South Park being censored? That isn't a surprise for everyone who watches the show. But, the censoring of South Park 201 marks a new milestone for bleeping for the show that is apparently created specifically to attract the attention of censors. After getting death threats from a Muslim group, Comedy Central began censoring the show. Obviously, Muslims watch South Park. They consider any physical representation of their prophet — cartoon, sculpture, drawing, movie, etc. — to be blasphemous, and within the case of extremists, punishable by death.
Censored South Park 201
Censored Wednesday night on Comedy Central and denied network approval for streaming online, South Park 201 was expected by fans who watch South Park to reveal a likeness of Muhammad. In episode 200, the character was concealed by a bearsuit. In episode 201, the Muhammad character comes out but it blacked out by a censor bar. The characters name is bleeped out whenever it is spoken.
South Park 201 censored: funnier that original?
South Park 201, censored by Comedy Central following the group RevolutionMuslim.com published the death threat, may have actually delivered a bigger laugh pay day for many who watch South Park. It might be said that South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker used the occasion as an opportunity for self-parody, not to mention an incredible surge of publicity no amount of pay day cash could buy.
Extremists offended by extreme South Park episodes
The wrath of RevolutionMuslim.com was brought out by South Park episode 200 which depicted Muhammad in a bear suit. Parker and Stone probably imagined what could have happened in the subsequent South Park episodes after the group’s site published a post claiming that they “outright insulted” the Prophet:
“We have to warn Matt and Trey that what doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show,” the post read. “This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”
The post showed a graphic photo of a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in Amsterdam in 2004 for making a film about Muslim women that offended Muslims, named Theo Van Gogh. The text listed the addresses of Comedy Central’s New York office and Parker and Stone’s California production office.
More South Park episodes
Other South Park episodes censored contain one that aired in 2006 when Parker and Stone wanted to weigh in on a controversy involving Muslim death threats motivated by caricatures of Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper. The extra cash that would have come from depicting an image of Muhammad in that South Park episode was passed on by Comedy Central. Episode 201 is not accessible for streaming on the South Park website. Instead of video, a box contains the message:
“After we delivered the show, and prior to broadcast, Comedy Central placed numerous additional audio bleeps throughout the episode. We do not have network approval to stream our original version of the show.”
Article Resources
Comedy Central
http://www.comedycentral.com/
Trey Parker and Matt Stone
http://treyparker.info/matt.htm
Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper
http://zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/jyllands-posten_cartoons/
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