26 MEDIA,, RELIGION and POPULAR CULTURE: Jurnalism ºi comunicare * Anul XIII, nr. 1, 2018 from extraordiinary to extra-ordiinary Jésus. de à SouthParkconcernant lesreprésentations pour enutilisant l’analysedecontenu ensuite procédé les épisodesdanslesquels Jésus apparaîtetavons les21saisons,nousavonssélectionné En regardant etdessériesd’animation. télévision, delareligion etdela delareligion populaire, de laculture et avoir révélélesstratessubséquentesdelareligion Nousarrivonsaucœurdupapieraprès culturelle. socialeet et sonsupérieurentermesdesatire considéréàlafoisl’héritierdesSimpsons populaire emblématiquedelaculture Central, unproduit série d’animationpouradultestransmiseparComedy dansSouthPark,la façon dontJésusestreprésenté Jesus, SouthPark,popularculture. ofJesus. representations the Park-specific categoriesandthemesregarding byusingcontentanalysistoidentifySouth proceeded selected theepisodesinwhichJesusappearsandthen we shows. Lookingatthe21seasonsofshow, andanimated andtelevisionreligion religion andpopularculture, the subsequentstrataofreligion ofthepaperafterrevealing arriveatthecore We its superiorintermsofsocialandculturalsatire. boththeheirtoTheSimpsonsand considered product animated showSouthPark,aniconicpopularculture intheComedyCentraladult-oriented represented University ofBucharest,Romania Anca ANTON, Jesus ofSouthPark Culture: inPopular Religious Representations L’article se concentre surl’identificationdela seconcentre L’article Résumé adultanimatedseries, Religious representations, Keywords The paperfocusesonidentifyinghowJesusis Abstract identifier lescatégorieset thèmesspécifiques revelation and charisma” (Weber, 1965,p.46). revelation and charisma”(Weber, claimisbasedonpersonal while theprophet’s authority byvirtueofhisservice inasacredtradition, distinctionthat“thepriestlaysclaim to Weber’s critique theseexactvalues; Newcombstartsfrom the ‘80s.Incontrast,propheticfunctionwill function perfectlydescribestelevisionandreligionin thus providingacomfortingexperience–this occasion, andreinforcemembershipinacommunity”, role“tocomfort, to ritualizelife,mark priest’s culturally conservativeandrepetitive,mirroringa function, televisionisakeeperofthestatus-quo, When actinginitspriestly functions oftelevision. “priestly” and“prophetic”,eachtranslatinginto namely wecanseetwotypesofauthority, authority, we lookattelevisionascontemporaryreligious 2015,pp.42-43):if of religiousleadership(Siegler, canonicaldistinction Weber’s which areinformedby televisionfunctions, examined throughNewcomb’s dualitycanbe This emerging and spirituality. by socialsatireandapluralistperspectiveonreligion and GenX-erscreatedinahumanistspirit,dominated joined inthe‘90sand‘00sbyshowsBaby-Boomers specials, stereotypicalrepresentationsstartedtobe traditionalChristmas shows, standardimagery, when televisionstartedtoadddimensionsit:family 2015, p.7). right, buttentativeasa“nascentdiscipline”(Lyden, component coherentandwellestablishedintheirown religionandpopularculture,each fields ofstudy, populaire. pour adultes,Jésus,culture Media studiesbroughtreligionintothespotlight This paperresidesattheintersectionoftwo Introduction séried’animation Représentations religieuses, Mots-clés MEDIA,, RELIGION and POPULAR CULTURE: from extraordiinary to extra-ordiinary Jurnalism ºi comunicare * Anul XIII, nr. 1, 2018 27 , King of salvation , (Murtaugh, . However, . However, The Jetsons or Futurama and, more recently, (Koepsell, 2007), , (VanArragon, 2007), (VanArragon, Family Guy and God: Rick and Morty Family Guy language, explicit sexuality, . The same circumstances that . , and The Simpsons The Flintstones adult There is a paradox concerning religion . South Park , They Satirized My Prophet … Those Bastards! They Satirized My Prophet “Surprisingly enough, the most innovative use of religion in prime time is now found not in family oriented shows but in series for audiences mature introduced and controversial subject matter to prime-time television have […] brought religion along as well.” (Thompson, 2005, p. 50) Shows like explicitly aimed at children, had no multiple levels of meaning and were not interested in religion; they did not respond to new sensibilities ultimately, and cultural demand, so they remained fairly The new wave of anchored in the world of childhood. approach: multiple animated sitcoms had a different levels of meaning were a must, comedy took the form of parody and/or satire, and religion was among the Where the line was social issues the shows addressed. drawn when it came to religion varied from show to but many of the most successful shows in the show, genre approached the topic of religion and religious - fe representations on various occasions and from dif rent perspectives: the Hill Ugly Americans there are certain common