People are comfortable with what they relate most to, which can be a variety of different things. Some people can relate most to music. Some people can relate most to sports. Some people can even relate most to the outdoors. Some people choose to relate to those; however the majority of Americans can relate most to television shows. Television shows can vary from reality television shows, all the way to cartoon television shows. Our society has found something they can relate to and have become obsessed with it. There are so many different groups of people in our society today helping create more television shows. People all come from different backgrounds, different locations, and different generations; fortunately this creates even more opportunity for television show creators because they are able to make more television shows based on all these differences within our society. Two television shows that specifically show the differences within our society are South Park and the Boondocks.
South Park and the Boondocks are similar televisions shows, yet have differences between them as well. To begin with, the big difference between the shows is that the main characters of each are different races, and similarity of the two is that each week one issue is dedicated to an entire episode. Comedy Central’s South Park is an animated show made for an older audience created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The show is known for being extremely offensive to most people but the creators say there is a lesson to be learned in every episode. The Boondocks is an animated show that was created by Aaron McGruder. The show is based on race relations and African American culture. Race, ethnicity and class are three topics easily found throughout the weekly episodes. People in our society tend to watch more and more television shows that relate more and more to them personally. Between these two shows, a huge majority of our society is reached and can end up relating to either one or both of these shows. Both shows use race in a similar manner to attract views because people are comfortable with similarity. The young generation of our society today feels most comfortable when they are out in the world and see things that remind them of themselves and their close friends. This is like looking in a mirror; people are comfortable and feel safe when they look in a mirror because they know they will see their own reflection but if these people did not see their own reflections, they would not obviously feel as comfortable. This relates to television shows because what people see in their own self, intrigues and interests these same people to watch television. The creators of these two shows realized that people like to watch television that reflects them and their friends because it makes them feel comfortable and not as alone. This realization opened up and allowed the creators of the shows to use races and racial views to attract more people. South Park’s creators are both white males which is similar to the main character cast, four white boys who are close friends; Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick. The four white boys are easily relatable for any white male because the white male can relate him and his friends to the characters and their relationships. There is no surprise when told that south parks largest demographic is white males from 18-34 years of age. It can easily be explained through the personal relationship the viewers have with the show. Social identification theory explains the process of location oneself within a system and/or group of self categorizations that is used to define him or herself and others (McLeod 2008). South Park’s creators are not the only ones who had the realization because it is apparent along with the Boondocks as while. Aaron McGruder looks exactly like the main characters and give a family based view throughout the show that many African Americans relate with. The views that are talked about can be classified as stereotypical. Stereotypes of the groups in our society become more alive through the television shows. A person’s point of view is an important component of society today. The different groups in society each have a personal point of view on topics based on culture and racial backgrounds. South Park and the Boondocks are two shows that emphasize and outline the fact that our society sees different points of view on these major topics. For example, the Freeman family is a African American family from the south side Chicago. To the White American society who picture a family like the Freemans’ assume that South side Chicago African American family is dumb, dishonest, lazy, and ignorant (senghas s. 2006). These stereortypes are exactly what the boy portray in their shows. McGruder uses the negative stereotypes to attract views that may not already have similarities with the cast. Also, the show South Park is more concerned about other groups of people and what the people in those groups are doing. South Park takes a look at current issues and concerns that are affecting our society today in the news ( Melanie J Murphy). It does represent western civilized white Americans today in the sense of wrapping themselves up in the world’s problem to escape from their own. Again the show uses stereotypes to attract viewers the only difference is South Park viewers believe that it should be up on a higher level because the Western white society sees themselves to also be held to a higher level. It keeps them only watching South Park allowing it to continue to run. The way these shows pull in people using stereotypes does not always go without offense.
Furthermore, stereotypes have a big impact on our society because it excludes and offends certain groups of people. These stereotypes impact daily life and the way people act and treat groups different from them. Television shows are a perfect example of stereotypes being portrayed and excluding and offending groups of people. These two shows, the stereotypes of African Americans are seen in a negative way from the show South Park, and the stereotypes of whites are seen in a negative way from the show the Boondocks. These stereotypes limit certain types of people from watching certain television shows because of how the show represents the different groups of people. They lose viewers of those races because of poor representation on the show. Chef's character often emphasizes modern racist caricature roles in the South Park cartoons (Kari Post 2006). Chef is the only adult African American who regular shows up as an elementary low staff kitchen worker. South Park’s negative view on the show is clearly seen in one Character alone. African Americans are turned away from South Park because of the offending stereotypes. The Boondocks don’t even use a regular white American person to be the target of racial expression. The issue is usually expressed suddenly through witty comments. Huey the main character expresses the views

Summary, restate thesis
The
To conclude, the television shows, South Park and the Boondocks, are two extremely popular television shows that reach out to large groups of people in our society today. These two shows are relatable to many people today which allow the creators to convey life lessons through their weekly episodes. Racial, ethnic, and cultural topics are conveyed throughout the shows characters in different real life situations they end up in. Both shows use race in a similar manner to attract views because people are comfortable with similarity.

Contributors' names (Last edited date). Title of resource. Retrieved from http://Web address for OWL resource

References
Mcleod, S. (2008). Psychology academic articles for students. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html

Senghas, S. (2006, 05 23). Stereotypes in the media. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/racial-stereotypes-media-38872.html

Melanie J Murphy (june 4 2011). Satire, Race, and Modern cartoons: Boondocks vs. South Park. http://comm.stanford.edu/coterm/projects/2011/melanie%20murphy%202011.pdf

Kari Post (Feb 26, 2006) Chef of South Park: New Racist Form, Retrieved from http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/letters/chef/