So, South Park did a transgender episode last night and, I thought, they were really quite understanding of the complex issue without being overly preachy. Of course, it all centered around Eric Cartman clipping a pink bow in his hair, changing his name to Erica and abusing his TransGinger (not a typo) status to use the girl's room when the boy's room was full up but the information they provided was respectful and on point and the speech by Sharon at the end resonates. Here's Sharon's full speech which starts off about Lorde (don't ask the reasons for this are better left unspoiled) but comes to hold a much broader meaning by the end:
Do you know why young people like Lorde so much? It's because she's something different. Kids have had pop music artists flash tits and crotch in their face and most kids are actually smart enough to be sick of it. Lorde represents something in all of us: the truth that wants to be heard. If I could talk to Lorde right now, you know what I'd tell her? I'd tell her not to let people change who she is. I'd tell her that if people are making fun of her, it's probably because they've lost touch with being human. I'd tell her to keep on doing what she does, because when someone isn't allowed to express who they are inside, then we all lose. That's what I would say to Lorde.
The resolution of the episode works well too because it flips the script in traditional South Park style. Anyone else see it? Thoughts?
I wanted to watch it, but I can't find it anywhere DX!
I thought it was very well structured, but I dunno. Something about the episode didn't tickle my funny bone like South Park usually does. Maybe I was just too tired while I was watching it. I'll try again later.
Quote from: Kirey on October 09, 2014, 12:12:55 PM
I wanted to watch it, but I can't find it anywhere DX!
You can watch it on their site.
http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s18e03-the-cissy (http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s18e03-the-cissy)
Can't be viewed outside the US x_x.
Getting past the usual South Park potty humor it felt to me that the bathroom issue was the target for laughs and trivializes the real challenges we face. Yes, the final statement by "Lorde's" wife was spot on. This episode also exposes the masses to terms like transgender and cisgender which is of educatinal benefit. The aspect that troubled me most was the portrayal of all these cartoon characters pretending to be transgender for personal gain. They were all phoney. I imagine there are plenty of people who actually believe such crap about us. I dunno maybe a plus/minus on this one for me
Quote from: Tessa James on October 09, 2014, 01:06:39 PM
This episode also exposes the masses to terms like transgender and cisgender which is of educational benefit.
Actually, if you look up various forums revolving around South Park, along with other sites that were discussing this episode before it aired. You will find that there are a fair amount of ignorant fools who honestly believe that cisgender is a fictional word that was created by the so-callled "transgender movement" (as some of these dunces label it). This includes the eldest admin of the official South Park website (whom I believe is in his 40's if I remember correctly).
I honestly don't see anything changing due to a cartoon mentioning this stuff. Stupid people will think stupid things no matter what. If certain things in the popular culture reinforce their idiotic views, so much the better in their eyes.
I checked out the episode earlier today. Honestly, once you strip away all of the hoopla about it being a trans episode, it pretty much sucks just like virtually every other South Park episode has since season 9. They just do it for the pay check and that's it. Just like 99% of all other television programs.
I REALLY appreciated the speech about how everyone should be free to be themselves, and that people making fun of them are just sad. That part of the show was spot-on, and will hopefully help add to the lexicon of works that help make life a bit easier for those who are gender-nonconforming or early in transition and dealing with constant crap from people.
The only thing I didn't appreciate was that they kinda seemed to blur being trans with mere gender-nonconformity. They make it seem like trans women are just men dressing like women, and trans men are just women dressing like men, without really understanding what an actual trans person goes through.
But honestly, the message is more than right enough. Because even if we are just crossdressers to other people, and will never be anything else to them just because of what genitals we were born with, the real question is, why should they even care? If it makes a person happy, and they feel like they're expressing themselves, you're a sad person if you have a problem with them.
That is a message we can all appreciate.
That show is still on the air?
Quote from: Jill F on October 09, 2014, 01:31:14 PM
That show is still on the air?
Yep. Still beating the long dead cash cow even after it's decomposed.
QuoteSomething about the episode didn't tickle my funny bone like South Park usually does.
Perhaps because it's about a subject that is personal to you? I know I felt the same way toward the episodes about Tourettes and Aspergers. I still think they're funny and not intended to be offensive to people with those conditions, but I'm still uncomfortable knowing some people are out there watching them and laughing for what I feel are the wrong reasons.
