blog




  • Essay / Reading between the “shits”, the “whores” and the “fags”

    Language can be a multifaceted thing. With different meanings, associations and contexts, people from different backgrounds bring their own perspectives when analyzing and understanding language. The series South Park uses language in a way intended to push the boundaries of social norms and political correctness, particularly in the episode "The F Word." » As Marcus Schulzke (2012) “South Park and the Transformation of Meaning” explains, language is not only a powerful tool, but also a malleable one. Although Schulzke makes a strong argument that South Park "explores language processing" while making intelligent social commentary through the use of extreme and sometimes vulgar language and imagery, I believe that the approach and South Park's execution of creating social commentary is too clandestine. Requiring viewers to read between the immense amount of foul language and images in order to identify the producer's social commentary ends up being more dangerous, especially for new viewers and children, than enlightening (Schulzke 2012 , p. 22).Say no. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay "The F Word" and South Park as a whole uses intense, vulgar language and imagery to such an extent that the intended social commentary could potentially be overlooked by a new viewer. As someone who had never seen South Park and was unaware of the producer's ambition behind such language and imagery, I was caught off guard and distracted by the vulgarity. So much so that I was wrong about the intention of using social and political commentary and focused more on the jokes and inappropriate comments themselves. Schulzke explains that "South Park's use of swear words is motivated by shock entertainment" and that "The F Word" "takes a more thoughtful look at language" which he says is "one of the episodes the most sophisticated” (Schulzke 2012, p.26-27). As a first-time viewer, I was less focused on the underlying sophisticated commentary and more affected by the “shock entertainment” caused by the use of “common ‘swear words’” (Schulzke 2012, p. 26). Although Schulzke argues that "The F Word" deserves attention from both scholars invested in South Park and those interested in the transformative power of language, he does not appear to discuss deserved attention or perception for the first time. spectator or child (Schulzke 2012, p. 30). The concept of children both in South Park and watching South Park sparks an interesting dialogue about whether this depiction of children and profane language in tandem is appropriate and effective in communicating the show's message. social commentary. Although scholars like Schulzke argue that this use of "swear words" toward children teaches us true media literacy and teaches us how to navigate the endless amount of "crap" thrown at us in the age of information, while displaying children using words such as "faggot", "shit", "damn", "damn", "asshole" and other sometimes offensive words can set a negative example and set a standard of what is acceptable in terms of children's language use (Schulzke 2012, p. According to an article in the Johns Hopkins Health Library, "as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what 'they see and hear, especially on television'.