Welcome to the third and final part of Confronting Antisemitism In Popular Culture: South Park & The Passion Of The Jew.
At the same time, it needs to be understood that the creators of a program like South Park (animators Trey Parker and Matt Stone) exist solely for skewering the “sensibilities” of both “left” and “right”, the so-called liberals and conservatives. There are no sacred cows where satire is concerned and a parody of Mel Gibson’s Passion would be too irresistible for South Park’s creators to pass up. Generally, audiences who pay for cable television usually appreciate the edgier, more explicit fare those channels offer (like Comedy Central which airs South Park). While this would seem obvious, “The Passion Of The Jew” episode could still be viewed as pandering to anti-Jewish sentiment even though it offers a “happy” ending.
In any case, overtly negative depictions are largely absent from mainstream entertainment media. However, this is hardly the entirety of media and fails to take into account the internet — which is another realm of tremendous scope. It can hardly be overstated that the internet offers any number of negative opinions and sites dedicated to antisemitism along with every other conceivable type of prejudice and hate-mongering imaginable. There also is a nagging persistence of narratives throughout cinematic history that depict or allude to the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ which invariably paint the Jewish people in an unflattering light.
Most of these films were touted as big budget spectacles with all-star casts utilizing the latest technological marvels of film production like widescreen Cinemascope and the luxurious Technicolor process. This was especially the case beginning in the early 1950s. In some cases these epic productions were international productions further boosting the media hoopla surrounding them. Some of these titles include Ben-Hur (1926), The Sign Of The Cross (1932), Quo Vadis (1951), Androcles & The Lion (1952), The Robe (1953), Demetrius & The Gladiators (1954), Ben-Hur (1959), King Of Kings (1961), Barabbas (1962), The Gospel According To St. Matthew (1965), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), The Bible (1966), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Messiah (1975), and the television miniseries A.D. (1985).
While these are some of the more critically lauded and/or box office successes, all of these various interpretations of the life and death of Jesus Christ utterly pale in comparison to The Passion Of The Christ from 2004. With this mammoth production the budget, promotion and the graphic, vivid presentation of Christ’s death exceeded everything which came before. Perhaps the most provocative aspect of The Passion Of The Christ is how much attention was focused on the determination of the Jews to reject Jesus as the Messiah (appalling to strict Christian dogma) and to have him executed in the most gruesome manner known in classical antiquity.
Naturally, the South Park episode satirizing the “Passion Of The Jew” was quite incendiary in its own right, but would not have been possible without the Mel Gibson film preceding it. The focus of the episode was about inciting audiences against Jews because of the film’s implications. Whether or not The Passion Of The Christ and South Park: The Passion Of The Jew incite antisemitism all depends on the individual point of view. Apparently, there is still considerable belief that both the film and tv program have displayed or promoted antisemitism to one degree or another — or there would not have been so much controversy surrounding both to begin with! For instance there have been some reports that the South Park episode was not allowed to be broadcast in certain countries such as Russia.
In summary, perhaps the entire issue is best described by esteemed academic Robert Wistrich, one of the most prolific writers of our time regarding all issues related to antisemitism. In his latest book A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism From Antiquity To Global Jihad , Wistrich states: “Paranoid power of Anti-Semitic myth cannot, in fact, be understood without reference to its religious sources and deeper roots in classical antiquity. It cannot be departed from widespread Gentile resentment provoked by the Jewish sense of being ‘a chosen people’ with a unique vocation…” (Pg. 80) It is often said that history is always repeating itself and it seems that antisemitism (just when it seems to be subsiding) will invariably flare up again and keeps coming full circle.
