South Park does not get all the credit it deserves as our time's most perceptive and fearless source of social and political commentary. This 2003 episode is one of the best examples. The kids can serve as neutral observers to the angry confrontation between adults in the left-wing "war is not the answer" faction against the right-wing "support the troops" faction. The opposing camps have competing permits for the same space, so a direct acting out of American culture wars is coming.
It is hard to imagine a more complete and perceptive chronicling of the intense division that was part of the real world circa 2003 over the war in Iraq. It is interesting that this is an episode where they got Norman Lear as a collaborator and guest voice, as the usually right-leaning Parker and Stone manage a balanced and completely ingenious resolution of the culture-wars conflict, which manages to puncture the pretense on both sides.
It is hard to imagine a more complete and perceptive chronicling of the intense division that was part of the real world circa 2003 over the war in Iraq. It is interesting that this is an episode where they got Norman Lear as a collaborator and guest voice, as the usually right-leaning Parker and Stone manage a balanced and completely ingenious resolution of the culture-wars conflict, which manages to puncture the pretense on both sides.
