“South Park” has long been the arbiter of no-holds-barred comedic satire. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have successfully managed to make fun of everyone and everything, from PETA to “Jesus and friends,” and their 200th episode is no exception.
To mark the occasion, they did what they do best: Poke fun at things widely regarded as off-limits, specifically the censorship of Muhammad.
And, to no one’s surprise, they have received death threats from a New York-based Islamic supremacist group, Muslim Revolution, for their carefully censored depiction of Muhammad behind a black censor bar, wearing a bear mascot suit and inside a U-Haul truck.
The group’s message read: “We have to warn Matt (Stone) and Trey (Parker) that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”
The assassination of Van Gogh for his critical film on women in Islam, along with the numerous threats to anyone who depicts the prophet Muhammad, has made making fun of Muhammad an unofficial exception to free speech.
An exception that Stone and Parker mean to break, and an exception that needs to be broken.
“South Park” has always been successful at pushing the limits of what is considered acceptable, and by bravely tackling the issue of the censorship of Muhammad, has helped expose the inconsistencies of free speech necessary for a truly democratic society.
Unfortunately, Comedy Central bleeped out the entire ending of the show, which, according to Stone and Parker, didn’t even mention Muhammad.
The statement issued on their website read: “In the 14 years we’ve been doing “South Park” we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we’ll see what happens to it.”
If companies like Comedy Central bow to the threats of religious extremists, then the slippery slope of what free speech entails will only worsen.
We need to remember that the battle over free speech is not over, and that violent extremist groups, no matter the religion or cause, should not be catered to, or free speech will carry a price.