While South Park is often perceived as a juvenile text, guilty of spouting cynical and even nihilistic notions of human potential, such observations fail to see beyond the latest headline that claims South Park contributes to the moral decay of both the youth and society as a whole (link). If one watches with an eye towards the rhetorical implications of the writer’s use of cynical, non-traditional satire, they may find themselves engaging in critical discussions not far from those currently taking place in rhetoric and composition classes throughout academia. It is through this lens that I suggest we apply theory to South Park in hopes of exposing the many rhetorical methods and applications that cynical texts have to offer for both scholars and those outside of the academic paradigm. Such applications of texts that are often pejoratively deemed cynical may provide valuable paths and methods of inquiry that are traditionally quarantined by public and private discourses.