Posted April 26, 2010
Seattle cartoonist proposes "Everyone Draw Mohammad Day"
Ok, for those not following event, South Park, in their 200th episode, dealt with a subplot involving Mohammad. Despite the fact that he had been shown in a much older episode in 2001, prior to the 9/11 attacks, it's been something that rarely anyone has tackled, due to the last issue that happened with the Danish newspaper cartoons. Mohammad was forbidden to be seen, and eventually was put inside a bear suit to be given to Tom Cruise (He was in a bear suit since he could not be seen). This caused a website called Revolution Muslim to essentially say that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, could be killed.
In the next episode, 201, Comedy Central, according to South Park Studios, edited the episode before broadcasting, censoring EVERY time the name Mohammad was uttered. They also censored the ending speech by Kyle and Santa (Who was actually in the bear suit, see my avatar). Mohammad was censored, but it seemed to be intentionally done given what happens to Tom Cruise when he inherits his "power" not to be mocked.
Now, the effect of Comedy Central bowing to threats by extremists seems to have started quite a bit of an uproar. People don't understand why it's ok to mock every religion except one. Others think that by giving into their threats, they have essentially allowed them to get their way, which will lead to future extremists being able to get what they want. Surprisingly, almost every article I have read has been against the censorship, and all for equal-opportunity mockery. I've even read accounts of Muslims who are extremely upset to be lumped together with extremists, and feel that their threats are bringing unfair bias against their faith.
Now, a Seattle cartoonist proposes the extreme: EVERYONE drawing a picture of the prophet of Mohammad and posting it online. I assume this is done in an attempt to do exactly what these extremists don't want. But keep in mind: The Internet, she is a harsh mistress. I can only IMAGINE the pictures that are going to come out of this, especially from places like SA or 4chan.
Does anyone have any strong opinions, either for or against this, the censorship, the episode in question, etc? I figure this community is probably the only mature community capable of speaking about this maturely, so I'd like to get some opinions on it. I personally oppose censorship, and which the episode was uncensored, even Mohammad, especially since he was already shown uncensored 9 years ago. I also think that the proposed holiday on Facebook might have some unexpected results that might be either positive or negative, given the nature and anonymity of the internet.
Thoughts?
Ok, for those not following event, South Park, in their 200th episode, dealt with a subplot involving Mohammad. Despite the fact that he had been shown in a much older episode in 2001, prior to the 9/11 attacks, it's been something that rarely anyone has tackled, due to the last issue that happened with the Danish newspaper cartoons. Mohammad was forbidden to be seen, and eventually was put inside a bear suit to be given to Tom Cruise (He was in a bear suit since he could not be seen). This caused a website called Revolution Muslim to essentially say that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park, could be killed.
In the next episode, 201, Comedy Central, according to South Park Studios, edited the episode before broadcasting, censoring EVERY time the name Mohammad was uttered. They also censored the ending speech by Kyle and Santa (Who was actually in the bear suit, see my avatar). Mohammad was censored, but it seemed to be intentionally done given what happens to Tom Cruise when he inherits his "power" not to be mocked.
Now, the effect of Comedy Central bowing to threats by extremists seems to have started quite a bit of an uproar. People don't understand why it's ok to mock every religion except one. Others think that by giving into their threats, they have essentially allowed them to get their way, which will lead to future extremists being able to get what they want. Surprisingly, almost every article I have read has been against the censorship, and all for equal-opportunity mockery. I've even read accounts of Muslims who are extremely upset to be lumped together with extremists, and feel that their threats are bringing unfair bias against their faith.
Now, a Seattle cartoonist proposes the extreme: EVERYONE drawing a picture of the prophet of Mohammad and posting it online. I assume this is done in an attempt to do exactly what these extremists don't want. But keep in mind: The Internet, she is a harsh mistress. I can only IMAGINE the pictures that are going to come out of this, especially from places like SA or 4chan.
Does anyone have any strong opinions, either for or against this, the censorship, the episode in question, etc? I figure this community is probably the only mature community capable of speaking about this maturely, so I'd like to get some opinions on it. I personally oppose censorship, and which the episode was uncensored, even Mohammad, especially since he was already shown uncensored 9 years ago. I also think that the proposed holiday on Facebook might have some unexpected results that might be either positive or negative, given the nature and anonymity of the internet.
Thoughts?
Post edited April 26, 2010 by Wraith