Andre´Sirois CEP Week 1 We watched three episodes/shorts that shared there the same theme of Christmas spirt: Jesus v. Frosty, Jesus vs. Santa Claus, and “A Very Crappy Christmas.” Jesus v. Frosty was Trey Paker and Matt Stone's stop animation project in a college class; the first time in which we see characters resembling the four main characters on South Park. Jesus vs. Santa Claus is a video Christmas card that Parker and Stone were commissioned to produce for Fox executive, Brian Graden; this film was also animated using stop motion and construction paper cutouts and was the project that went “viral” and ultimately landed the creators a pilot with Comedy Central. The animation process, in a very self-reflexive way, was part of the “A Very Crappy Christmas” episode where the boys try to save the Christmas spirit by animating a short film along with the help of Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo. This episode reflected on Parker and Stone's creative process and challenges making Jesus vs. Santa Claus. Each text explored the social issue of consumerism vs. Christianity on Christmas and critiquing how the consumerist ideology has overtaking all other ideologies come Christmas time as well as religious zealots who have waged a war on secular Christmas. Jesus and Santa are parodied, and we see a larger satire on American consumerism. In Jesus vs. Santa we also get a parody of the figure skater Brian Boitano and the song “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” (this eventually was used in the South Park feature film). “A Very Crappy Christmas” parodied the Peanuts Christmas special (ironic because the Peanuts cartoon is also looks at consumerism vs. the more Christian spirit of Christmas), as well as a spoof on the Lion King with the song “A Circle of Poo.” This song parody and the inclusion of Mr. Hanky and his shitty family, epitomizes scatological humor and suggests that life is about crap and that crap is life (what we are and what we share is shit). I thought it was interesting how “A Very Crappy Christmas” included a short musical section that had a montage featuring a Korean cartoon coloring factory (many American animation projects were, for a long time, exported to Asia so that cells could be colored). The moral of each of the three episodes is that for the young boys Christmas is about one thing: presents. This is interesting because it challenges common beliefs that Christmas is a Christian holiday or a secular holiday. The creators suggest and critique the extremists at both ends of the spectrum. OR Andre´Sirois CEP Week 1 Episode: “A Very Crappy Christmas” 1. What is the basic summary of the episode? And, what is the theme or narrative glue of it? • The boys make an animated a short film to try to save Christmas and the Christmas spirit. People of South Park have lost their Christmas spirit because the holiday has become all about buying commodities. • In a self-reflexive way, this episode reflected on Parker and Stone's creative process and challenges making Jesus vs. Santa Claus. In the episode the film the boys make is actually The Spirit of Christmas, which is an amalgam of their other two first projects that are predecessors to South Park 2. Explain the social issues that are explored, revealed, or critiqued in the episode? • It looks at the consumerist ideology on Christmas • It pits the secular consumerist ideology against some of the other meanings attributed to Christmas (although much more passively than in Jesus vs. Frosty and Jesus vs. Santa Claus) • It critiques excessive holiday consumerism and our fascination with presents (and, maybe how from a young age this is what most people learn that Christmas is about). 3. Describe the objects/subjects of satire? Describe the objects/subjects of parody? • The largest object of satire is extreme American consumerism around the holiday season • Peanuts Christmas special (ironic because the Peanuts cartoon is also looks at consumerism vs. the more Christian spirit of Christmas) • There is a parody of the Lion King with the song “A Circle of Poo.” This interesting, again suggesting that life is shit. Well, you know, we all shit and shit is the cycle of life. • In some ways the making of the original films and episode is parodied as the creators look at the animation process. I thought it was interesting how there was a short musical section that had a montage featuring a Korean cartoon coloring factory (many American animation projects were, for a long time, exported to Asia so that cells could be colored). 4. What is the moral or lesson of the episode? • The true meaning of Christmas is commercialism and consumerism. It's about presents and not Jesus or Santa or family, etc.