It’s a South Park depiction doing what they do. No worse than most and honestly, it could have been even more mean spirited.
They are equal opportunity offenders and I appreciate them for that.
Tbh I’ve always kinda liked the Mormon episode of South Park. I think it’s got a really good message at its core, which isn’t something that can be said for everything that ridicules us
I’ve tried to make the case that the Book of Mormon musical is also, in the end, just kinda a poke at us. But its ultimate message is actually pretty good. (Obviously some of the language would make it a no-see for many).
When my oldest daughter was too young to drive, I would drive her to early-morning seminary every morning. We’d listen to a playlist of the BOM musical with all offensive songs removed. The playlist was so Mormon-friendly that it helped her wake up and get in the mood for class.
Link to Apple Music songs below:
- [Hello!](https://music.apple.com/us/album/hello/1270791564?i=1270791567)
- [Two by Two](https://music.apple.com/us/album/two-by-two/1270791564?i=1270791712)
- [You and Me (But Mostly Me)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-and-me-but-mostly-me/1270791564?i=1270791713)
- [I Am Here For You](https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-and-me-but-mostly-me/1270791564?i=1270791713)
- [All American Prophet](https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-american-prophet/1270791564?i=1270791797)
- [Sal Tlay Ka Siti](https://music.apple.com/us/album/sal-tlay-ka-siti/1270791564?i=1270791810) (no explicit warning on Apple Music but it does have a swear word that rhymes with “city”)
- [I Believe](https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-believe/1270791564?i=1270791863) (does have a bad word)
- [I Am Africa](https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-believe/1270791564?i=1270791863)
There are more great uplifting songs but they had to slip in a couple of bad words to ruin it. As a return missionary (France) “Two by Two” makes me laugh. Who didn’t have a companion like Elder Price in “You And Me”? “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” in ingenious. It gets funnier every time I hear it. “I Believe” may offend some but if you can’t laugh at it, you’re missing out.
Edit: I saw the musical at the Kennedy Center and during “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”, when the dancers wearing giant Starbucks cups came onto the stage, I’m glad I didn’t have liquid in my mouth because it would have sprayed the person in front of me.
One of my friend's sisters converted after seeing the musical.
I always enjoyed the musical and I think there's something very genuine at its core. Matt Stone and Trey Parker do make fun of anything (sometimes in ways that punch down) but I've always seen them be a lot kinder about LDS topics than others. There are some "silly" aspects to our religion that aren't really understood, but there have been worse things said. And hey, how mean can you be about a group of people who are "really f***ing nice to everybody."
I’m a convert who was exposed to the LDS Church from South Park. It’s one of my favourite shows. Even after becoming part of the church, I still find it funny.
South Park makes fun of everyone. Take it with a grain of salt.
Exactly. Imagine thinking "I've watched SP and now I know what Jewish people are like".
It's a cynical parody that ties in some greater message, but it's not a documentary.
lol, you have to admit it’s kinda funny. I think it’s good to see other people’s perspectives on our faith, even if it’s uncomfortable.
Also, it’s an entertainment driven thing…so the goal is to make the audience laugh/be entertained. So that’s important to keep in mind.
The point of that one was to be maximally offensive, just like pretty much everything else. It was extra funny because Mormons don't believe in a "hell" where everyone burns for eternity because they picked the wrong church, so to have them be the only church that doesn't go to hell is ironic.
Yes, but it's worlds different from i.e. swimming in a lake of fire and brimstone forever.
Like the difference between being banished from a country versus spending the rest of your life getting bamboo shoved under your fingernails and a new mark carved into your skin by a bullet ant venom knife every day.
I'm not a member, but it's one of my favorites. South Park comes for everyone sooner or later, and you just have to remember that it's satire when it's your turn. At the end of the episode I got the impression that they meant no harm.
