Season 6 - Episode 7: "Simpsons Already Did It"
This episode is about how accusing things of being unoriginal is ultimately fruitless since very few plots are completely original. I used to think that accusing things of ripping other stuff off was a be-all, end-all argument but this just shows that just because something happened on a different show, doesn't always mean it's unoriginal.
Season 6 - Episode 14: "The Death Camp of Tolerance"
Not sure how well this episode would do today since its message is basically that often times people trying to push tolerance and acceptance can go about it in ways just as draconian as literal fascists. This episode definitely opened my eyes to the fact that there are right and wrong ways to accept people.
Season 7 - Episode 4: "I'm a Little Bit Country"
This episode's moral at the end is that America was founded specifically on the premise that people on opposite sides of an issue should be allowed to argue it out in order to create a more perfect union. This lesson might not have aged as well today when things somehow have become even more divided than they were in 2004, but I think at the time it helped me have more faith in this country...
Season 7 - Episode 9: "Christian Rock Hard"
This point is minor, but the episode does bring up a very true fact that pretty much every Christian rock song is essentially just a love song that replaces man, woman, or baby with God or Jesus. Thought that was pretty funny.
Season 7 - Episode 12: "All About Mormons"
I'll let this quote do all the talking:
"Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up. But I have a great life and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice, and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend Stan, but you're so high and mighty, you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls."
Season 7 - Episode 14: "Raisins"
Two boys each get broken up with by girls over this episode. One deals with the heartbreak by becoming a goth kid. The other comes to realize that his sadness over this heartbreak can actually be a good thing sometimes because at the very least it shows he has the capacity to feel human. It's a lesson that I still need to learn to this day sometimes.
Season 9 - Episode 12: "Trapped in the Closet"
Scientology is messed up, man.
Season 10 - Episode 2: "Smug Alert"
Hybrid cars are arguably just as bad as regular cars when it comes to how self-righteous people get over owning them. This was later proven true when it turned out that studies show that hybrid drivers use just as much if not more gasoline than regular cars do just because they believe they can use more. Of course this was made before electric cars were a thing but I'd argue that it still applies to anyone who gets self-righteous about their own environmentalism.
Season 10 - Episodes 12 and 13: "Go God Go" and "Go God Go XII"
Fundamental Atheism can be just as annoying as any religion. Even if all religions were wiped out, people would still find stupid issues to cause wars over like...what kind of name Atheists should call their League for example...
Season 11 - Episode 14: "The List"
I mentioned this before in another thread and although it met some controversy I still believe in what Abraham Lincoln said. TV Tropes sums it up best:
"Being good-looking has disadvantages like everything else. And sometimes being less physically appealing can motivate you to work harder to become a good person. Either way, you shouldn't let the opinions of others stop you from doing what makes you happy."
Season 13 - Episode 3: "Margaritaville"
This episode was made in the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Basically the takeaway is that the economy is simply a human construct, similarly to any god. We should not always be too frugal with our money because spending money is what restores peoples' faith in it. Few people, not even economists understand that the economy is only as good as peoples' faith in it is. Oh yeah, and the federal US government basically solves economic issues randomly.
Season 13 - Episode 4: "Eat, Pray, Queef"
Before this episode I didn't even know queefing was a thing.
Season 13 - Episode 10: "W.T.F."
I didn't know professional wrestling was fake until I saw this episode but at least now I understand the appeal even though I'm not that into it myself.
Season 13 - Episode 13: "The F Word"
Bad words, especially slurs, only have as much power as we're willing to give them. I thought it was touching that the homosexual community in this episode campaigns to make the word 'fag' refer to annoyingly loud motorcyclists instead of themselves.
Season 14 - Episode 1: "Sexual Healing"
This is sort of a fake revelation because it's incredibly obvious, but South Park does raise a good point in this episode. Why exactly DOES the media always act so surprised that rich and powerful men often easily succumb to engaging in sexual misconduct? The obvious answer is that men in general are just programmed that way. It's nature. What's funny though is that most people in this episode try to deny it.
Season 14 - Episode 2: "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerBalls"
People take literature way too seriously. There doesn't always have to be subtext and underlying themes just because something is overly shocking and vulgar. I'm talking to you, high school English classes.
Season 15 - Episode 4: "T.M.I."
A lot of the anger, rage, and frustration in the world would probably be wiped out if people were just less insecure about their penis size.
Season 15 - Episode 7: "You're Getting Old"
Instead of saying the point of this episode here, I highly recommend people to just watch it. If you can't tolerate poop noises then I'll just hint that the point of this episode is that getting older...can make a lot of things start to feel like shit.
Season 16 - Episode 2: "Cash for Gold"
Those home shopping jewelry channels and Cash4Gold stores are all part of a big scam cycle. Also Alzheimer's is fucking sad.
Season 16 - Episode 5: "Butterballs"
This is South Park's take on bullying. It goes over all the possible solutions to being bullied in the school environment but puts out the fact that bullying still exists in the adult world outside of school. There are also people who take advantage of anti-bullying campaigns who end up being bullies themselves. Butters's speech at the end is a good way to deal with an abuser or bully when all other options are exhausted.
Season 16 - Episode 6: "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining"
The title of the episode is the point, but I'd still recommend seeing the episode just because it's really funny to me.
