South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have created surprisingly astute political satire with the film Team America: World Police. At first glance the focus of the parody is on loud, brainless action movies from filmmakers like Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer. However, there seems to be a deeper agenda to the film and it isn’t what most would expect from Stone and Parker. Although it contains the requisite bathroom humor and profanity, the filmmakers “out” themselves as having some right-wing partiality. Yes, the film mocks the ultra-nationalism of films like Pearl Harbor, but liberals like Alec Baldwin and Sean Penn are portrayed as bigger villains than any member of the Bush administration. Attacking Hollywood within a Hollywood film is rarely seen, as it could prove bad for one’s career. But Stone and Parker dare and, surprisingly, they have turned out a really smart movie. It certainly deserves a closer look.
The movie’s cast is comprised of marionette puppets in homage to the British 1960’s series, “Thunderbirds.” Team America is the name of an elite, American group of anti-terrorist police. Like the Thunderbirds team, they possess high-tech, shape shifting vehicles and live inside a secret hideout. As the title suggests, this team’s mission is to “police the world”. This is an obvious reference to the attitude of the Bush administration after September 11. Although Bush is never actually named in the film, it is obvious that we are looking at the world today. (A Middle Eastern terrorist is featured that looks exactly like Osama Bin Laden, although he is not named, and the lead villain is North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.) The team is portrayed as trigger-happy patriots who revel in blowing up their enemies and, accidentally, monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and The Sphinx. A well-meaning group of crime fighters, they don’t seem to notice the destruction they are causing to foreign countries’ landmarks and they assume their help is greatly appreciated. In one scene, stunned Parisians stumble around in the wake of bazookas and machine gun fire. “No need to thank us”, a Team America member says, “We’re just doing our jobs!”
Stone and Parker are making a not-so-subtle statement about America’s brash approach to global terrorism. Yes, the terrorists are being brought to justice in the film, but in a foolhardy manner. Stone and Parker seem to embrace the popular notion that America has a “cowboy” mentality when it comes to diplomacy. One of Team America’s many expensive gadgets is a supercomputer named I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. (the acronym is never explained). Their supercomputer, which has the voice of a stoned guy, malfunctions in the film and sends Team America on the wrong path. This is an obvious critique on the discrepancy of America’s various intelligence groups. Yet another judgment is made of America’s attitude by exploring our ethnocentricity. Every time a new location is shown in the film, subtitles inform us what country we are looking at
and how many miles it is away from America, as if we are the center of everything.
But what first seems to be a liberal critique of the Bush administration actually becomes more of a defense. The movie’s commentary on America’s reaction to terrorism isn’t meant in a negative way. Instead, the message is that America is doing what is necessary, even if it isn’t nice. A key speech at the end of movie has the protagonist, Gary, explaining that Americans are dicks because someone has to defend the world from assholes like terrorists and pussies like Hollywood actors, who have no place in politics. The film definitely gives a fair amount of criticism to both the left and the right, but there ultimately seems to be a conservative agenda, at least in regard to the war on terror. In the world of Team America: World Police, conservative Americans are paranoid for a reason: the terrorists do possess weapons of mass destruction and are fully planning on using them.
The film’s main villain is Kim Jong Il. He is portrayed here as a cruel despot who, on occasion, breaks into sentimental songs about being “ronely” (one of many racially insensitive slurs in the film). The Korean dictator is shown to be in possession of nuclear weapons and a mastermind behind satellite groups of terrorists in other countries. Although a work of fiction, this isn’t a completely outlandish thought. Kim Jong Il is believed to be a potential global threat by many. A visit from U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix in the film is both amusing and disturbingly believable. When the U.N. seeks permission to search the premises for weapons of mass destruction, Kim asks, “Or else what?” to which Blix replies, “Or else we will be very angry with you… and we will write you a letter, telling you how angry we are. This is another conservative notion- that the U.N. is doing very little about global threats and that they are possibly in someone’s pocket.
The fact that George W. Bush is never actually shown can be seen as further proof that this film has no anti-Bush message. The film was released in October 2004, just a month before the presidential election. Neither Bush nor Kerry is directly referred to in the movie, but the film release had posthumous timing. However, this may have been the doing of the movie studio and not the filmmakers themselves. After the success of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, the White House wasn’t taking any chances in this movie doing further damage to the Bush campaign. Before the film was shown to anyone, a Bush advisor released a statement about Team America saying, “I really do not think terrorism is funny, and I would suggest Paramount give respect to those fighting and sacrificing to keep America safe”. (The Jawa Report)
Although Bush gets a pass in the film, the famous people that are shown are politically active stars such as Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Alec Baldwin. In Team America, they are members of the Film Actors Guild, or “F.A.G”. The members of this group are misinformed celebrities that involve themselves in things that are obviously beyond their comprehension, i.e. politics. The filmmakers even go so far as to make Matt Damon mentally retarded and only able to say his own name. The agenda of F.A.G. is to stop Team America’s involvement in the war on terror. They see Team America as a dangerous menace and although F.A.G. claims to be peace loving, they eventually team up with Kim Jong Il and become violent themselves. Matt Stone and Trey Parker seem to have a great time finding ways to dismember puppets resembling celebrities. Susan Sarandon falls off of a balcony and explodes like a watermelon on the pavement, Tim Robbins is lit on fire, and panthers eat Sean Penn.
