"You know guys, I've learned something today..."
Ah, the good words of one of "South Park's" little lovable characters, Kyle Broflovski.
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There's a reason "South Park" is regarded as one of the greatest television cartoons ever made. Famous for its dark, surreal humor that covers a wide variety of topics, "South Park" often has a deeper meaning to their episodes, some of which can help a person through everyday life.
In this article, I will point out 10 of my favorite lesson's that I personally feel people have learned from "South Park,” helping them through their everyday life. If you don't watch the show and are easily offended, I recommend you stay away. It's not made for people like you.
1. Being attractive will only get you so far in life.
On the episode "The List", you really learn the face value of how far looks will actually get you in life. It takes a little help from Abraham Lincoln to see how far these things get you in life.
“This woman is Nancy Pinkerton. As a child, she was consistently voted the most beautiful girl in her entire school. Her life as a youth was filled with praises, and everything being handed to her. Boys told her she was special, she was funny, she was interesting… but that’s only because she was hot. It wasn’t until she reached age 40, when her looks started to fade, that she learned she was actually about as interesting and special as a wet carrot.”
“This is the home of your new ugly friend, Jamal. Because he's ugly he gets nothing handed to him. He has to work at making something of himself. But that work is going to pay off when he's an adult. He will have character. Something kids who are hot rarely develop.”
Pretty deep stuff.
2. Smoking weed will make you fine with being bored.
For a lot of people, this one will hit close to home. In the episode "My Future Self And Me", Stan's parents try to use a scare tactic steer their son away from drugs and alcohol.
Stan was smart enough to see past the scare tactic, and wanted his dad, Randy, to just be honest with him.
"Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but, well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."
3. Breakups aren’t the end of the world.
In the episode "Raisins", Stan was dumped by his long term girlfriend, Wendy. At the same time, Butters thought he was in love, only to find out that the Raisin's girl (children's version of Hooters) was using her looks to get more money from Butters.
This quote helps me when I'm feeling down, and helped me through my first serious breakup.
"Well yeah, and I'm sad, but at the same time I'm really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It's like, it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin' really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I'm feelin' is like a, beautiful sadness. I guess that sounds stupid."
In life, you have to take the good with the bad.
4. Friends will get you through everything.
In the episode "Guitar Queer-O", Stan and Kyle go through a young phase of their lives as rock stars. After Kyle gets dropped as Stan's partner, Stan feels guilt and goes towards a downward style. Her even starts playing the game "Heroin Hero" and is a complete wreck. Him and Kyle eventually make up, showing in this episode (along with many others) that friendship conquers all.
Kyle: "You don't get it, Stan! I can play here all I want. I even get free Frescas. I don't need you anymore!"
Stan: "I know. I need you. I thought I was having a great time because I was getting signed by managers and, going to big sex and coke parties, but, then I realized, I was having fun because I was doing that...with my best friend."
5. Parents are a vital part of life.
In the episode "The Wacky Molestation Adventure", all the kids of South Park are sick of their parents. In order to get rid of them, Cartman suggests that the kids all call the police and say their parents molested them.
When an out of towner's car breaks down, his only option is to visit the town of South Park. He see's the town in a chaotic state, thanks to the parents not being around. He then shed's some knowledge on the young children, teaching us all that our parents are a vital part of life.
"The birth-givers! Your birth givers. Don't you remember? They are your providers! Not some statue! And they're not up in some fantastical faraway land now. They're in prison. Probably crying themselves to sleep, cold and lonely and... I'm sure missing you all very, very much. Your birth givers took care of you. That's what their laws and their rules were for, because they love you, and they didn't want you to end up living like... th-this! He won't take care of you. Your parents... your... providers... will."
6. Life goes on, stop living in the past.
In the episode "4th Grade", the children are afraid of knew challenges that face them. When countless attempts of going back in time fail, their new 4th grade teacher gives them a good lesson about life.
"Now, children, listen to me. Why do you want to go back in time? Life isn't about going back, it's about going forward. Yes, there are times in our life that we wish we could relive, but, if we already lived them perfectly, why live them again? The adventure of life is that there's always something new. New challenges, new experiences. A fun game is a game that gets harder as it goes. So it is with life. Do you understand?"
7. Respect other religions.
In the episode "All About Mormons", a new kid Gary moves to town and uses his charm to befriend Stan. Stan soon learns about the Book of Mormon, and calls out how stupid the religion sounds, even though all Gary tried to do was be Stan's friend.
Gary gave Stan a hard look of reality at the end of the episode.
"Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life. and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls."
8. Patience is a virtue.
In the episodes "Go God Go/Go God Go XXII", Cartman freezes himself because the wait for the new Nintendo Wii is literally killing him. When he wakes up in the future, he goes through hell, eventually learning that waiting for the system instead of going through extremes to make time go by faster is definitely a smarter choice.
"No, I know. You're right, Mom. I need to learn to be patient. I think I can wait three weeks for Nintendo Wii to come out."
9. Big business’s hurt small shops.
In the episode "Something Walmart Comes This Way", a new Walmart comes into South Park, destroying the main street business's in South Park. If economics class didn't teach you this, South Park is here to help.
"Sir, we just had a big town meeting, and decided we don't want your Wall*Mart here anymore. We're sorry, but it seems our Main Street is dying and good people are losing their jobs. We'd all like you... out of South Park."
10. There's a time and place for everything, and it's called "college".
Thank you Chef.
