South Park Creators Presented With Signed Photo of Saddam Hussein

Friends of Reason and South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were recently presented with an odd gift:

During his captivity, US marines forced Saddam, who was executed in 2006, to repeatedly watch the move South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut, which shows him as gay, as well as the boyfriend of Satan. He was also regularly depicted in a similar manner during the TV series.

[…]

Stone, 37, said both he and Parker, 39, were most proud of the signed Saddam photo, given to them by the US Army's 4th Infantry Division.

He said: "We're very proud of our signed Saddam picture and what it means. Its one of our biggest highlights.

"I have it on pretty good information from the marines on detail in Iraq that they showed Saddam the movie.

"Over and over again – which is a pretty funny thought.

Reason's interview with Parker and Stone—the most-read article in the history of Reason.com, by the way—here.

Comments

[Ska]

Did they make him promise to no longer be a sandy little butthole (in song, of course)?

[hmm]

Sounds like torture to me!!

[Jozef]

Sooooo..... Does that mean that Kim Jong Il should be afraid?

[Hazel Meade]

Isn't that like torture or something. Where is the IRC on this?

[phalkor]

this story really is freaking amazing. what a trophy, what a funny mental image, what an elegant form of torture. this story shouldn't make me so happy, but it does, so there.

[MaterialMonkee]

The Southpark fan in me appreciates this

and man am I a Southpark fan!

but the libertarian in me is absolutely fucking disgusted

[Dragonfly]

Did Saddam speak English?

[Nick]

MM, why is the libertarian in you disgusted? I could guess, I suppose, but that's no fun.

[Menstrual Retardation]

"Did Saddam speak English?"

Ever time they put a blowtorch to his balls.

[Send in the troops]

Did Saddam speak English?

Of course, he used to work for GHW Bush.

[Pro Libertate]

Did they make him watch Hot Shots! Part Deux?

[High Every Body]

Of course, this sort of horrible treatment has stopped under Obama. It has a whole new secret name.

[EJM]

Isn't that like torture or something. Where is the IRC on this?

I think you mean the ICRC; the IRC was one of the aid groups recently kicked out of Sudan. 😉

[robc]

What I never understood was why Saddam was Canadian.

[wingnutx]

Internet Relay Chat was kicked out of Sudan?

[High Every Body]

What I never understood was why Saddam was Canadian.

That is where the highest concentration of evil on the planet is located.

[Blue]

ALL evil tyrants are Canadian. Through out human history the one constant is that evil tyrants and Shatner are Canadian.

[Warty]

The IRC was the best place to steal music before torrents.

[High Every Body]

Shatner is not from Iowa? Damn documentries are always wrong.

[High Every Body]

The IRC was the best place to steal music before torrents.

But USENET ruled for pr0n!

[engineer]

I love it. Incidentally, I predicted this a few years ago, back when they first captured Saddam, that he would at some point be forced to view the South Park movie.

[Kim Jong Il]

Ronery, I'm so ronery...

[raivo pommer-www.google.ee]

raivo pommer-www.google.ee
[e-mail]

EURO KRISIS

Der Kurs des Euro EURUS.FX1 hat sich am Mittwoch im Nachmittagshandel stabilisiert. Zuletzt wurden f?r die Gemeinschaftsw?hrung 1,3242 US-Dollar gezahlt, nachdem der Euro im fr?hen Handel noch bis auf 1,3145 Dollar gefallen war. Die Europ?ische Zentralbank (EZB) hatte den Referenzkurs am Mittag auf 1,3231 (Dienstag: 1,3255) Dollar festgesetzt. Der Dollar kostete damit 0,7558 (0,7544) Euro.