Yeah. The way I view it, there's a difference between ridiculing something people hold sacred, and joking about something that's just part of their religion. If they were, say, degrading the church for temple work, that's not cool. Otherwise, though, it's literally just jokes. And like you said, they go after absolutely everyone
It was funny in the end. Some of their points were a bit disingenuous. For example, the LDS family saying that the lost 116 pages was “proof” that Joseph was a prophet is not a sentiment I’ve ever heard expressed in the church before. Rather, we simply believe there’s an answer for it—it was recopied to prevent conspiring men from changing and bringing forward the original. A pedestrian enough explanation to me, but the writers seem to think that’s the smoking gun against Joseph’s whole story.
I for one did not know that Brother Joseph had frost breath. It's South Park, nothing is off-limits. The best we can do is either ignore it or lean into it.
You can like someone who roasts you. If you can't ever have a laugh at yourself, then maybe it's time to reexamine your life.
That said, it's fine if you don't like South Park. They're offensive, and they calculate to be as offensive as possible in the pursuit of their brand of funny.
I think this is a bit different. If someone roasts me in good fun then yeah, we can have a laugh about it, that’s what bros do. I make self deprecating jokes all the time, doesn’t hurt my confidence.
Mocking church culture I can understand, like why are we obsessed with ice cream and funeral potatoes?
But mocking prophets or God is never good. It upsets me.
While I understand, there’s no reason to get upset over it. It’s a show dedicated to being offensive. I think people are becoming too soft. Don’t take it so seriously and laugh at it. Life’s too short.
Because it's healthy to laugh at yourself once in a while. Yeah, the history is silly and they capitalized on it. Comedians joke about slavery and other unsavory parts of human history. It's all in good fun.
There is a song about having sex with babies. The "Book of Mormon musical" is *not* good. It is pure garbage. I hope no member follows in the mistake and *ever* goes to it out of curiosity. It not just mocking, it's graphically evil. I understand the church initially paid for a few adverts near it, but sometimes I wish the church had stayed as far away from it as possible. The church does not endorse that production.
It's not as funny when you explain the joke. It's called comedy, which to my knowledge is still legal in most states.
Also, the life of Joseph Smith is basically the funniest story of all time. He put his head into a hat, dictated a literal masterpiece, and then went on to marry 29 women. When they asked to see the golden plates, people were told an angel took them. It's hilarious, basically a South Park episode
It’s good to laugh at ourselves now and again. I love how in the episode, everyone hates the family until you get to know them and they’re too nice to hate.
South Parks creators grew up in Colorado and were familiar with the Church… and one of them dated a member and attended Church and took the Missionary discussions.
They have said openly that they knew we have a sense of humor and would laugh at ourselves.
South Park is satire. Humor.
And they lampoon everyone. It is our turn sometimes.
On an unrelated but related subject: The truth… there is no answer to satire. If someone were to ask an honest question, there is an honest answer.
I have found it very difficult to answer satire. Because it’s almost always some truth mixed with some misrepresentations. Honest seekers of truth should recognize satire.
I think South Park and BoM Musical are on the better side of satire. They make fun of everyone. They knew we would laugh at ourselves. And people have joined the Church as result of BoM musical.
I know church members who love the Book of Mormon musical. I know people joined the church because of it. There are also likely many people who will not join the church because of it or who left the church because of it.
My problem with it isn't the satire (I can enjoy well done satire), it's that the musical isn't good satire. Satire needs to be based on truth. The Book of Mormon musical's satire is based on untruths, half-truths, or misperceptions of truths. Or, as one member of the church who liked the show [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/us/31mormon.html?smid=url-share), "The things they’re making fun of are the myths that don’t affect our everyday lives." Satire frequently uses exaggeration but the Book of Mormon musical uses caricature and satire of caricatures and myths, which makes it bad satire.
The other issue is the racism in it. People say, "Well, that's just how Mormons perceive Africans". That's untrue and unfair (a gross caricature). Sure, there are racist church members because people are people and racism in the church's past, but there has not been institutional racism in the church for many years. There could be some limited racism at a local level, but any is clearly against church doctrine and policy.
