South Park Mocks Disney+’s Muppets Disclaimer
The South ParQ Vaccination Special takes aim at the disclaimer Disney+ put ahead of The Muppet Show, gently mocking the streaming service’s warning.
You Are Reading :South Park Mocks Disney’s Muppets Disclaimer
The second South Park pandemic-focused episode, “South ParQ Vaccination Special,” gently mocks the Muppets — specifically, the disclaimer that Disney+ added to The Muppet Show. A new disclaimer appears at the beginning of the South Park special (technically listed as season 24, episode 2), which both references the Muppets directly and imitates the tone of the Disney+ disclaimer.
Most South Park episodes feature a satirical disclaimer that warns audiences about the program’s content. The show is famously offensive and provocative — hence why South Park episodes 200 and 201 are banned — and the content warning serves as both a cautionary message for new viewers as well as a tongue-in-cheek statement that sets the tone. The disclaimer has long been an in-joke within the series; although the exact wording has changed over the years, all versions are self-deprecating and ironic. For example, the most common variation states that “all celebrity voices are impersonated… poorly” and that the show “should not be viewed by anyone.”
Conversely, the disclaimer for the Muppets is decidedly not satirical. When The Muppet Show launched on Disney+, an offensive content warning was added to 18 episodes, stating “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it, and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together.” The Muppet Show episodes that feature the disclaimer are typically ones with content generally considered insensitive — for example, Johnny Cash singing in front of a Confederate flag, or muppets dressed as stereotypical first nations people and being referred to as “Indians.”
The South Park warning adapts the language of the Disney+ disclaimer almost word-for-word, then drives the satire home with the conclusion “like the Muppets, this show should not be watched by anyone.” One could interpret the content advisory as a mockery of “p.c. culture” and an argument for “cancel culture” gone too far; however, given that South Park has always featured such a disclaimer, it’s more likely that the updated is simply poking fun at Disney’s approach — which comes across as self-serious (something South Park can never resist mocking).
The South Park muppet reference also draws attention to one of the problems with Dinsey’s approach to self-censorship. Because Disney+ uses a general disclaimer for its offensive content, it inadvertently draws comparisons to the relatively minor infractions in The Muppet Show — like an image of the Confederate flag — to more blatant examples of racist content, like the horrifically stereotypical Indian Tribe characters in Peter Pan or the Middle Eastern tropes in Aladdin. By offering such titles on its platform, Disney is profiting from them — and implicitly encouraging viewers to watch them, unlike South Park, which states it should not be watched at all (however facetiously). One could argue that Disney wants to “have its cake and eat it too” by including such harmful content but positioning itself as doing so to work towards “an inclusive future” — but not actually do anything to “spark conversation” or even address what exactly is problematic about the content in the first place.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/south-park-disclaimer-muppets-mock-vaccination-special/