Editing South Park (section)

===Themes and style===
{{see also|Subject matter in South Park|label 1=Subject matter in ''South Park''}}

Each episode opens with a [[tongue-in-cheek]] [[all persons fictitious disclaimer]]: "All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated.....poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone."<ref name="reason">{{cite news|url=http://reason.com/archives/2000/05/01/goin-down-to-south-park/singlepage|title=Goin' Down to South Park: How kids can learn from 'vile trash'|magazine=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|date=May 2000|publisher=Reason|access-date=January 17, 2012|last=Fagin|first=Barry S.|archive-date=April 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405020750/http://reason.com/archives/2000/05/01/goin-down-to-south-park/singlepage|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/about/show_disclaimer.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727005040/http://www.southparkstudios.com/about/show_disclaimer.php |archive-date=July 27, 2008 |title=Show Disclaimer|publisher=Comedy Central |access-date=May 22, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''South Park'' was the first weekly program to be rated [[TV-MA]],<ref name="psu">{{cite web|url=http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/1997/12/12-12-97tdc/12-12-97d05-004.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040921095557/http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/1997/12/12-12-97tdc/12-12-97d05-004.asp |archive-date=September 21, 2004 |title=South Park stirs up controversy, laughs |date=December 12, 1997 |publisher=Daily Collegian |access-date=May 22, 2009 |last=Antonacci |first=Christopher |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is generally intended for adult audiences.<ref name="nytimescarter">{{cite news|first=Bill|last=Carter|title=Comedy Central makes the most of an irreverent, and profitable, new cartoon hit|work=The New York Times|date=November 10, 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/10/business/media-broadcasting-comedy-central-makes-most-irreverent-profitable-new-cartoon.html|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=November 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104130401/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/10/business/media-broadcasting-comedy-central-makes-most-irreverent-profitable-new-cartoon.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nydailyratings">{{cite news|url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/1998-04-16/entertainment/18071326_1_south-park-highest-rated-program-usa-network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730151751/http://articles.nydailynews.com/1998-04-16/entertainment/18071326_1_south-park-highest-rated-program-usa-network |archive-date=July 30, 2012 |title='South Park's' Still Top Dog On Basic Cable |date=April 16, 1998 |work=New York Daily News|access-date=May 22, 2009 |last=Huff |first=Richard |location=New York |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="sfrubin">{{cite news|author=Sylvia Rubin |title=TV's Foul-Mouthed Funnies |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=January 26, 1998 |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/TV-s-Foul-Mouthed-Funnies-South-Park-kids-3014688.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316012321/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F1998%2F01%2F26%2FDD58819.DTL |archive-date=March 16, 2012 |access-date=February 21, 2022 }}</ref> The boys and most other child characters use strong profanity, with only the most taboo words being [[Bleep censor|bleeped]] during a typical broadcast.<ref name="nytimesmorals" /> Parker and Stone perceive this as the manner in which real-life small boys speak when they are alone.<ref name="avr">{{cite news|first=Abbie |last=Bernstein |title=South Park – Volume 2 |publisher=AVRev.com |date=October 27, 1998 |url=http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515045446/http://www.avrev.com/dvd-movie-disc-reviews/tv-shows/south-park-volume-2.html |archive-date=May 15, 2013 |access-date=April 30, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="abc4">{{cite news|author1=Jake Trapper|author2=Dan Morris|name-list-style=amp|title=Secrets of 'South Park'|publisher=ABC News|date=September 22, 2006|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=4|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=March 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319073834/https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=4|url-status=live}}</ref>

''South Park'' commonly makes use of [[carnivalesque]] and [[absurdist fiction|absurdist]] techniques,<ref name="blame">{{harvnb|Johnson-Woods|2007|pp=89–103}}</ref> numerous [[running gag]]s,<ref name="fortune">{{cite news|author=Devin Leonard|title=South Park creators haven't lost their edge|publisher=CNN|date=October 27, 2006|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391792/index.htm|access-date=May 3, 2009|archive-date=November 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107220939/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391792/index.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="crude" /> [[Graphic violence|violence]],<ref name="crude">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/crude-violent-but-quite-brilliant-1045072.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/crude-violent-but-quite-brilliant-1045072.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Crude, violent – but quite brilliant|date=January 5, 1999|work=The Independent|access-date=February 21, 2022|last=Blacker|first=Terence|location=London}}</ref><ref name="augusta_trash">{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/05/05/ent_227452.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523164646/http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/05/05/ent_227452.shtml |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |title=The growth of trash TV concerns media watchers |date=May 5, 1998 |newspaper=[[The Augusta Chronicle]] |access-date=January 17, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[sexual content]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid:82697|title=Screens: TV Eye|work=The Austin Chronicle|date=August 17, 2001|access-date=May 27, 2009|last=Acosta|first=Belinda|archive-date=April 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402183529/http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid:82697|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.enquirer.com/columns/kiese/1998/05/052098jki.html|title=South Park' way crude for kids|date=May 20, 1998|publisher=Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=May 27, 2009|last=Kiesewetter|first=John|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303224502/https://www.cincinnati.com/}}</ref> offhand pop-cultural references, and satirical portrayal of celebrities.<ref name="lowbrow" />