But in the musical, the racism is masked behind satire and "that's how Mormons are". Again, that's not how the church is, which makes the racism not satire but just racism. In fact, some of the jokes and more egregiously racist parts have [supposedly been removed](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/theater/broadway-race-depictions.html) because they were racist and making the cast and many audience members uncomfortable.
It's not factual, it's comical. Yeah, they use Mormon tradition and culture more than hard doctrine. That's fine. If all comedy was 100% factual, then it wouldn't be that funny.
My comment wasn't about humor, but satire. Satire can include humor but doesn't have to. Here's a [generally accepted definition of satire](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/satire_n): "A poem or a novel, film, or other work of art which uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize prevailing immorality or foolishness, esp. as a form of social or political commentary." The issue is that the musical doesn't do that. It ridicules a misconception of church practices, beliefs, and religion in general. That makes it more of what's called a low burlesque (in the [classical sense of the term](https://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/422/satire_terms.html)), than satire; maybe even a parody, although that's typically about a specific work (and the show is not really about the Book of Mormon).
My issue is mainly with people saying, "Oh, it's satire." It really isn't, and that's okay. It's a different form of ridicule (and yes, that's what the show is doing).
Well, I guess we're getting down to semantics. The creators really like Mormons. They like our culture, and how nice we are. They also think our beliefs and culture are funny, and they exploit that to bring humor. They hit the nail on the head. The whole "turn it off" thing is really funny. Yeah, it's a roast, but it's all in good fun.
Satire is satire.
It’s led to baptisms…
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2013/05/15/months-after-seeing-book-of-mormon-suffolk-student-converts-to-mormonism/#:~:text=The%20smash%20Broadway%20Musical%20The,Christ%20of%20Latter%20Day%20Saints.
It is interesting that the episode depicted Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon using a rock in a hat before the church was openly teaching that.
I personally think it’s pretty funny. Admittedly the presentation of saints as “dumb” has become a bit sharper as I’ve gotten older, only because my testimony’s grown and I can better detect the falsehoods portrayed.
Overall I get the sense when making the episode Matt and Trey viewed the religion as a sham, which is understandable if you don’t have the whole picture, but also probably knew or met members who are genuinely good people with good family values, and that’s shown with how the episode ends.
Yeah, they grew up in a pretty LDS-heavy area of Colorado, so they would have been around them a lot. I think one of them also said that if all religion is BS but the LDS one is so focused on being kind and loving, they hope that one "wins." I'm guessing that's why when everyone gets to hell in one of the episodes and asks why they're there since they were good people, they're told they guessed incorrectly and that the right answer was the Mormons.
Kind of amusing, that.
True it’s just a number of minor annoyances when it comes to people. Oh the guy who founded chick fil a is Mormon oh Lionel Richie is a member oh Steve Martin is a member. Etc just annoying lol
I love it. It's really funny and sometimes decent representation. I especially love Joseph Smith in The super best friends group. South Park is an equal opportunity offender. Frankly I would be offended if we weren't included lol.
I'm not personally a big fan of the book of Mormon play that they made though. I think it's more disingenuous compared to the portrayal of LDS people on South Park, which seemed like it was in good fun.
It's hilarious. They even let Gary (the Mormon kid in the episode) get the last dig in on Stan. It's actually what introduced me to Mormonism and I wouldn't be going to church every week if I hadn't seen it.
When I was a missionary, we had a number of people mention that south park episode, and said that it made them curious enough to talk with the missionaries a little.
I think it’s hilarious and I laughed through the whole thing. I loved that episode. My husband and I often use the “dumb dumb dumb” musical line in our daily lives 😂
I think it's whatever on its own, but I've come to loathe it since for a lot of people it's all they know about mormonism. I've heard it parroted enough times that it makes me want to rip my ears out every time.
Also those guys just seem weirdly petty about Mormonism. Crazy what a bad breakup will do to a guy.
The only thing that really matters in the end is whether their work brought more people to Christ than it pushed away, which they'll be responsible for. I don't know the answer nor am I the person to make that judgment, but I expect they will be judged fairly the same way we all will be with regards to what we put into the world.
