Transgender Depictions in South Park Essay

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Gender Norms in South Park

In the first episode of South Park's 19th season last fall, the person of Caitlyn Jenner was satirized in a move that reinforced traditional gender norms. However, at the same time, the character of Caitlyn was embraced by Mr. Garrison -- the show's 4th grade elementary teacher, who (like Caitlyn in real life) had a sex change (twice -- from man to woman and then back from woman to man again) several seasons ago. While Mr. Garrison is often portrayed as a crotchety, no-nonsense anti-gay mouthpiece, his own homosexual tendencies are at the same time used for laughs. In this first episode of season 19, entitled "Stunning and Brave," a new principal comes to the town of South Park to take over South Park Elementary. His name is PC Principal and he is a young, PC warrior fresh from college. He is aggressive and well-trained in the art of PC admonishing: not only does he verbally berate anyone who challenges PC principles, he also physically beats them up. For example, when young 4th grader Kyle refuses to espouse the PC dogma that Caitlyn Jenner is a "stunning and brave" woman, he raises the ire of PC Principal. Thus the show satirizes PC culture and transgender culture in particular.

At the same time, Mr. Garrison befriends Caitlyn Jenner and as he decides to run for President of the United States, he chooses Caitlyn to be his running mate (this occurs in episode two, entitled "Where My Country Gone?"). So the show both reinforces traditional gender norms but also subverts them by showing tolerance and acceptance of Caitlyn Jenner and Mr. Garrison even as the show alternately mocks them (by showing Caitlyn Jenner run over people every time she gets behind the wheel of a car). The show obviously enjoys making fun of just about everyone, and while there is some upholding of traditional values of the American patriarchal sort (Mr. Garrison, for example, decides to run for President because he is sick of all the (Canadian) immigrants coming to South Park and being unable to speak English properly -- part of a running joke in the show against Canadians), the show also adopts a shrugging attitude of acceptance towards the transgender culture as well as the PC culture that has come to dominate modern times. By the end of the season, PC Principal transforms from the villain of the show to the hero in a climactic showdown with an even greater villain -- advertisements.

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PC Principal agrees to stay on for another year to help make South Park more PC and Mr. Garrison and Caitlyn Jenner ride off into the sunset to go win the election for President and Vice-President of the United States.

What is strange about this cultural text is that there is such a mix of mockery and affection shown to all the different types of characters, from the (formerly gay -- and perhaps still gay?) gay-bashing Mr. Garrison to the obviously troubled Caitlyn Jenner and her hordes of adoring followers (all of whom are mocked in the show) to the PC-obedient Randy Marsh who converts to PC in order to fit into the new local frat house and immediately starts spouting PC verbiage to the boys who just want things to go back to "normal" yet who are keenly aware that what was "normal" yesterday is not coming back anytime soon. So there is this sense that times and cultures are changing in America and that there is no real way to maintain the old order or traditional gender norms of yesteryear because the way that people have changed (mentally and physically) means that there is a new "norm" that must be accepted. And the show, oddly, seems to accept it even as it pokes fun at it.

In a way, though, what the show is really poking fun at is the adoring sycophants who heap praises and awards upon Caitlyn Jenner, viewing her as an emblem or as a symbol rather than as a real person who, as Kyle notes, may or may not be a very good person. But all of the banner waving and flag waving and promotional material is geared not towards Jenner as a person but towards an idea in which the notion of "tolerance" is not only beaten over everyone's head but is turned into ecstatic and euphoric fawning. I think this is the point of the show: that it does not matter if Bruce wants to be Caitlyn or if Mr. Garrison wants to be Mrs. Garrison; what matters is whether or not these people can be good people -- and praising them for politicized, propagandistic reasons takes away from their humanity more….....

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