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Thursday, April 13, 2024
By Steven L. Taylor

Michelle Malkin notes that Comedy Central apparently censored a cartoon of Mohammed on a recent episode of South Park.

Now here’s the question (and I am not being sarcastic or really much of anything here): but should we care? I have never watched more than thirty-seconds of the show, and doubt I am going to start, so from a personal point-of-view it has zero direct influence over me.

Now, I can see the hypocrisy issue insofar as I am well aware that the show has traded in offensive images and jokes from the beginning, including numerous usages of Christian imagery, amongst other things, and Comedy Central has been fine with all of that.

However, in this case, they chose not to show the image, and presumably it is in response to possible violence aimed at CC in the post-Mohammed cartoon world.

The question becomes: should we care?

Is this a dreadful capitulation to threats by an American company? Is it simply a business decision? Is it rank hypocrisy?

Of the things to get worried/upset about, where should it rank?

I am having trouble getting past the fact that it is simply South Park on a cable comedy channel–and have a hard time mustering much concern.

But, perhaps all the grading has simply fried my brain.

Thoughts?

Update: James Joyner comments on the story as well, and calls the network (correctly): “gutless”. I still can’t decide if it matters, however.

Update II: Kevin Alyward thinks it is all a publicity stunt.






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  • In the episode in question, one of the characters explains that terrorism is only effective if people make decisions based on their fear of terrorism (thereby enabling the terrorists). The fictional Fox executive "got it" and decided to go ahead and run a Family Guy episode depicting Muhammad, but the real Comedy Central execs censored the Muhammad image on South Park out of fear of reprisal. In other words, Comedy Central Lets The Terrorists Win. You should care any time American citizens feel the need to choose a course of action based on the opinions of terrorists.
  • Dr. Steven Taylor
    I recognize that the show is a big deal, whether it is the "most significant entertainment show on the air" or not I would find debatable, but then again I am not sure what show I place in that category.

    My point is that I am honestly not sure whether this whole Mohammad business (like the book store magazine thing a few weeks back) really, truly matters or not. On the one hand I don't like the idea of any kind of capitulation to perceived threats of violence, but on the other I wonder how many people actually notice any of this stuff to the degree that it actually make such threat more or less likely or whether over the long haul it increases the likelihood of future capitulations.
  • It's probably the most significant entertainment show on the air, arguably in the last several decades, in terms of cultural impact and social commentary. And in the context of a show that frequently goes well beyond the edge of what I would consider good taste, it's especially notable.

    Whether it matters in the grand scheme of things, it's a pretty big deal.
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