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South Park: The China Probrem

By fred | October 9, 2008

(S12E08) They’re back!! Last episode of South Park was way back in April or something, before the show takes its usual mid-season break and left us all alone during the summer. But now they’re finally back, and maybe you forgot what it felt to have a new episode every week or so, to watch this little show on a regular basis, but as soon as this episode began it had to all came back.

It’s not just that its is funny and unique, it’s also that there are no other show like South Park, that will comment, make fun and criticize recent events in the way these guys do. Based on the title of this episode and its opening, you could have been under the impression that it was somehow about China, but it really wasn’t.

Sure, Cartman is one Hell of a kid and he’s usually (one of) the best thing of this show, but this week his little scare over Chinese people wasn’t all that inspired to be honest. I won’t go as far as to say this was just a filler, but the real meat of this episode was not there. But it was still Cartman, and you gotta love him, and as an added bonus he was teamed up with no other than Butters, and that’s a winning team right there.

So whatever they do, it should be good. And while their American Liberation Front wasn’t the most inspired thing of all, because it was the two of them and because the world needs to be reminded every once in a while that you don’t shoot a guy in the dick, you just don’t, that is not cool, it was okay. But nothing more.

Of course the real topic of this episode was a far more serious problem, it was about a rape. Yes, very serious matter, and a rape that, as it turned out, millions of fans have been a witness of as well. Yet, like them, we all just pretended it didn’t happen, we refused to think about it, but it was on our minds, it couldn’t be avoided, and Kyle couldn’t take it anymore.

We all saw Steven Spielberg and George Lucas rape Indiana Jones, and actions needed to be taken. I’m not exactly sure how funny that whole thing was if you did not see the movie, but I’m pretty sure those rape scenes (the pinball one is inspired from The Accused (1988), the pig squealing one is from Deliverance (1972)) were just funny enough to make it work either way.

And as someone who did witness that horrible rape, I have to say that, once again, they nailed it. No, the scene with Indy in the refrigerator didn’t make any sense, and to try and turn Indiana Jones into a new Close Encounters Of The Third Kind or something was probably the worst possible thing that could ever be done. There’s no question they Spielberg and Lucas did indeed rape Indy (though I tend to believe it was coming more from Lucas, but that’s a technicality) and it just feels great to see that not everyone is willing to let that go, and for once I wish we lived in the world of South Park, where you could ensure that those guys would never do such a thing ever again.

If you haven’t actually seen the movie you’re lucky, and don’t waste your time changing that. Also, you might not really know what they were talking about, they didn’t bother explaining the reasons of why the movie sucked, because it’s simply obvious to anyone who actually saw it. And the argument wasn’t that the movie sucked (though it did), but that it was a rape of what Indiana Jones stood for and was all about, of the kind of movie it was, of the kind of character he was, of the spirit of his exciting and unpredictable adventures.

I might not have run away screaming when I saw the movie, but the feeling was very much the same, and to be possible to laugh it off like that will help us all, hopefully, to put that behind us and just try to continue living. Meanwhile, if was fun to have Cartman and the boys back, and it was even better to have South Park back, as sharp, corrosive and hilarious as ever!

What about you, did you enjoy this episode as much as I did ? Did you watch the latest Indiana Jones movie ? And if so, didi it make you puke or cry, or – like Butters – did you actually enjoy it ? And in the end, were you happy to have the show back ?

Posted in Reviews
Shows: South Park