Muslim group warns 'South Park' creators after Muhammad scene
April 21, 2010 | 3:58 pm
A radical Islamic group has warned "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone after a recent episode of the Comedy Central cartoon depicted the prophet Muhammad in a bear costume.
"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show," a posting on the site Revolutionmuslim said. Van Gogh was the Dutch filmmaker shot to death in 2004 after he made a film critical of the treatment of women in Islamic society. "This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."
"South Park" has long flirted with trouble over depicting Muhammad, which is considered offensive to many Muslims. Wednesday's episode was built around the efforts of the "South Park" kids to bring the prophet to their town, only to realize the difficulty of doing so without showing his face or body. He is ultimately shown wearing a bear mascot's costume.
In 2006, Comedy Central censored the producers' plans to depict Muhammad in the "Cartoon Wars" episodes. The series has kicked up so many battles on this and other fronts that "South Park controversies" has its own Wikipedia page.
A Comedy Central spokesman said the network had no comment. Attempts to load the Revolutionmuslim.com website on Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.