elements, like the position American comedy on God and agency: “Popular generally rejects the vertical dimension of the Gospel metanarrative, which represents God as the ultimate Mass-mediated comedy agent in human affairs. America a horizontal view of instead offers that focuses on human agency as the means to a better world.” (Schultze, 2005) Compared to previous shows, the adult-oriented sitcoms might therefore seem blasphemous and, indeed, many popular culture books have chapters analysing that particular type of interpretation/reception: Offense? Should Believers Take Blasphemous Humour in South Park 2007), South Park and Blasphemy in South Park Religious Parody Is Nothing Sacred?: (Daas, 2012) and animated adult-oriented shows: on the one hand, the way the shows represent religion (we are not at this point between the systems of differentiating belief and the institutions created around the systems) is often critical and, as such, might be considered negative. But at the same time the shows facilitate question the , wherein television serves as a catalyst for “Rather than praising their common media approach) gained terrain. Animated sitcoms are a vivid example of the identification, GenX-ers share ironic distance from the shows, toys and emblems of their What excuses their current fascination youth. with their own past childhoods is the clever spin they can put on it through alienation, 1996, recontextualization or satire” (Rushkoff, p. 106). The prophetic function hails a counterculture that rabbinic prophetic function of American television when it prophetic function of comes to religion. Christmas specials, traditional sitcoms, family oriented shows reinforced the priestly function in that it conveyed time-honoured religious representations, stereotypes and imagery: focus on minimal to no representations of other Christianity, religions except stereotypical depictions (e.g.: Jews crucifixion), canonical responsible for Christ’s The ‘90s started representations of religious figures. to chip away at the supremacy of these shows when animated sitcoms aimed at adults began to appear and win prime-time space and recognition; their perspective on religion was a game changer because, as television made its way towards the ’00, the prophetic function (seen in the satiric and religious debate and religious change in the context of This function 2015, p. 43). lived religion” (Siegler, perfectly resonates with a new generation of cultural (also known as Millennials), who Y consumers, Gen religion with scepticism and is approaches organized considered less religious than older generations (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Research Center’s Exline, Grubbs, 2010), even less spiritual (Twenge, & Campbell, 2015). Sastry, gained momentum and recognition in the ‘00s and ‘10s, animated series aimed at mature audiences Siegler enriched this surprisingly leading the way. dual approach of television functions with a third one, “ norm The prophetic function is in line with a particular academic approach stating that television is or should be a vehicle for social change, the attitude associated with this stance being “critical, non-conformist, […] trying to alter and transform customary ideas and This function of 1944, p. 349). perceptions” (Wach, television resonates with the generation that started to produce popular culture content in the ‘90s, leaving behind the soothing priestly function: : : y y r a discussion about religion and enable dialog. As for South Park enjoys an enormous success for an E r E a a R R n n religion and popular culture as a discipline, its animated show that is vastly critiqued for how it i i U U d d T T r r development in the last decades is informed, to an approaches various topics, as well as for their L L o o - - U U a important degree, by the rise of adult-oriented a selection; but it is exactly this critique that attracted C r C r t t animated shows as a stand-alone television genre. x interest, first from GenXers and then, to some extent, x R R e e A A In our case, the show is an animated series with an o from Millennials. Another major component of its o L t L t U U y y adult audience that reached an unprecedented level of success is the constant presence of popular culture r P r P a a O O satire, on the one hand, and controversy-driven elements in each episode; the animated sitcom mixed n n i P i P d d popularity on the other. South Park appeared in an the so called toilet humour, bizarre scenarios and d d r r n o n o a a important year for television and popular culture: a unrefined animation with unapologetically savage a r r t t N N 1997 was when Titanic and Men in Black filled movie social satire and taboo topics. What sets apart South x x O e O e I I theatres, Beavis and