South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Oh, wow. America woke up to headlines of Obama losing his marbles, but Turkey's woken up to this: South Park, for some unimaginable reason, has just run a show featuring an al Qaeda suicide pilot flying a plane emblazoned with the Turkish flag into the ground. Not only that, but some other show, apparently--I can't quite figure out which from the reports in the Turkish news--has run a special on September 11 depicting a Turkish flag superimposed over the ruins of Ground Zero. (I can't get independent confirmation of that one, could well just be a rumor.)
Now, basically, my sympathy with Turkish outrage over this won't go that deep until Turkish filmmakers stop making movies like Valley of the Wolves: Iraq:
The Doctor (Gary Busey): I told you that these are living people, not animals.
Thuggish U.S. soldier: I have more respect for animals, SIR!
The Doctor: Oh yeah? If you don't stop killing my patients so I can remove their organs properly, I will kill you while you're sleeping.
But that said--South Park, how'd that happen, exactly? Was it just, sort of, confusion about which flag is which? You liked the colors on that one? Or did someone think that was an important political point about the dangers of encroaching Islamism in Turkey? Or did al Qaeda jokes at Turkey's expense seem super-funny? If so, why?
Because in truth, al Qaeda bombed a synagogue a block down the street from my apartment a few years ago. Then they bombed another synagogue, then they bombed the HSBC bank, then they bombed the British consulate. In total they killed 57 people and injured 700 more, most of them Turkish citizens. So the Turks feel about al Qaeda pretty much the way people in lower Manhattan do.
And what's more, Turks really love South Park--or they did, anyway.
The use of the Turkish flag seems so improbable and weird here--and yet so apt to convince the very Turks who most like Americans that Americans in fact really hate them--that you do almost have to wonder: Is someone trying to drive a wedge between Turkey and the West?
Has South Park, in other words, been infiltrated? Are Trey and Matt Iranian spies?
I hate to start irresponsible rumors here, but, you know, someone's got to start them.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
If people who really love South Park haven't noticed that South Park is frequently tasteless on purpose, I don't know what to tell them.
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Hey, thanks for the tip, Claire. That Valley of the Wolves looks like a great date movie.
Oct '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I'm willing to believe that the Turkish flag was an honest mistake. Valley of the Wolves however wasn't. It's a pretty sad and embarrassing piece of propaganda aimed towards nationalist adolescents.
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I'm trying to figure out just what the thought process was here, Inanç, going with the "honest mistake" theory. Someone figured the plane needed a flag, visually. Someone went to Wikipedia, looked up al Qaeda, saw that al Qaeda doesn't really have a flag, someone else said, "Turkey, they're kind of like terrorists, right? They've got a scary-looking, kind of funny flag, that'll do ... " I mean ... maybe. But improbable. Far more likely that Trey and Matt have been turned and are working for Tehran. They're sleeper agents.
Sep '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Last night I finally got around to this podcast http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/09/greenberg_on_de.html
wherein among other things the author talks about the invention of the concept of brain death for the purpose of transplanting organs...
puts the Busey quote in a rather new, non altruistic light that I'm sure they never thought of. Odd bit of synchronicity.
Sep '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I found the episode to be unfunny (its biggest crime) and offensive (par for the course, but, forgivable when funny). I doubt the Turks will care ,but, the al Qaeda operatives were allied with the residents of South Park to help thwart the Jersey menace. So, technically, Turkey was allied with the United States. Still pointless and unhelpful and probably the result of a lazy assumption that any depiction of a star and crescent is shorthand for Islam.
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Someone just left a horribly plausible comment on my Facebook page: "Maybe they used the Turkish flag in order to make it look Islamic without offending anyone from an Arab country." Or, more precisely, without offending anyone who might actually be crazy enough to kill them.
Oct '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I don't know, South Park isn't famous for its detailed drawings. If they were this sensitive about the subject, they could have easily pulled it off without using any flags.
I think people are reading too much into this. They just wanted to put something that looked Islamic. It ended up being the Turkish flag. When South Park wants to imply something, they are usually very obvious about it.
Edited on Oct 19, 2010 at 6:04amRe: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Inanç Arslaner
I don't know, South Park isn't famous for its detailed drawings. If they were this sensitive about the subject, they could have easily pulled it off without using any flags.
