First off, thanks for sharing your story. I agree with you the “discipline” aspect of the message is too simplistic and obviously easier said than done. I agree they missed the mark on the final Stan/Randy message. The whole notion of Randy embracing that he’s diseased to the level of being helpless in a wheel chair is pretty funny though. That’s a semantic debate though I would say, whether alcoholism should be considered a disease. I see it as more of a condition personally, but I dunno if the word really matters.
I think the most notorious “bad take” in South Park’s social commentary is Manbearpig, to the point that even Matt and Trey have walked it back and made him real.
Another one they’ve basically walked back is the Harley rider “fag” point. If you listen to the audio commentary, they talk about how they missed the mark. The fact that they don’t have characters use “gay” and “fag” anymore as a substitute for lame/bad/etc speaks volumes too.
Yes to your manbearpig question, originally they were equating climate change to a fictional creature that didn’t exist (while also making fun of Al Gore for having a hero complex).
As for “fag”, the issue is that there’s just too much baggage, hate and trauma associated with the word for gay people. It’s like the N word but for gay people. It’s just alarming to hear come out of a straight person’s mouth no matter the intent. So, if you call a Harley rider a fag, or anyone really, and a gay person hears it, they’re still gonna think you’re a homophobe for using it. Like you said, it’s too difficult to shift the word onto another group at this point. That being said, it was a funny idea for the episode, and Matt and Trey were definitely well-intentioned which is appreciated, but the idea doesn’t work in reality and isn’t something anyone should actually take seriously or follow.