@Kirey: Hey squirrel, try this on for size. Free VPN (virtual private network) extension for numerous browsers. https://hola.org/ (https://hola.org/)
There's only ONE squirrel round these here parts, partner! :icon_pistoles:
HAHA! Weird coincidence! I didn't even notice "squirrel" was part of your username. I just like to use it in place of girl/gurl/grrl in spite of the fact that it's more of a DQ word. I've fallen in love with it since the first time I heard it on *Drag Race S04. :P
Quote from: VivianK on October 09, 2014, 02:02:51 PM
HAHA! Weird coincidence! I didn't even notice "squirrel" was part of your username. I just like to use it in place of girl/gurl/grrl in spite of the fact that it's more of a DQ word. I've fallen in love with it since the first time I heard it on *Drag Race S04. :P
:D Yeah. That would be the one on the right in my avatar.
Given they did an episode years ago which ridiculed trans gender people (even extending it to the "concept" of trans species people) I don't hold up much hope here. I stopped watching years ago but might check it out.
Quote from: Tessa James on October 09, 2014, 01:06:39 PM
The aspect that troubled me most was the portrayal of all these cartoon characters pretending to be transgender for personal gain. They were all phoney. I imagine there are plenty of people who actually believe such crap about us. I dunno maybe a plus/minus on this one for me
Well, Cartman is always an exploitative jerk and Wendy, in her exasperation with the Cartmans of the world, has been known to stoop to their level to prove a point. I think anyone who watches the show would recognize that neither of them is doing anything for the right reasons and by episode's end Cartman is "punished" as his dream of being the only one to exploit the situation is taken from him. That sort of redeems it in my eyes.
I'm trying really hard to analyze it in the context of it being South Park and am having trouble. So I will just say that it was at least infinitely better than the dolphin episode.
I didn't have a problem with the episode, but I didn't even have a problem with the first transgender episode they did that was far more ignorant. I like South Park, and I don't even think they have a problem with transgendered people (made even more obvious by this new episode), but I still feel like they don't get it.
Dressing up as the opposite sex for privileges doesn't make someone transgender. They had Cartman offhandedly remark about daily struggles, but they didn't really show it. They sort of showed it with Randy's identity struggle as Lorde, but since it was a double life, some people may only see it as dual personality or identity issues instead of gender issues. Plus, his reason for being Lorde started with motivation to use the other bathroom, so it wasn't a clear gender identity struggle.
I thought it would have been pretty ballsy of them if at the end Randy went full time as Lorde. Especially if it wasn't treated as a punchline like when Mr. Garrison transitioned. But that probably would have pissed off a majority of the South Park faithful who look at Randy as one of their favorite characters.
If I do have a problem with the episode, it would be that it was too preachy. I mean, if you're gonna be preachy then at least go that extra mile and have someone go full time. At least the Garrison sex change episode was funny (even if ignorant).
Quote from: Abby Claire on October 09, 2014, 09:18:20 PM
I don't even think they have a problem with transgendered people (made even more obvious by this new episode), but I still feel like they don't get it.
Dressing up as the opposite sex for privileges doesn't make someone transgender. They had Cartman offhandedly remark about daily struggles, but they didn't really show it.
Most people wont ever get the concept of being trans, thats nothing new. I feel if the episode had of been centered around the struggles of being trans there would have been a punchline for every example and there would be a lot more offended people here.
I wasn't offended by the episode. I was slightly shocked when I first put it on wondering what I was getting into but in all reality, if I can't laugh about something that I relate to, what gives me the right to laugh about anything that could relate to someone else? Something I may just not get.
I loved it, they were able to make a joke out of it, while not laughing at trans people (if that makes sense).
I think we should laugh at it, they did, in their own special way, push in some education and stuff that was good for trans people.
I like the fact Cartman was reckoning he was trans, if it was an actual trans person it'd either look like they were going easy on us, and people would be like wtf, or they would go the other way and people would freak.
I think they handled it well and I laughed so hard at some o' the stuff :)
-Matt
Quote from: Matthew on October 10, 2014, 02:07:38 PM
I loved it, they were able to make a joke out of it, while not laughing at trans people (if that makes sense).
I think we should laugh at it, they did, in their own special way, push in some education and stuff that was good for trans people.
I like the fact Cartman was reckoning he was trans, if it was an actual trans person it'd either look like they were going easy on us, and people would be like wtf, or they would go the other way and people would freak.
I think they handled it well and I laughed so hard at some o' the stuff :)
-Matt
It's hard for me to get into South Park these days. Not because of the trans thing, though. I just think that their best days are long behind them. I think it was the end of the second season or the beginning of the season when I got into it. By the second half of season nine, I was losing interest fast. The show just didn't have the appeal that it did in the past. Yeah, there has been the very rare episode since then that I could get into. But I can count them on one hand. I think the show has just long since run its course in my opinion. I didn't even know that the new run of episodes had begun until I heard the hoopla about this episode on other sites.
