South Park is a cartoon known for its button pushing, politically incorrect humor and social commentary. The animated series has been on the air since the late 90s and has become a pop-cultural touchstone. The creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, aren't afraid to take on any political issue or public figure.
This includes Michael Moore, the filmmaker who interviewed Stone for his 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine. While Stone didn't have a problem with his interview, he took issue with an animated segment that followed.
As a result, Stone and Parker got their revenge on Moore by portraying him in an unflattering light not once, but twice.
Michael Moore Interviews Matt Stone For 'Bowling For Columbine' Documentary
In 1999, the Columbine High School massacre shocked the nation. The horrific tragedy opened up a whole host of discussions about what caused the shooting and what can be done to prevent another.
This was the premise behind Moore's 2002 documentary film Bowling for Columbine. The film featured interviews with several individuals who offered their perspective on what leads to gun violence.
Matt Stone, co-creator of South Park, is one of the individuals interviewed in the film. In the documentary, Stone is introduced with a clip from South Park. Moore begins his interview by explaining that Stone grew up in a small Colorado town similar to the one depicted on South Park.
Stone discussed his own experiences growing up in Colorado and focused particularly on his high school years. Stone talked about the anxiety he faced over his grades and how it affected him. .
Stone said that teachers and staff often told kids "if you're a loser now, you'll be a loser forever." While he said their motives were to encourage kids to do well in school, Stone said he believed it had larger effects.
Stone spoke about how teenagers in high school place so much emphasis on what their peers think of them. He said that they don't realize that high school is merely a small fragment of one's life, after which you move on
Stone cited the bullying the perpetrators experienced and said that if someone told them there is more to life beyond high school, they might not have carried out the shooting.
Matt Stone Criticizes Michael Moore For Making The Film's Cartoon 'Very South Park-Esque'
South Park is known for its politically incorrect social commentary. Therefore, when Bowling for Columbine was released, Stone and Parker were annoyed to see a cartoon included that featured politically incorrect social commentary.
The cartoon was featured after Stone's interview in the film. It was about the history of guns in the United States, where it implied a link between the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan and the National Rifle Association.
Stone said while he didn't have an issue with how his interview was portrayed, he wasn't a fan of the cartoon. Stone believed Moore deliberately placed the cartoon after his interview to give viewers the false impression the South Park creators were behind it.
"We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore," Stone told Today. "I did an interview, and he didn’t mischaracterize me or anything I said in the movie. But what he did do was put this cartoon right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon."
Michael Moore Is Depicted In An Unflattering Light In An Episode Of 'South Park'
Stone and Parker didn't take Moore's actions lying down. Instead, they depicted the filmmaker in an unflattering light not once, but twice.
The first time was in their 2004 film Team America: World Police. The film is about a squad who fight terrorists, with each character depicted as a puppet. Parker voiced several characters, including Moore and the film's main character, Gary Johnston. Despite the premise and time period the film was released in, Stone insisted they didn't want it to be political.
"For us, it’s a way to think about all the emotions behind the politics," Stone said. "It’s not so much, ’Here’s what we should do. ...’ Gary is supposed to (represent) all the emotions that we’ve felt over the past couple years (about America’s role in the world.) Are you proud? Are you ashamed? It’s probably a combination of both."
In the film, Moore is depicted as an overweight documentary filmmaker who loves eating hot dogs and pizza. He also gets unsuspecting people to say misleading things in his film. Later in the film, Moore straps explosives to himself and blows up Team America's base. According to Today, the puppet was stuffed with ham when it blew up.
Moore was also depicted in a 2011 South Park episode, which tackled Occupy Wall Street. In the episode, Eric Cartman fails the Presidential fitness test, making him the 1% which caused the rest of the class to do poorly. The 99% students believe the system is flawed.
When the Presidential fitness test organizers refuse to change the system, Butters and Jimmy start their own Occupy movement. Their movement is called "Occupy Red Robin" and features Moore joining the two students outside the restaurant. In the scene, Moore is portrayed as overweight and yelling at the students into a megaphone.
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