South Park V. Society

On August 13, 1997, audiences tuning into Comedy Central at 10:00 p.m. were introduced to the raunchy, irreverent, and satirical adult animated sitcom, South Park. Created by Trey Parker & Matt Stone, South Park follows four boys, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny as they navigate adolescence, aloof & unconcerned parents, as well as everyday situation in life heightened to such a degree, reflecting that of a nine year old child, just like all the boys. In accordance to https://www.britannica.com, "The series was created by, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who, in addition to writing, directing, and editing each episode, provide the voices of the four boys as well as of nearly every other male character in the series (though notably, the late soul singer Isaac Hayes voiced Chef from the late 1990s until 2006)." Not only do they do all the voices and handle all the production aspects of the show, but the show is based on a real town in Colorado of the same name, and most of the characters' personalities are based on real life people within Trey and Matt's lives. The show is currently in the midst of celebrating being on air for 25+ years now, and looking back just at 2019, in accordance to https://www.hollywoodreporter.com, "The 23rd season of South Park finished as the top-rated comedy on cable for the seventh consecutive year. But that's only the tip of the iceberg in terms of just how much the show was watched in 2019. Viewers of the show watched a staggering 30 billion minutes of the long-running series on linear TV in 2019, according to Comedy Central. That figure, which includes first-run episodes and repeats, jumped by 36 percent over 2018 and is the equivalent of more than 57,000 years." South Park has remained a popular part of pop culture for almost 30 years now, but it has not always been an easy road for the show. While it is one of the longest running animated shows of all time and has received 18 Emmy nominations, winning 4 of them, the show is often riddled in controversy. This often seems intentional from the creators of the show as they constantly are causing disruptions in their show reflecting that of real life which could create this feeling of offense to the viewer, and if you are offended then it likely is targeted directly at you.

Just last October, Trey and Matt released a special on Paramount+ titled, "South Park: Joining The Panderverse." This special centers mostly around Cartman as the world he has grown up in is changing and becoming more diverse, especially within the content he is watching. To be more specific,  "Cartman keeps having nightmares that he and all the other people in his life have been replaced with black women in the name of 'diversity'. Soon it is apparent that is more than just a nightmare as the two worlds collide, resulting in characters ending in the wrong universe." On the surface level this seems very shallow, but if you take a look underneath and see how Cartman in the show blames Kathleen Kennedy, the current head of LucasFilm at Disney, many audiences in real life blame Kathleen Kennedy for ruining Star Wars and Indiana Jones with distasteful diversity. To blame all of this on Kathleen Kennedy at first may seem insane, but that truly is how many devoted fans feel as Kennedy herself has stated, "As a fan myself, I know how frustrating some 'Star Wars' storytelling in the past has been. I've felt it myself," she said. "I stand by my empathy for 'Star Wars' fans. But I want to be clear. Anyone who engages in bigotry, racism or hate speech...I don't consider a fan." This was in reference to the most recent Star Wars series to air on Dinsey+, The Acolyte. Many female led stories and strong diversity struggle to find in audience most times in franchises mostly dominated by men, so Cartman represents the angry fanbase out there calling out Kathleen Kennedy as well as Disney as a whole for focusing on diversity first and story second. 

Many deem 2015 as the year of the social justice warrior, so by tradition South Park had to parody it. In September of 2015 season 19 of South Park aired on Comedy Central with the season's focus being on social justice. The seasons' social justice warrior was Peter Charles Principal, (A.K.A. PC Principal) the ultimate politically correct character. In the season 19 premiere, "Stunning and Brave," "The episode opens to a school PTA meeting, where Mr. Mackey is announcing that Principal Victoria has been fired and replaced by PC Principal, a muscular white man wearing sunglasses...he literates the actual demographics the real city of South Park has become, as well as the social change in the recent American political environment. Above all else, PC Principal acts as a literary agent to challenge the theme of the fictional town by degrading the infamous notoriety the town has achieved in its fictional narrative." The episode essentially centers around Kyle receiving detention after PC Principal overhears Kyle stating that Caitlyn Jenner is not a hero after she transitioned into a woman. All around town there are new residents that are PC or politically correct, and they will stop at nothing to ensure all around town are politically correct to the point that they create a frat house, but even if they have to use violence to achieve their goal, then they will do just that. Kyle remains insistent on refusing to refer to Caitlyn Jenner as a hero as he feels she is not even a good person which causes him to be tormented by the PC bros up until he finally is forced to admit that Caitlyn Jenner is in fact a hero. Kyle is representing the part of society that feels being over politically correct without any reservations is misguided and should be talked about while PC Principal is representing the part of society pushing political correctness so hard and blindly without any reservations. 

