DVD Review: South Park: The Passion of the Jew

08/31/04

I?ve been a sucker for South Park since Cartman got an anal probe. Start talking about your Patrick Duffy leg or Chef?s chocolate salty balls, and I?ll laugh for hours. So when Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the animated but oh-so-adult South Park series, took aim at last year?s ?The Passion of the Christ,? I was intrigued to see whether they?d succeed in making me laugh just as hard or stumble in their attempt to capitalize on a hot film. The setup sounds great: a DVD comprised of three 30-minute episodes: ?The Passion of the Jew,? ?Christian Rock Hard? and ?Red Hot Catholic Love.? Clearly the collection pulls no punches. The headliner on the disk is ?The Passion of the Jew,? with the other two skits treated as bonus episodes. But ironically, it?s the bonus ?Christian Rock Hard? that steals the show. In ?The Passion of the Jew,? Kyle sees Mel Gibson?s ?The Passion of the Christ? film and is so disturbed by it that he confronts his synagogue about ?their sins? and tells Cartman that he may be right about Kyle?s heritage. Feeling as righteous as only South Park?s favorite fat kid can, Cartman proceeds to organize a Mel Gibson fan club, which for all intents and purposes turns into an unassuming Nazi army. Meanwhile, Stan and Kenny fly to Hollywood to confront Gibson and demand their money back. When Gibson turns out to be loonier than en Pond, a chase ensues that takes Gibson back to South Park and his once-adoring fan club. ?Red Hot Catholic Love,? the second episode, has South Park?s priest (Priest Maxi) traveling to Rome to confront the Catholic leadership about the sex abuse scandals in America. But rather than find a receptive audience of priests who want to stop the abuse, Priest Maxi finds only a Church body that wants to do a better job of covering up their scandalous ways. By confronting topical issues, these two episodes clearly try to make a comical buck at the media?s expense, and that?s probably why they fail so miserably. Sure, each episode has its funny moments, but by and large they preach (no pun intended) Parker and Stone?s own views without capturing the kid-vs.-kid comedy that makes South Park so hilarious. And that?s where ?Christian Rock Hard? comes in to play. ?Christian Rock Hard? is classic South Park: Cartman and Kyle argue about the style their garage band should adopt, leading the two to split up and make a bet about who will be the first to record a platinum album. Kyle downloads music online for inspiration (and is subsequently arrested by the FBI), while Cartman starts a Christian Rock band to make a quick buck off Christian ?suckers.? Cartman makes it huge, while Kyle doesn?t achieve a thing but gets to meet multiple bands. In the end, Cartman (predictably) fails, but the outlandish narrative trip from A to Z makes you realize that Parker and Stone still have it in them. Which, ultimately, is what makes the DVD ?The Passion of the Jew? so disappointing. Parker and Stone can hit comedic marks unlike any other when they?re at the top of their game, as evidenced in ?Christian Rock Hard.? But they also have the potential to come off completely uninspired when they take cheap shots at topical issues, as they do in ?The Passion of the Jew? and ?Red Hot Catholic Love.? Even with a few drinks to help liven up the comedy, this three-episode DVD is only one-third entertaining. Better off to stick with watching the show on cable. -- Jonas Allen
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