OK, we get it: America is bad. We don’t care about the rest of the world. Bush is evil. Enough already. Team America: World Police does nothing to abate this outpouring of anti-American sentiment. It instead goes further by not only mocking our conservative government, but the left-wingers who oppose it. Both groups are portrayed not as cartoons, but as puppets (metaphor duly noted).
Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame, two filmmakers who pride themselves on topicality and irreverence, prove to be surprisingly behind the times and disappointingly mild in their humor.
In their previous film, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, they leveled their humor at Saddam Hussein, the American military and American civilians. This movie follows the same pattern of ridiculing the establishment, the people and the enemy: no one, from the U.S. government, those who mock the U.S. government, and the U.S.’s enemies, specifically the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il is spared. Though this might sound like refreshing cynicism, the film ends up unable to attack all groups at once. Somebody must end up the hero and you can bet it’s not Kim Jong Il or Hollywood.
The first group to be roasted is the U.S. government and its need to act as the world’s police officer. The movie revolves around Team America, a U.S. crime-fighting force, and its efforts to hunt down terrorists negotiating with Kim Jong Il. In order to destroy the terrorist organizations, Team America convinces stage actor Gary Johnston, voiced by Trey Parker, to go undercover as a terrorist.
The movie’s biggest criticism of the U.S. is the willingness of Team America to destroy other countries in search of terrorists. Though this observation might be a biting social commentary, it’s nothing new. Parker and Stone should have made this joke years ago. For all their supposed concern for topicality and relevance, the jokes are old, as is their spoof of the Matrix-like fight scenes.
Adding to the silliness of the attack on the government is the ridicule of liberal Hollywood. Though Team America’s caricatures of California left-wingers are dead-on, these aging celebrities have been ranting against America for years. Attacking them now not only shows a lack of topicality, it also weakens the already-mild attack on the U.S. government. Though Parker and Stone are perfectly willing to poke fun directly at Susan Sarandon, Chris Robbins, Alec Baldwin and others, they shy away from even mentioning any prominent U.S. political figures by name and the movie completely avoids any mention of the president.
Team America: World Police’s message is ultimately confusing: Are we supposed to hate the U.S.’s arrogance or mock those who oppose the government? Parker and Stone obviously did not want to create just another anti-Bush polemic, but in trying to ridicule everyone, they end up ridiculing no one. Though Team America does have its humorous moments, the conflicting messages weaken its social commentary.
