South Park Penn State: Why People Shouldn't Be Offended by Show's Scandal Jokes

The fact that South Park decided to tackle the Penn State scandal shouldn't surprise anyone in the slightest, nor should anyone be outraged that they were using the situation to create humor.

I'm sure all of us have heard Penn State jokes that were downright distasteful. Many of them were far worse than the scandal references used in this episode.

South Park is known for pushing the envelope. In the episode where the show portrays Michael Jackson as "Mr. Jefferson" and the entire show is a negative portrayal of MJ's life, you could argue they went overboard.

They love to poke fun at current events, say what the entire public is thinking and go where nobody else will. While they did that here, in no way did they trivialize what the victims went through.

South Park simply mentioned Penn State in a few corny jokes. Those who watch the show regularly know it was mild for South Park.

Those who aren't fans of the show and are going to make it a point to get offended need to calm down. The show mentioning the scandal and drawing comparisons to the Catholic Church and Neverland Ranch is offensive to the school.

If anything, they were poking fun at the guy at the water cooler who thinks he's being clever with the knock-knock joke-esque Penn State references.

Some people like to be offended. This is a polarizing topic that many shows are completely staying away from. South Park isn't afraid to cross that boundary and they are going to receive backlash for it. Had it been distasteful, I would say they deserve the heat they are taking.

It really wasn't though.

Those who claim this is taking a shot at the victims or the school needs to take a step back. What is the show really saying? Where is the joke coming from? What context is it being used in?

Just because South Park is acknowledging the fact that Penn State jokes are being made every single day doesn't make them evil or callused. You'd have to pull some of their earlier episodes to find those traits.