Jack Whitehall reads a letter from the creator of South Park to the MPAA

Prior to the release of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut in 1999, the movie's creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, were asked repeatedly by the MPAA to alter the film in order for it to gain an R rating rather than an NC-17. Matt Stone responded to this request with this memo.
Jack Whitehall joined us to read it at Letters Live at the Freemasons’ Hall in London, back in 2016.
© Matt Stone

[@Mark73]

What's really hilarious is that the MPAA didn't get the meaning of "Bigger Longer Uncut" untill they had already approved it.

[@jorjlim]

All these years later and I have JUST GOT IT!

[@Mark73]

@@jorjlim If it's any consolation, you're not the only person who I caused to realize it years later.

[@goffe2282]

@@jorjlim I'm so happy for you. It's a time of your life that can only happen once :).

[@Nick1979BN]

@@jorjlim I am not gonna say me too, but I will say yes.

[@alarcon99]

I think Jack did a good job, it’s probably just extremely difficult not to acknowledge the ridiculousness of the situation, reading such memo to such a huge, posh audience; unlike his predecessor who just did it in front of a camera 😅

[@scooterdooter]

I'm guessing "Jack" did it in front of a camera also.

[@kath1626]

Tbh this is my favourite memo ever, too.

[@RichardX1]

I'm a simple man: I see "letter from the creator of South Park," and I click.

[@paveloleynikov4715]

Thanks to people who pointed to Matt Berry's version. His tone of "just reading work memo" was much more hilarious in context.

[@MrDannyDetail]

The one flaw with Matt's version is he says 'why-ona' in stead of Winona, and 'Cat man' instead of Cartman, so either he had typos on the page he was reading and just blindly read them as wrtitten (a la modern television presenters who can only present from autocue), or else maybe he just has a minor reading issue and no real familiarity with South Park and therefore couldn't anticipate those two names in the same way he might have been able to for vocabulary words.

[@TheHopperUK]

@@MrDannyDetail He actually does have a form of dyslexia according to an interview I read recently, particularly with regard to unfamiliar names.

[@Warlock_UK]

@@MrDannyDetail I think that's in character with a bunch of pompous characters he's famous for, tbh.

[@kleioslibrary5451]

Lesson Learned: do not naively click “Play All” for a playlist of these letters while at work without first listening to them at home. My boss has questions I don’t know how to answer because I never saw the film either but because it came out during “my youth” she assumes I know what the hell is going on.

[@fenhen]

In case it’s not clear, the plot is focused on a war between the US and Canada.

[@Loveinthe808]

should have a NSFW rating! LMAO!

[@davidwilson6577]

Watch it! Unironically, one of the best musical films ever made.

[@Nick1979BN]

Get the movie and invite her to a watch party? ^^

[@p12423073]

South Park and Chill

[@TheRealLongname]

Matt Stone is a legend

[@RishabhSingh20]

Jack Whitehall is Daddy Whitehall now

[@peter_pansexual6243]

Gives me the same vibes as the memos Alex Hirsch sent to and got from Disney

[@EmpyrionBlackthorn]

I love these, need to see some Bill Bailey, he'd be great

[@razbit]

long live stone & parker

[@Michaelsmercedes]

They've gotten some mileage out of it. Still oddly enough, not sick of it.

[@CatsandJP]

I don’t mind Jack 😴…but Matt Berry’s version is much better 👏… but then again Matt Berry could read insurance terms and conditions and I would be engrossed…Kenny and Cartman are legends though 😂🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@comet1227]

Matt Berry is a legend.

[@MrDannyDetail]

The one flaw with Matt's version is he says 'why-ona' in stead of Winona, and 'Cat man' instead of Cartman, so either he had typos on the page he was reading and just blindly read them as wrtitten (a la modern television presenters who can only present from autocue), or else maybe he just has a minor reading issue and no real familiarity with South Park and therefore couldn't anticipate those two names in the same way he might have been able to for vocabulary words.

[@CatsandJP]

@@MrDannyDetail Or maybe he’s trying to tame it down a bit as some do…but you’re right it doesn’t sound all the good.

