Team America: World Police is an incredibly funny movie.
It also predicted a media landscape defined by apathy and detachment.
On Oct. 15, 2004, comedianJon Stewartvisited the CNN debate showCrossfire.
But Stewart wasnt interested in playing the shows usual game.
And come work for America.
He wanted something done.
Its easy to understand whyCrossfireexpected toothless laughs from Stewart.
Thus enteredTeam America: World Policeinto the pop culture landscape.
Make no mistake,Team Americais funny, even 20 years later.
Team Americamakes itspoint at the climax when hero Gary Johnston (Parker) repeats the drunk guys rant.
Were reckless, arrogant, stupid dicks, he declares.
And the Film Actors Guild are pussies.
And Kim Jong Il is an asshole.
He continues the analogy to justify Team Americas actions via various forms of sexual penetration.
The fact that its a puppet getting misty-eyed to sweeping orchestral music makes it only more hilarious.
It is not, however, a convincing political analysis.
Its still better to let America attack its enemies.
Giving Up and Laughing it Off
Team Americas ethos of resignation fits right alongsideSouth Parks humor.
Its only what individuals do that matters, so dont get caught up in extreme positions.
Of course there are some outliers.
Stans mom Sharon has the rational and moral response to children getting murdered in school.
She screams and demands that something change, but everyone else treats her as odd for caring.
The kids, meanwhile, resent the shootings as if they were common interruptions to their day.
At points, Dead Kids representsSouth Parkat its best.
Parker and Stone parody 2000s and 90s action movies withMel Brooks-level accuracy.
The combination of (really impressive) puppets and apparently high-tech equipment gets a chuckle every time.
And the extended, X-rated sex scene, played completely straight but with puppets, retains its subversive power.
That subversion does not extend to the movies politics.
Instead the absurdity and boundary-pushing of the jokes serve to reinforce the status quo.
Garys speech, however, shows the limitations of that response.
It is, at best, partisan hackery, to use Jon Stewarts charge againstCrossfire.