I think people are reading too much into this. They just wanted to put something that looked Islamic. It ended up being the Turkish flag. When South Park wants to imply something, they are usually very obvious about it. · Oct 19 at 6:04am
Edited on Oct 19 at 06:04 am
Do not let common sense get in the way of a good conspiracy theory, Inanç.
May '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
All they did was look for the star and the crescent. Typical Hollywood screwup. The memo said "The stars want croissants."
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I saw the episode and the planes were hijacked. I don't think the flag indicates any Turkish affiliation with Al-Qaeda. I think the point of the episode was that not all of the Islamic critiques of western culture are baseless, a good example of this is the brainless MTV show Jersey Shore.
Aug '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I think EJ has a point. They went for the crescent and star, and red is an eye-catching color, and... boom.
I didn't see the episode (I'm only an occasional South Park watcher -- there's only so much coarseness I can take before needing a break). But it wouldn't surprise me if sheer thoughtlessness is at the bottom of the selection.
That's for sure!
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I'm going to side with the folks that say the star and crescent were supposed to be indicative of Islam in general and not Turkey.
I was just thankful that the South Park episode wasn't filled with reference to Italians. We take enough over the top, out of control stereotyping from Hollywood and pop culture. I was holding my breath through the whole show.
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
How many times have we Canadians been the butts of South Park jokes? Remember the Bomb Canada episode, to name one? Yet, somehow we shrugged our collective shoulders and got on with our lives.
All cultures our sensitive but apparently some are so sensitive that a silly cartoon can have dire consequences. Funny world, eh?
Edited on Oct 19, 2010 at 7:11amRe: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Oh, wow, really? That's a point I totally missed, not having seen the show. And I gather most of Turkey missed it, too. Wow, that is a much more subtle point. And one I can only hope they made deliberately, though I think that's probably assigning them way, way too much credit--if they did it deliberately, it suggests they follow what's going on in Turkey a lot more carefully and thoughtfully than, say, the New York Times. And that they found an excellent metaphor for it and expressed it through an exceptionally arch satirical medium ... all of which has been totally lost on everyone.
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Hey, on second thought, when one writes under the influence of all kinds of drugs, anything can happen. So, it did. Now the question - in case Claire may be really onto something - is whether the Iranians supplied the drugs... and which route the delivery took. Hmmm...
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
I don't think the South Park guys were making any points on the internal politics of Turkey, but I could be wrong. You never know with those guys. I think the key scene to understanding the episode was Stan's dad beating the crap out of Jersey Shore's "The Situation". Watch that clip and I think you will understand everything.
May '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Oh, wow, really? That's a point I totally missed, not having seen the show. And I gather most of Turkey missed it, too. Wow, that is a much more subtle point. And one I can only hope they made deliberately, though I think that's probably assigning them way, way too much credit--if they did it deliberately, it suggests they follow what's going on in Turkey a lot more carefully and thoughtfully than, say, the New York Times. And that they found an excellent metaphor for it and expressed it through an exceptionally arch satirical medium ... all of which has been totally lost on everyone. · Oct 19 at 7:14am
Never make the bet that South Park is thoughtless and uninformed. Rude and tasteless? Sure, but never dumb.
May '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
It may be over the top but what does it say when the Mafia has a better sense of humor about themselves than Muslims?
As Denise Moss pointed out the other day, everybody has a professional grievance group today except white fathers, the chosen idiots of comedy writers.
Jul '10
Re: South Park Flies in the Turkish-American Ointment
Trace Urdan
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
Oh, wow, really? That's a point I totally missed, not having seen the show. And I gather most of Turkey missed it, too. Wow, that is a much more subtle point. And one I can only hope they made deliberately, though I think that's probably assigning them way, way too much credit--if they did it deliberately, it suggests they follow what's going on in Turkey a lot more carefully and thoughtfully than, say, the New York Times. And that they found an excellent metaphor for it and expressed it through an exceptionally arch satirical medium ... all of which has been totally lost on everyone. · Oct 19 at 7:14am
Never make the bet that South Park is thoughtless and uninformed. Rude and tasteless? Sure, but never dumb. · Oct 19 at 7:23am
I wouldn't ever say they are dumb. They should not be underestimated... or overestimated for that matter.