South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

I enjoy the South Park television show... when I get a chance to watch it, which is rarely. But it's not one of my favorites. Some of the early episodes were iconic for myself and my friends in college - the "pink eye" episode, the one with Starvin' Marvin', the first one with Mr. Hanky. I loved that there was actually a show on television that pushed the boundaries of what you could and couldn't say, what you could and couldn't talk about and who you could and couldn't make fun of.


South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut was released in the middle of a huge brouhaha with the MPAA Ratings Board over more than just this one movie. The original title was "South Park: All Hell Breaks Loose", but the ratings board told creators Parker and Stone that movie titles were required to be G-rated, not matter what the movie was rated. Bullpoo, obviously, since a couple of years later no one had any problems releasing a movie called "Hellboy." Of course, South Park has long been the whipping boy of the MPAA, and there's been no love lost on either side. And, after being smacked down by the MPAA, Parker and Stone sort of had the last laugh with the new title.

And that's basically what the South Park movie is about. It's the story of a popular TV show (in the movie, "Terrence and Philip") which gets made into a feature film. The fictional film draws a lot of children - despite the R rating - and causes a huge controversy over what kids can be exposed to with regard to violence and obscenity. This should sound vaguely familiar. The South Park television show deals with current issues on a weekly basis, but the movie has a broader scope and is actually quite a significant bit of writing. It tackles the touchy issue of censorship in a way that doesn't evoke images of soap-boxes.

As much as I love the movie, there are things I don't like about it. It's an interesting social commentary, but there's no real message. A lot of it is funny, but some of it is offensive. And I don't care for the idea that Satan is a hero, of sorts. But there's enough I like about it to make repeated viewings worthwhile.

And the music! I love the soundtrack - "Mountain Town", "Uncle F***a", "Blame Canada", "What Would Brian Boitano Do?", "It's Easy, Mmmmkay" and the CLASSIC "Kyle's Mom's a B***h". You can't walk out of this film and not be humming the songs.

The movie may not be your cup of tea, but if you haven't seen it, don't discount it just based on the TV show. The movie is another animal altogether. But I'm not going to lie to you - there's quite a bit of foul language.

Oh, and this movie has the most hilarious portrayal of a young man's quest for the clitoris you will EVER see.