I saw this episode recently. I've not been a particularly avid follower of South Park in recent years but I was chuckling from start to finish.
I hesitated to watch The Cissy, with the ridiculous dolphin episode and all the Mr/Mrs/Mr Garrison stuff in mind. I was pleasantly surprised by the episode, in particular this at the end:
"The student body has elected to get rid of the transgender bathroom, and give any student the right to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable in. [crowd cheers]. Anyone who has a problem sharing a bathroom with people who might be transgender will have to use the special designated bathroom designed to keep them away from the normal people who don't care."
(bold mine)
This, right here, says a lot about the makers' current view of the issue. That the weird thing is that anyone would give a crap about the genitals of the person in the next stall. Which is pretty weird. We're all in there to eliminate bodily waste, clean up, and get out. Some people act as if bathroom equality laws would negate laws against assault, indecent exposure, etc. Or that if any man really were creepy enough to cross-dress to sneak into a women's bathroom to commit sex crimes, that somehow he'd care about bathroom laws. "Oh well, I WAS going to put on a cheap wig and a dress to go assault someone in the women's bathroom, but it's against the law for me to go in there, so I guess I won't do it. Back to the drawing board." Logic, some people don't use it.
I really enjoyed this episode of South Park, as I always do. I think they do a great job of throwing humour into otherwise harsh or difficult topics. Though their previous dolphin episode wasn't the best representation of people struggling with trans issues, I don't think they meant any harm by it and simply didn't fully understand. I feel like they really put effort into seeing things from another perspective in this episode.
Personally, I really liked how it made Cartman out to be a big jerk (as always, lol!) for taking advantage of the struggles people go through being trans. I'm also glad Randy played a big part in this episode, it sorta softens the blow to anyone who may get offended because Randy always just seems so innocent, naive, and flat out dumb at times. Opposed to Cartman who is well, Cartman XD
Quote from: blink on November 11, 2014, 01:20:49 PM
I hesitated to watch The Cissy, with the ridiculous dolphin episode and all the Mr/Mrs/Mr Garrison stuff in mind. I was pleasantly surprised by the episode, in particular this at the end:
"The student body has elected to get rid of the transgender bathroom, and give any student the right to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable in. [crowd cheers]. Anyone who has a problem sharing a bathroom with people who might be transgender will have to use the special designated bathroom designed to keep them away from the normal people who don't care."
I was horrified by the dolphin episode. I normally like South Park, but that episode ruined it for me. I did watch The Cissy episode, and I view it as a step toward making amends for the dolphin episode. I'm still upset about the dolphin episode though.
So I am into furry art and know a lot of people through that community- am I the only one who took the dolphin ep they did as a riff on furries and not transgender? Garrison's whole deal was not necessarily kind either, but I didn't even think of the dolphin thing as mocking queer people but the kind of furries who tell people they are not human, they are "dragon trapped in a human body" or some similar deal. eh, just my thoughts about that particular ep.
Trigger warnings for discussing bathroom debates to follow:
Ok, even without fully finishing the episode here is my 2 cents. Simply It's Cartman. Cartman is a hateful little s*** in Southpark and regularly expresses his views in the most racist, mysogynist and horrible ways possible. By using him as the "false" transginger, the creators are pretty blatantly mocking the idiotic idea that so called 'perverts' will use the protective laws that protect a transgender person's right to use the bathroom of choice as a personal advantage rather than simply using the restroom one's gender would dictate. Cartman is always the horrible, disgusting, lying jerk who will do anything he can to get his way, so basically if there's a message it's that any person who thinks someone will claim to falsely be a transgendered person simply for some kind of cheap personal gain, they are pretty much the most horrible person ever. Additionally, they are massively mocking anyone who thinks a transgender person is 'wrong' or 'perverted' for being who they are. Just my thoughts and interpretation as I don't feel any need to defend someone else's creation.
I still watch it and it can still be funny, but I have to admit I hear a random quote from an old episode and I'll just start laughing hard. The newer ones no so much. Even if it was funny in the first place it doesn't generally stay funny. I had mixed feelings on this particular episode. However when I first was coming out even to my self last year the dolphin episode came to mind in a big way.
Quote from: Miss_Bungle1991 on October 10, 2014, 02:27:35 PM
It's hard for me to get into South Park these days. Not because of the trans thing, though. I just think that their best days are long behind them. I think it was the end of the second season or the beginning of the season when I got into it. By the second half of season nine, I was losing interest fast. The show just didn't have the appeal that it did in the past. Yeah, there has been the very rare episode since then that I could get into. But I can count them on one hand. I think the show has just long since run its course in my opinion. I didn't even know that the new run of episodes had begun until I heard the hoopla about this episode on other sites.