The South Park episode, “Unfulfilled”, written and directed by Trey Parker, utilizes humor to bring light to Jeff Bezos’ poor workforce treatment. Prior to the meeting between the mayor and Bezos, an Amazon fulfillment center was built in South Park. This fulfillment center soon took over the town, with everybody either purchasing items from Amazon or working for them. That was, until a worker faced a particularly bizarre accident while on site which led to a strike taking place. This strike is what brought Jeff Bezos to South Park.

Throughout South Park’s run on television, many celebrities and well known people have been parodied, whether it’s through exaggerating their appearance or personality. In this case, Jeff Bezos is depicted as this powerful, all-knowing being, casting fear into the mayor from just the utterance of his name from her assistant’s mouth. More specifically, he’s depicted as a Talosian from Star Trek, a human-like alien with telepathic abilities and no concept of human morality.

While the parody is a humorous jab at Bezos, it also critiques his character. Sure, it’s funny that Jeff Bezos’ an alien in the episode, but for the people in Amazon’s workforce, he might as well be one. He’s so far removed from those who work for him, unaware of how his workplace ideals affects those employed under his company, unable to see them as people, as if he’s genuinely Talosian or some separate, superior species of human. Simultaneously, Amazon workers and others not so fortunate look at Bezos the same way. It’s hard to comprehend just how wealthy Jeff Bezos is, and for many, many people, the life he lives is simply impossible to obtain. This gap between Bezos and everyday Americans can make it hard for some to view him as a person, a living, breathing human with his own human emotions and human experiences. This satirical parody of Jeff perpetuates this idea, that he’s simply unhuman, all-knowing, unbelievably powerful, living a life people can only dream of living.

Long story short, the episode uses a comedic parody of Bezos to bring attention to the unforgiving workplace environment of many Amazon centers. One could imagine Trey Parker hoping to generate change for Amazon workers, but it’s quite the task going against the second largest company in America and its’ CEO. Instead, next time you’re on Amazon browsing for a certain product, think to yourself, “Do I really need this?”, or, “Could I find this in person or on another site?”. Is the money you spend fueling an unhealthy work environment, or supporting those who need it?