The South Park Pandemic Special: something we all needed but didn’t know we did. In their hilarious manner, the team behind South Park does not fail to produce deeper messages in their satire.
Following each of the characters throughout the episode gives the insight of how kids are reacting to the all virtual school year. Cartman is thriving staying home, Stan is slowly losing his mind in isolation, Kyle wants to go back to school, Butters needs some normalcy to keep sane and Kenny, in normal Kenny fashion, dies.
“South Park always does a really good job of criticizing society with their nuanced satirical style,” senior Anton Lingeman said. “They did a really good job of portraying what online school is like for different types of kids with their own spin.”
Not only do the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, capture the younger characters’ emotions about attending school over Zoom, they also show the economic effect COVID-19 is having. Randy is seen walking through the main street with every business, small and large, closed.
As the episode continues, we learn that Randy is responsible for the virus, although his small business is booming. This leads him to have guilt and intervene with the scientists’ developments on a vaccine.
Once the kids go back to school, elements about the recent protests against the police system arise. The police, who have lost all their resources, become the new teachers at school.
The first day in school, there is a mishap. In the classroom, Token, the only Black student, gets shot by his new police-teacher. After he is rushed to the hospital, they blame the incident on the coronavirus.
Stone and Parker also comedically comment on the lack of work President Trump is doing due to the pandemic.
“The creators of South park never fail to deliver hilarious content,” senior Billy Ludwick said. “It was very impressive how they were able to combine all the recent events that have been happening in a comedic way that also reveals deeper meanings.”
The Pandemic Special puts a comedic yet deep twist on the recent events taking place in our world.
