Discussion

Posted: February 21st, 2020

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Discussion

Present-day society is rife with different avenues for exchange among peers. With the rise in ownership and use of advances such as smartphones, the social media has evolved into a tool substantial enough to exist as a news source. The media has also acted as a crucial element in capturing people’s exercise of their respective rights and privileges in relation to the issues and concerns that affect them. In this case, the freedom of speech has become particularly prevalent across different aspects of media. Such aspects have become widely popular among viewers irrespective of their harsh and possibly subjective stance on touchy issues such as religion, culture, consumerism, economic segregation, and ethnicity. The television show, South Park, is a formidable illustration. Since its inception, the respective program has elicited significant controversy due to the nature of its content. In the episode, “It Hits the Fan”, South Parkuses the expletive for defecation more than necessary thereby asserting the cumulative effects that the mass media has imposed on the society.

In summary, the South Park episode, “It Hits the Fan”, is based on the use of the expletive for defecation consistently. In its own way, the episode acts as a parody of the episode, “Vigilance and Care” in the series, Cop Drama. While the character, Kyle, is incapable of comprehending what the issue is regarding the use of the word, the entire American population revels in the use of the word, ‘shit’, in the respective episode (“It Hits the Fan”). After the word is uttered throughout the Cop Drama episode, Kyle and his usual comrades find that the consistent use of terms such as the mentioned expletive was responsible for the occurrence of the Black Death originally. Simply, such words are terms of curse. As such, the considerable level of profanity evidenced in Cop Drama could possibly reinstate further plague and pestilence upon the contemporary world if it goes unrestricted (“It Hits the Fan”).

The respective episode reflects the implications that the mass media imposes on people in the long run. Accordingly, the cumulative effect theory asserts that the media poses a powerful impact on the people that view it. However, the intended implications take a long time before they occur (Rodman 56). The focus on profanity in the episode illustrates the relationship that exists between the mass media and its position on the freedom of speech, which also includes issues related to censorship. In comparison to past television shows and motion pictures, the use of expletives was uncommon. However, in the current entertainment sector, expletives such as ‘shit’ are currently normal within the media. This is further evidenced by the leniency of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in allowing the airing of the episode irrespective of its heavy use of expletives.

For an ordinary person, viewing this episode of South Park would make him or her exposed to the use of the expletive. As evidenced by the show, the term ‘shit’ is as normal as any other word. Even though the episode attempts to mask it by associating as a curse, the manner in which the characters use it in every aspect of their conversations achieves the opposite. Hence, even though the effects may not be observed on the person at that particular point, such implications will be witnessed in the long term. This is because of the ubiquitous nature of the respective media as well as its effect in supplementing an insignificant degree of credibility by presenting the terminology in redundant messages (Rodman 61). Hence, in the end, it is important to ask this: has mass media reduced the level of credibility with every message presented to people over the years? Secondly, are we fully capable of separating what is credible and what is not based on the material presented by the mass media?

Works Cited

“It Hits the Fan.” South Park. Writ. Trey Parker. Dir. Trey Parker. Comedy Central, 2001. DVD.

Rodman, George R. Understanding Human Communication. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.