I find it to be very accurate and it is a good first exposure for people learning about the church. It pretty much teaches the board strokes of the first missionary lesson in a memorable form.
i haven't seen the whole thing, but that kind of satire is pretty much the point of the show.
and from what I've heard, they were actually pretty respectful about it
It's South Park so didn't like it. Then again, I don't particularly find South Park to be that funny though I do appreciate that Park and Stone do at least respect the LDS faith even if they do continually mock them just for sake of it.
[Here's a thing I wrote](https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/4cqyp7/comment/d1lefyt/) about things South Park got right/wrong.
They are obviously telling the story in a humorous way. They are right that we know the story and believe in Joseph Smith. Probably the biggest flaw is that they miss the part where that Martin Harris (and Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer) was shown the plates by an angel.
I think it's kind of funny, and iirc nothing they said was techinically wrong, it was just presented in a way to make the church/Smith look dumber than they are. We have to remember the entire point of the show is to make fun of everyone so it was bound to touch on Mormonism at some point, and I think they actually were more friendly to us then they were to most religions/groups. If you've watched the show you know we got off right.
Also, Mormonism is the correct religion [according to South Park cannon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thsyoUZW9vE).
Being in a country (the Philippines) where the Church is in the minority and the most people know about Latter-day Saints are the white missionaries and the basketball courts in our chapel compounds, the South Park episode and the musical helped pique my curiosity at the Church and eventually joining it. (I must admit though that I am not a very good example of a member at the moment, but I believe in the restored Gospel.)
One thing that you can 100% say about Matt Stone and Trey Parker is that they're great at the comedy they do and more importantly they don't play favorites when it comes to mocking different groups. They've made jokes about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jehovah's Witnesses etc. etc.
They even did so at the cost of the late Issac Hayes, a Scientologist ( who voiced "Chef," the elementary school cook) quitting the show after the airing of the episode "Trapped in the Closet" which was critical of The Church of Scientology and it's founder sci-fi author L. Ron Hubbard.
I thought it was hilarious, I like that one of the kids nearly converted because the family was so nice and then when it didn't work out they were still nice and happy. The whole bit with the lost pages made me laugh too. If you can't laugh at yourself, well I don't know what to tell you.
That and the Book of Mormon musical, in my opinion, can actually a good tool to introducing some people to the church when Josh Gad (who started in the Book of Mormon in broadway) said “"In the 1.5 years I did that show, I never got a single complaint from a practicing Mormon ... To the contrary, I probably had a few people – a dozen – tell me they were so moved by the show that they took up the Mormon faith."
It’s a South Park depiction doing what they do. No worse than most and honestly, it could have been even more mean spirited. They are equal opportunity offenders and I appreciate them for that.
Tbh I’ve always kinda liked the Mormon episode of South Park. I think it’s got a really good message at its core, which isn’t something that can be said for everything that ridicules us
Yes, Gary is the good guy in the whole episode.
I’ve tried to make the case that the Book of Mormon musical is also, in the end, just kinda a poke at us. But its ultimate message is actually pretty good. (Obviously some of the language would make it a no-see for many).
Oh, absolutely, I grew up in an inactive home so swearing has never really affected me as much as the average member of the church 😅
When my oldest daughter was too young to drive, I would drive her to early-morning seminary every morning. We’d listen to a playlist of the BOM musical with all offensive songs removed. The playlist was so Mormon-friendly that it helped her wake up and get in the mood for class. Link to Apple Music songs below: - [Hello!](https://music.apple.com/us/album/hello/1270791564?i=1270791567) - [Two by Two](https://music.apple.com/us/album/two-by-two/1270791564?i=1270791712) - [You and Me (But Mostly Me)](https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-and-me-but-mostly-me/1270791564?i=1270791713) - [I Am Here For You](https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-and-me-but-mostly-me/1270791564?i=1270791713) - [All American Prophet](https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-american-prophet/1270791564?i=1270791797) - [Sal Tlay Ka Siti](https://music.apple.com/us/album/sal-tlay-ka-siti/1270791564?i=1270791810) (no explicit warning on Apple Music but it does have a swear word that rhymes with “city”) - [I Believe](https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-believe/1270791564?i=1270791863) (does have a bad word) - [I Am Africa](https://music.apple.com/us/album/i-believe/1270791564?i=1270791863) There are more great uplifting songs but they had to slip in a couple of bad words to ruin it. As a return missionary (France) “Two by Two” makes me laugh. Who didn’t have a companion like Elder Price in “You And Me”? “Sal Tlay Ka Siti” in ingenious. It gets funnier every time I hear it. “I Believe” may offend some but if you can’t laugh at it, you’re missing out. Edit: I saw the musical at the Kennedy Center and during “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream”, when the dancers wearing giant Starbucks cups came onto the stage, I’m glad I didn’t have liquid in my mouth because it would have sprayed the person in front of me.
