[josefresco]

I would put the "blame" on this shift onto successful, adult cartoons like South Park and Family Guy which took satire and 'offensive comedy" to a new level. Suddenly The Simpsons seemed old, slow and out of touch compared to the new generation.

The downside to all this satire (I've only realized recently), is that younger audiences (and even older folks) don't always recognize it, and take the jokes too literally. I believe this has helped to 'normalize' extremist views and has helped fuel the anti-political correct movement.

[afterburner]

Forget younger audiences. I was hearing people at work parrot the "both sides" BS from South Park directly.

[josefresco]

To be fair/accurate, the South Park generation (myself included) is no longer "young".

South Park is great if everyone is in on the joke. They tend to make fun of BOTH sides of every issue, showing the insanity and hypocrisy along the way. A smart person realizes what is right and wrong. The danger of this are those who "don't get it" and think being a giant asshole is funny/cool.

The same thing applies to Howard Stern fans. Part of his audience understands satire, and realizes the absurdity of the humor. The other part, thinks racist/sexist/offensive jokes are just hilarious.

[afterburner]

I agree, although you could interpret that approach as a cynical attempt to capture a wider audience. It's similar to when a show throws both liberals and conservatives a bone using various characters or dialogue.

[josefresco]

I do think it was/is an attempt to bring us all together (humor can do that for painful subjects). Similar to Facebook's original vision, I think the creators didn't realize what in fact they DID create - a divisive platform that is driving us all apart.