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Printer-Friendly ModeVoice of South Park's Chef hypocritical for quitting now
March 27, 2006 —
Soul singer Isaac Hayes recently quit his nearly nine-year gig as the voice of Chef on Comedy Central's South Park after allegedly becoming infuriated with the show's treatment of his religion, Scientology. Hayes, whose original claim to fame was winning an Oscar for the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft, is a fervent Scientology follower and reportedly quit after the show satirized the religion.
If Hayes did quit because South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker poked fun at his religion, then he may have just become the world's biggest hypocrite. After spending nearly a decade gathering paychecks from a show that makes its money by making fun of everything and anything, it seems strange that Hayes chose now to pull the plug on his relationship with the hit show.
Hayes said the reason for his departure stems from the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion, though it seems awfully coincidental that the most recent religion to get ridiculed was his own. And while he may be able to claim that the shot at Scientology was the straw that broke the camel's back, Hayes has put himself in a position where his actions appear nothing more than selfish.
If "inappropriate ridicule" was behind his resignation, then perhaps Hayes should have cashed in his chips years ago when South Park made fun of Judaism and Christianity. Instead, he sat back and profited from it and laughed along with the rest of us until they went after something personal to him. While Hayes and other Scientology followers may find his actions partly heroic, I find them purely hypocritical. If you're not going to find the ridicule of one religion inappropriate, you have no right to find another offensive, even if it is your own.
It is a major societal flaw that we often find humor in the ridicule of others yet object when that ridicule is directed at us. And while I understand the improbability of being able to protest everything offensive, I still cannot find fairness in deciding to pick specific battles, essentially saying to everyone else, "my problem is worse than yours."
Personally, I am not easily offended, perhaps shedding light on why I watch shows like South Park and Family Guy that generate their laughs by making fun of others. I also believe that everyone takes themselves far too seriously, seemingly watching TV or reading with Hotmail fired up ready to send angry e-mails at the first hint of something that angers them.
Now I'm not claiming I'm some sort of saint. I have laughed at my fair share of offensive jokes and have probably told many more. Am I proud of this? No. But I will not try to escape from the truth and pretend I'm not guilty of the same thing Stone and Parker are. But I also have never stormed out of a room after someone said something offensive or written an angry letter demanding an apology for the sort of proverbial wrongdoing so many people believe they are the victims of. So am I a hypocrite? Sure, but not for this.
I cannot remember how old I was when my parents passed on the "sticks and stones" saying, but it still holds truer than so many other things in our lives. Words can only do harm if we allow them to, and far too many people do just that. If Hayes really wanted to make a difference, he should spend more time getting the word out on Scientology and less on complaining about others.
If that advice isn't good enough, perhaps people should just consider the source when they are offended. Parker and Stone aren't saints, either, and if you don't like what they're saying, don't watch the show. It's that simple. We all have the right to turn the page, change the channel, or turn the radio down.
In the meantime, everyone needs to take a deep breath and remember that there always have been and always will be things that offend us. But deciding to wage a war that cannot be won will only waste energy that could be used simply ignoring those things we don't like and moving on.