Thursday, April 13, 2006

Muhammed Was In South Park Last Night

Much is being made on the internet today about Comedy Central's decision to censor a depiction of Muhammed in last night's conclusion of South Park's "Cartoon Wars" episode. It is mostly negative criticism in light of the fact that the entire thesis of the show blasted the decisions that the major media outlets made in their refusal to show the Muhammed cartoons that sparked riots in Denmark earlier this year. When South Park satirized the story, the show fell victim to exactly what they were trying to illustrate.

The ultimate irony here is that Muhammed has appeared on screen in South Park before and he did so again last night. He previously appeared in the episode "Super Best Friends" five years ago alongside Jesus, Buddha, Vishnu, Joseph Smith and Lao Tsu. (See the entire episode here.) As new characters have been introduced over the years, they have been added to an ever increasing crowd at the opening of the show.

Last night, Muhammed was in that crowd and was not censored. Neither Comedy Central nor anyone who might have been wont to burn down an embassy even noticed!



A Wikipedia user noticed though and posted this picture at the site. Muhammed is in the red box to the right of the South Park sign. The listing also claims that Muhammed has also appeared in the opening of the two episodes that preceded last night's show. I can't say that I would have ever noticed without the keen eyes of a super fan, but at least it is a small battle won by Trey and Matt in the Cartoon Wars.

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