Even Bill O’Reilly Defends “Courageous” South Park Creators

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by Jon Bershad | 4:08 pm, April 21st, 2010

» 12 comments

The death threats against South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker following an episode which toyed with the depiction of Prophet Muhammad have clearly hit a chord with a lot of TV personalities. Not only have they driven Anderson Cooper to border on opinion journalism, but they also led to a fairly intriguing O’Reilly Factor segment in which the self-proclaimed first amendment loving host admitted that even he would be afraid to do what the South Park guys did.

It’s an interesting clip as O’Reilly is clearly very impressed with Parker and Stone. He repeatedly calls them “courageous” and, when guest, Ann Hayes, implies that they might not have realized what they were getting into, he’s quick to back them up. Then he puts himself in their shoes and seems surprisingly chilled. However, while he’s self-deprecating, he made a couple of comments that have made some bloggers a little angry.

“I would’ve advised them not to do it. If somebody came to me and said, ‘Look, O’Reilly, I want to do a little satire of Muhammad on the Factor’ I would say I don’t think so. Because the risk is higher than the reward.”

The free speech implications of that statement are a little scary which is something that O’Reilly picks up on instantly. But, unlike the blogger linked above, we see it more as an interestingly honest candid moment from O’Reilly. He may have had problems with some of South Park’s jokes in the past (he was depicted in one episode years ago), but the idea of someone getting death threats for putting their opinions on TV is clearly something O’Reilly takes very seriously.

Bill O'Reilly, radical Islam, South Park

ImNotBlue

I was disappointed when I heard O’Reilly say this… but I understand where he’s coming from.

We have to remember, it’s not just the personality who is getting threatened… it’s everyone around them. So for O’Reilly, I have no doubt that if it was just him he had to worry about, he’d show the sketch. However, since it’s his staff, family, employer, etc… it’s a little more risky.

The same goes for Matt and Trey. It’s not just them who are getting threatened, it’s everyone who works on the show, Comedy Central, whomever owns Comedy Central, and so on. The risk vs reward is questionable… and if something happens to someone else because of their statement… well, that’s a personal guilt trip I can’t imagine.

However, I still side with the South Park guys on this one. For something so important as free speech… you have to be willing to take a risk and standup for the principals. Playing it safe (as they said during Cartoons Wars) only means you believe in free speech… but you’re not willing to fight for it.
timzank

Funny how the Religion Of Peace scares the shit out of so many people isn’t it?
Munch

I think most people are aware of the insanity of the fundamentalist Muslims and what they have done to those who have made fun of the Prophet. I agree with Bill- why entice a barking dog. There are bigger fish to fry than making jokes about or caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
DBoz

What I don’t get is the headline here, “EVEN O’Reilley”. I guess I was not there to see if he previously disliked South Park, but since the essence of the show seems to be to call out political correctness and leaves little doubt as to the leftist roots of most P.C.-ness (not C.P.ness) :-) I would think Bills natural tendency would be to appreciate the spirit of the show. I think previously he wasn’t really getting what they were doing over there, maybe just seeing it as some rude, disrespectful, no-talent outlet for stoned out Hollywood comics. Well part of that is right and we love ‘em for it.
Yo! Jihadists! If you’re gonna issue a fatwah on Matt & Trey, then try me first. Gonna have to get us all at the same time A-Ho**s!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Matt-Wilstein/122191 Matt Wilstein

you can watch the offending South Park clip (which really isn’t that offensive) here:
http://bit.ly/d34lfk
Munch

Matt Wilstein says:
April 21, 2010 at 7:09 pm

you can watch the offending South Park clip (which really isn’t that offensive) here:
http://bit.ly/d34lfk

It is against Islam to even represent something as the Prophet- pics, statues, etc.

As Dennis Miller said” These guys are so crazy, they issue Fatwahs over pizza toppings!”
AmericanCowboy

Miller is funny

“Pelosi is – stop an electric fan with your tongue – stupid” – Dennis Miller
Glenn.Bovine.Merrill

“MUSLIM CONTROVERSY”

Really?

How stupid do Billdo’s viewers have to be to learn Comedy Central (and South Park) make fun of fundie religious fascists?

Slow news months I guess, until the Nov campaigns get going.
ObamaSux

Why don’t we airlift Olbermann over Iran and parachute him with a sign “Mohammad is a sucker faced pig”
Rogue-Comic

Fundamentalist Muslims don’t subscribe to “free speech.”
ImNotBlue

The hilarious bit is… during tonight’s episode, they revealed it was actually Santa Claus in the bear suit. Look at that… a whole fatwa, for Santa in a bear suit.

HA HA!
jackypond

I would think Bills natural tendency would be to appreciate the spirit of the show. I think previous he wasn’t really getting what they were doing over there, maybe just seeing it as some rude are they I like this thing but not much.
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