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A court jester plays to the appeal of the court. The things they poke fun at are the things the court will tolerate being made fun of. So you're right. South P
by stormbrew 6y ago
A court jester plays to the appeal of the court. The things they poke fun at are the things the court will tolerate being made fun of.
So you're right. South Park is like a court jester. It makes fun of everything society deems acceptable to make fun of and gets away with some light ribbing at the expense of the "Middle American normal" that is its bread and butter.
And they eat it up, thinking that the show poking light fun at them is the same as how the show treats actual minorites and other marginalized people (ie. very very very gross), and that makes it ok.
The analogy is apt. It just doesn't say what you think it says.
- ksdale 6y agoI don't know a ton about jesters historically, but in Shakespeare and in contemporary fiction (Robin Hobb's Fitz and the Fool comes to mind), the jester is one of the few characters who says the things that aren't socially acceptable, and since it's a "joke," the criticism isn't cause for offense.
- brailsafe 6y agoI don't really agree with what you say, but I'd add that they did do an episode where the theme was the meta joke of whether or not society had deemed it acceptable to make HIV/cancer jokes yet, as well as 911 if memory serves. Everything in life can be joked about for one reason or another, I don't accept that there is anything out of bounds. Whether you personally find it funny is up to you, but making broader statements about this or that because a joke was made is a sign that probably you're unable to see outside of a fairly narrow field of view imo.