South Park - Good To The Gay Community

In college, I have to admit that I was one of the folks who loathed South Park. I found the crass humor of the show to be too much. But after coming out of the closet and actually watching the show, I found that not only was the show relevant in that it satirizes modern culture, it also features a number of gay characters who for all their craziness and silliness are not all that bad. I want to explore five of the episodes that dealt with the GLBT community, and why I think that they are good to the gay community.

Season One - "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"



In the fourth episode of season one, Stan Marsh discovers that his dog, Sparky, is gay when he catches Sparky humping other male dogs around the town of South Park. Stan is teased mecilessly by the school bullies for having a gay dog, and is even told by Mr Garrison (who we late discover is a closet homosexual) that gay people are evil. Stan then desperately tries to make Sparky less gay, even ordering him a fancy female poodle with a rhinestone collar, only to have Spary steal the collar and wear it. Stan explodes at Sparky, telling him he does not want a gay dog, at which point Sparky runs away. Stan later finds him at Big Gay Al's animal sanctuary, where at first he attempts to take Sparky home to make him more straight, at which point Sparky becomes upset. After speaking with Big Gay Al, Stan accepts Sparky's homosexuality, and even gives a speech after scoring a winning touchdown about how homosexuality is ok.

This show was not only nominated for an Emmy, but also a GLAAD award. It shows that acceptance of people of differing sexual orientation is okay, and that its not right to attempt to change them. Strange as it may seem, parents of gay children may want to watch this episode for a cue as to how to react to their child coming out.

Season Thirteen - "The F Word"



In this episode, Eric Cartman sets off a wave when he calls the local Harley riders fags for wanting attention and being very loud. The Harley riders are outraged and just become louder. As a result, all the kids in town start calling the Harley riders fags. In order to get the Harley riders out of town, the kids start painting the phrase "Fags get out!" all over the town. Mr Slave and Big Gay Al are at first horrified by the signs, but when they find out who they pertain too, they put their support firmly behind the boys. The town of South Park brings the dictionary people to change the word, at which point the Harley riders attack. The gay residents come to the rescue of the boys, telling the Harley riders to get out of town, at which point the Harley Riders accept they are fags.

The thing that I really enjoyed about this episode was that when the kids were reprimanded for using the word "fag" and the adults thought that they were saying it in reference to gay people, the kids were horrified that the adults thought that and accused them of being homophobes. I also loved the scene where all the gay people in South Park got together and decided to support the boys in changing the word "fag" to mean annoying bikers rather then gay people.

Season Eleven - "D-Yikes!"



This episode was done as a spoof of the movie "300", and revolved around Mrs. Garrison, after her sex change operation. Sick of men, she meets a woman at Curves one day while working out. The woman, Allison, invites Mrs. Garrison out, and she agrees, only to find that its a lesbian bar. At first, Mrs. Garrison is horrified and says she is not a lesbian, but when she kisses Allison, they end up "scissoring" all night long. When Persians attempt to take over the bar, Les Bos, Mrs. Garrison stands up to the Persians, driving them from the bar. The Persian's leader, Xerxes, comes to Les Bos, where Mrs. Garrison reveals she knows that Xerxes is really a Persian lesbian, evidenced by a photo obtained from Curves by some Mexicans posing as Persians. They proceed to "scissor" and Les Bos is saved.

I love that an episode on South Park was finally devoted to the lesbian community. It was also good to see that the lesbian members of the bar, under the leadership of Mrs. Garrison, were able to stand up againt the Persians and keep the bar from being turned into a bar for Persians.

Season Seven - "South Park Is Gay!"



In light of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy show, all the male residents of South Park have become metrosexual. At first Kyle resists, but gives in when Stan, Eric, and Kenny give him a makeover. At first Gerald, Kyle's father, is horrified to see his son acting this way, but submits to the metrosexual fad later on after being encouraged by his friends to do so. After many trips to the mall and jokes about conditioner later, Kyle decides to go kill the Queer Eye guys, as does Mr Garrison who is sick of not being able to find anyone in town who is actually gay and who will pound Mr. Slave's tight ass. They arrive in New York and discover that the Queer Eye guys are really crab people intent on making all the men of the world effeminate and not willing to fight. When Kyle and Mr Garrison fail to stop them, all seems lost until the women of South Park break into NBC headquarters and beat the Queer Eye guys to death, at which point the NBC producers decide to bring back the Hispanic programming, at which all the men in South Park become stereotypically Hispanic.

This episode is possibly one of my favorite South Park episodes. I loved that the whole town turned metrosexual, and the idea of a metrosexual pride rally was so funny. When you see the boys in school all dressed up as metrosexual, it is very hillarious. Another hillarious moment is when Eric insists he is a quarter bisexual, because his grandfather was bi.

The South Park Movie, South Park Season Four



In the South Park movie and two episodes of Season Four, Satan is involved in a homosexual relationship first with Sadaam Hussein in the South Park movie, in which Sadaam treats Satan like his slave. At the end of the South Park movie, Sadaam is impaled on a piece of rock, and supposedly dies. During the time between the movie and the season four episode "Do The Handicapped Go To Hell?", Satan begins dating and moves in with a guy named Chris, a "vegan pussy", according to Sadaam. When Sadaam shows up at the door to their apartment, Satan refuses to let him in, saying he is happy now. Sadaam leaves, but is invited to dinner behind Satan's back by Chris. Satan is not happy, and when Sadaam comes to dinner, he tries everything he can to kill Chris. At the end of dinner, Sadaam gives Satan the key to his hotel room. Satan goes to the hotel room to give Sadaam the key back, but instead Sadaam gets him drunk. The next day, Satan wakes up in bed with Sadaam after a rowdy night of sex. He goes to Chris, but instead of Chris getting mad, he said he understood. Chris asks Sadaam to go for a walk, where they both attack and kill each other. In the interim, Satan talks to God, who tells him to stop being a wuss and just pick one or the other. Satan instead decides to not date either of them, and breaks up with both of them.

Another hilarious set of episodes and a movie. While not a healthy relationship shown, it was funny to see.