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There’s a legal concept known as the “small penis” rule, in which a writer who creates a character based on a real person can potentially avoid a defamation lawsuit by giving them a small penis. The logic is that to sue, the plaintiff would have to tacitly admit that the description of their manhood is accurate. Technically, this rule doesn’t apply to the latest episode of South Park, in which the show’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, make no attempt to hide the identity of President Donald Trump, but one wonders whether the logic of shame still holds. Trump is depicted as a deeply insecure leader who literally falls into bed with Satan, his supposed lover. (“I’m not in the mood right now,” the Devil tells him. “Some random bitch commented on my Instagram that you’re on Epstein’s list.”) Remarkably, South Park's Trump has such a small penis that, according to Satan, he “can't even see.” If Trump had actually retaliated, as he often does, he would have only helped Parker and Stone.
South Park has remarkably survived to its twenty-seventh season. It is the second-longest-running animated series on American television after The Simpsons, and certainly the most offensive. Since its debut in 1997, the show, which follows a group of mischievous elementary school students in South Park, Colorado, has angered just about every political group, pop culture fandom, and religious denomination. A season-twelve episode in which two characters wear yellowface and hold PF Chang's also features George Lucas and Steven Spielberg raping Indiana Jones, a reference to the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull parody. If the show has any “beliefs,” it's that all beliefs are stupid, whether they're on the left or the right. In 2006, environmental groups criticized the show for its depiction of Al Gore as a man possessed by an imaginary monster called ManBearPig. In 2019, the show was banned in China for mocking Chinese censorship, and the show's creators received numerous death threats after depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
While South Park has declined in both quality and popularity over the years, it’s still valuable enough that Paramount recently paid $1.5 billion for exclusive broadcast rights to the series, with Parker and Stone set to produce another fifty episodes. The studio has long been in the process of merging with Skydance Media—a deal that was delayed for a year until Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit filed by Trump against its CBS sister show 60 Minutes. Days before the FCC finally approved the merger, Stephen Colbert, host of CBS’s The Late Show, called the settlement “a big fat bribe,” after which his show was canceled, ostensibly for financial reasons. All of these events are key plot points in South Park’s latest episode, “Sermon on the Mount,” which is now available on Paramount+.
The town of South Park has its fair share of Trump supporters, albeit increasingly disillusioned ones. (“I voted for him to get rid of all this woke nonsense,” says one man, “but now the dumb faggot is just putting money in his own pocket.”) Some parents are particularly upset when a local elementary school introduces religion, in the form of a physical appearance and presence of Jesus Christ himself. When parents call the president to complain, he announces that he plans to sue the town for $5 billion, raising the issue of Trump’s status as a serial litigator. (Throughout the episode, he also threatens to sue anyone who mentions his infamous penis.) But Parker and Stone’s real target is media cowardice, which becomes apparent when the fictional “60 Minutes” airs a segment about Trump versus South Park.
The anchors are clearly alarmed. “Oh, shit,” one says at the top of the newscast. “There’s a protest going on in this little town of South Park, Colorado, against the president. The people of this town are saying that the president — who we know is a great man, a great guy — is probably watching them — and we’re just reporting on this town in Colorado that the president is suing.”
His co-host interjects: “To put it more clearly, we disagree with them.”
“We think these protesters are complete idiots,” adds the first presenter.
The demonstration is interrupted by Jesus, who flies onto the stage like Superman. He hands out bread to everyone. “Just eat the bread and listen,” he says, and begins his Sermon on the Mount: “I didn’t want to go back to school, but I had to, because it was part of the destiny
Sourse: newyorker.com
