(S11E07)
"Oh my god, one of them is a war veteran! We're gonna have to give him some change!"
Oh, South Park, I think I love you. You not only hilariously satirized how society has dealt with the homeless problem, but you also parodied Dawn of the Dead, one of my favorite movies of all time. There were also a couple nods to Day of the Dead and Land of the Dead tossed in for good measure. South Park, if you were a crazed, half-dead, hideously burned woman I would kiss your lipless face.
I live in Minneapolis, and like any big city, there are homeless people. There are also people who ask for change who probably don't really need it, and of course the occasional college student playing his crappy acoustic guitar until you want to beat them to death with the want ads. Giving them change doesn't solve anything, but there aren't that many people willing to really try and figure out a solution. As this episode points out, people just want the problem to go away.
I'll admit that this episode followed a template familiar to South Park: the town's denizens, lead by Stan's father, end up taking the situation way too seriously and causing death and destruction among themselves while trying to avoid giving change to the homeless. Still, the scenes lifted from the aforementioned Dead movies were moments of pure genius (especially Kyle's father becoming one of them when he realizes he has no change for the bus). This isn't the first, nor will it be the last time that the adults act like idiots and the children have to come up with a solution, but the show has found a way to derive some of the most hysterically vicious satire from within those parameters, which is why I keep tuning in every week.
I think perhaps the most telling part of this episode is that the problem is never actually solved. Even after chastising the town of Evergreen for sending all their homeless to South Park, the boys follow suit and do the exact same thing, luring the homeless horde to California. The bottom line of this episode seems to be that there isn't one simple solution, and there never will be as long as people find ways to ignore the problem.
Oh yeah, and the whole running gag of Cartman wanting to jump the homeless on his skateboard was pretty damn funny, too. I'm giving this episode a 7 out of a possible 7.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-18-2007 @ 11:15PM
Stigmata said...
i wonder how long it will be before they south park dudes tackle the virginia tech incident?
they'll have to do it metaphorically though, but they're geniuses at that.
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4-18-2007 @ 11:38PM
James said...
Stigmata,
Probobly soon. They will disguise it someway as a Gun Control Issue.
Tonight's episode was not great but not bad either. The refrences to the movie "28 Days Later" portrayed with the Homless was pretty hysterical.
Reading the article of Rolling Stone that featured SOuth Park a few weeks ago, Trey, Matt and their staff were discussing the homeless, anyone else pick up on that???
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4-19-2007 @ 12:04AM
Bill said...
Yeah I read the same article James. I'm glad it turned into such a good episode. And I do expect them to do the Virginia Tech thing at some point, but I'm wondering if they'll deal more with the public's reaction than any actual jokes about a shooting.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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4-19-2007 @ 12:06AM
Matt said...
Fantastic episode. The homeless adviser attempting suicide repeatedly had my gut busting, as did the "California Love" parody at the end.
I live near Minneapolis too, and every time I get off onto Broadway from 94, I see a "homeless" person at each exit from/onto the ramp. Funny, considering that when I'm on the way back home, I've seen that same "homeless" person in a car, getting ready to leave the lot they were parked in.
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4-19-2007 @ 12:09AM
BigTed said...
The scenes set in Santa Monica at the end were picture-perfect. That's exactly what it looks like there, homeless included.
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4-19-2007 @ 12:15AM
Kyle Beasley said...
Kyle's dad becoming one of "them" was brilliant.
People who know me will know that I love zombie humor, even zombie satire. This episode was great. I absolutely loved it.
"CHANGE!"
http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/
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4-19-2007 @ 12:39AM
nukethewhalesagain said...
So I guess I am the only one who thinks this was in bad taste considering the growing problem of kids and teenagers degrading, beating up, and killing the homeless.
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4-19-2007 @ 7:56AM
joseph said...
I think it is a very comical satire on homeless people,you must have an objective sense of humor to really understand and enjoy this stereotypical humor
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4-19-2007 @ 9:27AM
LordPaul said...
"I am the only one who thinks this was in bad taste"
Probably not, but you may not find other episodes in good taste.
That's the beauty of South Park - they don't leave anyone out.
I'm pretty sure that one day I'll find an episode too much, but it's not happened yet, and even if it does I'll not go on about it.
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4-19-2007 @ 10:53AM
Amy said...
I fell asleep and/or passed out before the episode ended, but I have to say that Mr. Marsh is quickly becoming my favorite South Park character!
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4-19-2007 @ 11:13AM
William Watson said...
I liked how they broke the fourth wall and mentioned Matt's house in the California song.
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4-19-2007 @ 11:15AM
Adam said...
I live in Minneapolis too. When I get off at Univserity and I-35W, I see one very familiar guy. A little later, I realize it's the same guy I saw 20 miles across town at another intersection the day before. How on earth could he travel so fast?
I thought it was a funny episode, although a little insensitive because I actually know a really nice homeless guy who never asked for change. But, I get the point. Unfortunately, I don't think there's any "nice" way to deal with those folk, as giving money doesn't seem to work anymore.
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4-19-2007 @ 3:44PM
Cody said...
"God bless"
"Aww now I feel guilty, here's some change."
That exact exchange between Randy and the homeless guy has happened to me before.
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4-19-2007 @ 7:15PM
Nick said...
I live in California and there are a lot of homeless people in San Francisco and Berkeley. I'm surpirsed those cities weren't mentioned, but I guess Matt and Trey would know more about SoCal, being as they live there and all.
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4-20-2007 @ 12:19AM
brian said...
is it me or does the new season lack anything original? it's all just mocking older movies. don't get me wrong, though, i think this season is the best season yet, but still...
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4-20-2007 @ 3:11AM
RAL said...
I actually live in Santa Monica and when they mentioned that city in their California Love song, I practically busted a nut. There ARE a lot of homeless in Santa Monica so this killed me!
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4-20-2007 @ 8:06AM
Matt said...
The final scene with Cartman jumping the homeless guys and getting overly excited and then Stan saying to Kyle, "I still don't know what you see in this" had me on the floor. I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard at a TV moment. I sort of let South Park fade into the background over the past couple seasons but this season has roped me right back in.
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4-20-2007 @ 11:52AM
Randy said...
Because this episode was the last one until the fall, it will be awhile before they have any chance to parody the Virginia Tech tragedy.
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4-21-2007 @ 1:43PM
Ken said...
@RAL:
I'm from Santa Monica too - I couldn't stop laughing when it was the first city mentioned in that song. I can't remember a time where there weren't hordes of homeless on 3rd street or along the park on Ocean.
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