Advantage South Park

Back in March I posted a piece about Tom Cruise having episode of "South Park" pulled from Comedy Central because it poked fun at Cruise's religion, Scientology, and the super sensitive topic of his sexuality. Cruise threatened to not promote his latest movie, "Mission Impossible III", if all-encompassing parent company, Viacom, didn't pull the cartoon. The more Scientologists want to shield themself from public scrutiny, the more we want to know and this episode of "South Park" lays it all out on the table, aliens, spaceships and all. Unlike most episodes of the show, the South Park boys take a literal interpretation of Scientology doctrine and animate it. Truth definitely is stranger than science fiction in this case.

The reason Tom and his church were so mad about the "South Park" episode is because this group has a strange philosophy, not unlike the Freemasons, that what goes on behind closed doors is only for their paid members to know about. Of course it's that paranoia that makes everyone want to know what is up with L. Ron Hubbard, silent births and the an outer space ruler named Xenu.

Fast forward exactly two months later and karma has shined down beautifully on "South Park" creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, as they enjoy round one of the last laugh. The episode, also banned in England, is now being screened to the public, free of charge (read below). As I also predicted, the character of Chef was killed off since Scientologist Isaac Hayes caught an acute case of hypocrisitis and quit the show.

But wait, just when you think this story can't get any more bizarre, it does. Trusted conservative source Fox News reported that Hayes didn't quit the show as he was recovering from a stroke during the time of his so-called statement to the press. Hayes, in an interview earlier in the year, defended the episode and its creators.

So who was pulling the strings? The plot thickens.

Unsurprisingly, the Cruise controversy has put this episode of South Park in high demand. It's only a matter of time before private screenings start happening in the U.S. Although highlights of the episode, including the animated translation of Scientology doctrine, can be seen on youtube.com, it sure would be fun to make fun of the most over-hyped actor of our lifetime in a group setting.

Comedy Central has stirred the pot well this year. Like Stephen Colbert's speech to the White House a few weeks ago, the advantage is always on the side of the comic artist and this fact makes these types of stories endlessly entertaining.

The Scientological Cruise camp's true mission impossible is trying to control every aspect of their media image. It's like poor Mickey Mouse chopping the magical broom in "Fantasia" only to bombarded with a growing army of brooms ... brooms with press passes.


South Park gets last word
By Colin Mahan - TV.com
May 18, 2006 at 03:27:00 PM more stories by this author

Tom Cruise episode screened in London despite being banned from UK television.

The South Park episode "Trapped In the Closet," which mocks actor Tom Cruise's rumored homosexuality as well as his belief in the controversial religion Scientology, has finally been seen by the English. The episode had been banned from UK broadcaster Channel 4 after Cruise had complained.

According to the World Entertainment News Network, London's National Film Theater screened the episode on Monday, May 15. After the showing, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker spoke about the necessity of free speech. The event concluded with free copies of the episode being handed out to attendees.

In regards to possible action by the litigious Cruise, a spokesman for the Theater said, "If we were charging [for tickets] there may have been legal problems, but it was a free event, so it should be fine."

The episode in question involves Cruise locking himself into a closet, and various celebrities trying to coax him out. Eventually, John Travolta ends up in the closet with Cruise. Both Cruise and Travolta follow Scientology, a religion created in the 1950s by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

South Park also sparred with Scientology when Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist, quit the show because of its lampooning of the religion. The show had its revenge several days later in the season 10 premiere by killing Hayes' character Chef in a number of comedically horrible ways.

The brouhaha helped the episode score exceptionally high ratings.