Of Teacups, and the Storms Therein

Josh writes:

Oh, for -- what did I just say?

Just when you thought the Danish comics thing was the most blatantly manufactured bit of "outrage" around, along comes the NZ media to whip up a bit of bovver over the "Bloody Mary" episode.

It's one fucking episode of a fucking cartoon. An episode that is primarily concerned with taking the piss out of Alcoholics Anonymous, in which the Mary statue thing is just a side-plot. An episode from a cartoon that has featured (just off the top of my head) Cartman trading in aborted foetuses, Paris Hilton sticking a pineapple up her vagina, and Mr. Garrison inventing a vehicle that works by repeatedly shoving dildos in and out of every orifice, which is then seen being sold to old ladies and children. An episode that has been cannily brought forward by CanWest to A) cash in on the controversy while it's hot and B) make sure it dies away quickly.

In response, the Herald has rushed out a column from Master Curmudgeon Garth George (brought forward from his usual Thursday slot) to stir things up a bit more. It doesn't seem to be up on the Herald's website yet, but his basic argument is that the South Park episode is much worse than the Danish cartoons, because... um... the images are moving? And it's aimed at lots of people. And Catholics really love and revere Mary (as opposed to Muslims, who just think Mohammed's kind of nice).

What does this teach us?

1. CanWest are not stupid
2. Those segments of the Catholic Church protesting it are stupid (or possibly involved in some sort of dirty conspiracy, as hinted at by Señor Estupido here).

But seriously: panties. With the unbunching. Now, please.