Intertextuality

Just before my completion of Great Expectations, I was watching comedy central and came upon a South Park episode entitled "Pip." The episode only contains fragments of the morals and lessons to be taken from Mr. Dickens novel. The episode takes the story and adapts it into a ludicrous tale of Miss Havisham teaching her adopted daughter Estella to capture and break the hearts of men to put them into a powerful Genesis device fusing her and Estella's body into one. The episode also contains robotic apes that fight Joe and Magwich with swords.

The South Park writers chose to parody Great Expectations not because they admired the literary work but because everyone else does. Nonetheless, it is Dickens Intertextuality in contemporary popular culture. This novel has been made into several movies and referenced in TV shows and books for many years.

The reason the book is so highly respected is because it contains so many themes and morals that are universal in literally every generation since it was written. The importance of holding friendships high and not the root of all evil, money and greed. Another theme is kindness and genuineness. To value people for who they are and not what they can do for you financially. These themes and stories are evident in so many works of literature and art and will will be seen for many more.

The last blog published responded to the question of a book that captivated ones interest thoroughly. An author must hit a central nerve that can be found in every single person on the planet. Everyone has experienced greed and everyone has taken someone or something for granted. We are all connected in these universal truths.

To view the south park episode www.allsp.com

select season 4 and scroll down the episode list till you come to pip.