In a blend of political commentary, pop culture references, and language that some may find inappropriate, the animated series “South Park,” created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, is intentionally designed to provoke reactions. The show’s satirical approach tackles various subjects, and occasionally, characters are used that initially rub viewers the wrong way. It’s not uncommon for people to criticize the show without having seen it firsthand. Here are some characters who have caused a stir over the years, often for reasons that aren’t positive. These characters aren’t necessarily meant to be poorly designed or divisive (like Towelie), but rather, they’ve sparked controversy at one point or another in the show’s history.
Parker and Stone show no signs of stopping “South Park” anytime soon, leaving us wondering what more controversy it might stir up. However, if no new character is introduced with such impact again, the series will still boast a cast of characters, some of whom appear to have been written out of the show for good.
Mr./Mrs. Garrison
Mr. Garrison is one of the cherished characters in the series “South Park,” appearing since the very first episode. However, his transformation was met with some disapproval among viewers, and the reasons are more intricate. The controversy surrounding him wasn’t primarily about his transition, but stemmed from an episode in Season 9 titled “Mr. Garrison’s Fancy New Vagina,” which featured real-life footage of a gender reassignment surgery, causing uproar among audiences.
The ongoing debate about the character centers around some of his dialogues, such as “Eek, a Penis!” which he says to a colleague at South Park Elementary School, suggesting they undergo an AIDS test because their spouse is unable to conceive due to ovarian cancer. This dialogue has sparked much discussion.
Mr. Hankey
The episode titled ‘Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo’ was quite contentious upon its release, much like many episodes from Season 1. With time, however, it appears rather harmless. The controversy stemmed from the portrayal of a talking turd wearing a Santa hat, which understandably may have elicited an immediate negative response from some, especially given that Christmas is considered sacred by many in the Christian community.
In 1997, when the episode first aired, some viewers found the Mr. Hankey character disturbing. Yet, it’s surprising because aside from being a figurative pile of excrement, there’s nothing inherently offensive about the character himself. He simply adores Christmas and aims to unite people through his festive spirit.
Ms. Crabtree
Initially created with a contentious nature (as indicated by the phony commercial segment in his debut episode featuring “I Adore Towelie” and “I Detest Towelie t-shirts), one might expect Ms. Crabtree, the boisterous and tempestuous school bus driver from the early seasons, to elicit a similar reaction. However, surprisingly, both characters stirred up the same response among audiences.
In “South Park” Season 8, the character Ms. Crabtree was written out of the series, which is another way of saying she was killed off. She hadn’t appeared for some time before this, and it seemed fans didn’t really notice her absence. In the episode where her death was mentioned, it was even stated that she was a secondary character whose departure wouldn’t be greatly noticed. The problem with Ms. Crabtree was that her character was repetitive, with her catchphrase “Sit down and shut up” becoming less amusing over time.
Officer Barbrady
Fans have been at odds about Officer Barbrady’s apparent exit from South Park since his last appearance in “PC Principal Final Justice” during Season 19. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have explicitly stated that his departure wasn’t an oversight, but rather a deliberate choice to remove him from the series permanently. The motive behind this decision remains somewhat unclear.
Indeed, discussions about law enforcement can be contentious due to regular news about police misconduct. However, Barbrady was never one to inflict harm on people (except in the “Chickenlover” episode). Instead, he was simply dim-witted. It might be a good thing that he’s not around much anymore, just like Dr. Mephisto and Ms. Crabtree who were significant characters during the early seasons but had their screen time reduced. There weren’t many fresh paths to explore with his character, yet he wasn’t problematic enough to necessitate removal from the series altogether.
PC Principal
PC Principal is introduced primarily to promote a more politically correct version of South Park, which has left some fans questioning his necessity in the series. Some argue that the show’s essence lies in being unapologetically uncensored, and introducing political correctness seems out of character for South Park.
Later on, similar to Ms. Crabtree, PC Principal became excessively repetitive. However, since then, he has developed more as a character, not by shedding his PC persona but rather by revealing likable aspects through his role as a father to the PC Babies. Nevertheless, for a period of time, there were many who wished to see PC Principal no longer in the story.
Pip
Certain South Park episodes receive less recognition than they deserve, while some are widely criticized, and this is true for the episode “Pip” from Season 4 as well as the character Pip himself, who often fails to garner favorable opinions.
There’s a significant contrast between Pip and Butters. Initially, Pip appeared before Butters (Butters had his first major role in Season 3’s “Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub”), yet he was designed to be the target of jokes. Similarly, Butters started off this way. However, viewers disliked Pip from the beginning, while Butters was quickly accepted and even came to be seen as almost one of the main characters alongside Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny. Pip is a debatable character because he managed to repel everyone, and it’s unclear whether this antipathy was intentional or if it was meant to evoke pity instead.
Timmy
Viewers have sometimes misunderstood Timmy as a one-dimensional character that mocks people with intellectual disabilities, but he’s shown himself to be a compassionate and gentle soul (like his interaction with Gobbles the turkey in “Helen Keller! The Musical”), displaying greater complexity than initially perceived.
Prior to the broadcast of the “Timmy 2000” episode in Season 4, Comedy Central was quite uneasy about the character. They pressured Parker and Stone to eliminate him from the show. However, fans of the series embraced the character wholeheartedly, causing Comedy Central to completely alter its stance. Essentially, Timmy might have caused more controversy than he eventually did.
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2025-02-24 22:41