They’ve fought against the intolerance of the politically correct establishment time and again. They’ve been willing to shout epithets against steroid users while Mark McGwire grins. They’ve portrayed global warming environmentalists as brain-washers. They’ve screamed “CONFESS! LIAR!” to O.J. Simpson and the Ramseys. They’ve even pointed out some of the… less-believable elements of Mormonism in one of their riskiest episodes.
Of course, the Mormons don’t have quite the history of suing anybody and everybody who takes issue with their beliefs. Not like the Church of Scientology, which the guys from South Park took on in this week’s episode, “Trapped in the Closet.” I just watched the episode and it is amazingly hilarious…but what’s even more amazing is the bravery it must have taken to do it. Scientologists have been notoriously prickly, suing any and all critics faster than you can say, “Welcome to MindHead.” The show truly tempts fate by revealing the “real secrets” of Scientology, a long story about alien bodies frozen by an alien dictator and shipped to Earth to be dropped in a volcano releasing their spirits which now possess humans and cause unhappiness, all displayed with a big legend which reads “This is what Scientologists actually believe!” the entire time.
As if that wasn’t tweaking the nose of the Body Thetans, the episode rips on Tom Cruise. Tom, upon hearing Stan Marsh say that he’s not as good an actor as that Napoleon Dynamite guy, locks himself in Stan’s closet. This is followed by friends pleading with him to come out of the closet, which he insists he’s not even in, while the media keeps a watch on Tom’s refusal to come out of the closet.
The real risk here is that Tom is connected to Paramount, which is part of Viacom, which owns Comedy Central, which owns South Park, which is written by Trey Parker, who was in Baseketball with Ernest Borgnine, who was in McHale’s Navy with David Allen Grier, who was in The Woodsman with KEVIN BACON! (Ta-da!) It is because of Tom’s connections that they’ve been leery of doing this episode, according to RADAR Online.
Don’t miss the repeats of this episode. Particularly, watch the credits.
One response to “South Park takes its biggest risk yet.”
I’ll bet these revelations about Scientology’s “secrets” has zero effect on Scientology’s ability to recruit new sheep. People who fall for cults like this are looking for answers, not the truth. South Park can only benefit from a lawsuit, Scientology hasn’t got a case and there’s no such thing as bad publicity in showbiz.