Regardless of what side of political spectrum you’re on, there is little doubt that Antisemitism has been sharply on the uptick during the past decade. This is especially true since October, 2023 as the Israel-Gaza War grinds on with no end in sight. The resulting furor on college campuses across the country has made me think about another ASU course of study I was was enrolled in over ten years ago called Antisemitism In Media, based largely on the massive tome A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism In Media by Robert Wistrich. He is considered one of the primary scholars in the world on this subject. In fact, Wistrich built his career as a leading authority on the long history of Antisemitism, having written a total of 18 books on this and related subjects.
I am looking forward to revisiting this subject in light of recent events which have escalated hate crimes against Jews in the United States and around the world. My first Team Presentation for this course was titled Confronting Antisemitism In Popular Culture: South Park & The Passion Of The Jew. Here is what I wrote then:
Anti-Semitic content in popular culture has remained stubbornly persistent despite the prevailing politically and socially correct rhetoric which has heavily influenced American culture since the start of the 1990s. This theme will be explored in greater depth in relation to the highly popular animated cable television series South Park and one specific episode from the eighth season titled “The Passion Of The Jew”. This episode satirized the very controversial 2004 film The Passion Of The Christ, a graphically detailed account of the Crucifixion. It has been sharply criticized for perceived antisemitic and promoting bigotry against Jewish people.
In our current, permissive age where popular entertainment media contains a great deal of explicit content of all types, the animated series South Park often stands out as one of the most contentious of all. This is due to the blatant manner in which the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone often lampoon and skewer touchy religious subjects. While intended for for mature audiences, South Park retains considerable capacity for shocking some viewers and raising the ire of conservative political and religious groups throughout the United States. These include Parents Television Council (for instance) which have condemned the program on numerous occasions.
Among the many controversies and criticisms that South Park’s creators have raised, one of the most inflammatory episodes of the series was aired on March 31, 2004 and was rather bluntly titled The Passion Of The Jew. The episode was intended as a satire of The Passion Of The Christ detailing the final hours and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ according to the biblical interpretation of director Mel Gibson — one of the most charismatic and prominent of Hollywood personalities. His film naturally created quite a furor of its own, generating a high degree of immediate criticism for numerous reasons, largely related to historical authenticity. However, The Passion Of The Christ also managed to come under fire due to allegations of antisemitic content from various sources.
These ranged from the United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops to the Anti-Defamation League — both organizations believing that the main storyline of Jesus being being relentlessly hounded and pursued by depraved, hateful Jews screaming for his execution was likely to inflame antisemitic attitudes and spark violence against Jewish people. In light of this media frenzy, the South Park episode aired to glaringly criticize and poke fun of Mel Gibson’s The Passion while gaining considerable critical acclaim for itself at the same time.
A New York Times review by Virginia Heffernan from April, 2004 praised “The Passion Of The Jew” episode by remarking that: “The Passion Of The Jew proved that the show’s still got it or that it’s made a comeback or that it’s better than ever. In any case it was good.” Heffernan went on to say: “but the real strength of South Park is that it flatters free-thinkers by mocking Christians and Jews, including Jesus himself…” While the New York Times may have been generally indicative of the reviews that the South Park: Passion Of The Jew received, there were more cautionary voices. Among these was a review from the online critical source Common Sense Media which offered a sobering opinion of South Park and its treatment of sensitive subject matter, such as the antisemitism which permeated “The Passion Of The Jew”.
Being that this was s rather lengthy assignment at the time, I will continue with this next week as it will be too long for one post!
