South Park Rips on Avatar

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:07:41 +0000

By now I would hope most of you have seen the latest episode of South Park, entitled “Dances With Smurfs” (if not, you need to go HERE right away and do so!). The episode follows in the show’s great tradition of intelligent inappropriateness, this time lampooning such things as school shootings (really pushing it there), the current political landscape (hilarious) and, in a twist-turn in the final 1/3, James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi epic, Avatar.

So what do all those random things have in common? Only the minds behind South Park know for sure…

[SPOILER ALERT!!! WATCH THE EPISODE BEFORE YOU READ THIS!!!]

What basically happens is this: Cartman uses his manipulative talents to take over the school announcements job and quickly becomes a Glenn Beck clone, tearing into class president Wendy for being a “Smurf hater” who is trying to turn the school into a “socialist regime” (Beck himself thought the lampooning was pretty funny, BTW). Of course Cartman has no real political agenda – he’s simply trying to use controversy as a form of self-promotion. When President Wendy gets savvy to Cartman’s game, she turns the tables, selling off film rights to a story about Smurf oppression before Cartman can cash-in on it first. The name of Wendy’s movie? AVATAR.

“What?” says an angry Cartman, staring up a theater marquee (see above), “It’s just Dances With Wolves…with Smurfs!”

[END SPOILERS]

Cue me laughing ’til tears are coming out of my eyes.

Poor James Cameron – he’s been touting Avatar as an “original work of his own creation,” but ever since the full trailer came out, and people have gotten a better look at the film’s plot and story, criticisms have been tossed at Cameron left and right, ranging from “Dude, you’re totally re-hashing ideas from like 5 other movies,” to “Dude, you straight-up stole this idea.”

Whatever peoples’ gripes about the story, James Cameron has been working on Avatar for a decade and a half, pretty much just trying to bring us something new and fresh – or at the very least, rekindle that spirit of excitement and awe we remember from the first three Indiana Jones flicks, the first two Terminators or the Star Wars trilogy. And, at the very least, the acclaimed director has (once again) created some revolutionary filmmaking technology likely to bring CGI F/X one step closer to reality. I almost feel bad to see him getting so much flak for his efforts: innovation sure ain’t easy…

Then again, what’s the point of crying about it? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: None of us is safe from mockery so long as South Park exists to slap us down a peg. And, given the show’s history for going to the EXTREME, I say Avatar got off easy.

Avatar will be in theaters on December 18, 2009. South Park airs new episodes on Comedy Central Wednesdays @ 10 p.m. Check out “Dances With Smurfs” and then let us know what you think. Here’s a clip to get you started:

Source: South Park Studios

‘South Park’ Episode Spoofs Watchmen & The Dark Knight

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:08:21 +0000

By now it’s a proven statistic: on a long enough timeline, the probability of something you love being ripped a new one by South Park is 100%.

Well, last night it was comic book movie-lovers’ turn to get it, as the newest episode of South Park’s thirteenth season, “The Coon,” took aim at the recent trend of “dark” comic book films like Watchmen and The Dark Knight and lampooned away.

The result was, of course, pretty funny.

The plot of the episode was pretty simple: in the midst if the economic recession, the town of South Park has become “a bloated whore” of crime and loose morality. The cure? Eric Cartman masquerading at night as”The Coon,” a Racoonesque crime-fighting vigilante keeping South Park’s streets from being overrun by criminal vermin, all while narrating his exploits in gravelly, Christian Bale/Rorschach type voice-over.

However, when a second masked juvenile crime-fighter known as “Mysterio” appears and steals the limelight, Cartman/The Coon teams with arch-nemesis Professor Chaos (Butters) to run Mysterio out of town.

This episode was A LOT less offensive than I thought it would be–even less offensive than what has become the South Park standard. Most of the lampooning was aimed at recreating The Dark Knight/Watchmen atmosphere, down to the faux Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard music that played throughout the show. The episode also took some subtle swipes at we, the public, and our fascination with superheroes during tough times. But really, no jaw-dropping, face-cringing moments in this episode. Hell, “The Coon” title was probably the most offensive thing about it.

I thought there would be at least one “blue junk” joke worked in there. But no luck. (And why do I sound slightly disappointed by that fact? Has South Park really desensitized me that much?)

You can check out “The Coon” episode over at the show’s official site, South Park Studios. After you’ve checked out “The Coon,” come back and let us know what you thought about South Park taking on comic book movies.

Source: South Park Studios

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South Park Rips on Avatar

‘South Park’ Episode Spoofs Watchmen & The Dark Knight