The End Of The Cartoon Wars

Duncan Currie, writing at The Weekly Standard, takes stock of the outcome of The Cartoon Wars. This war, for those of you who have been living on Mars, with no access to Earth-based media, began with the publication of some cartoons that Muslims found offensive, sparking riots throughout the Middle East. Currie's summary of the conflict--we lost. He recaps the battle as it played out at Comedy Central, specifically on the animated TV series South Park. I have never watched the show, so everything I know about it is second-hand, but from what I've read and heard, it's an extremely irreverant show that pokes fun at anything. Comedy Central apparently has had no problem with that standard, until Muhammad came into the picture, or, er, didn't come into the picture, actually. Comedy Central wouldn't allow South Park to depict him for fear of the consequences.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker prepared a response for Comedy Central. According to Currie,

Stone and Parker did not take Comedy Central's censorship lightly. They made the two "Cartoon Wars" episodes an acerbic rebuke to the network. At the moment Muhammad is poised to appear, the screen goes black, and a brief message announces that Comedy Central "has refused to broadcast" the prophet's image.

In one of these episodes, there is content very offensive to Christians, offensively offensive even. Some Christians were very vocal in their anger at South Park's treatment of Jesus. Currie points out, however, that Stone and Parker are clearly making their case that Comedy Central (like much of the rest of the media) is betraying its double-standard where Islam is concerned.

The Catholic League's William Donohue, a perennial South Park scourge, blasted Stone and Parker as "little whores" for the Jesus gag. "They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus," he told the AP. Donohue missed the point entirely: It wasn't Jesus being mocked; it was Comedy Central. By highlighting the network's double standard--okay to offend Christians, not okay to offend Muslims--South Park, which has averaged nearly 3.5 million viewers per episode this season, affirmed that free expression may at times lead to hurt feelings. But that's no reason to capitulate, especially not when political correctness becomes physical intimidation.

I understand the network's reluctance to offend Muslims. I don't want to offend anyone; but there's the difference. I don't want to offend anyone. Comedy Central apparently just doesn't want to offend people who might start a riot.