| Friday, November 18, 2005 |
14:25 - I wondered when they'd do this
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The "cootie catcher" episode of South Park was pretty much a pointless yawner from what I could see, and I wondered if they'd put all their eggs into the season-opener basket with the whole "global warming/Katrina" business that got SomethingAwful's Zack Parsons all up in a wad. Well, considering this week's new entry, I don't think they've fizzled at all.
They took on Scientology, something that few in Hollywood are willing to do, considering a) how many movie stars are Scientologists, and b) what the Church of Scientology has managed to do to intimidate and crush efforts like Operation Clambake. After a lengthy segment in the middle where the Church's core tenets are carefully illustrated in South Park's best construction-paper-esque animation (with overlaid text saying THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE), Parker and Stone end the episode with Stan angrily defying the audience—the on-screen audience of Scientologist acolytes, but any of their compatriots in the real audience, too—"Sue me! I dare you! Come on—sue me!" The end.
And then the credits roll:
Executive Producer:
JOHN SMITH
Associate Producers:
JOHN SMITH
JOHN SMITH
Animators:
JOHN SMITH
JOHN SMITH
JANE SMITH
JOHN SMITH
...And so on. Marvelous.
Considering that xenu.net hasn't been taken forcibly off the air anytime recently, I have to wonder if Scientology's iron grip on its publicity has been loosened. They're finding out as vividly as any copyright holder that the Internet doesn't just forget things (much though they might gamely attempt to force it to). They might realize that it's a losing battle now that all the information they would otherwise charge for or attempt to keep bottled up is out on the Web, and I strongly doubt that Parker and Stone will find themselves the targets of a lawsuit. Though if they did, it'd probably be pretty funny. I'm sure Comedy Central has lawyers just as high-powered as the Scientologists do. Besides, it's good business.
I assumed South Park would eventually get to tackling the Scientologists; I'm just sort of surprised it's taken them this long to get up the nerve.
I'm just glad they didn't turn it into a "Ha ha, we fooled you, try seeing things from the perspective of the guys we're mocking" stunt like they did (to great effect) with their episode that assaulted Mormonism. Sometimes these guys do follow through with exactly what it looks like they're setting out to do. Helps keep us guessing.
And for what it's worth, I have to say that without SomethingAwful, I'd never have known what the deal was with that whole R. Kelly/"trapped in the closet" business.
UPDATE: This right here is quite a site, especially for military history buffs. L. Ron Hubbard makes John Kerry look like Rambo.
UPDATE: Heh—check out Xenu TV, especially if you missed the SP episode.
This is a real test of whether Scientology or Comedy Central has the better lawyers: who'll get to it first?
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Brian Tiemann
