South Park and The Book Of Mormon creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone don't discriminate when it comes their satirical portrayals: Christians, gay people, Jewish people, black people, white people, Muslims, celebrities… They're not afraid to offend anyone and everyone.
Yet rarely do they discuss their personal political views as openly they do in an interview with The Guardian, telling journalist Hadley Freeman they're for both gun rights and gay rights, often thought of as opposed positions. The interview, it is noted, was conducted before the Sandy Hook shooting.
The men also point out that liberals complain more often than conservatives about being made fun of:
"The big lie of our whole career is that rightwing fundamentalists are always trying to shut us down," Stone says. "It has literally never happened. The Mormons haven't, the Christians haven't – OK, the Scientologists did, but they don't count. But when we make fun of liberal people, they're like, 'What?!' I think religious conservatives are more used to taking a beating." And as if to antagonise their long-suffering liberal fans even more, Parker announces that the two causes he and Stone believe in are "gay marriage and guns. We're for both of those." [This interview was conducted before the recent shootings in Sandy Hook].
"We're from Colorado, and look at the way Colorado's gone politically in the last few elections," adds Stone, "it's now gay-friendly, weed-friendly, gun-friendly. There's an element of Colorado that I think is in us." Parker nods stoutly.
If there can be a concise summary of their political views, writes Freeman, it is this: "Be tolerant and be temperate, because only blinkered idiots are entirely on one side or the other." That's pretty fair.
