Submitted by supermakar!

Since I was little, I’ve lived a very sheltered life. I live in a very cookie cutter style suburban neighborhood in the U.S. Basically, most people here are white, straight, extremely religious, and conservative. My family has always been sorta different and my parents consider us to be more liberal and to allow certain things other households won’t allow. But even so, I was pressured to be morally and mentally perfect. I was never allowed on certain internet sites(things like Club Penguin or Neopets) and couldn’t play a lot of video games or listen to certain music. Even now as I go through high school, I am not allowed to cuss. Education wise, I was supposed to get 100s on everything and just get straight As all the time. Everything in my life was supposed to be just so, even if my parents constantly insisted we lived differently.

I had never seen South Park before a few months ago. A friend linked me to a Book of Mormon video on Youtube and I began listening to the soundtrack via the Facebook page. I was really into the musical and I now own both the soundtrack and the book. It was probably looking at the book for the musical that I started to be interested in South Park. The writing and descriptions… they were just so funny and clever and interesting and I don’t know, different! As an aspiring writer myself, I really enjoyed the writing and kinda looked up to it because I am not that good at writing comedy.

Lately, I’ve suffered with depression mostly due to my own perfectionism. I lack motivation, interest in life, and nothing seems right sometimes. It was when I first started medication and therapy that I saw South Park for the first time. I was at a friend’s house and her little brother was watching an episode focusing on Butters as Professor Chaos. A while ago a friend of mine had mentioned Butters so I paid attention.

….And was kinda surprised and yet equally not surprised to find out how cute this show is. It’s a very special and meaningful show, even though on the surface it can appear to some people as a few fourth graders cussing every second. It’s not that. After seeing that one episode, I was hooked. I wanted to see more of Butters and just kinda everything to do with this show. I watched episodes through the website and then bought the movie DVD. I’ve now seen the movie, up to Season 4, all of the Coon Mysterion arc thing, all of Season 15, and a few random episodes here and there. And I love all of it.

When I’m sad, I watch South Park. Sometimes the episodes can be sad too, but there’s something to South Park. It makes fun of a lot of things and yet as hurtful as it may seem, it’s not that way at all. To me, South Park is a reminder that no one is perfect and no one can ever be. There’s a lot of good in all of us, and a lot of bad. We all make mistakes, but at the end of the day you can always say “You know, I learned something today.” There’s reasons to be sad, and South Park always reminds of us that. But it also always reminds us that we can always stop taking ourselves so seriously and just… laugh. South Park never fails to make me laugh. It’s so clever and heartwarming. So, thank you, Matt and Trey, and everyone who contributes to South Park. This really is an amazing show and it’s helped me so much by always giving me a reason to cheer up and laugh. There really are friendly faces everywhere because of this show.

Submitted by ramonasdippingsauce!

I honestly do not know where I would be without South Park at all. Without South Park, I would’ve never been as close as I am with my stepbrothers, and I would’ve never met some of the people I met throughout my life. I started watching South Park when I was ten years old, and I was going through a hard time in my life. In school, I wasn’t allowed to see my best friends because of the many disputes that have sent us all to the principal’s office. But then one day, I logged onto deviantART and my friend Erika was drawing fanart for it. I didn’t know what the show was about, and I figured it must be a good show or something. I went on southparkstudios and watched a couple episodes. I was hooked. That spring break, I finished all the seasons from that time, and watched interviews and commentaries. South Park made me happy. Matthew and Kevin, my stepbrothers, weren’t close with me, so I decided to man up and show them South Park. I figured they may like it. They were hooked as well. We spent days just watching episodes and at public places we all hung out and made Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny impressions. A couple times at Six Flags, we saw plushies so we played the game so many time until we got the plushies. We used to hang onto them and play with them together. My stepbrothers aren’t as into South Park anymore, but we’re still close as ever. I don’t think if I have showed them South Park, I would’ve never been as close as I am with them.

Another thing South Park helped me with was friendships. It may not have been offline, but online I sprouted many friendships with people who shared my obsession with South Park. I don’t talk to many of those people anymore but I won’t ever forget the memories and good times South Park has led me to.

Finally, South Park has led me to one of the greatest relationships I have ever had. There was this girl Nicole, and we met when she watched me on deviantART because I posted a lot of South Park fanart. We both loved the show and as we got closer, we started to have an interest in each other. We started dating and we used to have phone calls when South Park episodes were on and those were some of the best calls in the world. She used to be the Craig to my Stan and we always used South Park references for a lot of things. We may not be together now, but I thank Matt and Trey for making this show that sprouted such wonderful things in my life.