Back in 2005 when South Park was in the midst of its 9th season, the 12th episode of the season centered around the controversial subject of Scientology. In this episode we follow Stan as he is asked to take a "personality test" at this center, and after doing so he is told that he is extremely depressed and needs to pay $240 to be helped. After doing so, the scientologists are convinced that Stan is the reincarnation of L.Ron Hubbard, the founder and prophet of Scientology. Word gets around quick as Stan has dozens of scientology fans outside of his house and he is also asked to write their next doctrine to follow. Stan obliges and is interrupted by Tom Cruise standing in his room asking if he's made him proud, and after Stan gives him the answer he did not want to hear, he runs and hides in Stan's closet locking himself in. This becomes a huge news story and leads to John Travolta and R. Kelly going into the closet hiding away as they are actual scientologists in real life. The show depicts scientologists as believing essentially this obscure alien sci-fi novel written by Hubbard, and Stan wants to be honest with everyone about how scientology is a scheme after it is revealed to him that the "church" just wants money and is not a real religion but in fact a cult, but nobody believes him and he loses all of his followers. Scientology in real life is a subject of taboo and the episode received backlash from the Church of Scientology, so much to the point that, "Stone and Parker were followed and investigated by the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise reportedly threatened to back out of his promotional obligations for Mission Impossible III if Viacom aired a rerun of the episode."

To this day, South Park still cranks out a season typically a year with some specials on Paramount+ in between, keeping it as a staple in popular culture. While it may be extreme, it is at its core a satire rooted in reality through the lens of children trying to navigate the world around them just like everyone else.

Sources

 

Dejean, A. (n.d.). PC Is Back in South Park: Framing Social Issues through Satire. https://www.calstatela.edu/sites/default/files/dejean_2_final_formatted.pdf

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, October 18). South Park. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/South-Park-television-series

Hollywood.com. (2022, January 6). 10 “South Park” episodes that perfectly nailed Social Issues. Hollywood.com. https://www.hollywood.com/tv/10-south-park-episodes-that-perfectly-nailed-social-issues-60414629

IMDb.com. (2023, October 27). South Park: Joining the panderverse. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29474455/

Porter, R. (2023, April 18). “South Park” viewers watched 30 billion minutes of show in 2019 (exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/south-park-viewers-watched-30-billion-minutes-show-2019-1263298/

Sharf, Z. (2024, May 29). Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy says “a lot of women” in “Star wars” struggle with fan attacks “because of the fan base being so male dominated.” Variety. https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/kathleen-kennedy-star-wars-toxic-fans-women-attacked-1236019098/

South Park. Television Academy. (n.d.-a). https://www.emmys.com/shows/south-park

 

 Felix The Cat

On November 9, 1919, a short released by Otto Messmer through Paramount Pictures titled, "Feline Follies," the world was introduced to Felix The Cat for the very first time. He was introduced as, "Master Tom," but he later became Felix as we know him now. In accordance to britannica.com, "Felix is regarded as the first cartoon star...Felix's popularity during the 1920s led to his being the first such character merchandised via popular products such as stuffed dolls, key chains, and comic books." Felix was not only popular amongst children and audiences, but even the critics were enjoying the character and all of his quirks.With all this success and good fortune, there unfortunately is almost always a bit of a dark side or downside to this character and situation. There are many examples of stereotypes clearly aimed at black people during the early days of film and animation, and unfortunately Felix is no different in that regard. Jeet Heer from sanseverything.wordpress.com states, "Felix the cat is a feckless, happy-go-lucky trickster. Culturally, he's the missing link between Br'er Rabbit and Bugs Bunny: admirable in some ways but lacking in the 'white' qualities of respectability and responsibility."

