Trey Parker and Matt Stone have managed to make the news again, this time by making fun of the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin on South Park.
The creators of South Park have never been afraid to upset celebrities – and many of the show’s viewers. From jokes about religion and homosexuality to four-letter tirades, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always mixed shock tactics with satire in the hit cartoon series. But they were accused of hitting a new low last night after lampooning the demise of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin just weeks after his death.
The latest episode shows an animated Irwin in Hell with a stingray poking out of his bleeding chest. Irwin, 44, died in September after he was impaled by a stingray’s barb, while snorkelling near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The South Park episode called Hell On Earth 2006, which was broadcast in the US this week, shows Satan preparing to host a Hallowe’en fancy dress party. Hundreds of dead celebrities are invited, including rapper Notorious B.I.G., Princess Diana and Hitler.
But at the party Satan receives complaints from his guests that someone is inappropriately dressed up as Irwin. Satan confronts Irwin but the Aussie environmentalist protests it is really him, not a guest in a costume. While characters have been killed off in the series before – spawning the show’s catchphrase “Oh my god, they killed Kenny!” – campaigners are particularly incensed about the stingray still being attached to Irwin’s bloodstained trademark khaki shirt.
[...]
British broadcasting watchdog Mediawatch condemned the episode as “grossly insensitive.” Its director, John Beyer, said: “I think this is in bad taste. Steve Irwin’s family are still grieving.” “To lampoon somebody’s death like that is unacceptable and so soon after the event is grossly insensitive. It is not what the family would want to see.”
I haven’t yet seen the episode but agree that mocking Irwin so soon after his death is rather tacky. Still, Irwin was a celebrity and that’s the path he chose. His death was big news, he was mourned in a giant state funeral, and he’s been mocked publicly.
Indeed, Norm McDonald made fun of the circumstances of Irwin’s death weeks ago on the Jon Stewart Show:
Take a look at some of the related posts below for more controversial topics on South Park.
One of my favorite movies of all time, was Julie Andrews in “Victor/Victoria“. Actually lame in concept… the movie was just wonderful. Maybe it was just Julie and her ability to play comedy so well, or maybe it was just listening to her perform. I do love a good musical.
Julie Andrews, the legendary actress and singer who is perhaps best known as the beloved star of 1965′s The Sound of Music, will be honored with a Life Achievement Award at the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony in January, it was announced Monday.
“Julie Andrews is a woman of great generosity, creativity, courage, elegance and wit,” SAG President Alan Rosenberg said in a statement. “She embodies and transcends the memorable roles she has created. Julie has been a positive presence in my life and continues to inspire multiple generations. I believe it is exceptionally significant to be recognized by people who do the same work you do.”
Andrews, who was born and raised in England, won an Academy Award in her movie debut as the magical, flying governess in 1964′s Mary Poppins. She got another Oscar nod for 1983′s Victor/Victoriaa.
Younger film audiences may know Andrews best as the voice of Queen Lillian in Shrek 2, a role she is reprising for Shrek 3, due out next summer. She also starred opposite Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries.
In addition to acting and singing, Andrews is an author and has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women for 15 years.
She and her husband, filmmaker Blake Edwards, have been married for nearly 37 years.
The 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007. source
In his new blockbuster book, “The Way We Were,” Paul Burrell says that Princess Diana had ambitions to become the first lady of the United States.
“She knew a billionaire in America, and she suggested to him that if they were together. … His yearning to run in politics could lead to the White House, that one day she could be the first lady and she’d visit Britain on a state visit,” Diana’s former butler and confidant said to “Good Morning America’s” Kate Snow in an exclusive interview.
Burrell said that in the mid-1990s Diana had dreamed of following in the footsteps of stylish first ladies.
“She’s been a huge fan of Jackie Onassis for years, and a huge admirer, too, of Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton. But Jackie Onassis had the edge. And she fantasized about redecorating the White House,” Burrell said.
“It wasn’t a fantasy. It could have been a reality. It really could. They would have been a golden couple.”
I can’t think of any billionaires, aside from maybe Bill Gates, who could even conceivably get elected president. Still, the idea amuses me. That a woman with nothing more than above average looks and charm could have sequentially been next in line to being Queen of England and then the First Lady of the United States would have been interesting, indeed.
Jenny Shimizu, a rather unattractive model who recently claimed to have have had a longstanding lesbian affair with Angelina Jolie now comes clean about her lesbian affair with Madonna.
Angelina Jolie’s lesbian lover has revealed she was sleeping with Madonna at the same time as she was bedding the sexy actress. Calvin Klein model Jenny Shimizu enjoyed an on-off relationship with Jolie for several years – but has kept her ‘booty call’ relationship with pop superstar Madonna a secret…. until now.
Shimizu says she was picked out after Madonna spotted her on a casting video, and soon became the girl the singer called when she needed some lesbian loving. She tells the News Of The World, “It’s most guys’ ultimate fantasy to bed Angelina or Madonna. But I’m a girl and I was sleeping with both of them – at the same time. “They were both sensational lovers who got incredibly turned on by the touch of another woman. “Madonna wanted someone she could trust to call when she wanted pleasuring right there and then. I was her secret ‘booty call’ available any time of the day or night for secret sex sessions. “Far from the domineering, sex-crazed woman many think she is, I found her a very gentle lover. It wasn’t about whips and chains.”
Shimizu – who’s obviously got around a bit – has also revealed she has enjoined passionate kisses with supermodel Naomi Campbell, as well as enjoying on ongoing relationship with Rebecca Loos – famed for her own affair with England soccer captain David Beckham.
With further coaxing, I’m sure her relationships with Princess Di, Paris Hilton, and Anna Kournikova will be revealed in time. And any insinuation that this woman is a lying bitch out to become famous is completely unsubstantiated.
The South Park episode called Hell On Earth 2006, which was broadcast in the US this week, shows Satan preparing to host a Hallowe’en fancy dress party. Hundreds of dead celebrities are invited, including rapper Notorious B.I.G., Princess Diana and Hitler.
