Ignorance Isn't Always Bliss

*Please play the following video only until 50 SECONDS due to vulgar and inappropriate language following the 50 second mark* (It is South Park, after all). 

^Cartman throws a fit over getting a Tablet instead of an iPad.

^Steve Jobs introduces his new product, the HumancentiPad, and emphasizes the fact that they agreed to do this in the Terms and Conditions.

South Park has been a notable source of satire since the show aired in 1997. Almost every episode has some satire in it.  The episode I chose to evaluate is season 15, episode 1. This is the time when the next Apple iPad was released, and it was all anyone could talk about. Cartman has decided he has to have one. He begs his mother, but she tells him that they are too expensive, and offers to buy him a similar product. The similar product is called a “Tablet”, which almost exactly the same thing as an iPad. Cartman is so furious with his mother that he throws a screaming fit in the middle of Best Buy. Meanwhile, Apple is already onto developing their “next big thing”, the HumancentiPad, which is an iPad with three people sown together like in the “Human Centipede” horror movie. The way they can do such a project is because in the iTunes Terms and Conditions, they have added in the ability to take people to use them for their project. People do not read the Terms and Agreements because of the length and how boring it is. The literal meaning here is that Apple is the best compay, and without their logo on your electronics, it just can’t be as good. The other literal meaning is that every new thing becomes old so quickly because of the shortly following improvement of the product. Nothing is exciting and we always want something new. Also, reading the Terms and Conditions that you agree to is too much of a hassle because of how long and boring it is. 

All of these literal statements and actions in this episode of South Park is really just a form of mockery in attempt to expose the ills of society. The creators of South Park see Apple as a monopoly. The society views Apple as the best thing, with the best products and ideas. They fall into the commercial trap and buy into everything that Apple wants them to believe. When in reality, a “Tablet”, or any other form of an iPad is mostly just the same product with a different layout. As for the “HumancentiPad”, this is showing the deeper meaning that everyone buys into the need to have the “next big thing”. If another iPad is released only months later, people think they need to spend more hundreds of dollars because the newer product is bigger and better. This is any company’s dream, and people are eating it right up. As for the Terms and Conditions part, they are mocking the laziness of people because of their unwillingness to read a document that they are agreeing to. What intelligent person would not read something that they are agreeing to? This satire used in South Park is trying to show people the ignorance of their ways. That in fact what they are doing is quite ridiculous.