There were many animals in animation that had resembling features or attributes that played into stereotypes regarding black people such as gorillas/monkeys. "Felix the Cat creator Otto Messmer has stated that his famous cartoon feline was based on a minstrel character." A minstrel character essentially is a character from a stage show that often had blackface makeup and exaggerated their voices. We have characters like Jim Crow, Gumbo Chaff, Mammy, etc. that all showcase examples of minstrel show characters.

In terms of social/political commentary, it is no surprise that Felix has its own nods and mentions to these subjects. Many of the earlier shorts of Felix in a way mirrored the "American" ways of the 1920s down to pop culture, and again those stereotypes that were common. Historical events being alluded to or outright referenced also played a role in to some of what was portrayed in animation. Donna Kornhaber wrote an article regarding some of the historical happenings referenced or show in some of the Felix shorts stating that, "But no doubt one of the strangest of those adventures, and certainly the most harrowing, comes in Felix Turns the Tide, wherein the most beloved animated hero in the world at that time ventures not into some adventurous jungle or exotic new city but onto the battlefields of World War I, battlefields that are depicted in horrifyingly gruesome detail replete with heavy machine-gun fire, high explosives, and staggering mass casualties-heaps and heaps of lifeless cartoon corpses piled up on screen."

 

This just goes to show how the time period had an impact as to what was portrayed within mainstream media because if this were made today, this could potentially be seen as an issue. There is a positive that could be seen through this though being that it helps spread a message to other people, especially children but just in a more simplistic and less apparent way. 

To this day Felix is still a recognizable character within pop culture as he has a countless amount of shorts, different iterations of television shows, comic books, merchandise, etc. While there may have been quite a few negatives throughout the process of his creation and early days of animation, Felix was a product of his time and had many impressive aspects to not only his personality that beamed through everything he was in, but also the impact he had on animation overall. 

Sources

Bondfield, M. (2019, May 11). Felix the cat: 1920s cartoons: NFSA. 1920s cartoons | National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/100-years-felix-cat#:~:text=Felix%20the%20Cat%20is%20widely,Disney’s%20Steamboat%20Willie%20(1928).

Crawford, N. (2019, November 3). Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat. Animation, Race and Progress. https://animationprogress.home.blog/2019/11/03/pat-sullivan-otto-messmer-and-felix-the-cat/

Encyclopedia.com. (n.d.). ." st. james encyclopedia of popular culture. . encyclopedia.com. 11 Sep. 2024 . Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/media/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/felix-cat

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, August 12). Otto Messmer. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Otto-Messmer

Fandom, Inc. (n.d.). Felix the cat. Disney Fanon Wiki. https://disneyfanon.fandom.com/wiki/Felix_the_Cat

Heer, J. (2009, August 12). Felix the cat & blackface. sans everything. https://sanseverything.wordpress.com/2009/08/11/felix-the-cat-blackface/

Jump Jim Crow - blackface song and dance on make a GIF. MakeAGif. (n.d.). https://makeagif.com/gif/jump-jim-crow-blackface-song-and-dance-yFxSRN

Kay, L. (2017, July 24). Felix turns the tide (1922). Cinema Cats. https://cinemacats.com/felix-turns-the-tide-1922/

Kornhaber, D. (2020, January 6). Felix the cat gets shipped to the Front: Donna Kornhaber. Lapham’s Quarterly. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/felix-cat-gets-shipped-front

