South Park is an American animated sitcom for adults, a production of South Park Digital Studios, LLC which began airing on August 13, 1997, until now. with 20 seasons and over 270 episodes in total, South Park has received numerous awards and even ranked as the tenth best TV cartoon of all time according to TVGuid. He is known for his dark and surreal humor that covers a wide range of topics including social issues, politics and Internet sensations. South Park has become popular entertainment among adults around the world, especially in the United States. Although South Park is famous for its well-written comedy that applies to different situations, groups, and even individuals, according to Roland Barthes' concepts discussed in Mythologies, there are still jokes that make us invest in those who hold more power. voluntarily or even wholeheartedly. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Through the book Mythologies, Roland Barthes shows how truths hide behind the most banal and natural aspects of everyday life. According to Barthes, things often appear natural and therefore transparent to the public. His analysis of the different “natural” mythologies today reveals the ideological nature of the products. Barthes considers myths as discourse, that is, as a system of communication that carries within itself a meaning. He expresses his opinion on how each symbol conveys meaning, unlimited by the nature of the symbol, be it a text, an image or even human actions. As Barthes explains in Mythologies “Every object in the world can pass from a closed and silent existence to an oral state, open to appropriation by society, since there is no law, natural or otherwise, that prohibits talking about things. A tree is a tree. Yes, of course." (Mythologies 1972 p.1) He considers every cultural product as a symbol itself, which conveys at least one meaning conditioned by a myth. Any cultural product can be analyzed and revised in Barthes' consideration since there is always a realm of second-class signification which distinguishes its symbolic meaning from its denotation through analysis. remote to be reduced to an algebra, as in the Chinese theater, where a flag alone signifies a regiment; or deeply rooted, invented, so to speak, from time to time, revealing an internal, hidden aspect, and indicative of a moment in the time, no more than a concept…” (Mythologies 2009 p.28) Applying Barthes' concept presented in Mythologies in South Park, as an American animated sitcom, often expresses people's point of view and thoughts through comedy and satire, presenting themselves as true and universal. Ironically, similar to its characteristic of presenting ideas through fictional characters and stories, South Park is actually a fiction that tricks us into benefiting the most powerful members of society. Using a comedic approach to express ideas and thoughts increases the social acceptability of transgressions. It also decreases viewers' tendency to give voice, satisfying their desire to express and reflect on social issues or problems while enjoying the show. The mixing of highly realistic settings and content with surreal situations reduces the audience's imagination and expectations in several aspects. South Park slowly dulls viewers' critical and individual thinking and tricks them into becomingan easier audience for mass media or governance by inserting ideas and myths into the show. South Park is famous for its use of humor relating to social issues or taboos, the use of comedy encourages acceptance of transgressions such as racism and sexism. South Park often overexaggerate public reactions and social problems to create comical but relatable stories or situations. While it is ironically considered to be done to encourage social participation or awareness, it also encourages social acceptance of transgression. Suggested by Brain L. Ott, “South Park does not simply depict the violation of social taboos; requires the participation of spectators in them. By "watching" the show repeatedly transgresses the boundaries of social acceptability, the audience completes the communicative circuit vital to the show's violations.' (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.41-42) The constant violation of social taboos on the show has made viewers desensitized to the transgression, which increases their acceptance of the violation of social taboos. In South Park season 20, the theme focuses on internet trolls, the 2016 US presidential election, and nostalgia. Many social taboos are discussed comically and exaggerated, numerous racist and sexist jokes and ideas are presented in the episodes of the 20th season. In the episodes, member Berries talks about memories of the old days, some quotes exaggerating nostalgia such as "Member when there weren't so many Mexicans?", "Member when a white man kissing a black woman on national television was considered daring " ?", “Member when interracial marriage wasn't legal?”[1] are racist comments attributable to Americans. Likewise, sexist jokes are constantly made throughout the season about women being unfunny and irrational, such as “What's the one thing women don't have? Sperm and a sense of humor. Not only in one or two seasons, but in all South Park broadcasts, offensive jokes or comments and prolonged use of insults and vulgar language often appear on the show. Since it is considered an "adults only" sitcom, the viewer automatically considers it only for comedic effect. The overuse of offensive jokes under the guise of "just for comedic effect" slowly dilutes the viewer's negative feelings about violations of social taboos, creating the myth of not needing to take violations of social taboos seriously if they are comical . With long-term exposure to such remarks and language, viewers are unconsciously brainwashed into accepting the transgression, believing it is not a serious problem. South Park satisfies viewers' needs to express and reflect on social issues or problems through fictional characters. highly recognizable expressions on current topics, which reduce viewers' need to express themselves in real life. According to Fiske, "Cartoons and comedies often invert 'normal' relationships and show adults as incompetent, incapable of understanding, and children as superior in intuition and ability." (Television Culture 1992 p.197) South Park uses the same tactic, which revolves around four fourth graders, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick, and their bizarre adventures. In season 19, the adults' greed leads to the growing intelligence of online advertisements, while it is the children who understand and notice the problems, being the main force to defeat the "evil advertisements" that the adults had created. The downside of relationships is even more vivid in season 20, some adults troll and bully online leading to a potentialworld war, adults cannot resist the temptation of nostalgia which causes poor decision making and professionals have failed to complete the right formula for the discovery of new energy; while all problems are solved with the intelligence and intuitions of children. In all episodes of South Park, it is often the children who tell the truth or cleverly with surreal skills and ways, while it is often the adults who cause problems. As Brain L. Ott had pointed out, “They are invited to engage in the show and the world not as individual responsible adults, but as children at play. Such liberation is an intense but fleeting pleasure because when South Park shuts down, he or she must reenter the world of social rules and conventions. ” (Taking South Park Seriously 2008 p.44) The highly recognizable expressions in the show satisfy the viewer's need to express or reflect on the social issues and problems they encounter, leading them to believe that their thoughts are similar to concepts and ideas presented by unique children with their surreal abilities. And since they are invited to participate in the show as children playing, the viewers' desire to express or reflect on these topics automatically diminishes when they realize that the show had reversed the relationships. by showing that children were superior in intuition and ability, viewers are led to believe in the myth of being a responsible adult individual, it means not fully expressing and voicing one's thoughts South Park uses highly realistic and up-to-date settings and content, but adds some surreal and imaginary situations. Although surreal situations about realistic events effectively reflect the imagination and expectations of viewers, the situations often turn out to be delusional or disappointing, which reduces the imagination and expectations of viewers in several aspects. The setting and characters are highly recognizable and realistic. The show is set primarily in the fictional town that lies within the real-life South Park Basin in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado. There are prominent settings, including bus stops, the local elementary school, even various neighborhoods and the snowy landscape. Real Colorado landmarks, shops and businesses along the town's main street are also prominent and are based on the look of similar places in a real Colorado town: Fairplay. The choice of Colorado was simply due to the origins of the creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone[2], but the realistic setting made the show relatable. The shows not only create relatable characters, but also use real names and people, depicting an extremely realistic social setting. While the show itself is highly relatable and realistic, every episode of South Park opens with a simple disclaimer: "All characters and events in this show, even those based on real people, are entirely fictional. All entries Celebrities are being impersonated...poorly. The following program contains foul language and due to its content should not be viewed by anyone." Comedic disclaimers remind viewers of its fictional content while the truth is that most of the content is based on schedules updated in real-time events as each episode is written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast. Because they are based on real-time events, the public's expectations and imagination on related topics, such as Americans' common expectation of NASA, are also represented. discoveries on projects on.