Come Out of the Closet, Tom

Two weeks ago, South Park savaged both Scientology and one of it's most visible members, Tom Cruise. Parker & Stone (um, excuse me, "Smith and Smith") nailed the Scientologists by shedding light on the admittedly strange beliefs that underlie the religion. As for Cruise, he ended up in the closet of one of the Park kids and, well, just wouldn't come out. No matter how many times anyone asked him to "come out of the closet." And in the end, the Smiths practically begged to get sued. So could Cruise successfully sue South Park for libel? As Findlaw's Julie Hilden writes today, probably not. The First Amendment almost certainly would foil Cruise's suit. I do take exception to part of Hilden's analysis, however:

On this logic, the First Amendment gives breathing room to creative works even when they fail in their goals. Thus, here, the 'South Park' episode is protected even if its literalization of the 'in the closet' metaphor won't make a single viewer chuckle.

The point is that it was at least trying to make people laugh. And probably, the very silliness of the literalization -- the fact that it was the least creative thing the creators possibly could have done -- did indeed amuse some viewers. 'South Park's' appeal, after all, isn't its subtlety.

The emphasis is mine. I can only assume that Hilden's never laughed at South Park if she thinks that nobody thought the running "closet" bit was funny. I thought it was funny as hell, actually. But, it's a good thing that even bad comedy is entitled to First Amendment protection.