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Reviews
South Park: Stunning and Brave (2015)
Missed the mark
Please read before you rate it as not helpful, I've seen a lot of valid criticisms of this episode being downvoted.
I've been watching South Park since Season 1, and so far, this is the only one I've seen that I just don't consider to be all that great.
To start, I get that South Park is meant to be offensive to everyone - left, right, black, white, etc. - and have over the top incredibly dark humor. I've laughed at some of the most insulting and terrible things on this show - even episodes that are intended to insult and ridicule groups I belong to. The satirical portrayals of current events / celebrities / groups aren't lost on me.
But I can't even really call this satire because it's satirizing something that doesn't really exist - it's just attacking a straw man. It's less of a mockery of an extreme of a group and more about creating a make believe extreme just for some cheap laughs - a make believe extreme that if it does exist, would be an incredibly tiny minority that really doesn't need an entire episode dedicated toward ridiculing it, especially at the expense of the rest of a group.
Like actually, outside of videos on the internet, when was the last time you've been shut down for not being PC? The worst I've ever had was somebody just saying what I said wasn't cool and that was the extent of it.
Part of what makes South Park great is that it could actually spark some conversation about differing views on political subject matters, but with this episode you can't really have that conversation because it makes false assumptions about one side. You can't have a healthy dialogue with someone when you just go in with the assumption that they are going to act like P. C. Principal.
The humor isn't all that great either. It just really falls flat and is more obnoxious and embarrassing than anything. I guess the jabs at Tom Brady / NFL and the bathroom scene was slightly amusing.
Maybe my biases are getting in the way of an objective review. I'm willing to admit that it could have. I'm sure there are many that will disagree with the points I've raised, and I could only hope they are met with well-reasoned arguments as well. I may not have enjoyed this episode in particular but I'm sure there are those out there that do. So, to conclude I'd really only recommend this episode to those who take issue with political correctness of any type.
Oddballs (2022)
Entertaining show for a younger audience
To start, I've watched theodd1sout's videos on YouTube a while ago, and to see him grow to get his own Netflix show was astounding. His animation quality has improved drastically over the years from simple stills on a blank background to fully fledged animated characters against vibrant scenes.
But anyways, I decided to watch an episode to see how I liked it and to be honest it wasn't really for me. It's not because it's bad or anything, which it most definitely is not, but it's because I'm not the intended audience. The humor is more for a younger audience, so I didn't really find the jokes to be super funny and kind of cringed at some of them. But again, it's for a younger audience, so I'm willing to set that aside.
Visually, the animation is of a high quality. What I've seen in this show was incredibly impressive, with fluid and smooth movements, probably on a higher level than that of some more well-known cartoons nowadays. The simple design was appealing to view and wasn't overly colorful and dramatic.
In terms of audio / voicing, the sound effects worked well and weren't used in excess or in inappropriate scenarios. The voice acting in my opinion was pretty average, I didn't really have any major qualms with it. Overall, nothing too much to say about the audio which is a good thing.
In short, it's a great show for your kids! If you're in an older age group though I don't think you'll get the same level of enjoyment out of it, but it's still a fairly good show, nonetheless. I look forward to seeing what else James comes up with next and wish him luck on his future endeavors.