South Park’s ‘The Cissy,’ From a Trans Comedian’s Perspective
America is finally paying attention to transgender rights. How do we know this? One might say that it’s because people like actress Laverne Cox have been featured in such high profile publications as the cover of Time Magazine, or because a number of cities, counties, and states have successfully implemented laws to ensure trans individuals may use facilities that align with their gender, but truly (and not to diminish these milestones, but) we know America is paying attention because South Park decided to tackle these issues.
An episode (titled “The Cissy,”) that aired a few weeks ago has been heralded by many blogs including Slate as dealing with the issue extremely well, and they’re not wrong. As far as a major TV show which tackles political issues in an immature but intelligent way they’re starting to get it, but from a structural standpoint the episode didn’t entirely hit the mark.
South Park has had a history of tacking trans issues, albeit a poor history, but nevertheless one can’t discuss their most recent episode “The Cissy,” without discussing Mr. Garrison’s transition into Mrs. Garrison. The Mrs. Garrison story line came about much like any other South Park story line, simply because the creators thought it would be funny in a shocking way and from a social place of mutually agreed upon ignorance. I’ll even admit to laughing at a number of the Mrs. Garrison episodes and as a trans person I knew this was just Parker and Stone “doing their thing,” but the character choice (a character who gets a sex change for laughs and then suddenly decides they want it reversed for laughs and also because the creators realized the character was funnier or easier to write as a man) was some serious BS, and a slap in the face of the trans community.
With that ugliness in mind and now that social tides are changing from “Ha ha, trans people are funny,” to “Hey there are elements of the trans experience we can all find funny but laughing at the struggle of trans people won’t be tolerated,” South Park set out to poke fun at a number of people within this debate for civil rights choosing to focus on one of the movement’s main issues: allowing trans people to use the bathroom they feel comfortable with.
There certainly was a lot of positive points (Cartman being challenged by the principal and then making many pro trans points/exposing the principal’s own misconceptions of trans issues, Wendy and the other girls acknowledging that this is an issue that affects a lot of people but, much like the audience knows, not Cartman) but on the whole because there were no actual trans characters the episode, it gave a lot of mixed messages. Especially since this is an issue that is hypothetical. Any time a major “They’re just using the other bathroom for their own sick and twisted desires,” arises they have been later proven to be false. Case in point.
It should also be noted that while we know this isn’t the first time Cartman has assumed identities/aspects of real life experiences (Most notably the time he entered the special Olympics, or pretended he had Tourette’s) but the idea of being told “No you’re not, you’re just confused,” or “You’re lying,” is a thing trans people, especially trans youth, are told constantly. Also in all those aforementioned cases, the ending punished Cartman in some way (Cartman came in last place at the special Olympics, by pretending to have Tourettes he ended up accidentally volunteering secrets he didn’t want to) but by the end of this episode nothing happens to either him or Randy. Randy continues to be Lorde and Cartman is just annoyed and simply doesn’t want to use a women’s restroom if “Anybody could just use it,” and Stan was the only one punished and called a “Cissy.” Maybe I’m just splitting hairs but the episode would have been a lot stronger and on point in they left it at Eric’s plans being foiled and “Students should be able to use the restroom they feel most comfortable with.”
From a comedic standpoint proving that Randy Marsh was in fact Lorde is hilarious (and I refuse to believe anything otherwise), but considering the big, well-crafted speech about acceptance was directed at Randy so he wouldn’t give up being an inspiration instead of about or to trans people, it kind of portrays his drag persona as a trans individual. I know the difference, and even you, dear reader, may know the difference between a drag queen, a cross dresser, and a transgender individual but America still has issues coming to terms with those differences. This distinction also, possibly inadvertently, states the idea that trans people assume trans identities so that they can use a different bathroom out of convenience.
On the whole the episode was hilarious and was able to place into the debate a lot of information that is helpful, that affirms “No the way we’ve been looking at gender is bullshit,” but unfortunately it, like Mrs. Garrison, is more interested in playing up a stereotypical joke than relying on truth in comedy. If they had inserted a character, or if suddenly Wendy, or someone (not Cartman) IS trans later in the season this point can be reconsidered and looked at and the show has certainly come a long way — but there’s still a lot of work to be done.
The show should still try and tackle these topics like they have many others because, they have a tendency to look at a societal issue from a very different lens than most media and we need more political comedy like South Park. No topic should be off limits and South Park has proven time and time again that they can take on “off limits,’ and “controversial,” topics with a sense of honesty and compassion unlike many series, they have missed the mark this time but I have no doubt that they will tackle the subject again and when they do I hope they are able to do some from that same honest compassionate place.
UPDATE: The following week’s episode “Handicar,” featured a joke where a woman is revealed to be a man and essentially rapes a handicapped boy… Not exactly new territory for South Park but it does put tremendous strain on many of my pro South Park arguments.