Zun?chst hatten schw?chelnde Aktienm?rkte den Euro belastet. "Als die Aktienkurse im Zuge der Bekanntgabe der ersten Ergebnisse f?r das erste Quartal 2009 ins Trudeln gerieten, nahm die Risikoaversion zu und schon ging es f?r den Euro abw?rts", erkl?rten die Experten der HSH Nordbank die Kursentwicklung. "M?glicherweise h?lt das Protokoll der letzten Sitzung des geldpolitischen Ausschusses der US-Notenbank Fed noch etwas Neues bereit", so die HSH Nordbank und hofft auf eine Begr?ndung f?r den Ankauf von 300 Milliarden Dollar an Staatsanleihen. Die Auswirkungen auf den Devisenmarkt sollten sich den Experten zufolge allerdings in Grenzen halten.

Devisenexperte Klaus G?litz von M.M. Warburg verwies ebenfalls auf die Aktienm?rkte als Impulsgeber. "Derzeit ist Euro/Dollar ein Spiegelbild des DAX und des Futures auf den Dow Jones . Mit der Erholung der Aktienm?rkte ging es auch f?r den Euro wieder etwas nach oben", sagte G?litz. Insgesamt sei die Grundstimmung aber relativ ruhig. Die Positionen auf dem Devisenmarkt seien seit dem G20-Gipfel relativ ausgewogen und die Volatilit?t sei vor dem langen Osterwochenende deutlich zur?ckgekommen.

[Pro Libertate]

I have a thought experiment: What movie would Saddam's captors have made him watch if he were alive during the Glorious Obama? administration?

[Brandybuck]

I'm sure it would have been a Region 1 DVD...

[Solana]

Alright, well, I love South Park, and I'm no fan of Saddam, but... that's a little fucked up. The cartoon thing leading up to his execution, I mean.

There's no dignity in that --- and I'm talking about our dignity, here, not his.

[Xmas]

Man, I can't remember how many times I had to run uudecode to get some raunchy 256-color interlaced GIFs.

[engineer]

Pro Libertate,
A sensitivity training video.

[John]

I guess this means that Kim Jong Ill will be watching Team America in the days leading up to when he finally sees the end of a rope, God willing.

[John]

"What movie would Saddam's captors have made him watch if he were alive during the Glorious Obama? administration?"

Medium Cool. It is a documentary about the 1968 Democratic Convention riots. It has got Chicago, hippies, Bill Ayers, how could Obama not choose it?

[Pro Libertate]

Troops under Gore would've made Hussein watch An Inconvenient Truth. If Obama were a cool Chicagoan, the choice would be, of course, The Blues Brothers. But he isn't very cool.

[TXLimey]

They'd have given Saddam an iPod loaded with old Obama speeches and showtunes.

I wonder how long it will be before the blogosphere explodes with stories that Dick Cheney personally smuggled the DVD into Bagdhad.

[John]

"Troops under Gore would've made Hussein watch An Inconvenient Truth."

I would rather be waterboarded.

[Paul]

I have a thought experiment: What movie would Saddam's captors have made him watch if he were alive during the Glorious Obama? administration?

"Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay"

[Pro Libertate]

Paul,

Ah, good choice. And topical, too!

[John]

There is a scene in the Woody Allen movie Take the Money and Run where as punishment for misbehaving on a chain gang, Allen is locked in a sweatbox with an insurance salesman for two days. I guess the GUITMO war on terror equivilent of that would be being locked in a cell with Al Gore for a week.

[Kurt]

Wow. What a terrible thing to mark your "biggest highlights."

What could be more frightening than being shown a video to let you know how your captors viewed you. Certainly he's no angel, but to see the divide between yourself and the viewpoints of your judge/jury before heading to a show courtroom for your life . . . thats terrifying.

[engineer]

My only problem with the Kim Jong Il and Team America thing is that Team America kinda sucked.

[engineer]

Kurt,
In all fairness, I doubt the judges in Saddam Hussein's trial saw The South Park movie.

[John]

"Certainly he's no angel, but to see the divide between yourself and the viewpoints of your judge/jury before heading to a show courtroom for your life . . . thats terrifying."