Sammond, N. (n.d.). Cartoon Minstrels. Birth of An Industry: Blackface Minstrelsy and the Rise of American Animation. https://scalar.usc.edu/works/birthofanindustry/cartoon-minstrels

Tim. (2019, November 10). 100th anniversary: Felix the cat - blog. The Film Experience. http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2019/11/10/100th-anniversary-felix-the-cat.html

Final Blog Post

 My Personal Relationship with Technology

Technology is such a big and important part of my life to the point that I don't even realize how many different forms of it I use on a day to day basis. My generation has a bit of an advantage because we were born with tablets, phones, computers, etc. right around us and they are only getting more advanced as time continues to pass. As a teenager, I find myself on different social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and most recently Facebook. My parents, mostly my father, are very involved with technology due to my dad being a tech guy that consistently works on computers, and my mom is a teacher so she uses online programs and services to not only enhance her teaching on a day to day basis but to also find a way to keep the children engaged with learning while also doing something they thoroughly enjoy. Although I have various forms of social media, I myself tend to not post a whole lot because I am not a big fan of sharing information and a lot of pictures of myself, but it is just as entertaining to watch and observe others online. It is truly fascinating to see how some people have no regard for what they are willing to put out on the internet for other people to see which also brings up other interesting points regarding how that can impact other people. My parents have always warned me about being extremely active in social media and sharing information on apps and services just because of how easy it is now for people to steal it and use it which is why I think I am so careful about what I post and share. I do use Twitter personally as one of my main news sources on my phone because it's personalized to give me the specific types of stories I enjoy reading and am interested in while still being able to explore new things.

Dictionary.com defines a digital footprint as, "one's unique set of digital activities, actions, and communications that leave a data trace on the internet or on a computer or other digital device and can identify the particular user or device" I try to always take this into account before I post something online because once it's out there then it's out there forever, and I don't want to have a chip on my shoulder when I'm trying to apply for a job or something in the future and I am denied because of something I did 10 years ago online.  I think about TikTok so often because that seems to be the most popular form of social media as of right now, and so many people are willing to post the most outrageous and wild things without even thinking twice just for likes and views which I find interesting and find myself question quite often in today's climate.

 Although there are many reasons to be cautious about the internet and social media, that does not mean that there are not also quite a few positives. Having the opportunity to connect with friends and family and having the chance to meet new people is always fun and being able to see other people and what they are doing is always fascinating. Social Media also acts as a place for me to unwind and turn my brain off for a bit sometimes just so I can relax and unplug from reality for a short amount of time. The world is also becoming more technology based so I think it is important to understand how these platforms and services work because they are starting to be integrated into different jobs and some of them allow you to make a career out of the app itself. 

The videos centered around AI were also eye opening for me while thinking about my relationship with technology because they helped me think even more about how important it is to ensure that your privacy and information is secure because it is so easy for people to access that kind of information now. They also made me weary about what kind of people I talk to on the internet as well. Between the two videos we watched, one being optimistic while the other one focused on FOMO and loneliness were both quite interesting, but I feel that the truth lies somewhere in between. I myself have experienced both positive and negative outlooks on life and I feel everyone has, but you have to learn how to get by in life and look at the best possible parts you can find rather than focusing on what is negative. 

I feel that going forward into the future we will continue to grow and add new social media platforms and extensions, and I am happy to have been born during this age, but I do know now that I need to be more careful with certain things I trust on the internet. I feel it is important to just remember that we have technology for a reason and it is fine to use it as assistance, but we should not fully rely on it so we do not go down a negative path.

Blog Post #8

 Privacy: Online & Offline

Everyone should be able to feel safe and secure on and offline at all times, but because of how evolved the technological world is as well as how often it changes, it can be quite difficult to keep certain things more private than others. We utilize technology in our day to day lives and we trust these laptops, phones, tablets, etc. with sensitive data and information that we would not want out, but now so easily can be accessed. Social Media has really changed the game in terms of communication, because so many people have these false perceptions about how certain aspects of life really are due to the false ideas that can be presented on the internet. A lot of times these websites and extensions that may seem "safe" or "secure" are actually dangerous and are able to steal sensitive data and information on you or others the second you click on their website. Allowing and accepting cookies and other things of that nature can also add to the dangers of online/offline privacy.