Matt and Trey, I don’t know how to ever repay you for the moments your perfect show has caused in my life. I just know I wouldn’t be the same without South Park.

Submitted by plinkoid!

I train as a classical dancer.

Last year was very difficult.

The person I used to call my best friend was in the hospital.

She had stopped eating…  Until her heart had starved as well.

I wanted to be there for her…  To bring her comfort and presents.

Her parents had banned dance related things from her life.  Which included me.

All I heard at school was weight related.  I didn’t want to think about that.

I was told I had been losing weight.

And had to continue if I hoped to achieve my dreams.

My friend no longer danced because of anorexia.

Dance or health?

At a younger age, I had told myself: Dance or nothing.

Losing weight made me unhappy I wanted to…      Die.

Everyone around me was unhappy…

Being the artist that I am, I check DeviantArt daily.

There was fanart for South Park on the Front Page.

I had never watched it.  As a child, I only spoke French and German.

Both versions of the show had not been funny…

I was tired of crying, I wanted to laugh.

I started watching South Park after school.

In a month I saw all of it.  episodes/movie/interviews/commentaries

I was happy.

Things were still hard at school…

But I could think of South Park and laugh.

To me South Park means happiness.

I sleep with my Kenny plushy every night.

When I feel down my two best friends will use South Park to cheer me up.

I still have so much South Park to look forward to…

Merci.

Submitted by sugapieissofly!

To me, South Park is so much more than a rather raunchy show on Comedy Central. South Park is a reflection of the feelings and emotional changes that we all go through. South Park is a reflection of both the ugliness and beauty of society. South Park is a unique entity that is both comedic, touching, and deeply insightful. It has more heart than any show I’ve ever seen. Each episode has something I can learn from, something I can relate to. 

South Park has brought me together with some of the most amazing friends I could ever ask for. Friends who value humor and are witty at that.

South Park also brought me together with my beautiful girlfriend. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Thank you Matt and Trey for bringing to television something that every one of us can relate to on some level. Thank you for bringing laughter, joy in our hearts, and tears of understanding. Thank you for caring enough to continue making the show despite hardships just to please your fans. 

Thank you for creating South Park. 

Submitted by zombie-teaparty!

I am very close to my dad. He is a hero to me in every way. Unfortunately, my parents are divorced, and I don’t get to see my dad much anymore. My dad and I had a tradition: He would wake me up whenever the new South Park premiered, and sneak me down to watch it with him. I was 3 years old, and my mother had no idea and still doesn’t to this day. This happened for the first 3 seasons. Then, my parents split and I no longer had anyone to wake me up for the episodes. I missed my dad. I cried every night wishing I could have gone with him. Then, on the night of the season 8 premiere, my new cell phone rang. It was my dad. “Wake up, kiddo, you’re missing South Park.” My dad and I watched the season 8 premiere through the phone. That show increased the already strong bond I had with my dad. To this day, we still talk about it and laugh about all the old and new episodes. I can never thank Matt and Trey enough for this show. It has changed my life and kept my dad and I together even when we couldn’t actually be together. It is one of the most important things in my life.

To me, South Park is a break. It’s a warm smile and a pat on the back. It’s an adventure for someone who isn’t allowed to venture out without his protective mother. Yeah, that’s about right.

As someone who has a pretty dull ass life, and can’t do merely as much as he’d wish he could, it’s one of the greatest feelings to be able to sit down every now and then and say to myself, “Okay, what adventure is in store for me today?” And even though it’s just a cartoon, it supplies a nice break from such normal things. It’s not just a story about a vegetable child, it’s a story about a vegetable child who’s fighting a war between Heaven in Hell via PSP while his friends down on earth make a huge deal out of whether or not he needs to be on life support. Nor is it just the classic love story with Pip and Estella. It’s the classic love story with Pip and Estella, who breaks a bunch of bunny’s necks while robotic monkeys attack Pip and his friends. What I’m trying to get at is that things like that aren’t common in the world of modern television.

Also, you see, I’m a rather angry young teenager. Angst and whatnot, y’know, young teenager stuff. All in all, I’m not the happiest of campers. But when that theme song comes on, I can’t help but let the dorkiest of smiles shine on my face. When I see my favorite mountain town face such incredible things, I can’t help but be amused and be satisfied for at least twenty minutes. More than happy feelings, it also inspires me. Seeing South Park, seeing everyone who loves it, and all the effort put into so much as a single episode, let alone fifteen seasons, it makes me want to do something great, too. So, thanks to the inspiration from everyone who works with South Park’s production and everyone who loves the show, I shall work my hardest to do something great, too, even if it breaks rules. That’s what South Park means to me.

