sorry, dumb rant incoming after reading too many exhausting comments on tiktok over the last few episodes lol. So just know this isn't aimed at anyone in particular here and just the culmination of other online spaces giving me a migraine.
I think it’s genuinely so funny the amount of discourse I’ve seen regarding Kenny these past couple episodes for following around questionable schemes as if Kenny hasn’t been doing that the entire run of the show lmao. Kenny has ALWAYS had questionable morals; this doesn’t mean he’s a terrible person or that it erases his good qualities.
Like I promise you that Kenny helping out Stan with crypto was very much in character for him, and I doubt Stan even had to beg him to do it. In last night’s episode, Kenny laughing at the Sora videos… would you really expect anything less from him? I’d be surprised if he didn’t find AI deepfakes funny. Please, this is the same guy that helped orchestrate a prank on their struggling teacher that she was on her period, the same guy who swindled Butters out of his money for the Hot Dog place with Cartman (something very in character for him btw), the same guy who repeatedly engages in schemes for money and makes morally grey jokes throughout the entire series.
None of these makes him a bad person; it just makes him a complex and realistic character. Kenny’s willingness to help Stan with crypto not only was in character with the many times he’s down to make money no matter what it is, but it also likely came from a place of genuine empathy. He understands financial desperation in a way that Kyle couldn’t, so he also stuck by Stan because of that. He wasn’t manipulated by Stan to help; he made an active choice to get involved, which he often quietly does throughout the show with questionable things. Kenny is often down to go along for the ride no matter what it is, but he very much makes his own choices to do so.
And that brings me to Butters, someone who actually is frequently manipulated into things (he’s a people pleaser and especially in the earlier seasons was naive in that he thought the best of everyone). Despite being manipulated many times, he’s been learning how to break away from manipulation and be his own person, and in the process has developed some very questionable methods in the process lmao -- especially when it comes how he views and treats girls. But in my opinion, his character becomes infinitely more interesting when you acknowledge these contradictions alongside his genuine sweetness and the impact of his upbringing (also KUDOS to him owning up to things at the end of last night’s episode; that was a beautiful Butters moment).
Let’s not forget these kids are literally 9 years old, and it’s fucking SOUTH PARK 😭 There is not one kid on that show that is a beautiful moral perfect example we should follow, and I promise you that’s okay, and is often the fucking POINT.
I get genuinely baffled when I see discourse from folks almost trying to like…. prove which characters are the most moral, or doing mental gymnastics to excuse every bad action their favorite makes? Because I’d say characters like Kenny, Butters, Wendy, Stan, and Kyle are honestly pretty level here. They’re generally good kids who do shitty things. They have different nuances, different circumstances, different blind spots.
Even Kyle, probably the closest to the show’s true ‘moral compass’... even he has plenty of hypocritical moments, like in last night’s episode where he’s vehemently against Sora AI revenge porn… until he can use it for revenge when he becomes a victim himself lmao. And that’s one of the things that makes him interesting! If Kyle always took the moral high ground with perfect consistency, he’d be so boring, and just some weird stereotype of a moral compass character.
And Stan in the crypto episode… I find it so interesting how many also took that episode (along with Stan’s general quietness during social issues this season when the dude is pretty much the exact same as Kenny when it comes to things like that; they both just really value peace and quiet lol) to just shit on his character lol. Yes, Stan was being selfish and desperate -- that’s always been one of his character traits. He’s always consistently gotten tunnel vision about his personal problems while ignoring how his impulsive actions impact others; that’s like… one of his things (usually learning in the end and getting better, because he’s a child). But also… and this feels like an important detail… his family is fucking homeless. He's kid trying to fix an adult problem with the only solution he could think of. Is it selfish? Yes. Is it also completely understandable from a child experiencing housing insecurity? Also yes.
The main five have always been willing to bend or break rules for profit or to solve their problems. Every single one of them. Multiple times. This isn't new, and I'm certain they'll all do it again.
Idk guys, sorry for the rant. This isn’t just an issue with South Park at all, so I think this rant is just the culmination of a lot of online spaces lately becoming so unbearably black and white where everything and everyone has to be categorized as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ with no room for complexity or growth and it’s fucking exhausting. Good fiction doesn’t follow a strict ‘unproblematic fave’ vs irredeemable villains, and also…. Nobody irl follows that binary either. Nobody is completely unproblematic.
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