This is a guy who fed people through wood chippers, gassed 1000s, murdered 100s of thousands more and raped the wives of his subordinates. I doubt it bothered him too much. It would bother you and I, but we are not Saddam.

[troy]

My personal torture would be to have to watch complete episodes of American Idol, followed by Dancing With the Stars, followed by a random Survivor episode.....sober. "the Horror, the Horror."

And this isn't torture. shoving a broom stick up your ass like NYPD or waterboarding like the Imperial Federal Government...that's torture.

[Zeb]

"John | April 8, 2009, 4:40pm | #
"Troops under Gore would've made Hussein watch An Inconvenient Truth."

I would rather be waterboarded."

It's much harder to sleep through a waterboarding. Though, I suppose if you had to watch it "A Clockwork Orange"-style...

[Zeb]

"Certainly he's no angel, but to see the divide between yourself and the viewpoints of your judge/jury before heading to a show courtroom for your life . . . thats terrifying."

And the judge/jury were Iraqi. They hate him even more.

[Pro Libertate]

John,

I've got to think that a self-deluded egomaniac who has been getting his way (mostly) for years has got to be extra pissed off when he sees himself mocked.

There are aspects of Team America that I liked, but I wasn't all that thrilled with the movie as a whole.

[John]

Good point Zeb. I think having 1980s Survivor songs and other soft rock favorites blasted into your cell 24/7 is probably a special wing in hell for music snobs.

[John]

"I've got to think that a self-deluded egomaniac who has been getting his way (mostly) for years has got to be extra pissed off when he sees himself mocked."

I am sure it pissed him off but I doubt it go the better of him. It takes a certain breed of will to become a mad dictator. I would imagine it takes more than a cartoon to penetrate that kind of will.

[Tony]

Only the Bush administration could botch the trial and punishment of a loathed dictator.

[bigbigslacker]

Troops under Gore would've made Hussein watch An Inconvenient Truth. If Obama were a cool Chicagoan, the choice would be, of course, The Blues Brothers. But he isn't very cool.

Cut him some slack. The Blues Brothers came out in 1980. Barack didn't become Chicagoan until 1985. But he might have picked Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1985), though that would be less cool than The Blues brothers.

[Tony-bot]

I'm troll-er-ific. I never gotta be on topic.

[John]

I am not sure what a nerd like Obama would actually watch. They say he watches Entourage and sports. So considering that, episodes of Sports Center with old episodes of TRL and The Real World mixed in?

[Pro Libertate]

And I lived in Chicago in the mid-90s. If I could understand the glory that is The Blues Brothers, why can't Obama? Does he like Illinois Nazis or something?

John,

Star Trek, of course! Without Jeri Ryan, he's not even former Senator Obama.

[engineer]

John,
As ultra-super-mega-nerd for the last six years at my high school and college, I resent being grouped in witht the current president!

[John]

My apologies engineer. Last I checked, no nerd has ever looted the country.

[Joel]

Guh! I've seen that movie. Poor guy must have been happy to hang, just to make it stop.

Seriously, ergggg...

[engineer]

John,
Well, since kinnath forgave me my own mistake...Yes, you are forgiven.

[engineer]

Joel, SP and SP:B,L,&U kixass!

[PR]

at least they didn't make him watch Baseketball

[shecky]

I find this kind of unsavory. Not because Saddam didn't deserve it. Rather, because I prefer that law enforcement, authority figures, etc, not engage in horseplay at the expense of the accused/condemned. I would like to think that professionalism should be expected, whether it's Saddam or a 20 year old pot smoker who got caught.

[Pro Libertate]

shecky,

I mostly agree. I think our government, whenever it acts, should play above board and follow the rules to the letter. We should behave properly even if the guy deserves worse. It smacks of a breakdown in discipline, too, which is not a good thing.

[engineer]

shecky,
Except the 20-year-old pot smoker hasn't harmed anyone, while Saddam Hussein murdered thousands. I figure a little humiliation is OK in this case.

