Posted in: Comedy Central, TV | Tagged: south park

South Park Creators on Trump Focus: "Politics Became Pop Culture"

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone on politics becoming political, the show being attracted to "taboo" topics, and much more.

Comedy Central's South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have largely let the long-running animated series speak for itself when it comes to the current political and social climate in which we find ourselves. With the third episode of Season 28 set to hit screens (fingers crossed) this Wednesday, Parker and Stone are offering some insights into the show going all-in when it comes to calling out Trump and his administration during a recent interview with The New York Times. "It's not that we got all political. It's that politics became pop culture," Parker noted. Adding to that was the growing vibe within the media community that pushing back against Trump was too "taboo" to consider. "Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey. Oh, that's where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we're over there," Stone added.

Coming out of a tense and contract negotiation with Paramount over a new deal for more South Park seasons that Parker and Stone believe was impacted by David Ellison's Skydance merging with Paramount, Stone shared that Trump became the focus of the first episode back so that they could "show our independence somehow." Since that time, Stone added that neither Ellison nor Paramount's execs have had anything negative to say to them about the show's focus. "I know with the Colbert thing and all the Trump stuff, people think certain things, but they're letting us do whatever we want, to their credit," he explained.

Although some criticize the duo and the show for having a left-leaning perspective, Parker views the show's creators as walking a middle ground, targeting issues on both sides of the political aisle. "We're just very down-the-middle guys. Any extremists of any kind we make fun of. We did it for years with the woke thing. That was hilarious to us. And this is hilarious to us," Parker explained. But with the line between politics and pop culture all but nonexistent at this point, Parker knows that "there's no getting away from this" – and that means the show can't ignore it. "It's like the government is just in your face everywhere you look," he shared. "Whether it's the actual government or whether it is all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubes and all of that, and it's just all political and political because it's more than political. It's pop culture."

Though noting that there will be a point when Parker and Stone are "sick of" having Trump and his lackeys getting the show's spotlight, it won't be happening anytime soon. "You know, next year will be different. If there's one thing we know, it is that our show will be a lot longer than theirs," Parker said, before ending with a line that echoes when Kyle had to share with Stan and Kenny at the end of the most recent episode. "So, we just got to do this for now," he added.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!