South Park: Moral Compass of Our Generation

Okay, perhaps that title was an extreme exaggeration but the last few seasons of South Park have had a particular knack for hitting the nail on the head with a variety of social issues. Through it all they manage to incorporate some truly inane subplots. I really enjoyed Cartman's taunting of the "little person" that carried through the entire episode - ending with their playground wrestling match. Though absurd, it somehow related to the "nigger-guy" theme - I'm not entirely sure how, but I tend to believe that it did...you know, in my gut.

Randy's gaffe on Wheel of Fortune was a product of latent, repressed racism that seems to exist at a subconscious level. He claims to not be a racist, yet the first word that pops into his head when posed the category of "People that annoy you" and the clue "N _ G G E R S" is the infamous n-word. I admit that the n-word was the first one that came to mind for me too. Though, my defense is that I had seen a CNN.com news-clip including the scene but without the resolution so I got a skewed impression of the show. (That makes it all better, right? Guys?)

The camera-man shoots him a glare as if to say, "Do not say what I think you're going to say." The crowd is shocked and his family is thoroughly embarrassed. Does Randy saying the n-word on national television make him a racist? Or does it make him a pawn of stereotyping? There are a lot of stereotypes in society that, under certain circumstances, are completely inappropriate. It's acceptable to point out those stereotypes, whether right or wrong, on the Chappelle Show or, to a marginally funny extent, Mind of Mencia. However, during a family television show on a major network those same stereotypes are unacceptable. Further, it depends on the context within those shows. If Randy had said, "Pat, I doubt you would put the n-word as the answer, so I'm not going to guess an answer" he probably could have gotten away with thinking that the answer was "N I G G E R S." It was his deadpan, honest belief that the answer was the n-word that cast him as the "nigger-guy." Comedians get away with playing with stereotypes either because of their ownership of the word or because of their playful nature with it. It is when someone like Michael Richards takes the word and makes it serious, even in the midst of a comedy routine, that it becomes offensive.