Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Salman Rushdie Are Drinking Buddies

            “Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.”

            That is a quote from comedian Lenny Bruce, and I can’t help but associate this quote with two of my favorite artists. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, are two men who have made a living off of satirizing everyday situations, and current media through their cartoon. When I read the quote above, I can’t help but think of an episode of South Park in which they make fun of the AIDS disease. Throughout the episode they speak about AIDS as if it is a very taboo subject, however in the end of the episode someone starts laughing when they talk about AIDS. Upon realizing he is laughing at AIDS he jubilantly shouts out, “It has been 22.3 years…AIDS is finally funny!”

This is only one example of many in which South Park has pushed the boundaries and satirized topical issues in their own mischievous ways. Satirists are incredibly creative people and although some may view their material as offensive, I those who truly appreciate the humor, are better off. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not the only satirists in existence; take for instance Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses” and “East, West.”

            In Rushdie’s short story “The Prophet’s Hair,” Rushdie describes Atta, a young man walking through a disreputable part of the city, where “he is set upon by two men whose faces he never saw, robbed of the substantial bank-roll which he had insanely brought on his solitary excursion, and beaten within an inch of his life” (Pg 35). Atta is an unfortunate man, down on his luck and hoping for anything to improve his life. Rushdie then paints a picture of a sad family driven by greed, and Hashim, Atta’s father who is in possession of a relic from the prophet Muhammad. It is a truly sad story of greed and how one man’s obsession leads to the destruction of his entire family and in a way it reminded me of “There Will Be Blood” with Daniel Day-Lewis.

            Rushdie’s satire is a bit darker than Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s but the satirical undertones are still there. While some may find it sad that a man can demolish his relationships over a simple relic, others may find it comical that something as silly as a hair leads to the destruction of Hashim’s life. Rushdie even shows his humorous side when instead of destroying the hair, the son Atta, and daughter Huma devise a plan to hire a thief to steal the PIECE OF HAIR to rid them of their problems. On top of that example, there is also Hashim’s four sons, which he had intentionally crippled at birth so they could make money as beggars. At the end of the story, the four sons are miraculously cured (by the magic hair!) and to the readers surprise they are upset: “They were, all four of them, very properly furious, because the miracle had reduced their earning powers by 75 percent…so they were ruined men” (Pg 58).

            Although I prefer Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s comedic route to satire, you have to respect Salman Rushdie’s commanding rhetoric and ability to weave irony, and underlying humor, into an obviously depressing storyline. Rushdie as we saw in class is a very intelligent man, and sharp witted as well. It is easy for people to over analyze his writings and some may perceive him as a vicious and spiteful author, however I do not, and I don’t believe Matt Stone or Trey Parker would either. I believe that Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Salman Rushdie, and many other satirists would make great drinking buddies, and I was happy to read in a recent article, how Matt Stone and Trey Parker feel about their topical approach to satire on South Park:

“The AV Club: A lot of the humor in South Park feels disgusted and frustrated with the world, like you're basically asking "Why are people such idiots?" Are you actually emotionally involved in the issues you address with the show?

Matt Stone: Sometimes. But it's cool, because we get to express our frustration through a little fat kid screaming at the top of his lungs. So it can be taken semi-seriously. We get to enjoy that same distance that the Jon Stewarts of the world get to too. They demand that they be taken seriously, and as soon as someone takes them seriously, they crack a joke. I love the fact that Trey and I have gotten awards for being topical and satirical, but at the end of the day, we are just making jokes. If you ask me how to really solve the health-care crisis, I have f***in' no idea, and I don't want to be a part of it. But I can make a little fat kid yell some emotional truth about it. That's what we've figured out over the years. If you're gonna make it a TV show, you would never do the actual politics of something, but you would do the emotions behind the politics. Who cares if it's a right-or-wrong policy—here's how it makes me feel. You're not gonna get into a policy discussion with Cartman”