Another year and we have yet another season of South Park. After the first episode premiered to critical praise on April 27th this season promises to be more of the immature satire that fans love. Like most South Park episodes, "HUMANCENTiPAD" has the subtlety of a sledge hammer, but that's okay because the best part of the show is that it has never taken itself seriously and you can tell that the writers are just trying to have fun. This, however, doesn't mean that there is never anything to take from the show, and even if it does, commercialism has taught me people will nearly always take something away from a show anyway. To those who want to read into the show, the opinions of the creators are always obvious and even if their goal isn't to send a message.
For the first episode of the season, South Park picks several "apples" from the orchard of our culture. Anyone who understands the pun humancentiPad can make a pretty good guess as to what hijinks will ensue; I have not seen "The Human Centipede", the dutch horror film that this episode borrows its plot from, but my own predictions were fairly accurate. While the main plot of the episode revolves upon "The Human Centipede", the centerpiece of the satire is Apple and the online terms and conditions that we agree to everyday. In the episode we see Kyle get kidnapped and used for Apple's technological experiments. The cause of all of Kyle's grief is from his agreeing to the terms and conditions in an iTunes update, without actually reading them. Throughout the main plot Kyle is part of the humancentiPad and is taught to read by Steve Jobs.
As a PC fan, I would say South Park paints an accurate, if hugely exaggerated picture of Apple. Apple always releases new hardware versions of all their products every year like clockwork. Even when there is no practical difference between models, Apple goes to great lengths to make every iteration seem like the greatest thing since sliced pastries. In the show, Apple connects multiple humans to one iPad in order to get the iPad to walk and read (supposedly the only things the iPad can't do). The functionality and practicality of this confuses me, similar to other "advancements" Apple has made.
Towards the second half of the show Kyle's Dad attempts to help his son by going to the apple genius bar. The entire segment is spent with the children treating the geniuses like holy men, but the loling really starts when the geniuses start preforming sacred services in order to help Kyle's Dad. The parallel is obvious here. While I am a biased PC owner, I can honestly say that I don't know a Mac owner that is computer-literate. Whenever I hear an Apple fan give reasons for why Macs are better, it is either a quote from a commercial, or some nonsense about it being cooler. South Park gives people like me a literal representation of what we've been calling Apple and it's fan-boys for years, a cult.
While more parallels could be conjured, (such as the relationship between Apple and it's consumers) and more specific examples could be given (like the opening scene or the Toran-Ra) South Park makes a clear representation of Apple. It's important not to assume that the creators of South Park hate Apple (I do, but I still own their products); Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been known to poke fun at some of their least and most favorite things. The fact that Apple is now on the butt end really only means that the creators acknowledge that Apple is relevant in culture today. These are current topics, however, and bring up larger questions unrelated to the show, such as the line between advancement and frivolous fancies, the role of big business versus the responsibility of the consumer. I'm sure that bringing up these questions was far from the main goal Stone and Parker had in mind, but they would probably be pleased to know that their crass portrayal of culture can inspire such thoughts.
As a PC fan, I would say South Park paints an accurate, if hugely exaggerated picture of Apple. Apple always releases new hardware versions of all their products every year like clockwork. Even when there is no practical difference between models, Apple goes to great lengths to make every iteration seem like the greatest thing since sliced pastries. In the show, Apple connects multiple humans to one iPad in order to get the iPad to walk and read (supposedly the only things the iPad can't do). The functionality and practicality of this confuses me, similar to other "advancements" Apple has made.
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| The Council of Geniuses preform a quickening. |
While more parallels could be conjured, (such as the relationship between Apple and it's consumers) and more specific examples could be given (like the opening scene or the Toran-Ra) South Park makes a clear representation of Apple. It's important not to assume that the creators of South Park hate Apple (I do, but I still own their products); Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been known to poke fun at some of their least and most favorite things. The fact that Apple is now on the butt end really only means that the creators acknowledge that Apple is relevant in culture today. These are current topics, however, and bring up larger questions unrelated to the show, such as the line between advancement and frivolous fancies, the role of big business versus the responsibility of the consumer. I'm sure that bringing up these questions was far from the main goal Stone and Parker had in mind, but they would probably be pleased to know that their crass portrayal of culture can inspire such thoughts.
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