Sunday 28 June 2009

Michael Jackson and the Jeffersons episode

This will get taken down by Viacom as quick as a flash but it is apposite.

In classic South Park fashion they blitz MJ but then warm the edge of their satire by targeting the police, racists and more or less anyone else who wanders into their fair portrayal of a troubled man.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

No doubt that episode will now be seen as utterly distasteful and then venerated in years to come!

Anonymous said...

And the Sun headline "Bananas in Pyjamas" (when MJ turned up for court in PJ bottoms due to ill health) will be the focal point of cultural studies analysis for years to come.

Mr Kitty said...

"And the Sun headline "Bananas in Pyjamas" (when MJ turned up for court in PJ bottoms due to ill health) will be the focal point of cultural studies analysis for years to come."

Indeed. Endlessly.......

But it is a traditional South Park manouver to appear to ridicule a celeb etc and then slowly turn the ridicule against themselves. It's not a new tactic for them but works in shaming the press and media. Used most effectively in Britney's New Look http://allsp.com/s.php?season=12

They go for her, big style, but then shift the guns of the satire onto those that would scoff at her.

Similarly in Team America. They drew in the liberal war-haters in the first half of the movie only to trash them in the second act. It's not a new form of satirical rhetoric but it's bloody powerful.

vevey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
vevey said...

I wonder if the SP writers have come across Spitting Image? I suspect they have.