(ANTIMEDIA) — Sticking with its tradition of tackling national controversies and touchy subjects in a twisted, satirical manner, South Park took on Charlottesville and white supremacists in its season premiere Wednesday evening.
In the episode, “White People Remodeling Houses,” the South Park team features working class white men waving Confederate flags. They angrily chant “You will not replace us!” But rather than directing their sentiments at minorities, for the most part, they’re directing them at increasingly ubiquitous technology, which they believe is taking their jobs.
Technology like Alexa from companies like Amazon, as well as other tech firms like Google, are the source of the mob’s anger as they bemoan the advent of self-driving trucks and other new tools.
Meanwhile, Randy, Stan’s father — who has been featured in previous seasons drunkenly celebrating Barack Obama’s 2008 victory and buying into the gentrification of South Park — is enjoying his own successful house-flipping reality show called White People Remodeling Homes.
But with the marches from the loud, angry, flag-waving white mob — at one point they burn an Alexa device in a defiant demonstration — Randy becomes concerned they’re harming his brand.
Among a variety of themes, the episode addresses the evolutionary effect technology is having on the job market and daily life, the paradoxical belief many Americans hold that immigrants are taking jobs they often don’t want to do, and, generally, the bubble white people tend to live in.
And there’s pepper spray, harkening back to the saga of the infamous crying white supremacist who made national headlines after Vice featured him in a video on Charlottesville.
What do you think of the episode’s approach? If you haven’t seen it, watch it in full below:
Source