South Park’s Pandemic Special is worth watching, if you can get past it's gross out humor. It’s pretty funny and really relatable. What makes it worth talking about, however, is it’s acknowledgment of mental strain caused by the ongoing pandemic and quarantine. We will be talking about the plot a little, but I won't spoil any gags. So if you watch South Park for the plot, spoilers...I guess.
After spending most of the year stuck in his house, Butters is placed on quarantine in his school. He finally starts losing his cool and freaking. All he's wanted to do for months is visit Build-a-Bear Workshop; but every time he’s supposed to go, the quarantine stops him. We thought the virus would be over by Summer and here we are at the tail end of October. Like many of us, Butters is tired of waiting for things to go back to 'normal'.
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Stan, on the other hand, is pretty calm on the outside but secretly depressed. He denies his depression, at first, to himself, then to the people around him. “You know I'm strong. I'm just worried about how this is all affecting weaker kids.” Stan further deflects his depression by focusing his attention on Butter's problem, instead of his own.
I find myself acting like Stan sometimes, especially this week. I see people around me being affected pretty badly by quarantine, and I go, “Man, I feel really bad for them.” It's easy to ignore how quarantine has affected myself. Yeah, I’m a little depressed, and I feel better admitting it.
It's ok to spend some time focusing on your own issues, and it's not weak to struggle with something. What's weak, is denying you have a problem. It's, also important to help yourself, before you can try to help other people. Otherwise, you may end up like Stan, breaking into a Build-a-Bear in a desperate attempt to help a friend.
I like how the South Park Pandemic Special opens up discussion on an issue a lot of us are experiencing, right now. Humans aren’t built to be isolated creatures. By being over cautious of our physical health we risk losing ourselves in the process. If you are feeling depressed right now, it’s important to know you are not alone. Talk to someone about what’s going on, before it gets worse; and it’s important to get out of the house sometimes. Hanging out in small groups of friends and family is far healthier than being alone all day every day.
Or maybe you love "Social Distancing". To each their own.
If you're interested in reading more about mental health, I wrote about the hallucination striking similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you love animation I've made a list of some must watch Clone Wars episodes.
You can find me @ChefCinephile on twitter.
