The Second Persona

The second persona is a technique of criticism authored by Edwin Black, who more or less describes it as an evaluation of global perspective, creating an ethical judgement from an implied audience. South Park, in general, has a specific type of audience their show reaches. Most viewers of the shower are teenage to middle-aged men. That being said, most of the appeal is based upon comedic masculine rhetoric, and has a very burlesque type of framing. However, they do not shy away from controversial topics such as politics or religion. In the episode, "Debate", they are mocking the presidential race between George Bush and John Kerry in 2004 by representing them as a "giant douche" and a "turd sandwich".

Besides the types of audience mentioned earlier, we can use the second persona too see what other audiences the episode is trying to appeal too. During the episode, the giant douche and turd sandwich are competing against each other to see who will become the elementary school's next mascot, where they face off in a presidential style debate. This is mocking the credibility of both John Kerry and George Bush, by portraying them as a turd sandwich and a douche, the writers are exemplifying that neither president will be fit to run the country. This appeals to the portion of their audience who are politically engaged. It seems to be a tradition around every election year, where many Americans are unsatisfied with who the candidates for president are. Many times people vote for someone not because of the great feats they will accomplish, but who will screw up the least. Through the second persona, we can see how the creators of South Park view politics as a comedic American discourse.