Parker and Stone are not taking this lying down. “So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!” the two said in a statement that seemed to parody Scientology as science fiction. “Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!”
There’s a joke I heard awhile back that may be silly, but it sums up my feelings toward the “religion” that is Scientology:
Q: What’s the difference between Tom Cruise and David Koresh?
A: Cruise hasn’t moved to Waco yet.
Yeah, I know…it’s a lame joke, but Scientology isn’t exactly going out of it’s way to win the PR battle, is it? Now that South Park has finally gotten around to ridiculing Scientology (the show has ridiculed virtually every other religion and ideology out there), those at the top of the Church hierarchy are apparently not happy with the prospect of being lampooned by a collection of foul-mouthed cartoon children.
Is it just me, or is someone taking themselves a wee bit too seriously??
South Park is the less than respectful television animation series that has sustained its popularity for a decade because of its fearless satirising of anyone and everyone. It drew headlines early last week, however, when musician Isaac Hayes, who since 1997 has been the voice of Chef, suddenly upped and left in a huff.
Hayes declared that South Park, which follows the hell-raising of the four kids, had gone too far in its lampooning of religion. Specifically, he was cross about its recent mocking of the Church of Scientology. Hayes is a Scientologist. So is Cruise.
The departure of Hayes created some publicity for the show and its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. But now things are even more interesting. Comedy Central, the channel that broadcasts it in the US, was scheduled to air a repeat of the episode that had so upset Hayes on Wednesday night. But then, suddenly, it didn’t.
South Park fans cried censorship. Why had Comedy Central yanked the episode? They now think they have the answer: Tom Cruise is the culprit. According to several Hollywood websites, he used his considerable Tinseltown influence to muzzle the show.
Whether or not Cruise is responsible for Comedy Central pulling the episode is an open question, though it makes for a good story. The sad part of this is that Cruise, or whoever threw his or her weight around, feels threatened by those who would satirize their belief system- by a cartoon.
I can understand that Scientologists may be upset by being lampooned by South Park, but what good is served by convincing Comedy Central to pull the episode? All it does it make Scientologists look intolerant and humorless. If they had simply ignored the episode, it likely would have faded from the public consciousness almost immediately. Now, though, Tom Cruise, or whoever threw their weight around, looks as if he is advocating censorship. Nice….