Season 16 - Episode 10: "Insecurity"
Home Security systems are really dumb and everyone's a little insecure about something.
Season 17 - Episode 5: "Taming Strange"
Quote, the Canadian Health Minister:
"Anyone who thinks streamlining health care into an integrated system would go smoothly deserves a queef in the face."
Season 17 - Episode 10: "The Hobbit"
Tools like Photoshop can actually empower objectively ugly people into feeling more attractive than they really are. Unfortunately it's all a lie but it's one that can't really be fought because even though it's fake, it still gives some people confidence they could never have before. The ending drives home how pointless it is to fight this dilemma.
Season 18 - Episode 3: "The Cissy"
Some people may think this episode is insensitive towards transgender issues but personally to me, it helped me become more accepting of them. The song at the end was cool too.
Season 18 - Episode 6: "Freemium Isn't Free"
Another episode I'd recommend watching first since it explains "Freemium" (Aka Mobile or Gacha) games in great detail.
Season 18 - Episodes 9 & 10: "#REHASH" and "#HappyHolograms"
This is a 2-part episode that reflects some of the changing attitudes of today's youths. A lot of really young people suddenly decided that they'd rather watch people play video games than actually play them. It sounds like a weird thing for kids to do but it really turns out that commentary on stuff has been a thing for almost as long as entertainment has. Is it really so different from late-night talk shows or sports commentary? If you answer yes, then you might be a grandpa.
Season 19 - Overall Story Arc
"What is PC (Political Correctness) except merely a verbal form of gentrification? Only one thing can survive in that world, ads."
Season 19 - Episode 6: "Tweek x Craig"
I finally got the appeal of Yaoi from watching this episode. It's not necessarily a sexual thing like lesbianism is for straight men. Yaoi aka "Boy's Love" appeals to people because to its fans, it's a purer form of romance that is not tied to gender roles or anything like that. In that sense I guess it can be a pretty heartwarming expression of romance to some people.
Season 20 - Overall Story Arc
I respect what this season was trying to do even if it relied mainly on the fact that the writers thought Hilary was going to win the 2016 election. It just goes to show that she really was that bad of a candidate to some people. Also, simping for left wing politics is a great way to make most women happy.
Season 21 - Episode 5: "Hummels and Heroin"
This is where I learned about the opioid crisis. Also that retirement homes are basically exactly like prisons.
Season 21 - Episode 7: "Doubling Down"
There's a really good metaphor going on satirically comparing Trump supporters to domestic abuse victims. The key to this analogy is that criticizing the abuser too much isn't necessarily the best way to make the victim want to leave or stop supporting them. In fact, it can have the opposite effect of causing these victims to double down because they've been made to feel stupid. It's incredibly sad that the media continues to shit on Trump supporters to this day not knowing or caring that it will only drive them further to his arms no matter how bad he gets or what he does. Them not being able to even acknowledge any of his good points also just makes things worse in my opinion.
Season 22 - Episode 1: "Dead Kids"
School shootings have become so normalized that people in general are just too bummed to talk about this issue anymore...Luckily covid seems to have stopped them, right?
Season 22 - Episode 3: "The Problem with a Poo"
Nowadays, if someone is getting canceled for bad things they've said or done, it's just not a good idea to stand by them no matter how right it is to do so. There's nothing we can do about the fact that when you deal with poop, you get stained. It's a sad revelation and one that won't change anytime soon.
Season 22 - Episodes 6 & 7: "Time to Get Cereal" and "Nobody Got Cereal?"
These two episodes are basically South Park's apology to Al Gore for making fun of him and his stance on Global Warming in a previous episode from Season 10. The writers basically admit that they were wrong and that they may have had a part in causing a lot of the climate change denial that lingers to this day. It takes a very big person to admit that. Unfortunately, they also admit that even if we were to all buckle down and start truly helping the environment...there are just too many luxuries/necessities that we in Western society would not want to give up even though we would have to. Things like cars, ice cream, and soy sauce all cause damage to the earth but everyone is fundamentally greedy and you can't expect society as a whole to give it all up. We're doomed.
Season 22 - Episode 8: "Buddha Box"
Smartphone addiction is an unhealthy way some people have developed to cope with their anxiety. Also, everyone these days pretty much suffers at least a tiny bit of anxiety on some level but there is a difference between powering through it and using it to excuse shitty behavior all the time.
Season 22 - Episodes 9 & 10: "Unfulfilled" and "Bike Parade"
These two episodes focus on the Amazon corporation and just how oppressive they've become to workers and the towns they build warehouses in. These episodes didn't make me socialist but I now at least understand the sentiment behind it and do agree that something needs to change somewhere.
Season 23 - Episode 4: "Let Them Eat Goo"
This episode tackles the growing fake meat industry like Impossible meat. It also made me more willing to try it because like Cartman, I'm actually more okay with eating fake meat knowing it's just as unhealthy as, if not more than real meat.
"The Pandemic Special"
This episode caused me to cry at the end. Even though mentally I was actually doing pretty well staying inside all the time, the ending made me realize just how much I miss being able to go out, do normal stuff, and just have fun all of which I now can't do because of this pandemic. Here's the scene.