Comedy Central censors "South Park" in response to Revolution Muslim

The adult cartoon “South Park,” which airs on Comedy Central, is known for its characteristic satirical humor. A recent episode of the show included caricatures of religious leaders, including Jesus, Buddha, and Muhammad. The cartoon version of the Islamic prophet Muhammad wore a bear costume. In response to the episode, an Islamic group called Revolution Muslim posted a message on their website warning South Park’s creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker that they might be dealt violent retaliation for portraying Muhammad on their show.

The new “South Park” episode which aired Wednesday night included the Muhammad character for a second time. Yet due to censorship on the part of the Comedy Central Network, the character was essentially erased from the show. In addition to audio bleeps which altered the show, Comedy Central prohibited the show from being streamed online. In statements made on SouthParkStudios.com, Stone and Parker made it clear that the censorship of Wednesday’s episode was imposed by the Comedy Central Network.

There are several key issues at play in this story.

First is the representation of racial and religious groups in media. The members of Revolution Muslim warned that the creators of “South Park” would “probably end up like Theo VanGogh,” a Dutchman who was killed in 2004 after releasing a film which exposed abuse experienced by women in certain Islamic communities. Viewers of “South Park” should be aware that the show thrives on irreverent humor. While some may take offense to the content of the show, it is important to realize that “South Park” does not continuously single out one group as an object of ridicule. Rather, its satirical representation of different groups within society is fairly equal; they make fun of everyone at one point or another. I’m not making a judgment about the nature of the show, nor am I saying it was wrong for Revolution Muslim to take offense to the content of the show. However, on “South Park,” every group is an equal target. This is an important consideration for those who dislike the show.

The response of Revolution Muslim to the representation of Muhammad on “South Park” prompted the Comedy Central Network’s censorship of this week’s episode. In the text Media/Society, David Crouteau and William Hoynes often discuss the constraints which are present in the media business. On the surface, the actions of censorship on the part of the Comedy Central Network may be viewed as actions taken to protect the show’s creators from potential harm. However, from the statements made by Stone and Parker, it seems that they were not concerned about a reaction to the edgy humor:

“In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind.”

Even though “South Park” and other shows on Comedy Central are full of irreverent humor, it seems the Network was concerned about its image within the Islamic community. Media Networks must consider the implications of offending audience members. In this case, if a significant number of members of the Islamic community were offended, the network could lose viewership. If the network draws in a smaller audience, that could mean the loss of advertising revenues for the company. It seems Comedy Central’s choice to play it safe upset a large majority of its viewers who expect to be entertained by the satirical nature of “South Park.”

Women portayed as weak sex objects..

I've recently began to think about the exact same thing this article talks about. The Parent Tekevision Council did research on how women are usually the victimes of violence and sex on television. Storylines including violence towards women are also becoming an epidemic. Its becoming miore and more popular. In a PTC report, they focused on victimization among women in storylines and the depiction of teen girls becoming victims, and an increase in female victimization as punchlines in movies or stories. I feel as though this report is very true and a shock to our reality. I don't think many people pay much attention to these facts. Myself, being a male, i do not realize how shows portray women as weak sex objects.
This article relates to the media and how the media suggests our women to be weak. We have women portray poor roles in shows and make them look incapable of doing what a man could do. We discussed in class how women are used as sexy idols in commercials. This is kind of along the same subject, except they are using these women to lure men into watching their entertainment. There is difference among how women are treated now within the media to the past media. Nicole Kidman comments in the article about how this is becoming a big problem within our society, i agree.
This article says a lot to me about what is becoming of our society. In the article they show all the negative changes about how the media makes our women look. From 2004 to 2009, there was an 81% increase in partner abuse, meaning men are beating women. I think the media is portraying our women in the wrong way and at some point in time, our women will become the indominant ones in our society. It is still quite possible for the husband to take care of the children and the mother to go to work, but the way we are portraying our women in television suggests otherwise. Our women are much stronger then how the media is making them look.