11/17/08 1:51 PMMediascapePage 1 of 6file:///JordanJennings/%20Design/Mediascape/html/Fall08_Scepanski.html Out of the Mouths of Babes: AnimatedSitcoms and Political Incorrectnessby Philip Scepanski Download as .PDFThe Sarah Silverman Program, Mind of Mencia, Chapelle's Show and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphianotwithstanding, it would seem that the most popular politically incorrect television shows, as well as those thatdraw the most flak, are animated. South Park and Family Guy are the most prominent and successful among agroup that also includes The Boondocks and Drawn Together; and there are numerous other shows that mayinclude such jokes even if they do not make such consistent use of them as the series listed above.Before exploring this topic further, it is worth describing the tendencies of the above programs in terms of thetargets of their satire. While all of these shows suggest a general rebellion against the strictly enforcedpoliteness of political correctness, they activate this style of comedy to different ends. Indeed, the use ofpolitically incorrect humor in each of these shows is quite different.email address11/17/08 1:51 PMMediascapePage 2 of 6file:///JordanJennings/%20Design/Mediascape/html/Fall08_Scepanski.html Drawn TogetherOne might set up pairs of shows in opposition to one another. While Family Guy may aggravate identitypoliticians with its racist and sexist humor, it maintains a consistent criticism of Republican politicians andAmerican neoconservatism. On the other hand, South Park is held up by some as the voice of hip conservativismbecause of its willingness to take on issues like hate crime legislation and environmentalism while skeweringliberal figures from the contentious Al Gore to the near-universally loved Bono.1Of course, both of these shows contain a decent amount of “I can’t believe they just said that!” comedy, butboth also make more serious arguments about specific political issues. There are programs however, thatoperate more exclusively in one or the other style of comedy. Though Drawn Together occasionally employsdirectly political humor, it is more often offensive for its own sake. The Boondocks suggests something of anopposite aim in that the vast majority of its un-PC humor seems directed towards specifically political ends. Mostnotably, an episode titled “Return of the King,” imagines what would happen if Martin Luther King, Jr. awakenedfrom a coma today.11/17/08 1:51 PMMediascapePage 3 of 6file:///JordanJennings/%20Design/Mediascape/html/Fall08_Scepanski.htmlIn this episode's climax, Dr. King excoriates the black community using extremely offensive language." Here,King’s offensive speech leads to positive ends in the form of increased economic and political power for AfricanAmericans. It should be noted however that The Boondocks also attacks those who would use such terms forless positive ends. One character in particular, an African American white supremacist named Uncle Ruckus,serves as the contradictory counterpoint to other characters’ more logical positions.The BoondocksBut what is it about animated sitcoms that makes them such a prominent format for politically incorrect comedy?Though it seems likely that these shows are able to “get away” with more (as far as network execs andstandards and practices watchdogs are concerned) because animation suggests a distance from the “reality” oflive action, the uproar and popularity surrounding these series seem more related to issues of animation,comedy, and children. Many theorists see logical conflict as the basis of humor, and there is certainly a conflictinherent in these shows.2 For quite a while, cartoons were seen as children’s programming and though recenttrends in television comedy have called this association into question, the concept of combining a children’sgenre with adult themes still bears an underlying comedic current. Try mentioning cartoon porn to almostanyone and see if you don’t get a laugh. But the inherent humor of this conflict also leads to controversy, aspeople worry about drawing children’s eyes and ears to seemingly child-unfriendly content.Adding fuel to this fire, many of these shows are based around child (South Park and The Boondocks) orchildlike (Family Guy) characters or thinly disguised allusions to characters from children’s media includingDisney and Spongebob Squarepants (Drawn Together). In South Park and The Boondocks, children function asthe voice of reason, though there are other youngsters who do not come off as wise. This suggests the idiom11/17/08 1:51 PMMediascapePage 4 of 6file:///JordanJennings/%20Design/Mediascape/html/Fall08_Scepanski.htmlthe voice of reason, though there are other youngsters who do not come off as wise. This suggests the idiom“out of the mouths of babes…” in that these characters are wiser and more honest than the adults who arecaught up in the illogic and hysteria of popular discourse. This is most blatant in South Park when, at the end ofevery episode, a character says, “you know, I learned something today,” before doling out a piece of horsesense like how tolerance doesn’t mean you have to celebrate people’s inappropriate behavior.South ParkCartoons do not have a lock on offensive comedy, but they seem to receive more negative feedback frompundits because of their associations with children’s programming. Here it would seem there is a push-pullrelationship. Though animated shows may be notorious for featuring un-PC content, their offensiveness is stillexaggerated to some extent by the seeming conflict between children’s programming and adult humor.It may be difficult to remember now, but at one point The Simpsons was a lightning rod for protestors whoobjected to its (at the time) edgy comedy. Though it generally steered clear of the politically incorrect comedythat marks more modern shows, The Simpsons nonetheless proves instructive in comparison to live actioncontemporaries. Viewing popular news articles from the time period, it would seem that tee shirts sporting catchphrases like “underachiever and proud of it” or “I’m Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?” were not so offensivein and of themselves. Parents and teachers were more concerned that this was a bad example for children whowatched the show.3 Married With Children, which was another early and controversial Fox show, drew fire forairing during the family hour when children were likely to see