Juan Enriquez, the man that gave a TedTalk titled, "Your Online Life, Permanent As A Tattoo" really stuck out because he did a great job of relating tattoos to the internet and media calling programs such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, etc. as electronic tattoos because tattoos are permanent once they are on the body just as something is permanent once you put it on the internet. Through using these apps and posting on them, we are essentially allowing people to view us with ease at all times without even really thinking about it. I thought back to something we spoke about in class regarding having a fake email to use for certain things so that the information collected from applications is not reflective of any of your real life information rather something that is insignificant to yourself.

These kinds of problems such as being watched online, privacy broken, getting hacked, etc. can hurt not only the person directly targeted but also potentially those around the individual/individuals or those close to them in a multitude of ways such as doing the same thing to those people like giving out their private information and data.  My grandmother receives spam calls almost everyday about things she does not even own, yet one time she still fell for something and gave out some information which ultimately led to her having to cancel that credit card because someone had hacked her account and started spending some of her money at a quick rate.

Ari Trachtenberg of futurity.org spoke on what the government along with modern day cybersecurity officers can do to help with these issues and stated, "Companies should think very carefully about every bit of information that they get from customers, weighing the benefit of having this information against the risk of losing it. The problem is that very often, companies do not realize just how damaging the information loss can be." I think educating people on the real dangers of giving out information should be something that the government and other outlets are pushing so that these issues are not as prevalent.

As people I feel it is also important that we do a better job of researching the sources we decide to use as well as making sure if we store information online, that it is in a private and secure place that only the user can access and get to. This for sure has me thinking and reevaluating certain things I have decided to trust and use and has me cautious going forward.

In the Age of AI

 In the Age of AI

The idea of artificial intelligence has always scared me since I was a child thanks to a film my father showed me titled, I, Robot with Will Smith. The film is set in a distant future and revolves around the fight between mankind and these defective robots that are supposed to be helpful. From that moment on after seeing the film, I have had some pretty interesting ideas and perceptions about AI and what that would potentially look like in the distant future aside from the fictional robots that were in the movie.

I brought that film up because I was looking at the reasoning behind why artificial intelligence was created and according to sas.com, "the goal of AI is to provide software that can reason on input and explain on output. AI will provide human-like interactions with software and offer decision support for specific tasks, but it's not a replacement for humans - and won't be anytime soon." The ideas and grand scheme of the AI starts to evolve and innovate as technology continues to change as well as its inhabitants. 

People are now utilizing this system more than ever because I've never seen this many teslas in my life before I came back to school this year. I feel this is almost like a pandora's box situation though in the sense that once you open it you cannot close it back up and I feel this works the same way because there are always going to be potential modifications and changes that are wanted to be made. 

There are pros to this type of innovation though which I learned a bit about from rockcontent.com, such as how fast everything is now which allows us to get the most efficient experience out of whatever it is we are doing. Computers and Smart Phones are almost no different now and allow the user to personalize the type of experience they want outside of the device. The system also starts to learn your interests, likes, and dislikes to help with personalization of your experience which could also be viewed as a con because there could be some breach of privacy potentially going on.

There are some cons and concerns that do come to mind when thinking about this such as the fact that the system starts to learn you which could be a breach of privacy like said previously, and we just don't know how much we are truly being monitored. The idea that we leave a trace on the internet as well is kind of unnerving because the intelligence can track and keep said data up until just about any point. People are also a danger in my opinion because having access to something like this is a privilege and there are always people that use things for the wrong reasons or have some kind of ulterior motives.

This could also factor in more to privacy, security, and ultimately identity theft because everything is so advanced now to the point that it can sometimes be difficult to decipher what is real and what is fake. For example, my mother once received and email from someone pretending to be her boss and they got her to answer this question which allowed them to hack her system and they attempted to get to her credit card information and other personal assets which was extremely terrifying, and we still have no idea who did it.

