South Park Season 20: 5 Key Themes From Episode 3

South Park has come a long way from its rude and crude beginnings, and has grown into part of modern culture. As much a socio-political commentary as it is a hilarious adult focussed equal opportunities offender, it occupies an almost unassailable position. In the excellent “A Week To Air” documentary, Trey Parker and Matt Stone explain how they have insulted and offended so many over the years that now people just think “it’s South Park, what are you gonna do” Nobody dares sue them or they would be the ones who look petty.

In the past few years, the change of format to a more series based form of story-telling has freed the team to explore issues more deeply. Some of the points they are trying to make are fairly obvious and very much in your face, or frequently over someone’s face. Others are more subtle and can take a little more consideration, but they are delivered at such a high, blink and you miss it, what did he just say pace, that sometimes it can take a while to really see what the subtext is.

The last few seasons have touched on gentrification, deprivation, insidious advertising, opinion as news and the return of political correctness. This year seems to build on that and the focus this time appears to be social media and the changing world we occupy. Let’s have a look at some of the plot points in Episode 3 and analyse what the team are trying to do.

This is one of the main themes of the episode, if not the series. Ike and Kyle's Dad, calling himself Skankhunt42, is posting malicious and hurtful comments online. These are mainly targeted at women, but also at any man who tries to stand up for and support those women, including Randy. His main schtick is to use pictures of his victims and photoshop a “d*ck in their mouths”, aiming to make them quit Twitter.

The imagery is crude but the point the guys are making is obvious. A man using his status as a male to belittle women and insult them is commonplace online and the very fact that women have an opinion and dare to share it is enough to enrage some men. Gerald is trying to silence women by using the oppression of sexual dominance and reducing them to simply sex objects. This is unfortunately a feature of society and the sad fact is it is amplified online.

This episode continues on with Gerald's trolling of Freja Ollengard, an Olymipc gold medallist and breast-cancer survivor. He is revelling is his anonymity while simultaneously seeking attention and fame. We see the effects his actions have on those around him, suspicion for some, misery for others. This is the kind of impact real life trolling has

When Gerald finds out Freja has eventually succumbed to the incessant and increasing bullying online and committed suicide, only then does the guilt hit him. But by then it is too late. All too often in real life it's only when people are caught or there are consequences do they snap out of the daze.

This episode is maybe a bit more serious and a little lighter on the laughs, but what the guys are doing is shining a light on a serious subject. Remember folks, trolling's bad?