South Park

South Park is an animated cartoon series that is controversial due to its use of vulgar and obscene language, biting humor, and mockery of religion and other respected institutions. Shows have mocked Catholicism, Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, Scientology, and made jokes about Jesus, Moses, Mohammed and other religious leaders. Its creators decribe themselves as "equal opportunity offenders" and some shows have made fun of liberal causes, particularly environmentalism.

Of the 1999 South Park movie, movie reviewer Roger Ebert said "The film is rated R instead of NC-17 only because it's a cartoon, I suspect; even so, the MPAA has a lot of 'splaining to do," meaning presumably that Ebert believes it should have been rated NC-17. "Waves of four-letter words roll out over the audience," he says.

A frequent criticism of South Park is that it indulges in shock for shock's sake. Ebert says of the film, "All it lacks is a point to its message. What is it saying? That movies have gone too far, or that protests against movies have gone too far? It is a sign of our times that I cannot tell. Perhaps it's simply anarchistic, and feels that if it throws enough shocking material at the wall, some of it will stick. A lot of the movie offended me." However, he acknowledges, "I laughed. I did not always feel proud of myself while I was laughing, however.... No target is too low, no attitude too mean or hurtful, no image too unthinkable."[1]

However, South Park has been praised for its often blunt viewpoints on many political, moral, and social issues of the day.