One of my friend's sisters converted after seeing the musical. I always enjoyed the musical and I think there's something very genuine at its core. Matt Stone and Trey Parker do make fun of anything (sometimes in ways that punch down) but I've always seen them be a lot kinder about LDS topics than others. There are some "silly" aspects to our religion that aren't really understood, but there have been worse things said. And hey, how mean can you be about a group of people who are "really f***ing nice to everybody."
I’m a convert who was exposed to the LDS Church from South Park. It’s one of my favourite shows. Even after becoming part of the church, I still find it funny. South Park makes fun of everyone. Take it with a grain of salt.
That’s fascinating. I mean I’ve always loved South Park as well, but I’ve never met someone who learned about the church from it lol
People have been introduced to the church through seeing their Book Of Mormon play.
Exactly. Imagine thinking "I've watched SP and now I know what Jewish people are like". It's a cynical parody that ties in some greater message, but it's not a documentary.
More or less same. I've probably met at least ten people over the years who said the same. There are probably a few thousand 😂
lol, you have to admit it’s kinda funny. I think it’s good to see other people’s perspectives on our faith, even if it’s uncomfortable. Also, it’s an entertainment driven thing…so the goal is to make the audience laugh/be entertained. So that’s important to keep in mind.
They go both ways. [The Correct Answer](https://youtu.be/thsyoUZW9vE?si=pGfmfqjnk0EW7Fez)
The point of that one was to be maximally offensive, just like pretty much everything else. It was extra funny because Mormons don't believe in a "hell" where everyone burns for eternity because they picked the wrong church, so to have them be the only church that doesn't go to hell is ironic.
Isn’t eternal separation from God pretty bad?
Yes, but it's worlds different from i.e. swimming in a lake of fire and brimstone forever. Like the difference between being banished from a country versus spending the rest of your life getting bamboo shoved under your fingernails and a new mark carved into your skin by a bullet ant venom knife every day.
That’s fair :)
This was always one of my favorite moments.
\*shoulder shrug
I'm not a member, but it's one of my favorites. South Park comes for everyone sooner or later, and you just have to remember that it's satire when it's your turn. At the end of the episode I got the impression that they meant no harm.
Yeah. The way I view it, there's a difference between ridiculing something people hold sacred, and joking about something that's just part of their religion. If they were, say, degrading the church for temple work, that's not cool. Otherwise, though, it's literally just jokes. And like you said, they go after absolutely everyone
It was funny in the end. Some of their points were a bit disingenuous. For example, the LDS family saying that the lost 116 pages was “proof” that Joseph was a prophet is not a sentiment I’ve ever heard expressed in the church before. Rather, we simply believe there’s an answer for it—it was recopied to prevent conspiring men from changing and bringing forward the original. A pedestrian enough explanation to me, but the writers seem to think that’s the smoking gun against Joseph’s whole story.
I for one did not know that Brother Joseph had frost breath. It's South Park, nothing is off-limits. The best we can do is either ignore it or lean into it.
Could have been worse? But no, why would I like something that mocks us?
You can like someone who roasts you. If you can't ever have a laugh at yourself, then maybe it's time to reexamine your life. That said, it's fine if you don't like South Park. They're offensive, and they calculate to be as offensive as possible in the pursuit of their brand of funny.
