and TV were forbidden in many Islamic countries based on that belief for decades. Some sects, like the Taliban still want recordings and video banned as unholy. If any other religion had such beliefs (and some do) they would not be defended and honored, they'd be made fun of and minimalized.
The difference is mainly that Muslims are very PC right now and also that they will kill people all over the world if displeased. The Danish artists are still in hiding and the UN even condemned their actions. No protection murderous fanatics = you are on your own.
So South Park bucked the PC line and tried to make a point about doing what our enemies want every time they threaten us. Where does or can it end? Our entire society and culture is offensive to these people. Toleration of gays, unveiled women, most of our freedoms, entertainment, arts, and just about anything else you care to mention are offensive to them. Should we abandon all of these because they threaten, riot, and bomb when they see them?
And how do we know what South Park even showed as Mohammad? Remember how they show God? As a multi-species goober, nothing at all like what people expect gods to look like.
Of course, it wouldn't matter what Mohammad looked like on the show. It might even have just been a cab driver named Mohammad. The fear was that Muslims would have a fit anyway.
And that was what Matt & Trey were trying to get across and what Comedy Central was afraid of.
The sad part is that Comedy Central was right too. They knew they stood to be at the center of an international incident no matter what was shown.
The real story is not that Matt & Trey are mad or that Comedy Central is spineless, it's that we are now dancing to a new tune, one that demands we give up our freedoms under threat of violence. Nobody hesitates to offend harmless groups. You can show Pat Robertson trying to conquer another planet, make fun of Christian Rock, show Catholics as child molesters taking orders from alien spiders, a statue of the Virgin Mary shooting menstrual blood in the pope's face, Jesus on a cable access show and fighting with Santa, and - in the same episode just censored - it was OK to have Jesus shitting on people, but don't even think about offending the Islamic faith by showing a character called Mohammad.
And don't play the "tolerance" or "respect for their beliefs" cards. The people saying that are NOT concerned in the least about those things. They don't accord ANY other faith those courtesies. Only the one that will kill them for it.
They aren't being "considerate" or "respectful" they are cowards and don't want to say it. They see the truth but deny it as admitting it would mean they had to concede that their political opponents were right all along.
Previous generations faced similar threats and fought them. That's why we could say and hear what we wanted all this time. Now it's different. We boast about our "rights" and "freedoms" but cheerfully throw them away when people in another country tell us to.
A billion Christians and Jews don't bother people. They don't care if they offend them because it's a freebie. No cost, even benefit, for doing it. Buddhists? Hindus? No worry.
But a billion Islamics do matter. Enough of them WILL kill innocents and guilty, issue fatwas, riot, and destroy when offended in the smallest way to make any artist think twice about even speaking against them. Worse, our own PC elite will join in the attacks. They embrace it as a tool to shut people up.
Tyranny works!
Where will it end? Where could it end? It can't end until someone stands up and fights. But nobody will.
Comedy Central is just joining Google, NYT, and every other Western institution.
But it is nice to see the idiots who used to play sooo brave when taking on "The Church" exposed for the cowards and hypocrites they always were. It's easy to attack non-threats and brag how brave you are, knowing they won't do a thing but turn the cheek and grumble. It's quite another to take on a real threat that will play rough and actually kick your ass.
Ask Salmon Rushdie, the Danes, Comedy Central, and Matt & Trey.
I don't like sounding like this but keeping silent is what got us here and it won't be getting better. Following the herd can result in you running off the edge of a cliff. Bucking the popular wisdom can ruin you but following it can and will ruin everyone and everything.
I'd rather joke and poke fun.
So would Matt & Trey. But how long will we be allowed to in days to come if this isn't nipped in the bud?