What what in the butt

From portraying Saddam Hussein as Satan’s gay lover to a depiction of a Virgin Mary statue bleeding from its rectum, it is no wonder that TIME magazine named South Park as one of the top ten most controversial cartoons of 2010.

Whether Tom Cruise tried to blackmail Viacom into pulling the “Trapped in the Closet” episode, or Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit because they made fun at Scientology, there are no stopping creators Matt Stoneo and Trey Parker.

Now in its 14th season on Comedy Central, the 200th episode that aired on April 14 showed the town of South Park facing a class action lawsuit as every celebrity they’ve ever ridiculed is out for revenge.

The most controversial character revisited was the Prophet Muhammad. Aware that Islam forbids any depiction of the Prophet, the creators showed him dressed in a bear suit.

In response to the episode, website RevolutionMuslim.com, an extremist Islamic website, claimed it “outright insulted” the prophet.

Member Aby Talhal Al-Amrikee added, “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”

Included in the message was a gruesome picture of Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 after he made a documentary on the abuse of Muslim women of women in Islam.

Detectives from the New York City Police Department are now looking into whether the failed car bombing in Times Square that occurred May 1 is linked to the warning issued by the radical Islamic group based in Queens.

Nissan Pathfinder packed with propane, gasoline, and fireworks was found Saturday evening on West 45th St. and Broadway in Times Square, near Viacom headquarters, the company that owns Comedy Central.

Despite the controversy, 71 percent of American adults didn’t agree with Comedy Central’s decision to censor South Park’s 201st episode according to a Zogby Interactive Survey.

“People need to chill out, it’s just a show. They just do it to get a rise out of people; it’s all about shock value. If you don’t like it don’t watch it,” says Thomas Vita, a junior at Penn State.

Celebrities and religious groups aren’t the only ones offended by South Park. On May 3, 20-something students at Garden City Middle School in Garden City, New York caused a stir when they reported to guidance that they had been kicked. The kids who were kicked all happened to have red hair.

“It was national Kick a Ginger day,” according to sixth-grader Howie Miller. Assistant Principal Lee warned the students that if any more kicking went on, students would get suspended.

The students were inspired by South Park’s “Ginger Kids” episode, first aired in 2005, in which the characters beat up kids with red hair and freckles. Since then, there has been a trend amongst middle school and high school student to plan a “Kick a Ginger” day whether it is by word of mouth or groups on Facebook.

“The fact that the characters are in fourth grade probably influences younger kids even more,” says Devon Trettien, a sophomore from Nassau Community College.

The content of the show is certainly debatable as the creators prove themselves to be ruthless. 17 Pulitzer cartoonists, including Nick Anderson and Matt Davies, signed a petition to condemn threats against the creators.

Their letter states that “freedom of expression is a universal right,” and cited the United States’ “proud tradition of political satire” and asserts belief in the right “to speak or draw freely without censorship.”

Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker issued a statement in response to Comedy Central’s decision to censor the infamous episode that feature Muhammad in which they said, “In the 14 years we’ve been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn’t stand behind.”

“We’ll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we’ll see what happens to it.”