Is South Park near Littleton?

Rating: 2/10 (25 January 2000)

I don't trust people who ask questions like "What's wrong with profanity?" If there wasn't anything wrong with it, why the social proscriptions? The truth is some of us know that it is; that restraint is the right road to take; and that movies like "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" promote the idea that the best approach to take is the shortest one between your brain and your mouth. It doesn't matter how childish or stupid or hateful the thought is; it has a right to be heard--and considering "South Park's" popularity, a lot of people must feel this way, or else have never really thought about it seriously.
Considering how many Emmies it won, I must be in the minority on not liking the TV series "The Wonder Years," but I always felt like the writers were always putting words into the mouths of babes that sounded more eloquent and sage than they should. I think Trey Parker and Matt Stone do the same thing. They revel in the nastiness they force out of the mouths of Kyle and Cartman and Stan. They may feel that profanity doesn't hurt anyone, but isn't the point of profanity that it be offensive? That it is trying to revolt someone? Trying to sully someone or their reputation? Trying to outrage Mom and society and convention?
The dishonest part about this is, whether they care to admit it or not, Parker and Stone like holding up Kyle and Cartman and Stan as moral beings. We are getting the same nonsense about their forthrightness as we did when people were praising Bart Simpson for his irreverence and cynicism. Even I'm willing to accept a good dose of this stuff, if it clears the air. But if I'm to believe that a lot of kids talk like the ones on South Park, then the moral methane that rises from the confusion that a Terrence and Phillip create must to God make the world look like Gary, Indiana.
Unless we or grace or both are constantly in touch with our children, they remain pre-moral imps like Cartman or Kyle, congratulating themselves on what little triumphs over vice they manage to eke out every so often. This moral underachievement may not be a bad thing; but it's hardly a great thing either. And the praise this movie is getting stumps me. Profanity may not be as bad as, say, mowing down your classmates with a semiautomatic weapon, but the distance between the two is not exactly reason to stand up and cheer either. South Park is in Colorado, right? Is it anywhere near Littleton?