Blame Canada!: South Park and Popular Culture

In this book, published in 2007, Ms Johnson-Woods looks at the history and origins of South Park and traces its success. And like the show or loathe it, no-one can question its success: South Park is currently in its 13th season. South Park is a gloriously irreverent hybrid of comedy, parody, irony and satire. No issue seems to be out of bounds and no celebrity is beyond its reach. But who does it appeal to, and why does it work so well? The satirical tradition in South Park can be traced back to Rabelais: fearless and frequently foul-mouthed humour is no modern invention. The role of the Internet for South Park fans, especially in the earlier days is well worth reflecting on. South Park has a vibrant fan community even though many of the unofficial sites are now gone. The book is divided into three parts. The first part covers the genesis of South Park, and describes how it became so popular. The second part covers the construction of the show itself: the characters, the dialogue, the visuals and the sounds. The final part deals with the issues addressed in the show. A conclusion, presented under the heading `You Know, I've Learned Something Today' draws together a succinct summary of Ms Johnson-Woods's findings. Fans of South Park will enjoy this book, but those interested in popular culture will find it particularly valuable. This is a very accessible book, and has a terrific select bibliography for those who are interested. Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Wow. I can't believe that every South Park fan and Canadian aren't rushing out to buy this! It's a great read, informative but not boring, a fascinating pop culture history.

This is a great book about South Park and its relationship to contemporary culture. Many of the insights end up surprising. There are three parts to this book. The first part mentions the impact of South Park on culture and how it became popular and widespread. The second part is about the show itself: the dialogue, sounds, characters, and visuals. The third part deals with the issues presented in the show. There was an extensive amount of research done for this book and it shows. The author is also not a fan, so the insights come from a more neutral perspective, which makes the book an even better read. The author also spends a lot of time on the impact and popularity of the show, which is unlike most book about tv shows and culture. The characters chapter is long but still unusually short for a tv show and culture book. Most books about TV shows and culture devote and entire unit and at least 40 pages to talk about the characters. Because she only devotes a chapter, there could have easily been more said about the characters. All in all, if you are a fan of South Park or like reading about popular culture, then you should read this book. It is entertaining, insightful, and enjoyable.

Just when I began to despair about finding a real fan resource for South Park, along comes "Blame Canada". The various edited volumes about South Park and philosophy (Arp and Hanley) seem to be collections of scholarly opinions that I am sure are important to some obscure university lecture series on philosophy, and Anderson's "South Park Conservatives" is really only of interest to militant Log Cabin Republicans. "Blame Canada" is well constructed, well written and thought provoking. As a fan, I find it a fascinating resource, more so because the author is clearly NOT a fan herself. Neither a sycophantic piece nor a knee-jerk condemnation, "Blame Canada" is accurate and dispassionate. My favourite chapter in "Blame Canada" is the chapter on South Park and the internet. It documents a period of internet history that had nearly been lost, in which South Park featured uniquely as a pop culture window into the infancy of the internet. I myself, who came late to the South Park phenomenon, had been unable to track down the grass roots fan information that should have been available on the internet for any pop culture icon as important as South Park. Now I know that it is a result of the engulf-and-devour policy of Comedy Central towards "unauthorized" South Park content on the web, which is somewhat ironic considering the libertarian content of the show. I am left to wonder how much more of internet history is being lost forever as technology changes, web pages are updated without being archived, and corporate America exerts more and more control over internet content. The most interesting aspect of "Blame Canada", however, is the theoretical framework in which Johnson-woods places the show. South Park is nothing if not carnivalesque, so it is an apt analysis. But more than that, through the Baktine analysis South Park fandom becomes legitimized, and South Park becomes as much (and as normal) a pop culture influence in its time as Star Wars or I Love Lucy were in theirs. It is refreshing to know that fan attraction to fart jokes is as old as fandom itself, and not some new aberrant form of entertainment that is a result of (or even responsible for) the moral decay of our society. I thoroughly enjoyed "Blame Canada", and I am happy to recommend it highly to any South Park fan. It is a worthy read.