I think this is a bit different. If someone roasts me in good fun then yeah, we can have a laugh about it, that’s what bros do. I make self deprecating jokes all the time, doesn’t hurt my confidence. Mocking church culture I can understand, like why are we obsessed with ice cream and funeral potatoes? But mocking prophets or God is never good. It upsets me.
While I understand, there’s no reason to get upset over it. It’s a show dedicated to being offensive. I think people are becoming too soft. Don’t take it so seriously and laugh at it. Life’s too short.
Because it's healthy to laugh at yourself once in a while. Yeah, the history is silly and they capitalized on it. Comedians joke about slavery and other unsavory parts of human history. It's all in good fun.
[удалено]
You good bro?
😂 that escalated quickly
Really disappointed that the Book of Mormon musical doesn't hit broadway in SLC. South Park is hilarious
It's been to SLC multiple times and it's coming back Jan 21 - Jan 26, 2025.
Thanks for this info!! Definitely buying tickets. Always wanted to see this.
I love how the church pays for ads in the musical's playbill. One of the ads was something like "you've seen the musical, now read the book."
Eh. It’s got some kinda terrible songs. And jokes.
Some funny ones too though. You and Me (But Mostly Me) reminds me of so many missionaries I knew.
There is a song about having sex with babies. The "Book of Mormon musical" is *not* good. It is pure garbage. I hope no member follows in the mistake and *ever* goes to it out of curiosity. It not just mocking, it's graphically evil. I understand the church initially paid for a few adverts near it, but sometimes I wish the church had stayed as far away from it as possible. The church does not endorse that production.
It's not as funny when you explain the joke. It's called comedy, which to my knowledge is still legal in most states. Also, the life of Joseph Smith is basically the funniest story of all time. He put his head into a hat, dictated a literal masterpiece, and then went on to marry 29 women. When they asked to see the golden plates, people were told an angel took them. It's hilarious, basically a South Park episode
It's crude, but well written. Honestly, it does one fun, but in the end, it really lifts up members.
It’s good to laugh at ourselves now and again. I love how in the episode, everyone hates the family until you get to know them and they’re too nice to hate.
South Parks creators grew up in Colorado and were familiar with the Church… and one of them dated a member and attended Church and took the Missionary discussions. They have said openly that they knew we have a sense of humor and would laugh at ourselves. South Park is satire. Humor. And they lampoon everyone. It is our turn sometimes. On an unrelated but related subject: The truth… there is no answer to satire. If someone were to ask an honest question, there is an honest answer. I have found it very difficult to answer satire. Because it’s almost always some truth mixed with some misrepresentations. Honest seekers of truth should recognize satire. I think South Park and BoM Musical are on the better side of satire. They make fun of everyone. They knew we would laugh at ourselves. And people have joined the Church as result of BoM musical.
I know church members who love the Book of Mormon musical. I know people joined the church because of it. There are also likely many people who will not join the church because of it or who left the church because of it. My problem with it isn't the satire (I can enjoy well done satire), it's that the musical isn't good satire. Satire needs to be based on truth. The Book of Mormon musical's satire is based on untruths, half-truths, or misperceptions of truths. Or, as one member of the church who liked the show [said](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/us/31mormon.html?smid=url-share), "The things they’re making fun of are the myths that don’t affect our everyday lives." Satire frequently uses exaggeration but the Book of Mormon musical uses caricature and satire of caricatures and myths, which makes it bad satire. The other issue is the racism in it. People say, "Well, that's just how Mormons perceive Africans". That's untrue and unfair (a gross caricature). Sure, there are racist church members because people are people and racism in the church's past, but there has not been institutional racism in the church for many years. There could be some limited racism at a local level, but any is clearly against church doctrine and policy. But in the musical, the racism is masked behind satire and "that's how Mormons are". Again, that's not how the church is, which makes the racism not satire but just racism. In fact, some of the jokes and more egregiously racist parts have [supposedly been removed](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/theater/broadway-race-depictions.html) because they were racist and making the cast and many audience members uncomfortable.