Early episodes tended to be [[shock value]]-oriented and featured more slapstick-style humor.<ref name="augusta_trendy">{{cite news|url=http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/03/01/ent_223336.shtml|title=South Park: Funny, crude ... and a trendy favorite|date=March 1, 1998|newspaper=[[The Augusta Chronicle]]|access-date=January 17, 2012|last=Kligman|first=David|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523173806/http://old.chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1998/03/01/ent_223336.shtml|archive-date=May 23, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> While social [[satire]] had been used on the show occasionally earlier on, it became more prevalent as the series progressed, with the show retaining some of its focus on the boys' fondness of [[Toilet humour|scatological humor]] in an attempt to remind adult viewers "what it was like to be eight years old".<ref name="growsup2" /> Parker and Stone also began further developing other characters by giving them larger roles in certain storylines,<ref name="growsup2" /> and began writing plots as parables based on religion, politics, and numerous other topics.<ref name="nytimesmorals" /> This provided the opportunity for the show to spoof both extreme sides of contentious issues,<ref name="loudlewd2">{{cite news|author=Frazier Moore|title=Loud and lewd but sweet underneath|work=[[The Age]]|date=December 14, 2006|url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/loud-and-lewd-but-sweet-underneath-20061214-ge3saj.html|access-date=February 21, 2022|location=Melbourne|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221180551/https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/loud-and-lewd-but-sweet-underneath-20061214-ge3saj.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while lampooning both [[liberalism|liberal]] and [[conservatism|conservative]] points of view.<ref name="nytimesmorals" /><ref name="cornell" /><ref name="rs1">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9519810/park_life |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005095418/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9519810/park_life |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |title=Park Life |date=March 24, 2006 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=January 17, 2012 |last=Hancock |first=Noelle |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rebecca Raphael described the show as "an equal opportunity offender",<ref name="whois" /> while Parker and Stone describe their main purpose as to "be funny" and "make people laugh",<ref name="mcfarland1" /><ref name="wilonsky" /> while stating that no particular topic or group of people be exempt from mockery and satire.<ref name="cornell" /><ref name="lowbrow">{{cite news|author=Dennis Lim|title=Television: Lowbrow and proud of it|newspaper=The Independent|date=March 29, 1998|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/television-lowbrow-and-proud-of-it-1153256.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/television-lowbrow-and-proud-of-it-1153256.html |archive-date=May 24, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=May 9, 2009|location=London}}</ref><ref name="mcfarland2">{{cite news|first=Melanie|last=McFarland|title=Oh my God, 'South Park' killed a decade!|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=September 29, 2006|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/tv/article/Oh-my-God-South-Park-killed-a-decade-1216016.php|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227122725/https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/tv/article/Oh-my-God-South-Park-killed-a-decade-1216016.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nytimesconserv">{{cite news|author=Frank Rich|title=Conservatives ♥ 'South Park'|work=The New York Times|date=May 1, 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/01rich.html|access-date=May 3, 2009|archive-date=January 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108083620/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/01/opinion/01rich.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cityjournal">{{cite news|author=Brian C. Anderson|title=We're Not Losing the Culture Wars Anymore|publisher=[[Manhattan Institute]]|year=2003|url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_4_were_not_losing.html|access-date=May 3, 2009|archive-date=January 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118080938/http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_4_were_not_losing.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Parker and Stone insist that the show is still more about "kids being kids" and "what it's like to be in [elementary school] in [[United States|America]]",<ref name="rocky">{{cite news|author=Saunders |title=At 10, 'South Park' still bites |work=[[Rocky Mountain News]] |date=July 17, 2006 |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_4848796,00.html |access-date=May 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104070024/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0%2C2777%2CDRMN_23962_4848796%2C00.html |archive-date=January 4, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> stating that the introduction of a more satirical element to the series was the result of the two adding more of a "moral center" to the show so that it would rely less on simply being crude and shocking in an attempt to maintain an audience.<ref name="mcfarland1">{{cite news|first=Melanie|last=McFarland|title=Social satire keeps 'South Park' fans coming back for a gasp, and a laugh|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=October 1, 2006|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/tv/article/On-TV-Social-satire-keeps-South-Park-fans-1216014.php|access-date=February 16, 2022|archive-date=February 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217025551/https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/tv/article/On-TV-Social-satire-keeps-South-Park-fans-1216014.php|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wilonsky">{{cite web|url=http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2001-07-26/culture/it-happens/1|title=It Happens|date=July 26, 2001|publisher=Broward Palm Beach New Times|access-date=May 22, 2009|last=Wilonsky|first=Robert|archive-date=July 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708101559/http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2001-07-26/culture/it-happens/1/|url-status=live}}</ref> While profane, Parker notes that there is still an "underlying sweetness" aspect to the child characters,<ref name="loudlewd2" /> and ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' described the boys as "sometimes cruel but with a core of innocence".<ref name="time" /> Usually, the boys or other characters pondered over what transpired during an episode and conveyed the important lesson taken from it with a short monologue. During earlier seasons, this speech commonly began with a variation of the phrase "You know, I've learned something today...".<ref name="philo">Arp and Jacoby, p. 58</ref>