The animated series South Park recently debuted its twenty-seventh season, and with it came an all-new wave of controversy, as the season has spent much of its focus on current United States president Donald Trump. Now South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have explained their decision to focus so much on Trump.
Obviously South Park has always revolved around satire and humor inspired by current events. With that in mind, the divisiveness and controversy surrounding Donald Trump was apparently a goldmine for South Park on that front. The two explained that they didn’t want to fixate so much on politics but that politics are merely now a part of our popular culture.
Here’s what the two shared while speaking with the New York Times:
“It’s not that we got all political,” said Parker. “It’s that politics became pop culture.”
Stone further implied that they like to chase whatever topics are taboo, and as it so happens, that’s how they describe the Trump administration:
“Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey. Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.”
Ultimately, the two describe themselves as “very down-the-middle guys” and that they like to poke fun at anyone on the political spectrum. As they themselves further note, they previously satirized “the woke thing,” and now they’re tackling this side instead.
“We’re just very down-the-middle guys,” Parker added. “Any extremists of any kind we make fun of. We did it for years with the woke thing. That was hilarious to us. And this is hilarious to us.”
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding South Park and what creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have to say as we have them. For now, it’ll be interesting to see how the series is continued to be received as it follows in this controversial direction.