http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/04/south-park-censored-after-warning-from-islamist-group/1
The episode:
http://www.xepisodes.com/southpark/episodes/1406/201.html
Jon Stewart's response:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/jon-stewart-stands-up-for_n_549178.html
It doesn't feel that long ago, but way back in 2006 we discussed the Danish Muhammad cartoons and their free speech, religious extremism implications (links at bottom). For you fellow South Park fans, you know that for their 200-201st episodes, they made a 2-part story basically ridiculing all the famous people that they have already ridiculed over their 14 seasons. The show's creators, Parker and Stone, probably want to feel like no one (or no prophet) is beyond their satire reach, so they tried to push the envelope to see how much Muhammad content Comedy Central/Viacom would let them get away with. The whole point of their story is that oft-ridiculed egomaniac celebrities like Tom Cruise want to steal Muhammad's magic "goo" that allows him to be impervious to insult. Of course that goo is the fear of violent backlash from angry Muslims, which most Tom Cruise fans won't replicate.
In episode 200, they were permitted to say the name Muhammad, but to never show an image of him (if he was in a scene, he was blocked by a large black rectangle with the words "CENSORED" on it). The closest they got was showing Muhammad supposedly hidden in a large teddy bear suit. After that, a small NYC-based group (Revolution Muslim) said on their website that Parker and Stone insulted their faith and should be careful, or they would "end up like Theo Van Gogh", the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by a Muslim after he produced a controversial film about female mistreatment in Islam, where religious imagery was intercalated with bondage pornography. So of course the media community got all up in arms about this, rallying to poor South Park's defense. Jon Stewart did as well, in the video above. So for episode 201, everyone was on edge. Viacom and even some South Park staff "undermined" Parker and Stone by censoring much more content without their knowledge or approval. Now the name Muhammad would not be audible (masked by a bleep), and discussions about intimidation and fear were also censored. As a viewer, I thought that part was deliberate from Parker and Stone for humor, but apparently not. Though not ones to back away from controversy, Parker and Stone plan to fire back with episode 202. And apparently in Season 5, South Park did show a non-offensive depiction of Muhammad (see attachment), and never received any threats about it because they didn't make a big deal about it, unlike now.
Personally, I think all this is getting way overblown, just like the Danish cartoons. Maybe it's just a stunt for ratings from the South Park gang anyway, since they were running out of people to insult, and need something fresh to spice up a show that has been on the air for over a decade (prior to the Muhammad episode, their recent work was "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerBalls" with random vomiting). I doubt anyone at Comedy Central or South Park Studios are really fearful of violent reprisals, though I'm sure most of them aren't booking a flight to Karachi any time soon. South Park has had experience with walking the fine line between slander lawsuits and fair-game satire, but their biggest religious foe has really been the Scientologists, not the Muslims, who actually got an anti-Scientology episode pulled (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124052961, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5286835).
Revolution Muslim never directly threatened anyone. They made a not unreasonable prediction and warning based on recent facts, no different than your mother reminding you to brush your teeth before bed or risk getting cavities. And it's not like this small-time web-based group (their website was subsequently hacked after their South Park comments, and is currently down) matters in the global "clash of cultures". They are not a terrorist group, nor imams, so they have really no influence over, and do not speak for, the hundreds of millions of Muslims out there, most of whom have never heard of South Park, but they probably don't appreciate rich, rude foreigners insulting a major part of their identity.
As with the Danish cartoons, this row is not about the defense of free speech and all those other lofty, righteous intentions. Just like the Catholic Church claiming to be persecuted over their cover-ups of criminal sex abuse of minors, we in the Judeo-Christian West love to play the victim and martyr, even when we are in fact the perpetrator. We're just standing up for what we believe in, and these barbarians threaten us and want to take away our rights! Parker and Stone are rich, and don't need anyone's sympathy or defense. Plus, they mostly got rich by making fun of all the irrational, hypocritical, prudish, depraved, and stupid things we Americans do, many of which are not shared by the Muslims whom we often belittle and look down upon.
In addition, South Park is not high art and generally not much more edifying than my lame emails (and let me repeat that I am a big SP fan). If the crazy Muslims were trying to prevent us from enjoying Shakespeare or Beethoven, that is a different story. Of course fundamentalists like the Taliban do prohibit music and some other entertainment IN THEIR LAND, because they think it will lead to sinful behavior (and sometimes they're right, if you've ever been to a Marilyn Manson or Pussycat Dolls concert). Even if we disapprove of their ways, it's their land and their laws, so we can't really stop them unless we want to topple another regime. The Taliban never said that Westerners can't listen to music (or threatened us with violence if we do), though I'm sure they disapprove just as we do of their customs. That's the sad irony of all this: the Muslim-Western culture clash is so symbiotic and reflective. What applies to us applies to them, and what angers us is often the converse of what angers them.
I know South Park feels like they have creative license to satirize anything or anyone, and under US laws they do in most cases. They were being pretty sensitive and fair too, because in the same episode Jesus was watching internet porn and Buddha was snorting cocaine. I don't think the Dalai Lama or Pope have lost much sleep over it. It's one thing to inadvertently offend someone due to cultural differences. But to deliberately push another person's buttons isn't really defensible to me. They claim that Muslims are intimidating us into self-censorship, well we are provoking and pushing them, which could result in regrettable behavior, not that anyone has died over this. As far as I know, no European was hurt over the Danish cartoons either, even though some fatwas were probably issued and some KFCs got razed in the Middle East (no joke). If a kid at school keeps poking you in the belly, and taunts you with "Come on, hit me, hit me you little wimp!", we wouldn't be surprised if it ends badly. And that doesn't benefit anyone (the bully gets a bloody nose and the teased kid gets detention, and from then on the two kids hate each other and may fight again).
We are damn lucky compared to most poor Muslims. We can enjoy all the free speech that we want here, though it doesn't hurt to show a little discretion in regards to our audience. If Parker and Stone want to celebrate free speech, why don't they dress up like Klansmen and go hang out in Ninth Ward New Orleans? It's one thing to poke fun at silly media spectacles like Paris Hilton - they are rich and adored, they will survive. But many Muslims are poor and illiterate. Religion and family are all they have going for them, and we would be the same if we were born in their place. To egg them on from our comfy ivory tower in the West is low. Parker and Stone are spoiled; for a decade they have enjoyed their weekly bully pulpit, and no one has really challenged them. They can reach millions of households with their message, while the average Muslim has never even met an American and can't speak English. Sure, most of us think it's silly for Muslims to get so offended by others' ignorant "transgressions" against their prophet. But all of us have our irrational pet peeves. What if you really hate humming? If Parker and Stone came to your house and followed you around humming all day, you probably would get pissed at them too. Maybe you wouldn't kill them, but they wouldn't score points in your book. Does that mean Parker and Stone have to give up humming entirely? Of course not, but if they do, it would be more considerate if they don't do it in your presence, and ridicule you for your aversion to humming.
http://worldaffairs-manwnoname.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-on-cartoons.html
http://worldaffairs-manwnoname.blogspot.com/2010/04/danish-muhammad-cartoons.html
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