Submitted by kenny-butt!

(The post below is going to be pretty sappy, just warning you guys!)

South Park has been a huge source of inspiration to me since day 1. I immediately fell in love with the characters and began to follow the show more. The show gradually became a more significant part of my life. Being someone who struggles with a depressive disorder, I felt often out of touch with others socially, mostly out of fear that they wouldn’t respect me for my opinions, being an atheist in a very religious community. Once I discovered South Park, it helped become more confident in standing up for what I believed in no matter what, given the trials that characters like Kyle go through. The characters retaught me things that I lost when I became depressed. When Stan became depressed in the middle of this past season, and he broke down crying in front of Mr. Mackey in Ass Burgers, I felt like it was me speaking, not the fictional 10 year old from Colorado. I wanted to reach through the screen and give him a hug; tell him it will all be okay. When more about Kenny’s home life was revealed, I knew what he was going through, as some of my best friends are victims of physical and emotional abuse. When he protected his sister from the bullies during The Poor Kid, I could relate, knowing the feeling of wanting to protect someone with your life, despite the trouble you are going through.

Being an aspiring artist as well, Matt and Trey both have inspired me to become better with art and hone my skill. Since I’ve started watching South Park, I’ve become much better at drawing children and a variety of characters. Looking back at how South Park was made of paper during it’s early days, and now looking at what a success it’s become now, I’ve realized that you can indeed be successful in the art world.

Matt, Trey, and any others who work so hard to make the show what it is, I can’t express my thanks enough. I feel like South Park has saved me, and made me a better person overall. I truly wish there was some other way I could show my appreciation for your work, other than sharing my story. I will always remain a loyal fan and support you guys in whatever you do. Thank you for this show, thank you for saving my life.

-Sydney

Submitted by slashpark!

South Park is one of the most important aspects of my life. It means a lot to me because it’s the first fandom I’ve actually gotten involved with (Writing). The people are amazing and I felt proud to be involved with everyone.

It taught me some valuable lessons; Like to be yourself or that if you’re going to censor one thing, you might aswell censor everything.

South Park means a lot to me because I’ve met so many amazing people, I learned some things, and because I realised that I really liked to write.

Submitted by orbofjonfusion!

When I first started watching South Park, I did it as an act of rebellion. I’m the youngest in my house, so I was never really allowed to watch anything with my family, because everything was too grown up for me. South Park, on the other hand, was forbidden television for everyone in my house. It was gross, rude, violent, and those kids just had horrible language! My parents didn’t want us to have anything to do with it.

By the time I was in 4th grade, I was tired of not being included in anything, so I began watching South Park. I had this tiny, cheap tv in my room, and I would watch it with the sound on low, in case my parents heard it, and I would muffle my laughter in my pillow.

South Park was my middle finger to everyone who said I couldn’t see this, couldn’t read that, or couldn’t hear this. They thought I was too young to understand something, so they were going to leave me in my room? Fine, fuck them! I was going to watch the thing my parents hated the most, because they left me all alone.

South Park meant independence, or at least at the time it did. It meant that I could do what I wanted, and think what I wanted, and fuck you if you didn’t like it. 

After a couple years of watching though, I found myself getting more and more attached to these little cartoon characters. South Park became a big deal to me.

I became invested in these boys and their families. They made me laugh when I was sad. If I felt stupid, I could watch South Park and feel better, because the show never treats the viewers like they’re stupid. They know people are smart, and they know kids are smart, so they wouldn’t bullshit you. I was laughing and learning, all at the same time. 

Like Monty Python, South Park taught me that being silly wasn’t a bad thing. Silliness and profundity weren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, if you couldn’t be silly, you were just an uptight little asshole who needed to chill. 

That was so fucking awesome to hear. As a kid, you are constantly told to grow up, to calm down, to not be so excitable, to basically become humdrum boring ass adults. It’s one of the worst things you can be told as a kid. 

South Park was different. It wasn’t saying that being a kid is perfect or anything, in fact, it said almost the opposite. But it never at any point said laughing at farts makes you immature. Laughing at a whale being on a moon wasn’t bad. You weren’t going to be looked down on if you thought otters riding ostriches was totally fucking rad. You were going to be embraced by a bunch of people who think it’s just as hilarious as you do.

South Park used to mean independence, and nothing else. But, after a while, it began to mean more. It was a reassurance that being silly was okay, that being rational was great, South Park means optimism no matter what. Your friends and family are going to help you through whatever insanity is happening in the world, even if it seems impossible.

To me, South Park means that everything is going to be okay, because there’s friendly faces everywhere. And fuck you if you don’t understand that.