The criticism of Hollywood’s political agenda is long overdue. Stone and Parker may not be strictly disagreeing with their politics, just their arrogance. Why should anyone take a celebrity seriously as a political analyst? Sean Penn, who in recent years has famously traveled to Iraq, has elected himself some sort of ambassador. He is also serving as a special foreign war correspondent for The San Francisco Chronicle, where he has observed and documented his experiences in Baghdad (Penn, “Commentary”). Why he was assigned to do this is anyone’s guess. What credentials does Sean Penn have to be a foreign war correspondent for a major newspaper? No more than anyone else off the street.
In Team America, Sean Penn talks about Iraq, saying that before Team America was there, children played in the streets and lived in a chocolate utopia. This further illustrates the clueless state that pampered celebrities walk around in. Regardless of anyone’s opinion on America being in Iraq, only the most delusional person thinks the Middle East was a comfortable place to live. The filmmakers make it a point to address the growing political outcry from what is the most superficial and impractical of businesses. It is also, however, the business that they are in and the fact that they are scrutinizing so many vocal stars is pretty courageous.
The film obviously touched a nerve with Sean Penn who, after the release of Team America, responded in a letter, further proving he is without common sense or humor. He wrote the following:
I remember a cordial hello when you guys were beginning to be famous guys around Hollywood at some party. I remember several times getting a few giggles out of your humor. I remember not being bothered as you traded on my name among others to appear witty, above it all, and likeable to your crowd. I never mind being of service, in satire and silliness. I do mind when anybody who doesn’t have a child, doesn’t have a child at war, or isn’t or won’t be in harm’s way themselves, is encouraging that there’s “no shame in not voting” “if you don’t know what you’re talking about” (Mr. Stone) without mentioning the shame of not knowing what your talking about, and encouraging people to know. You guys are talented young guys but alas, primarily young guys. It’s all well to joke about me or whomever you choose. Not so well, to encourage irresponsibility that will ultimately lead to the disembowelment, mutilation, exploitation, and death of innocent people throughout the world. The vote matters to them. No one’s ignorance, including a couple of hip cross-dressers, is an excuse.
All best, and a sincere fuck you,
Sean Penn (Penn, Letter)
Film critic Roger Ebert seemed equally annoyed with Stone and Parker’s parody of war in the Middle East. Perhaps he too is without a sense of humor, but it is most likely his political leanings that refused to let him enjoy the film. Ebert heralded Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, but referred to Team America as “nihilism” and claimed he was “baffled” by the filmmakers’ political position (Ebert). Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers, however, applauded Stone and Parker for being smart enough not to take themselves as seriously as the rest of Hollywood. He admits that the film may make some think of the filmmakers as “closet righties”, but he doesn’t fault them for it, as it is the rest of Hollywood that is “a clear and present danger” (Travers).
Team America isn’t a blatant cry for the conservatives, however. The filmmakers do balance the satire between both extremes. A very funny scene has the hero, Gary, deciding whether or not he wants to join Team America. He is shown at various patriotic monuments, listening to a country song called “Freedom Isn’t Free. The song is a parody written and performed by Trey Parker. Parker belts out in his most sincere voice, “Freedom isn’t free/It costs folks like you and me/And if you don’t watch out/ We’ll have to foot the bill”. The song is hilarious and sounds exactly like something coming out of a radio in a pickup truck. It seems Stone and Parker are annoyed by anyone who mindlessly follows an ideology, whether it’s the brainless celebrity or the brainless redneck.
The fact that the filmmakers aren’t completely biased to any one side makes their message more poignant. Yes, Americans can be reactionary and ethnocentric, but that’s not to say there isn’t a real threat out there. None of the Americans in the film are portrayed as mean-spirited except the members of F.A.G. Even Kim Jong Il is made a little more lovable than Michael Moore who, with hot dog in hand, blows himself up in a suicide bombing. The filmmakers are probably like most people in the country: somewhere between the left and the right. They aren’t celebrating war or destruction, but they also aren’t naïve enough to think we can live without it. At least, not in the world we live in now.
Reference:
- Works Cited “Drudge Reports That The White House Is Not Happy.”; Editorial. The Jawa Report October 2004. 3 August 2005 <mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/ /” >039534.php>;. Ebert, Roger. “Team America: World Police.”; Chicago Sun-Times Online 15 15 October 2004. 5 August 2005 www.rogerebert.com. Penn, Sean. “Commentary.”; San Francisco Chronicle Online 14 January 2004. 3 August 2005 Penn, Sean. Letter. The Drudge Report October 2004. 5 August 2005 </” >>;. Team America: World Police. Dir. Trey Parker. Perf. Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Paramount, 2004. Travers, Peter. “Team America: World Police.”; Rolling Stone Online 14 October 2004. 4 August 2005.