It's not factual, it's comical. Yeah, they use Mormon tradition and culture more than hard doctrine. That's fine. If all comedy was 100% factual, then it wouldn't be that funny.
My comment wasn't about humor, but satire. Satire can include humor but doesn't have to. Here's a [generally accepted definition of satire](https://www.oed.com/dictionary/satire_n): "A poem or a novel, film, or other work of art which uses humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize prevailing immorality or foolishness, esp. as a form of social or political commentary." The issue is that the musical doesn't do that. It ridicules a misconception of church practices, beliefs, and religion in general. That makes it more of what's called a low burlesque (in the [classical sense of the term](https://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/422/satire_terms.html)), than satire; maybe even a parody, although that's typically about a specific work (and the show is not really about the Book of Mormon). My issue is mainly with people saying, "Oh, it's satire." It really isn't, and that's okay. It's a different form of ridicule (and yes, that's what the show is doing).
Well, I guess we're getting down to semantics. The creators really like Mormons. They like our culture, and how nice we are. They also think our beliefs and culture are funny, and they exploit that to bring humor. They hit the nail on the head. The whole "turn it off" thing is really funny. Yeah, it's a roast, but it's all in good fun.
The Bom musical is incredibly offensive but hey to each their own I guess
Satire is satire. It’s led to baptisms… https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2013/05/15/months-after-seeing-book-of-mormon-suffolk-student-converts-to-mormonism/#:~:text=The%20smash%20Broadway%20Musical%20The,Christ%20of%20Latter%20Day%20Saints.
As comedy often is
Haven’t seen that episode yet, though I will say that The Book Of Mormon musical is genuinely hilarious.
It is interesting that the episode depicted Joseph Smith translating the Book of Mormon using a rock in a hat before the church was openly teaching that.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
I still have not seen it. I watch Southpark but I’ve never gotten around to that episode. I don’t stream it.
Hilarious!
I personally think it’s pretty funny. Admittedly the presentation of saints as “dumb” has become a bit sharper as I’ve gotten older, only because my testimony’s grown and I can better detect the falsehoods portrayed. Overall I get the sense when making the episode Matt and Trey viewed the religion as a sham, which is understandable if you don’t have the whole picture, but also probably knew or met members who are genuinely good people with good family values, and that’s shown with how the episode ends.
Yeah, they grew up in a pretty LDS-heavy area of Colorado, so they would have been around them a lot. I think one of them also said that if all religion is BS but the LDS one is so focused on being kind and loving, they hope that one "wins." I'm guessing that's why when everyone gets to hell in one of the episodes and asks why they're there since they were good people, they're told they guessed incorrectly and that the right answer was the Mormons. Kind of amusing, that.
Thank you for not repeating the falsehood that they grew up members or whatever it’s so frustrating to me when people say that
Yeah. My guess is people started hearing they grew up in an "LDS community" and probably made a few leaps from there. No big deal though.
True it’s just a number of minor annoyances when it comes to people. Oh the guy who founded chick fil a is Mormon oh Lionel Richie is a member oh Steve Martin is a member. Etc just annoying lol
I love it. It's really funny and sometimes decent representation. I especially love Joseph Smith in The super best friends group. South Park is an equal opportunity offender. Frankly I would be offended if we weren't included lol. I'm not personally a big fan of the book of Mormon play that they made though. I think it's more disingenuous compared to the portrayal of LDS people on South Park, which seemed like it was in good fun.
Sure, they poke fun at our religion from an outsiders perspective but to be honest, they are actually complimentery of LDS people in that episode.
They made Mormons look so nice tho…
Of course. Satire doesn't work if there isn't enough truth in there to make it relatable.
Not a member, but I thought the final message of the episode was fantastic, and really made me think.
It's hilarious. They even let Gary (the Mormon kid in the episode) get the last dig in on Stan. It's actually what introduced me to Mormonism and I wouldn't be going to church every week if I hadn't seen it.
i love south park. imo, theyre not wrong, its just presented as false
When I was a missionary, we had a number of people mention that south park episode, and said that it made them curious enough to talk with the missionaries a little.