[@uu_alk]

Why did they play him this way? He could have read something Matt Berry didn't master. Sorry Jack 😢

[@UnicornOfDepression]

Not religious myself, but I felt like going to church after first seeing the movie.

[@TrishTruitt]

I see Jack Whitehall and I automatically hit like. He never disappoints.

[@taulitaulington197]

Gotta love how english speaking people just never stop throwing around abbreviations, as if everybody knows what they stand for.

[@ronwade5646]

Blame Canada!

[@nrcadvocate1866]

So… what was wrong with Matt’s version?

[@dantaylor6134]

This has already been recorded (much better) by Matt Berry.

[@TheRealLongname]

Links or it didn't happen

[@dantaylor6134]

@@TheRealLongname kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXMiHukob6nrLM

[@binghobson7122]

@@TheRealLongname kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXMiHukob6nrLM

[@marykimberlyhayes]

@@TheRealLongname found: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXMiHukob6nrLM I hope you regain the use of your limbs & brain and then you can retrieve it yourself next time. Full recovery, I didn't send flowers!

[@daphnea5447]

@@marykimberlyhayesOh you’re a joy aren’t you.

[@PoseyLane]

😂😂

[@the1HLT]

He shouldn’t have commented about him doing the reading of the letter instead of some other narrator. Kind of defeats the purpose of the whole concept of letters and the written word being in focus. This is not about the celebrity narrators.

[@raym7673]

But what would happen without an MPAA rating....everyone would try to be A Serbian Film

[@misswildlife7905]

This is a repeat just like others on this channel...WHY?

[@robstimson4234]

From the Comments, Jack Whitehall is every bit as controversy generating as the memo itself. l and my shiny sex robot [CHloEEnuh] both enjoyed this reading immensely and 'did the nasty' after viewing it. The delightfulness about the memo is how dry it is vs. the things being talked about.

[@stefanthesailor967]

Matt Berry’s version was so much better

[@The_Bookman]

So, what the heck is the MPAA?

[@dawnkindnesscountsmost5991]

A group of people who decide whether a movie shown in the USA is rated G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, X, etc.

[@Fuck_whoever_took_my_name]

Matt Berry did it better

[@vidyaruchi4810]

Ha ha, he said lots of sweary words and talked about sex things. So funny.

[@heritagehomesJapan]

If we knew what MPAA is, it would probably have been funnier

[@13Xerro]

It’s the Movie Production Association film rating system for America. Every film has to pass through their doors and be rated for the audience.

[@user-jn4sw3iw4h]

given that "Remember what the MPAA says; Horrific, Deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty woids!' " Is a significant plot point (arguably half the plot) of the movie this memo is about. yes that context is indeed a significant part of the joke.

[@camannwordsmith]

I mean... it's pretty common knowledge. But you could also spend 5 seconds Googling it.

[@Berkanae]

You could work with the context. He's writing to tell them that he's made changes to his film based on their notes, so clearly it's a group that gets to decide what he gets to put in his film.

[@perrystalsisworldofbiology767]

I've got nothing for a grown man that calls his parents mummy and daddy.

[@CrysJaL]

Indeed, Jack is the man who has everything.

[@CionnFE]

Why is this person hired?

[@JD1010101110]

Melissa McCarthy ads ruin anything that follows

[@redeyestones3738]

Who in the world is Jack Whitehall?

[@waytospergtherebro]

This low rent Harry Potter was born in 2008.

[@kellydalstok8900]

Well, everyone is born at some point.

[@renacleerican7824]

It tells so much about the level of idiocy South Park brought in our society.

[@buckgibson4856]

I really hate that he insists on smacking his lips when he speaks.

[@tomeggleston367]

Jack Whitehall - one of the least funny humans to ever take breath. How a person this 'talented' has stolen a career as a comedian is beyond me. Imagine Rowan Atkinson or Billy Connolly or Peter Cook doing this and then ask yourself what the hell happened over the years...

[@Weesperbuurt]

You are scraping the barrel with Jack Whitehall…unbearable.

[@pierelenigus8598]

this was funny a few years back, but the repeat performance by the lack luster reader loses to much of the initial splash for it to be enjoyable.