MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 10) -Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless “Theme From Shaft” won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said. He was 65….His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show “South Park.”…But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. “There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” he said.Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes “has no problem, and he’s cashed plenty of checks, with our show making fun of Christians.” A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.
I found it so sad that he would quit the show because it made fun of Scientology (which deserves all the ridicule it gets), but not after they made funs of Jews or Christians. The guy was so blinded by his brainwashing that he left the show rather than stay and confront the satire. Sad.
Well, I’m sorry that he died. I agree with your comments on South Park.
(I love being the first one to post
I am very familiar with the character of “chef” in South Park. What really made him a laugh riot was that to the children he was some kind of guru, but when he tried to answer their question to some heavy philosophical question, his answer was a song with sultry lyrics implying seducing some women with his legendary sexual prowess. Now, if that fits into his religious beliefs and a characature of his religion does not, then that indicates to me that he was a conflicted individual, and wasn’t sure where to draw the line. A man who draws the line in the sand when it comes to a religion invented by a science fiction writer, where defiant souls are dumped into volcanos by spaceships, and then do things to become worthy or whatever, how the hell can you help such an individual? You can tell him, you were funny, now you’re insulting my inteligence. But, brainwash is brainwash. At least he didn’t become a prophet while boinking thirteen year old girls. He’s one up on Muhamed.
NeoWolfe
He has gone to be with Xenu now.
Praise $cientology!
I thought Xenu was the bad guy.
Xenu is in jail, inside a mountain, behind a force field powered by an everlasting battery.
Wait a minute – do people think that the high profile celeb scientologists believe this nonsense?? I thought is was just a tax dodge (ie I give you $1 million, get a big tax break, then you give it back under the table minus your commission).
This goes back to what I thought was a very good post by someone here that said, while people may give their religion lip service, the only thing that people truly worship is $$$)
I have not seen anyone claim that the celebs are doing it for kickbacks on donations, though I wouldn’t put anything past Scientologists.
I have heard that celebs are courted assiduously and gifted with lots of free services by the Org. Things like free landscaping, with the labour provided by minions who are on punishment detail. It’s only one step removed from slavery.
He dances to the puppet masters’ strings if he wants to continue with the perks.
Hey, if God can’t handle money, would we expect L. Ron and his successors to be any better?
Goodbye Issac.
It was the treadmill that got him. Avoid treadmills and housework; they’ll both kill you.
In other news, science unveils invisibility cloak:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/08/11/invisibility.cloak.
ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Decompose in peace, Isaac.
Did Hayes say anything about “South Park” after he split? One rumor was that a Scientology handler had made the decision for him while he was incapacitated (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188463,00.html).
From Wiki:
Trey Parker and Mat Stone killed off the character Chef, but had Kyle say this at his funeral: “We shouldn’t be mad at Chef for leaving us, we should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains”
Well said!
Maybe, I’m wrong, but “chef” was argueably the most irreverant character on South Park. I wonder if it’s true that maybe he felt compelled to defend his friends when the show, in it’s tradition, felt that everyone was fair game, especially Tom Cruise. I support the show and hope that there never comes a day when they feel like, or are told that they have crossed some line in making light of those who not only worship imaginary gods but also those who worship celebrities or material possessions or impossible ideals. They have all equally suffered the brunt of the South Park limelight.
I do not understand the circumstances under which Mr. Hayes renounced his involvement, but in his honor, I will say that “chef” was one of the most important characters that made South Park was it became. Not to diminish the role of the writers who really created him, but the symbiosis was perfect.
He can’t hear me, but I will miss him, for what it’s worth.
NeoWolfe
It’s like a universal fact that religious folks get emotional when you question their beliefs. This underlies the emotional (as opposed to rational) basis of the belief. Atheists do this to a much smaller degree – usually only those for whom atheism is a big part of their identity. This underlies the (usually) rational nature of the atheist conclusion.
Now, before someone posts that this is obviously not true because of all the “angry atheists” out there and the posts on this blog, I would like to point out that there was no outrage at the highly critical Southpark episodes about atheists. Only laughs, insight and reflection.
Atheists only frustrated though, when people insist that alien leprechaun unicorns, or gods, are real, despite common sense, observations, and reason.
Response to Chris B,
Some think that atheism is a pure form of thought. Perhaps it is, but, only by definition. You believe that a creator does not exist, and you base this on a lack of evidence and the ridiculous mythology of organized religion.
But, to people like me, you, sometimes seem closed minded as well. Just because there was no evidence to support it, doesn’t mean that bacteria didn’t exist before Louis Pasteur. For the same reason, did the earth only start revolving around the sun when Galileo discovered the math that proved it? To assume that there is no designer, or dismiss the idea that he may entertain himself by watching chaos unfold, is far removed from proving that such a force does not exist. By rigidly leaping to such assumptions, atheism becomes a religion of itself, and is often quite arrogant at times.
But, you are quite right, free thinkers are not injured by criticism, and assume no blasphemy is charged, no one is burned at the stake. We can laugh at ourselves. And whether or not we see the universe the same way, we have a brotherhood we share in our freedom from organized religion.
NeoWolfe