By Lyle V. Harris
COX NEWS SERVICE - March 1998
To paraphrase the irreverent cartoon characters
from the cable-TV hit ``South Park'':
``Oh God, they've banned Kenny!''
In the latest generational skirmish between the oh-so-young and the oh-so-not,
Hickory Flat Elementary School in Cherokee County school is threatening
to send students home for wearing ``clothing, badges, emblems, symbols''
bearing the likenesses of Kenny, Cartman and Kyle -- the cartoon show's
foul-mouthed third-graders who curse, use racial slurs and perform bodily
functions with reckless abandon.
``While the administration is not at all trying to control what students
watch on television, we are encouraging parents to be aware that a program
of this nature exists and many students are turning in watch,'' school Principal
Barbara Parisi warns in a letter sent to parents on Friday.
Students who wear the clothing will have to put on something else or leave,
the letter says. Parisi did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.
But Mark Beavers, a father of second- and fifth-graders at the school, says
he agreed with her decision.
``Any type of clothing like that can be a distraction to learning,'' Beavers
says. ``Students are there to learn.''
It was not known if the ban was prompted by complaints or was a pre-emptive
strike to keep Hickory Flats from becoming the type of out-of-control school
depicted in ``South Park.'' In the show, the history teacher speaks only
through a hand puppet and students dress up like Hitler for Halloween.
What is known is that ``South Park'' paraphernalia has become a huge hit
with the preteen set.
The show, which debuted in August, quickly become Comedy Central's highest-rated
original show, with a loyal weekly audience of about 5 million viewers .
Even though the characters are children and the animation is reminiscent
of the wholesome ``Peanuts'' cartoons, ``South Park'' more akin to the satirical,
X-rated ``Fritz the Cat'' and was never intended for kids.
It airs Wenesdays at 10 p.m. and is rated ``TV-MA'' for ``mature audiences.''
Still, the show is a guilty pleasure for younger viewers who can catch episodes
by staying up way past their bedtimes, watching video tapes, or downloading
clips from the internet, which has hundreds of unofficial ``South Park''
sites. Comedy Central admits that 28 percent of the show's audience is under
17, despite the adult rating.
One reason is that ``TV-MA'' doesn't register for large numbers of parents.
After politicians and television executives clashed for months over content
ratings -- then touted them as a great tool for parents -- a recent poll
showed that seven in 10 adults say they pay little or no attention to them.
In households with children, 51 percent of parents said they ignored the
ratings.
Case in point: Thirteen-year-old Michael Hallford was shopping at Town Center
Mall Tuesday with his mother, Amelia. He was asked to give a G-rated explanation
of the shows TV-MA-rated dialog.
``There's a b-word, then another b-word, then there's an a-word,'' he said.
Said his surprised mother: ``I guess I'm going to have to watch this now
to see if it's age-apropriate.''
``I personally think grade-schoolers should not be watching the show or
wearing T-shirts to school,'' says Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox. Fox
doesn't allow his kids to watch.
``But,'' he adds, ``I don't think it's up to the school district to say
that. That's up to parents.''
Fox says the show has run afoul of school officials elsewhere. The school
board in Cromwell, Conn., tried to bar students from wearing ``South Park''
paraphernalia in all its schools, but later agreed to prohibit only clothing
that displayed profanity.
Although Hickory Flats students can't wear their favorite ``South Park''
gear to school, Myles Neely of Gadzooks in Town Center Mall doesn't seem
worried.
``Business has been incredible,'' he says.
The store sells about 15 T-shirts a day at $18 apiece. Not content with
a shirt, someone recently stole one of the merchandise displays of the character
Cartman.
``At Christmas we were selling to everybody from 7- and 8-year-olds to adults,''
Neely says.
Comedy Central's Fox says that the network supports parents who parents
who don' t let their kids watch ``South Park'' -- up to a point: ``We're
certainly not going to take the show off the air.''
Creators Trey Parker (left) and Matt Stone
THE ``SOUTH PARK'' FILE
Creators: Matt Stone and Trey Parker
Background: The former film students were asked to create a video Christmas
card for a Fox Video. ``The Spirit of Christmas,'' completed for $3,000,
was quickly circulated in television circles. Ratings-starved Comedy Central
gave Stone and Parker a 13-episode contract.
Main characters: Grade-schoolers Kenny, Kyle, Cartman, Stan and Wendy Testaburger.
Adult Characters: Mr. Garrison, the teacher who communicates through his
hand puppet; Big Gay Al, who runs a foster home for homosexual animals;
Jesus, the white-robed messiah who has his own public-access television
show; Chef, who sings sexually explicit love songs in the cafeteria.
GQ (gross-out quotient): Cartman has flaming flatulence. Kyle barfs any
time he sees his heartthrob, Wendy. Kenny is murdered in every episode.
There's a character who's a piece of feces. Give it an 8.
--Lyle Harris
Nic's Abode | Back to South Park