[Pro Libertate]

engineer,

I'd agree, except that it's us, not him, that is the point of shecky's criticism. No question that Hussein doesn't deserve any tears, but I prefer all of my government actors to be more restricted in their actions. Not, of course, that they are in real life.

[J]

If we could have managed to miraculously pluck Saddam out of Iraq, prosecuted him, and executed him without killing tens of thousands of people (sorry, liberating them), then I'd have no problem with mocking him repeatedly before killing him. It's pointless, but who cares.

The fact that so many people have been killed simply to get this one guy, totally removes any "fun" his captors should be able to have at his expense.

If I were Matt and Trey, I wouldn't be so stoked to own a symbol of megadeath and mass destruction, which that signed picture is. It's fucking morbid.

[Gabe]

"This is a guy who fed people through wood chippers, gassed 1000s, murdered 100s of thousands more and raped the wives of his subordinates. I doubt it bothered him too much. It would bother you and I, but we are not Saddam."

Donald Rumsfeld built up a dictator.
This is a guy who supported and put in power a homicidal maniac. He was a mere assasin/killer before Rumsfeld/Bush/CIA got involved and suplied him with tactical support and billions of dollars of weapons. This would make you or me feel remorseful...but not these guys.

After the flash mob revolution how do you think Rumsfeld will be tortured? I'm thinking he will be forced to watch this
while being forced to live off of nothing but packets of nutrasweet.

[Seer]

I'm disappointed in this post. No reaction from Saddam?

[Pain]

So is there actually any proof this happened? Other than some US Marines who got a signed photo of Saddam. (Something I imagine given Saddam's ego would be pretty easy to do for anybody guarding him.)

When I was in, soldiers made shit up all the time for a laugh. How do we know these guys aren't?

[hmm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus

[jester]

Libertarians, libertarians, libertarians. You stupid fucks (except me & hopefully some others), I am a libertarian, but don't you see: Sadam was paying the ultimate compliment to Parker & Stone because he recognized that they were the only two humans who saw through his bullshit. He fooled Bush (informed by the best & brightest in neo-con America), he fooled Chirac, he fooled the rest of Europe, he fooled Blair.

He paid respect to two satirists who perceived the whole of his bluff well before the 'invasion'. I myself suggested parachuting copies of "South Park: the Movie" before the invasion.

Ironically, as much of a scumbag as he was, Saddam is a more tangible person than the slippery dicks, Bush, Blair, Chirac, etc. ad nauseum.

Saddam knew at least and was flattered by Stone & Parker that Satan himself was his bitch, Canadian-mouth aside.

As for ultimate torture, and thank God Varney is dead, a movie project: "Ernest Goes to Gitmo."

[B]

So when is the ACLU going to fill out some sort of paperwork demanding to know who the Marines were and why they haven't been prosecuted?

"There's no dignity in that --- and I'm talking about our dignity, here, not his."

Please, give us all a fucking break.

[B]

"Only the Bush administration could botch the trial and punishment of a loathed dictator."

Wow, the Bush administration botched it? And all along I thought he was tried in an Iraqi courtroom, with Iraqi judges, and Iraqi attorneys and was executed by Iraqis. Shit, I wish I would have known it was Bush instead. I never miss a chance to blame shit on him, even if it is made up shit.

[B]

And if making a dictator repeatedly watch a movie is torture, then the definition has become so broad, it is now officially fucking useless.

[Same Tony, different universe]

I am totally satisfied with the trial and punishment of this particular dictator.

*Sucked into black hole*

[technomist]

It'll be funny if it turns out to be a forgery.

[gay fish]

Ok, time to stop this silly story. The original article in the Guardian, then repeated in the Telegraph, cut the piece about the signed photo from a Rolling Stone article and the joke (yes it was a joke) about Saddam being made to watch the film over and over from a conference appearance several years ago. But thanks to the magic of the internet this story now suggests that Saddam watched the film and then signed a photo. Come on people, remember that journalists are lazy fucks who pad out interviews with old info.