This video ultimately helped me think back on previous questions and concerns I have had about AI for a while, but also helped me to think about what else it could be useful for in a more positive light. It does help to reenforce how important it is to consistently check on your privacy settings and information so that you are less prone to getting hacked or deceived in any kind of way. 

EOTO Reflection 2: Total Information Awareness

 Total Information Awareness

Prior to this presentation I did not really have an idea as to what total information awareness entailed. Thanks to the information provided by gracesavoca.blogspot.com and techtarget.com, I now know that total information awareness is a, "System of a large database created by combining as much information as possible about as many people as possible through computer algorithms and human analysis." The main goal of this is to unfortunately give law enforcement access to private information which not only takes away Freedoms of American Citizens, but it also goes against the Fourth Amendment. If this were to be put into place then the government would have full authority over the lives of American Citizens which goes against everything we are to supposedly stand for as a country. People really need to be alerted about this information and unfortunately, many less educated people along with people that are poor are not aware of this most of the time, so it is important that they are alerted and know what's really going on.

There is fortunately one pretty big pro to consider when thinking about this pretty unfortunate situation at face value, because there's a chance they could be a factor in putting an end to terrorism as well as other issues. Realistically, they would be able to somehow identify said foreign terrorists, figure out what they want to do with the United States. Thanks to archive.epic.org, I learned that there are four main elements that total information awareness is out into which are, a rapid-turn around experimentation process, infrastructure development and tool hardening process, a technology refresh process, and innovative architecture.

Everyone involved will be impacted in some kind of way because we all leave a trace on the computer or forms of technology we use. As technology evolves and changes, so does this system because everything shifts so quickly in today's time. This could personally have an impact on you and those around you as well as all the things you may decide to purchase. It is just important to be conscious and in the know to avoid potential arising issues. 

 

 

EOTO 2

 Alternative Media

We all use different news sources/outlets to receive our information on a day to day basis, but how often do we take the time to look at alternative media sources. According to oxfordreference.com Alternative Media is defined as, "media sources that differ from more mainstream or dominant spaces of media in terms of content, production, and/or distribution." I myself use various forms of media in my day to day life to receive news and information such as podcasts and social media.

Throughout my research and thanks to lectures in class I was able to explore to examples of alternative media which are, antiwar.com and theamericanconservative.com. Both websites really take the time to shine a spotlight on news that is typically outside of the mainstream as well as being considered news that the government would not want us to be knowledgeable about. Both also highlight and exercise their right of the First Amendment in a pretty effective manner while they also exercise the idea of independence from government control. 

These types of media sources typically tend to isolate what they about and correlate it to the normal content they produce like some tend to only focus on liberal based content while others gear towards a more conservative approach. With this being in mind, alternative media sources typically tend to have smaller audiences as compared to more mainstream options because mainstream options tend to have government approval and funding. Even on a global scale the idea of alternative media or independent media as some call it, has had growing opinions, and in Africa there was a study done by TNS Research (mediaupdate.co.za which conducted some kind of survey in South Africa and discovered that "73% of South Africans agreed that independent media houses are essential for getting unbiased news."

Just like all things of this nature, there are pros and cons when it comes to alternative media, especially as compared to mainstream media. On the pros side, alternative media typically provides a source or sources of unbiased news while also supporting Democracy, Utilizes other components for success such as utilizing not only print, but also sound, and motion/movement for effect, Allows individuals that feel unrepresented to shine and have the chance to convey their opinions and views on topics they want to focus on, and better representation for how diverse the world is now in terms of opinions and views. Now for the cons side there are two big ones that stand out which are, alternative media sources can put you at some kind of disadvantage or funding for ads, exposure time, and getting across your overall message, as well as running the risk for a spread of misinformation and fake news which would disrupt the typical flow with many different people having the opportunity to put out almost anything.