Marcus Schulzke Meaning

In the article, South Park and the Transformation of Meaning, written by Marcus Schulzke, Schulzke analyses “The F Word” episode of the satirical, and controversial show. In his analysis, Schulzke focuses on language, and the different interpretations that can be placed on the word “fag," emphasized throughout this episode of the show. The show focuses on a group of bikers who are desperate for attention and parade around town loudly on their Harley’s Davidson motorcycles (Schulzke, 2012). However, the townspeople, in particular a group of kids, find this behavior simply obnoxious and make it their mission to get rid of these bikers (Schulzke, 2012). They proceed to call the bikers “fags” throughout, which is the premise for the entire episode,
In my own personal experience, sometimes I use vocabulary that my parents or grandparents generations have never heard of before, and if they have, the meaning has completely changed over time. This brings me to my first point, stated by Eric Carthman, one of the main characters on South Park. Carthman states that, “the key division, as in many episodes is the difference between the children and adults” (Schulzke, 2012, p. 24). The way the adults see it, the children are making an attack against gay people, however, the children are not using this word as an insult towards gay people, rather just the bikers (Schulzke, 2012). Adults have a tendency to reprimand children quickly, but sometimes the children can have a fresh perspective on things, and I think this example demonstrates this. Before assuming the insult was directed towards gay people, the adults did not consider the evolution of language, and that maybe the word “fag” may have several connotations that they are not aware of. Further, the most interesting part of this point to me, is that Carthman illustrates the power of the children, and how they were teaching the adults a lesson about language here (Schulzke,
27). I like this quote because it encourages us to think differently, and not be confined by society and the meanings or messages that they place on words. It asks us to questions the words we use on a day to day basis. To me, the creators of this episode were aiming to change the way that we see the word “fag” as an insult to gay people. I thought that this episode was an overall positive idea by the show. It is not just a typical episode of South Park, however, a more challenging and shocking perspective, that allows us to think about the way we use language. The article empowered me and made me realize that we don’t have to use offensive and unkind language, rather, we can use words in a positive