Entertainment in Modern Society

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By Ron Signore

Sometimes humans have a problem separating facts to fiction. Most of us have enough problem separating our careers from our social life. The lack of balance in our lives on average weighs on the average joe. I for one have such a work heavy balance, when I read emails in my personal account, if there is no call to action, I move forward. Its not meant to be rude, it is just part of a tactic to optimize the little time we have each day to complete tasks within our bandwidth of capability.

Outside of family time, the way I clear my head from all the stresses of my everyday work life, of which I bring on myself, is to sit down and type these articles, become outspoken on social media, or my personal favorite, streaming something that grabs my attention.

Of course, I have my favorite shows and movies to watch. Just about anything that represents La Cosa Nostra (if there was one) get extensive interest. I can mindlessly watch Seinfeld to the point where reciting the lines of the show become second nature. Speaking of that, I would not be surprised if Melania had “man hands.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I almost certainly believe Bunker Boy naps under his desk like Costanza each day. Though, I am sure if he had the chance back in Jersey growing up, he would have associated with an interesting cast of characters at a strip club like the Bada Bing in The Sopranos.

However, lately as the political climate heats up, I am finding reruns of shows like Family Guy and South Park be the perfect satire to help illustrate the perceptions of modern events. These shows are definitely not for the easily offended. The language, the, content, the stereotypes illustrated by situations and the visual illustration that make the show can only be described as over exaggerated and poorly imitated. For me, I am just sick enough to watch and laugh from the shock value.

South Park more specifically deals with the current events even more. Some things as the show originally aired in it’s opening seasons were certainly milder and had basic story lines about the adventures in the Po-Dunk little town of South Park, CO. However, as the shows popularity grew and censorship began to lax a bit, the outrageousness grew along with it.

Maybe there is an obvious slant to the platform the creators stand on, but the messages and perceptions vary to the point where no one person, race, religion, or sexual orientation is safe from attack. With that stated, I am concluding that the ignorance is like that of a modern day All in the Family. It is not the same type of focus on the struggles of American families caused by changing times like All in the Family, but it does highlight exaggerated generalizations seen from radical viewpoints.

Presidential Elections have been so greatly illustrated when there is a lackluster of preferred candidates. Starting with the Bush/Kerry election, South Park portrayed the candidates without using names as claiming voters had to choose between a “Giant Douche” and a “Turd Sandwich.” That view was revived during the 2016 election. Where they went during the 2016 election was far better and more real to the point that instead of people claiming “The Simpsons” did it first, they will have to praise Trey Parker and Matt Stone for that credit.

As political correctness becomes more and more rampant in the country, the creators of South Park turn one of the show’s characters into a strong, sickly accurate portrayal of Cheeto Man. They give him the facial covering that is like that of black face but uses a brownish orange. The continued resistance to progression for a society in the 21st century is so accurately portrayed as we reflect on current times. Mind you, these episodes I am specifically referring to aired in 2015. Blatant exaggeration, or so we thought at the time, to the MAGA campaign has the candidate expressing his discontent for progression, political correctness and immigration by screaming his policy would be to “F^$K them all to death,” then following up with “Make America Great Again.” The descriptions go down some dark paths, but I think the point was very well illustrated as to what the creators felt the nation was getting if Cheeto Man elected.

Surprisingly, in that same timeframe, there was an episode that illustrated the racism and brutality of law enforcement. Again, not subtly. They pointed out very boldly their perception of what police do and what they feel is okay to get away with. Several times in one episode, they describe a public disapproval of choking blacks, and the cops are left dumbfounded as to what to do when engaging African Americans. The clear portrayal of racism and ignorance in law enforcement from their perception was ahead of its time. Though there were incidents in those couple of years leading up to the release of the episodes that season, it would have fully aligned to what we are seeing today.

Though time and time again, we saw “The Simpsons” put out episodes that had foreshadowed events in the world, including a Presidency by Donald Trump, the fact that the two creators of South Park were able to accurately describe with perfect illustration what we were getting with this presidency is unbelievable. It is not like satire you may see from impersonations that highlight the quirks of the individual, it is the magnified and detailed flaws in not only the now Moscow Agent Governing America, but the ignorance of the voters who either did not see it then or did see it and are just as terrible as he is. The cruelty of the graphic language or illustrations we see in the show is not a demonstration to help drive the negative aspects of racism or current social issues to influence people to be like that, they are really just the exclamation point for people to wake up and see this is the world we live in. Just wait until things get rolling again for a new season after the cluster we have seen the last 6+ months of 2020. I know I am ready for the laughter after all this crazy anger

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