For almost 30 years, South Park has been filled with raunchy, offensive and vulgar humor on just any topic you can think of. It’s crossed boundaries no other show has before and depicted true acts of horror — from Indiana Jones getting raped by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to the time Eric Cartman tricked another kid into eating his own parents.
Still, every so often, the show is capable of being sweet — even downright wholesome. While it’s exceedingly rare, there are some aspects of the show that tug at the heartstrings.
When the Kids Actually Play Like Kids
Most of the time, the kids of South Park talk and behave like miniature adults, but every now and again, co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone depict them playing together like actual children. A great example is in “The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers” when, after watching The Lord of the Rings, the kids role play as Tolkien-esque characters on a quest to return a tape to a video store. Although the tape happens to feature the most graphic porn film ever made, the boys don’t know that. They continue to act like they’re on some grand adventure, never breaking character no matter how high the stakes get.
Similarly, “Make Love, Not Warcraft” finds the boys enveloped in the video-game world of Warcraft; “Chinpokomon” depicts their love for a Pokémon-like fad; and, most recently, “Help My Teenager Hates Me” shows the boys really loving paintball. Obviously, South Park wouldn’t be what it is if the kids always acted like real kids, but it’s nice to be reminded from time to time that they are indeed children.
Mr. Slave Marrying Big Gay Al
Since the show’s first season, Big Gay Al has been a character of love and acceptance, and he’s completely genuine — a quality in short supply in this little mountain town. As for Mr. Slave, he first appears in Season Six as Mr. Garrison’s new boyfriend, and while he’s always been a big slut, he’s still a sensitive soul who legitimately cares about the kids Mr. Garrison teaches. Because of this, he was far too good for Mr. Garrison, which is why it’s nice to see him get together with Big Gay Al in Season Nine and heartwarming when they later get married. They truly deserve each other.
Almost Everything with Butters
Due to his natural naïveté, Butters Stotch can occasionally get wrapped up in the toxicity of South Park — like when he accidentally becomes a pimp or when he becomes a men’s rights activist. But, for the most part, the “Oh hamburgers” proclaiming little boy is exactly as he seems: sweet as hell. In “Awesom-O,” his innocence is so pure that he truly believes he has a great new robot pal (and not that Cartman is tricking him). Or in “Butters’ Very Own Episode,” he couldn’t fathom his father having a secret gay lifestyle behind his mom’s back, so when his dad goes to bathhouses, he assumes he’s out wrestling. Finally, every time you hear Butters singing little diddies to himself like “Lu Lu Lu, I’ve got some apples / Lu Lu Lu, you got some too,” you can see that he really is an innocent, innocent little boy — he just happens to live in the worst place on Earth.
Kenny’s Love for His Friends
The various South Park specials that aired during the pandemic tell a rather complicated story that takes place 40 years in the future when the boys, now adults, are grappling with the aftermath of Kenny’s death. Much of the story is convoluted, but the specials reveal something genuinely endearing about Kenny.
Having grown apart over the years, Cartman, Stan and Kyle reunite to investigate what Kenny had been up to and what led to his demise. They eventually learn Kenny was working on inventing time travel. Naturally, the boys conclude that Kenny was trying to go back in time to prevent the pandemic, but they instead discover he was actually trying to prevent the breakup of the foursome/friendship.
Cartman’s Tea Parties
Eric Cartman is mostly known for being a bigot and a racist, but the show also suggests that Cartman is simply less mature than his friends. Kenny is very worldly — as evidenced by his knowledge of sexual things the others know nothing about — and Stan and Kyle, as mentioned above, mostly act like little adults. Cartman, however, engages in lots of child-like imaginative play — for example, throwing himself tea parties and role-playing as Britney Spears in his backyard. Sure, Cartman is generally a hateful monster, but this childish aspect of his personality is legitimately wholesome.
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