South Park tackled the comic book superhero genre with mixed results on their March 18th episode. Simultaneously taking digs at The Dark Knight, The Spirit, and the up-to-the-minute Watchmen, the concept of a city’s masked hero fighting injustice with an Atlas-like sense of self-importance was mocked rather well despite a rather unsatisfying ending.
Click the link to get the episode in full, and swing back by here to let us know what you thought of “The Coon.”
March 19th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
Don’t know about the episode, but that’s a poorly-chosen superhero name that could be construed as pretty culturally offensive to African-Americans.
March 19th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I think that’s the point, Tre. It’s Eric Cartman, after all.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
EXACTLY, Hubert. Even if he didn’t mean it, Eric Cartman is a natural to go with a racially insensitive moniker. I mean, the guy used Mel Gibson’s PASSION OF THE CHRIST as a way of stirring up the public to revive Hitler’s “Final Solution.”
March 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
No, children. Raccoons are typically called “coons” for short. Nothing racist this time around.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
I have to admit, except for the end reveal of Mysterion’s identity, I didn’t really find it funny. It’s just the same superhero jokes we’ve seen elsewhere. I expect better from the SP writers.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
It was funny. They can’t top themselves every time. It was just a good episode.
Playing off how all the kids look alike, having only their clothes to disguise them, was a nice twist.
And the fight between the Coon and General Disarray where Cartman had a fit about how rough he was was great.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:32 am
“No, children. Raccoons are typically called “coons” for short. Nothing racist this time around.”
In which case they would have just called him The Raccoon. Are you really suggesting that THIS show given its history just innocently used a term by happenstance that has socially challenging connotations? Really?
March 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
Cartman giving himself a superhero name which is ALSO a racist term for blacks is THE POINT, man.
Cartman has always been a racist little a–hole. Using that name (instead of “The Raccoon” or whatever else) underscores his very nature. If you don’t understand that, there’s nothing more anyone can tell you.
March 20th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I’ve watched it 3 times now, not totally on purpose but, wasn’t sure the first time around but the more I repeat “who is, the coon..” In my head I find myself laughing outloud in public! SP is great, keeps me from offing myself! I’m gonna go watch, the coon, again! OH and OF COURSE its suppose to be offensive!! Are u kidding? Stop watching if u don’t get that yet..
March 21st, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I thought that episode was hilarious. I love the DARK KNIGHT and SPIRIT parody elements and they even borrowed some shots from WATCHMEN. The list of potential Coon suspects was classic.
In a way, I sort of agree with Cisco Kid above, however. Every joke has been done before and there’s really not a lot you can do in terms of superhero satire that isn’t well-tread ground. The faux-hardboiled dialogue, moral absolutism, childishly simplistic view of right and wrong, etc has been examined time and time again by everyone from Alan Moore to MAD Magazine to Warren Ellis to homemade web comics. While the episode was funny, it was a bit redundant. The superhero genre has been disassembled and put under a microscope so many times that it never feels original any more.
This is also how I feel about THE BOYS. While entertaining, it’s never as shocking or boundary-pushing as people make it out to be. It’s just a smuttier version of the same comic book pastiche that everyone has been reading for years now (WHAT, you mean the Batman analogue has gay desires for his sidekick?!? Nooooo… really??)
March 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
The genius in South Park is often missed. The “Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama” rip was amazing!
Obama = the guy who’s gonna fix this mess were in
Coon = the guy who’s gonna fix the mess South Park is in
Obama = Coon
Come on people, it’s all intentional.
March 24th, 2009 at 6:13 am
I love the style of this superhero and look at the mask.
April 10th, 2009 at 6:22 am
South Park is always on the edge of OUTRAGE. Just when you think they couldn’t push the envelope further: “The Coon” with a poster of Barac Obama. I guess we deserve the Canadian sarcasm for our tendency toward making icons.