Ill never forget where I was June 30, 1999.
Id seen some episodes and enjoyed it but I never got into it.
(I was intoIndependence DayandMen in Blackthough, hence the opening night decision.)
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut turns 25 this week.Image: Paramount
Sitting down in the theater, Im not sure I knew this film was a musical.
At this point in my life, I was already a huge musical fan.
All of which I still literally know every single word of, even all these years later.
Image: Paramount
No one was ready and thats certainly how Trey Parker and Matt Stone planned it.
Instantly you realize this movie is operating on a level you were not ready for.
Which, I have to admit, left me more conflicted than I was expecting.
Image: Paramount
In 1999, Bigger, Longer & Uncut was already incredibly offensive.
Thats the whole point.
But in 2024, the fact it might be even more offensive seems sadly prophetic.
Parker and Stone saw what censorship and fear of language might do to us.
That got me thinking a little deeper.
I think it may play a part.
And in that way, Im grateful for it.
I want to be a person who understands there is a line and crossing it is bad.
But also that tiptoeing on it, if done right, can be hilarious.
The South Park film also broadened my understanding of what musicals can be.
Its not a genre that can tell only one punch in of story.
This time though, one thing had changed during my re-watch.
What can I say, though?
That movie has warped my fragile little mind.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut turns 25 on June 30.
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