‘South Park’ Fans Defend Lil Nas X by Pointing out Explicit Satan Plot

As the backlash to Lil Nas X‘s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” music video continues, South Park fans are reminiscing about the “Satanic panic” of the past. Critics continue to say that Lil Nas X’s new music video is pushing potentially harmful imagery on a young audience. Those who saw South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut at a young age are not so worried.

“Y’all worried about Lil Nas X giving the devil a lap dance? When I was 12, I witnessed the devil in a gay relationship w/ Saddam Hussein. Your children will be fine,” tweeted comedian Nazeer Art’aud on Monday. His post has now picked up over 118,000 likes and over 28,000 retweets, with many fans agreeing and doubling down on his joke. Some have pointed out that the depiction of Satan in South Park, and in other popular media in recent years, failed to leave a lasting impression the way that critics often fear it will.

“I forgot about this dude,” one person replied with a crying-laughing emoji. “South Park was wild back in the day.” Another person wrote: “Lord… between South Park, Beavis and Butt-head, Celebrity Deathmatch, even Rocko’s Modern Life, twerking on the lap of Satan is mild. Different, but mild. Christians gotta stop the mess now.” A third commenter added: “South Park shaped lots of young minds out there that aren’t affected by anything.”

Still, some critics insisted that the two situations are different. Many argued that they were against South Park at the time just as they are against Lil Nas X now. Some also pointed out that South Park is meant for an adult audience — at least theoretically — although the responses from viewers showed that that was not always the case.

In general, critics of Lil Nas X are leaning on the argument that his music up until now has been popular among children, and therefore he should not have released the “Montero” video so explicitly, knowing that his young fans would seek it out. Lil Nas X has already answered this complaint, telling several critics on Twitter that they should be responsible for their children’s media diet, not him.

In spite of the backlash from conservative viewers, Lil Nas X’s new music video has put his song on the charts and it shows no signs of slowing down. The video shows the rapper in several biblical scenes, ending with him pole-dancing his way down to Hell in briefs and thigh-high boots, giving the devil a lap dance, and then snapping the devil’s neck and taking his horns for himself. It is streaming now on YouTube.