''South Park'' Republican

A South Park Republican (coined by Andrew Sullivan in 2001)[1] is a person who holds center-right political beliefs influenced by the popular American animated television program South Park. Many may hold generally conservative views on fiscal debates, but may be more moderate or liberal in regard to social issues such as LGBT rights and abortion.

Political views of Trey Parker and Matt Stone

The two major creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have openly expressed disillusionment of both of the major political parties of the United States.

For example, at an online forum (South Park Studios Chat, May 10, 2001),[2] Parker and Stone wrote that they hated both liberals and conservatives, with Stone famously commenting "I hate conservatives but I really fucking hate liberals"; in 2006, Parker commented in an interview that they were aware of the concept of the South Park Republican and they both felt that they were "just pretty middle-ground guys".[3]

They are often speculated to be libertarian, as for specific issues, their standings usually agree with the libertarian ideals. However, in an interview documented by the Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, they both contended that the libertarian label, which had been applied to them in recent years, was not entirely appropriate.[4] At a talk show hosted by Charlie Rose,[5] Stone said that they "just play devil's advocate all the time", personifying both sides of the argument and taking "a little funny way out" to differ from the liberal actors in Hollywood.

Still, it is reported that at a conference in Amsterdam organized by the Reason magazine they said that if one had to put a label on them, they were libertarian.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Brian C. (Autumn 2003). "We're Not Losing the Culture Wars Anymore". Retrieved November 9, 2007.
  2. ↑ http://www.southparkwillie.com/SPinfo/010510SPStudiosChatWithMattAndTrey.htm
  3. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=agZQNLhOyWgC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=%22just+pretty+middle-ground+guys%22&source=bl&ots=wtITuFf0T_&sig=2dZQ71hL6Z8pL3La0ClctUhBTN8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivquD695zaAhWmVt8KHYphDwUQ6AEIODAB#v=onepage&q=%22just%20pretty%20middle-ground%20guys%22&f=false
  4. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/features/still-sick-still-wrong-20070322
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FemcOqA3lYw&index=2&t=1073s&list=PL0rdLZHjBgCyI2VwdQ6BovWppqPdEn3KO
  6. ↑ http://reason.com/archives/2006/08/31/south-park-refugees

Further reading

  • Yachi Hiehle, Is South Park Republican? Social and Political Attitudes in South Park, University of Arizona, 2010.
  • Nick Gillespie and Jesse Walker. "South Park Libertarians: Trey Parker and Matt Stone on liberals, conservatives, censorship, and religion." Reason.com (2006): 58.
  • Gournelos, Ted. Popular culture and the future of politics: Cultural studies and the Tao of South Park. Lexington Books, 2009.
  • Podlas, Kimberlianne, Respect My Authority! South Park's Expression of Legal Ideology and Contribution to Legal Culture, 11 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L. 491 (2009).
  • Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew, ed. Taking South Park Seriously. Suny Press, 2008.

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