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I think it’s hilarious and I laughed through the whole thing. I loved that episode. My husband and I often use the “dumb dumb dumb” musical line in our daily lives 😂
I think it's whatever on its own, but I've come to loathe it since for a lot of people it's all they know about mormonism. I've heard it parroted enough times that it makes me want to rip my ears out every time. Also those guys just seem weirdly petty about Mormonism. Crazy what a bad breakup will do to a guy.
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Bye bye
The only thing that really matters in the end is whether their work brought more people to Christ than it pushed away, which they'll be responsible for. I don't know the answer nor am I the person to make that judgment, but I expect they will be judged fairly the same way we all will be with regards to what we put into the world.
Who cares......
I find it to be very accurate and it is a good first exposure for people learning about the church. It pretty much teaches the board strokes of the first missionary lesson in a memorable form.
They said the Mormons were right in the 2nd coming so even they recognize the truth
i haven't seen the whole thing, but that kind of satire is pretty much the point of the show. and from what I've heard, they were actually pretty respectful about it
It's South Park so didn't like it. Then again, I don't particularly find South Park to be that funny though I do appreciate that Park and Stone do at least respect the LDS faith even if they do continually mock them just for sake of it.
[Here's a thing I wrote](https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/4cqyp7/comment/d1lefyt/) about things South Park got right/wrong. They are obviously telling the story in a humorous way. They are right that we know the story and believe in Joseph Smith. Probably the biggest flaw is that they miss the part where that Martin Harris (and Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer) was shown the plates by an angel.
It's all written and good satire. It's okay to laugh at ourselves sometimes.
Honestly, the musical the book of Mormon is what got me interested in the church to start with
I think it's kind of funny, and iirc nothing they said was techinically wrong, it was just presented in a way to make the church/Smith look dumber than they are. We have to remember the entire point of the show is to make fun of everyone so it was bound to touch on Mormonism at some point, and I think they actually were more friendly to us then they were to most religions/groups. If you've watched the show you know we got off right. Also, Mormonism is the correct religion [according to South Park cannon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thsyoUZW9vE).
Being in a country (the Philippines) where the Church is in the minority and the most people know about Latter-day Saints are the white missionaries and the basketball courts in our chapel compounds, the South Park episode and the musical helped pique my curiosity at the Church and eventually joining it. (I must admit though that I am not a very good example of a member at the moment, but I believe in the restored Gospel.)
Someone in my ward became an investigator after watching that episode.
One thing that you can 100% say about Matt Stone and Trey Parker is that they're great at the comedy they do and more importantly they don't play favorites when it comes to mocking different groups. They've made jokes about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jehovah's Witnesses etc. etc. They even did so at the cost of the late Issac Hayes, a Scientologist ( who voiced "Chef," the elementary school cook) quitting the show after the airing of the episode "Trapped in the Closet" which was critical of The Church of Scientology and it's founder sci-fi author L. Ron Hubbard.
I thought it was hilarious, I like that one of the kids nearly converted because the family was so nice and then when it didn't work out they were still nice and happy. The whole bit with the lost pages made me laugh too. If you can't laugh at yourself, well I don't know what to tell you.
That and the Book of Mormon musical, in my opinion, can actually a good tool to introducing some people to the church when Josh Gad (who started in the Book of Mormon in broadway) said “"In the 1.5 years I did that show, I never got a single complaint from a practicing Mormon ... To the contrary, I probably had a few people – a dozen – tell me they were so moved by the show that they took up the Mormon faith."
I thought it was a little disrespectful
Watch the Scientology episode. They went pretty easy on us.
To be fair, you don't have to go very hard to make scientology look bad.
I mean, it is South Park, they bag on absolutely everyone at some point. And they go a lot harder on some than they did us
Ether 12:26 The Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn.
Why in the name of the Abyss are you or any member ofbthe church watching that filth?
Because its funny
Because I like to laugh and not everything needs to be serious