This season, South Park has drawn consideration for repeatedly targeting President Donald Trump and his administration. In an interview with The New York Times, nevertheless, co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker clarified that this wasn’t intentional, however slightly a byproduct of the instances.
“It’s not that we obtained all political,” Parker stated. “It’s that politics turned popular culture.” Stone added that they have been additionally “drawn to” the concept that talking out in opposition to the administration had grow to be “taboo.”
In accordance with the inventive duo, they didn’t resolve to tackle the US president till after their deal with Paramount was delayed by a merger between Paramount and Skydance that required the Trump administration’s approval.
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“We simply needed to present our independence one way or the other,” Stone defined. Parker added that the Trump parody was meant to be a one-off: “We principally begin with a tune and we don’t know the place the album’s going to take us.”
And whereas Stone and Parker have continuously mentioned returning to their common fashion of programming, they realized there’s “no getting away” from MAGA.
“It’s like the federal government is simply in your face in every single place you look,” Parker stated. “Whether or not it’s the precise authorities or whether or not it’s all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubes and all of that, and it’s simply all political and political as a result of it’s greater than political. It’s popular culture.”
The scores success probably factored into their decision-making as properly, with viewership over the previous 4 months greater than doubling South Park’s earlier season in 2023.
In accordance with Stone, they haven’t gotten any pushback from Skydance founder David Ellison, who took over as chairman and CEO of Paramount after the 2 corporations merged in August. A latest Variety report famous that Ellison has helped push Paramount towards cultivating nearer ties with the Trump administration.
Parker additionally emphasised that he and Stone are nonetheless “down-the-middle guys,” unafraid to satirize each side of the political spectrum. “Any extremists of any variety we make enjoyable of. We did it for years with the woke factor. That was hilarious to us. And that is hilarious to us.”
For extra on South Park, learn our personal Jonah Krueger’s essay on how the present lastly got Gen Z to take notice. Plus, learn our evaluation of the primary two episodes of Season 28 (Season 27 ran simply 5 episodes): “Twisted Christian” and Halloween particular “The Woman in the Hat.”
