SOUTH PARK.

• Author: Britschgi, Christian
• Position: TV

Trey Parker and Matt Stone do the near-impossible in the 25th season of South Park. The veteran satirists tackle major issues in America's increasingly divisive culture war with no condescension, cringe, or partisan preference.

Consider the season's opener. Some of the children of South Park Elementary are prevented from wearing pajamas on the school's "pajama day." Parents are soon complaining about the emotional damage done to their kids. The news media tar the restriction as a Nazi-like assault on freedom. The townspeople start to wear pajamas in solidarity with the children.

Soon pajamas become mandatory. Those wearing normal clothes are excluded from restaurants and offices. Husbands and wives turn on each other. Scofflaws are thrown in jail.

It's hardly the most subtle metaphor for pandemic-era masking. The cleverness comes from the shifting nature of pajama wearing, from a personal freedom to the target of an arbitrary restriction to the subject of a coercive mandate. The episode's mockery is directed at both those most zealous about complying with rules and...