Satire is hard to pin down, especially in a time when extremes have become a normal part of society. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, however, are masters of this comedic art. We all know that South Park will go down in history as one of the greatest satirical shows of all time, but what about the other various properties Trey and Matt have created?
It's not always about animation, as one of the more famous full-length movies from the comedy team used vintage puppets to tell its story. Team America: World Police was inspired by old shows like Thunderbirds, but the dialogue and story have the same biting satire as South Park. Here are a few reasons why Team America: World Police is Trey and Matt's satirical masterwork along with a few ways that South Park still takes the top spot.
Team America - The War On Terror
Since it's a movie, Team America has a single specific plotline, and it's based on the War on Terror. This overlaps into other issues, but how society views war is the main one, specifically how war is marketed and presented to the public. America doesn't just prevail, it looks badass cool while it does so while surrounded by beauty and glamour. Team America makes this even more extreme. Not only do the characters look flawless and stylish every minute, but their biggest priority after a completed mission is a cocktail party.
South Park - Current Events
South Park has been running since the 1990s, so it can take on more topics and trends than a single movie. A serialized show can tackle everything from current politics to popular video games, which means that nothing is safe from Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. South Park has a well-earned reputation for being on point, working hard with writers right up until the last minute, even with very recent events. That's an advantage that a movie can't have.
Team America - Hollywood
South Park takes a lot of hacks at Hollywood too (check out the episode "Smug Alert"), but in Team America it's part of the main plot and the depiction is more focused. In fact, one of the more compelling details about this movie is to see how many celebrities you can find and name as part of the puppet cast.
The message here is that just because someone is famous doesn't mean their opinion is more valid than anyone else, nor does it mean they are more qualified than the experts. This isn't just a shot across the bow of the good ship Hollywood, it also throws a whole lot of shade at the gullible public who will often trust a high-profile television personality instead of a trained professional.
South Park - The Drug War
Several social issues turn up in South Park on a continuous basis, and one of the more prominent ones was the War on Drugs, or more specifically, anti-cannabis laws. "Can't we just skip all this and make pot legal?" Such was the lament of a Compassion Club attendant in the episode "Medicinal Fried Chicken," which is just one example of many times the show took on this problem. In a bit of brilliant satire, medicinal cannabis is legal but Kentucky Fried Chicken is only available on the black market, exposing the stupidity of anti-drug laws.
Team America - US Army Worship
The United States is a deeply militaristic society, coming close to worshipping and even deifying anything associated with the army. This was amped up to a dizzying degree after 9/11 and the subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afganistan and Team America is a direct response to that. The team is the perfect example of flawless, glamorous, and beautiful people that make up the armed forces. The whole movie could be summarized into an army recruitment poster.
South Park - Environmentalism
If you're familiar with the history of South Park, you know that environmentalism has always been a contentious issue. It's fairly clear that Trey and Matt were suspicious of the famous people and trendy style that seemed to follow the global climate change movement, and given that overstuffed celebrities are an easy mark we got a satirical version of Al Gore ranting about a mythical animal in response.
Even though Al Gore enjoyed more attention than he deserved (remember, he's not a scientist) and the criticism was relevant, the depiction of his concerns as entirely mythical might have been good satire, but it was factually wrong. In yet another smart move, South Park revisited the subject later and finally came to terms with the existence of "Man-Bear-Pig."
Team America - Global "Peacekeeping"
"We had to destroy the village in order to save it." This chilling line comes to us from the era of the Vietnam War courtesy of journalist Peter Arnett. It was offered by top army brass as an explanation for the total destruction of a village during the Tet Offensive. Since then, the U.S. has earned a reputation for being rather ham-fisted when it comes to being the "world police" which is why Team America blows everything up, starting with downtown Paris in the opening scene.
South Park - Poverty And Gentrification
Gentrification is a loaded term. It means something different depending on who you ask. Is it about beautification, renovation, and above all, being hip, or is it about exploitation and rampant capitalism? Team America doesn't have time, characters, or setting to ask these questions, but South Park can and does. One particular episode focuses on Kenny and his family, living in poverty while an upscale neighborhood pops up around them. Kenny's family was always the satirical version of the low-income portion of America, which the rest of the media mostly ignores.
Team America - Casual Sex
Sure, there's a fair amount of this in South Park too, but it's mostly played for laughs as opposed to this infamous scene in Team America. This sequence is so controversial, shocking, and disgusting it only exists in the unrated version and was never shown in theaters, just to give you an idea of how far this goes.
The point is to lampoon relationships and sex scenes in movies in general with a lot of cheesy dialogue and worn cliches along with old childhood jokes about what you did with your stuffed toys or action figures when nobody was looking. Something like this could only happen in a feature film at the time, while today, high-budget shows, like Game of Thrones, have similar scenes every week but minus the satire.
South Park - Other Media
South Park doesn't just concern itself with current trends in society and politics. It's not afraid to take shots at its competitors in the entertainment field. From the Indiana Jones movies to the Star Trek universe, South Park has something to say about them. The "Member Berries" episodes were inspired by the new Star Wars movies and why they resonated with the public. Mickey Mouse appears frequently, and it's clear there's no small amount of animosity between the creators of South Park and Hollywood icon Tom Cruise.