metaihead

[metaihead]

stan & sparky doodle from last month. got emotional about them as always

[metaihead]

The brainrot came back....

[metaihead]

close enough, welcome back Romeo and Juliet

[metaihead]

If men are so lonely why don't they develop charming and nice personalities and stop blaming the world for what is a very easy fixable problem that they created

[metaihead]

BEST QUEER MEDIA TOURNAMENT FINAL ROUND!!!!!

[ propaganda masterpost]

[metaihead]

(saying to group of 7 girls) the lore of south park is actually quite darker than you may think.. and also fairly leftist

[metaihead]

I should note, I hate the soulmates "we would fall in love in every universe" trope for the aforementioned "where's the tension and interest and really anything worthwhile" reasons. However, "we would find each other in every universe" fucking rips. We would interact meaningfully in every universe but sometimes we are lovers and sometimes we are friends and sometimes we are bitter enemies and sometimes we'd simply both be in the same HOA.

[metaihead]

craig when he went to peru and the guinea pigs were huge in that one episode

[metaihead]

you cannot headcanon your way out of overt thematic structures on which the entire narrative is built

[metaihead]

[metaihead]

Voted worst teeth in class

[metaihead]

Facebook official

[metaihead]

Stanky art i did lately hehe 🩵💚

[metaihead]

prom

[metaihead]

on the portrayal of kyle in fandom;

i’ll be making a full fledged essay on this because i have a lot of thoughts , but i don’t think it’s right to entirely berate the portrayal of kyle in the south park fandom because many of it has direct ties in the actual canon .

as in , south park has a habit of making some of it’s characters stereotypes . take for example sheila and gerald . the show makes a point of them being jewish stereotypes and so if the fandom portrays them as such , your grievances should lie more with the source material rather than the people writing what is being said to them .

however , obviously , this is flawed as a complete thought as minorities have every right to complain about people perpetuating stereotypes . while the show — which is unlikely to change with any amount of outrage or urging from fans — enforces them , individuals that consume the show have the ability to separate those characters from being stereotypes and make them fully fledged people in their interpretation. but stick with me here , because i’ll clear things up in a little .

the thing is , about human beings , is that we’ll all fall into one trope or another . it’s very different for a person to have traits associated with their identity (which doesn’t imply those traits is all that is to them) and for a show to act like all people of a certain identity have those traits . for example , i’m black and i’m extremely angry all the fucking time and i love chicken and watermelon . However , the nuance in this is that my anger is justified as it is at the racism and injustice within the world and when i say i love chicken , it’s more like i just love the chicken i myself cook .

it’s different if , in a show , i am the only black person and said show takes those elements of me , removes the nuance of my anger being justified and instead at inconsequential things , and acts like that’s all there is to me . this essentially sends the message that all black people act like me (as i am the only black minority in said show and , therefore , act as a stand-in/representative to the audience) . That is a caricature , however to say that me , a real living breathing black person with more depth than those three traits , is a caricature for indulging in a handful of stereotypes non-black people perpetuated is simply false .

all this to say that , in my opinion , the portrayal of kyle as sickly , introverted , booksmart , outspoken , angry , athletic , and paternal is Not a caricature or a stereotype . while the portrayal in fandom as kyle Only being sickly , introverted , unathletic , and booksmart is a blatant anti-semitic stereotype of the Nice Jewish Boy , if one’s interpretation includes those traits (which are made canon in the show) but also balances them out with traits canon to his character such as actually being athletic , angry , and outspoken , he isn’t a stereotype and instead a fully fledged three dimensional character . being one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be the other . being introverted doesn’t mean you can’t be outspoken , and based on the literal evidence we have throughout all 24 seasons of south park , kyle is proof of this .

the same can be said for token . south park portrays him as a black man who can play bass and is athletic and if the fandom’s interpretation stopped there , that would be both racist and stereotypical . However , if interpretation also included the fact that he is canonically a part of the richest family in south park and one of the smartest people in class (which is an obvious , almost exaggerated inversion of the poor , black man stereotype but an inversion nonetheless) , the interpretation isn’t racist or stereotypical but simply three dimensional and true .

as i said in the beginning , south park has a habit of including stereotypes in it’s minority characters which includes sheila , gerald , kyle , and token . and it’s fair to rip on fandom than only includes the traditionally stereotypical traits they have within their personal interpretations , but unfair to say that anyone who includes those traits even if they balance it out with other canonical traits , is also being stereotypical .

in response to some’s interpretation of kyle’s character as being weak , fragile , shy , feminine , and basically a huge gay and jewish stereotype , some people pushback into the other extreme by saying kyle is hyper-masculine , the captain of 3789403 sports teams , the life of the party , and erases any paternal instinct he has . these are both inaccurate to his character (while the first is more serious as it’s anti-semitic and homophobic) .

now , it is another topic to argue on if show writers should include stereotypes in their minority characters (as it could imply that said stereotypes have truth in them and can lead to the audience feeling as though they’re correct in their bigotry) , but that’s truly a different topic for another day . my concern right now is on the response to people’s interpretation’s of characters in south park .

south park fandom critics often don’t realize that a character can be three-dimensional . common rhetoric in the fandom is 'craig isn't this cigarette smoking tall bad boy , he's a laundry-folding space nerd' or 'why is stan always the captain of the football team , let him be too depressed to keep up with the practices and so he just watches the broncos and eats pizza pockets on his couch and cries' and while both are valid interpretations/headcanons for the characters , some fail to realize ... not all human beings work like that . it's not always One or The Other , black or white ; craig can be hyperfixated on space and like folding laundry while playing the role of the bad boy who can beat anyone up because maybe that's what he feels he has to be . stan can be captain of the football team but going through a particularly bad depressive episode which causes him to slag off a bit , which in turn fuels his imposter syndrome more .

you can be angry and passive , you can be wise and stupid , and , you can have Some stereotypes associated with your identity (but if those stereotypes are not your only trait) and you Not be a stereotype/caricature .

thank you for reading and please tell me your thoughts if you have any , very interested to hear them <3 !

[metaihead]

whatever man. our bodies could fall apart at any second. have a beer

[metaihead]

abt the character thingy

Stan from south park

WHY I LIKE HIM: he's so Real . addictive personality , depressed as hell , breaking down when ur codependent best friend leaves for an hour .. so true

WHY I DONT: he's an asshole but that's also why i love him

FAV EPISODE: butterballs

FAV LINE: "did you know in south park - uhah" that laugh kills me

FAV OUTFIT: preschool stan

OTP: stan and kyle my favs

BROTP: stan and wendy my fav brotp

HEADCANON: he loves chick flicks

UNPOPULAR OPINION: idk if this is unpopular but hes an asshole and ppl shldnt erase that . thats part of his character . as much 'older brother energy' he has , he's also a social conformist sometimes and makes fun of people .

WISH: N/A

DONT HAPPEN: N/A

5 WORDS: nuanced , good , pragmatic , moral , disillusioned .

NICKNAME: stanley the manley