The South Park episode entitled, "I'm a Little Bit Country," deals with reactions to war. There are two main plot lines throughout this cartoon episode. In the first plot line, the townspeople are quarreling over whose opinion on the war is the right one; for the Iraq war or against it. The protesters of the war say that the war is unjust, while the pro-war crowd claim that the protesters are being un-American. The second plot line is of the kids of South Park (Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny) and their 4th grade class. Their teacher wants them to better understand the issue by presenting on what the forefathers of America would think of the town's conflict.
This cartoon episode offers multiple sides of the for and against war conflict. While it is a completely fictional comedy show, the view points of the townspeople are pretty close to real-life opinions. The town physically splits in half over the argument: The side for war and the side against war, separated by a line. When the townspeople realize that either side needs things from the opposite side, they all agree to share the town but just argue and fight all the time. This is basically how America functions. Because of our rights to speak freely, we can (and many do) voice our opinions very strongly. Each 'side' of the town gathers together and rally for or against the war, making picket lines and protest songs. Some people (the children) end up blindly protesting just to get out of class, and when asked what they are protesting, they just read off the signs they are holding. I feel like this is a reflection on a hefty part of our society; people protesting for the sake of protesting, not knowing all the facts on either side of the issue. At the end of the episode, the whole town gathers together at a concert/rally with one stage split in half. On the pro-war side is a country band singing about how America will kick everyone's ass if they don't support the war, and on the side against war is an alt-rock band singing about peace and equality. After an argument on stage, the two sides finally come together and create one side- the American opinion; this consists of going to war, but letting protests go on, "Having your cake and eating it, too." This is a very interesting way of looking at the ideals of freedom of speech and Democracy; in the episode, those exact words were used by Benjamin Franklin when Cartman manages to time-travel. It is a raw way to look at our political system, but it really is true. -charlie peck
Although South Park is mostly known for its comedy, and often sometimes despised by some viewers as too offensive and crude, the show often portrays common topics that occur in the real world. One such major topic would include the war in Iraq and how people in America often seem very divided. The episode first begins with the four kids (who are the main characters) leaving school to find a huge protest going on. They are given protest signs and soon a news crew rushes over to ask them their opinions about the war. At first, the children aren’t quite sure what to say, but soon they simply read off of their signs and eventually get more and more into protesting the war. This aspect shows how in real life, some people know so little about the war and don’t really have strong views, but are sometimes pushed into thinking one way or another by other people. Further into the show, the town draws a line where one side are the protesters and the other side are those who are pro-war. As the two sides continue to argue, they mostly forget arguing about the war and move on to other less important things. They start arguing about who will be able to use the town square on the weekend to hold their rally’s and other meaningless things, and soon it seems as if the argument of the war has been forgotten. Each side begins to sing “I’m a little bit country” but with new lyrics expressing how one side is a little bit pro-war, and the other is pro-peace. As said by Charlie, this is a very raw way to look at war, but at the same time a lot of the views expressed (although expressed in comedic ways) are very real and are occurring in our society now. While incorporating everyday ideas about war into the show, South Park still manages to make a joke about how these problems will be ever-continuing. -cat rutledge
video link: http://www.southparkzone.com/episodes/701/Im-a-little-bit-Country.html
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