South Park (Not Suitable for Children)

I think South Park really touched on an important topics of mass social media propaganda. While the episode mostly focuses on children being influenced, while in reality anyone who consumes social media content irregardless of age is being maliciously targeted.

The days of a few major TV companies dominating the narrative for our cultural programing is now long gone, and what we deal with now is a more diffuse and more sinister form of propaganda. Where the audience is now targeted by multiple outlets of information believing that we have an option and a choice to make while in reality social media is still dominated by the same people who controlled the cultural narrative before.

This episode is a cautionary tale not just for parents who want to maintain control over their children but to all of us.

From the social commentary of modern times, to subverting what your expectations are and going completely beyond the normal scope of even South Park.

Almost every aspect of this episode has the hallmarks of a great south park episode.

My young niece was obsessed with "Prime" this Christmas the soft drink that this episode untimely is about. An episode comply grounding in the moment.

Then also going as far as parodying Only Fans. Geniusly making Randy Marsh the centre of this arc.

It just works in a perfect whole that other recent south park epsiodes don't.

And then even going as far as joking about the illuminati and powers that be that allows this stuff in our society. It's a no hoild bared episode of south park that I'm sure will stand the testament of time.

Cred is a sports drink that is all the rage at the kids' school and is a determinant of popularity - the more Cred you have, the more popular you are. Meanwhile, after a teacher at the school is discovered to been posting videos on Only Fans and making large amounts of money from it, Randy Marsh decides to become an Only Fans model.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are in top form in this South Park special. Poking fun at influencers, unhealthy, unnecessary sports drinks, the superficiality of social media and popularity and the stealthy, underhanded marketing to children this special is a great send up of some the blights of our age. Done in their usual biting, over-the-top style this special is hilarious yet powerful and profound.

There are times when it comes close to being repetitive but the plot largely manages to avoid that with some very unpredictable changes of direction.

I have to admit that this wasn't nearly as good as the last special. Trey Parker and Matt Stone said they're specials, not movies! Anyway, this episode featured all the kids in "South Park" being addicted to this energy drink Cred. Clyde hides the fact that he doesn't have any. Meanwhile, Randy tries to make extra money by making porn on an OnlyFans profile. I hadn't even heard of OnlyFans before!

I didn't know about Prime Beverages either. The best scene was probably when the kids got to Pueblo and children were killed. Yeah, that's morbid, but it's to be expected from this show. While slow moving, I was still eager to see what would happen next. The miners joke was nicely done too. This is why I just avoid social pornographic websites. ***

South Park: Not Suitable For Children is clear proof that the South Park writers are beginning to struggle with these hour long specials. Don't get me wrong, this was an entertaining watch, however the comedic element in this special started to decay half way through before being almost completely lost towards the end, where there are jokes where you're more likely to roll your eyes at them than laugh. There isn't a clear line between the A plot and B plot here as they both link up halfway through the show. The overall message of the show is that Prime Energy and Onlyfans are not suitable for children, and it does so through repetitive jokes that got no more than a chuckle from me, and a plot that would have been better suited for the original show's 20 minute runtime, rather than an hour long special. So if you plan to watch this: expect repetitive jokes and a plot that only makes sense if you understand what they're making fun of.