The Son says the last three years of South Park (Seasons 20-22) has had the best writing in the series, and I fully agree. The last two seasons were extraordinary in their meditation on the culture of the Internet, political correctness, and growing anomie in our society. This season has been even more amazing. The two episodes about climate change denial/skepticism were brilliant, and last week's South Park's insight into how we are slaves to our cellphones broke ground on the topic while being side-splittingly funny. The idea of wearing boxes on our heads so as to avoid anyone interfering with our cellphone activity is a perfect and profound metaphor.
This week, South Park took on Amazon and gave us a wildcat labor strike, with a short homage to "Billy Elliott," and lots of Marxian analysis. Literally Marxian. As with the ManBearPig/climate change episodes, it is a two-parter.
It is so satisfying to see Parker and Stone, South Park's creators, graduating from their early intelligent and funny libertarian petulance to this global Marxian sensibility, with less petulance and more pathos. It is perhaps a sign of middle age in Parker and Stone, one may suppose, or perhaps left writer/activist Naomi Klein and the right wing libertarians who deny climate change are correct: A belief in anthropomorphic climate change can sometimes congeal into a socialist sensibility. Klein agrees with the scientific consensus because she is ultimately an empiricist. The right wing libertarians deny climate change because they view any belief in using the government as a tool to fight the effects of climate change to be a succumbing to socialism. This is becoming a bit less true, as shown here.
In any event, if you can find South Park on Comedy Central, or if you have Hulu, this season, Season 22, is must see television. Bravo South Park!
