Has South Park's Shock Value Worn Off? or Do Viewers Find Educational Value in the N-Word?

South Park is well known for venturing into taboo or controversial subjects, but with the airing of its March 7, 2007 season opener, which uses the n-word more than 40 times, some say the producers have stooped to a new low, while others say they've hit the sweet spot.

"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," begins with a lesser-known adult character appearing Wheel of Fortune. He reluctantly answers one of the puzzles with the n-word, and suffers from discrimination during the remainder of the show. In one scene, he enters a shop and while looking at merchandise is told that he isn't welcome in the store..

This irreverent look at racism has caused quite a stir, and even CNN aired a segment on the show, asking several people what they thought of the episode. In the CNN segment, most agreed that the episode was intended to educate people about racism by using shock value.

A member of the organization "Abolish the N Word" remarked, "This show in its own comedic way is helping to educate people about the power of this word, and how it feels to have hate language directed at you." While the organization's website states, "every time we use the "N" word it is a slap in the face of our elders and a blatant disrespect to our ancestors," it also notes, "if you are a writer, hip hop artist, lyricist, songwriter, poet, screen writer, playwright clothing designer make a commitment to use the "N" word only for educational purposes."

Regular posters to South Park's message board also applauded the episode, with one member writing, "You mean people actually got the message of a South Park episode for once? I applaud them!"

However, not everyone believed the episode had a positive message, or any message at all. But in a twist worthy of South Park, those people seemed to be in the minority. Across the net, blogs and news sites buzzed with talk about the episode, but most of the articles and comments praised the show for broaching such a taboo word.

South Park doesn't appear to be content to bask in the media spotlight for its first episode of the season either. The second episode, "Cartman Sucks" features secondary character Butters being sent away to camp after his father suspects he might be gay. At the camp, the "gay is prayed away." And in the March edition of Rolling Stone, South Park takes another stab at Tom Cruise and Scientology by featuring a picture of the show's creators spray-painting "Scientology is dumb" and "Hi Tom" on the Scientology's headquarters sign.

While producers haven't revealed what other shocking moments viewers will be seeing on South Park this season, perhaps nothing will be as shocking as America's acceptance of the n-word episode.