Rate and Review South Park:" Butterballs"

[Shaunbadia]

Being an American show, Americans will understand the references a lot clearer. I had a problem with The Poor Kid. I had absolutely no understanding of the Penn State jokes. Until I researched it, and when I did, I found the episode a lot funnier. Nobody's telling you to get into that stuff, it's just that these days it seems as if Trey and Matt are convinced that their viewers are up-to-date with the latest news even though most of us aren't.

Agreed, the only reason I knew about the Penn state thing...Hell, the first thing that brought my attention to Kony 2012...was the Philip DeFranco show on Youtube. Other than that I don't keep up with American news that much.

[Mr. Krikt]

Nobody's telling you to get into that stuff, it's just that these days it seems as if Trey and Matt are convinced that their viewers are up-to-date with the latest news even though most of us aren't.

That's why the Simpsons was so good. Even if you didn't recognise what they were parodying, it was still funny.
It's not as if recognizing what South Park is referencing always ensures it's funny, unfortunately.

[Train on the Water]

Trey and Matt have been asked about their international viewers before, and they say that it's an American show for American viewers, and everyone else is just out of luck. So unfortunately, that's how it is to be someone overseas. Sometimes translators actually rewrite jokes for shows (as I believe they do with The Simpsons, such as when a pun won't literally translate), so I wouldn't have been surprised if when I was in Costa Rica they changed Britney's New Look to be about a Hispanic star experiencing a similar downfall. That wasn't the case though; instead, Latin Americans were just expected to know who Britney Spears is. South Park is too timely that everyone's better off just doing their research than trying to tweak it for different countries. And it's sad because the story in The Poor Kid is so timeless that it could have been done in season 1, but one little running gag unfortunately leaves other countries in awkward confusion.

[leprechaun_dan]

Well said, Flimpsons.

I'm a Kiwi who understands American humour and is up-to-date with American current events so I guess I'm the minority