Ginger Kids

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"Ginger Kids"
South Park episode
Eric Cartman discovering that he has become a "ginger kid".
Episode no.	Season 9 Episode 11
Written by	Trey Parker[1]
Directed by	Trey Parker
Production no.	911
Original airdate	November 9, 2005
Season 9 episodes
South Park – Season 9 March 9, 2005 – December 7, 2005
Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina Die Hippie, Die Wing Best Friends Forever The Losing Edge The Death of Eric Cartman Erection Day Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow Marjorine Follow That Egg! Ginger Kids Trapped in the Closet Free Willzyx Bloody Mary
← Season 8	Season 10 →
List of South Park episodes

"Ginger Kids" is episode #911 (season 9) of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on November 9, 2005. The episode caused some controversy three years later when it was blamed for inspiring violence against red-haired children.^[2]

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Cultural references 3 Controversy 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The plot summary in this article is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the content. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (March 2009)

In a class presentation, Cartman delivers nothing short of a hate speech, arguing that "Gingers" - people with red hair, freckles, and pale skin - are disgusting, inhuman, inherently dumb, have no souls, and are unable to survive in the sunlight. When Kyle says that he has red hair, and he can walk around during the day, Cartman says that there is a second class of Gingers, the day walkers, who do have red hair but not pale skin and freckles. (In recognition to Kyle).

In Kyle's attempt to prove Cartman wrong, Kyle decides to do a presentation going against Cartman's and argue that being a "ginger kid" is an inheritable trait. To prove this, Kyle and Stan visit a family who have "Gingers" for children. To their shock, the parents of the Ginger kids, who each carry a recessive gene that has caused them to have Ginger kids, possess the same prejudice towards Ginger kids as Cartman. When Kyle and Stan finally do make their presentation, Cartman stands up for himself and uses Biblical references (alleging that "Judas was a Ginger,") and, as a result, Cartman's speech causes a new-found prejudice towards Ginger kids in the school: Now all the Ginger kids are treated as outcasts and forced to eat in the hallway rather than the cafeteria. The other three members of the gang agree that they really need to teach Cartman a lesson.

Kyle, Stan and Kenny sneak into Cartman's room at night and use skin bleach to make his skin pale, dye his hair red and put Henna tattoos of freckles on his face. Cartman wakes up in the morning and finds that he has been turned into a Gingerkid. The boys' lesson goes off with flying colors - When he is taken to a doctor about it, his prejudiced doctor hurls blatant insults at him and even suggests that Mrs. Cartman has him put down, which she considers. At school, Cartman is laughed at by Butters, is discriminated against by the very people he himself inspired to despise Gingers and is forced to join them in eating in the hallway, despite his attempts to convince them that he is still who he was. In response to this, Cartman establishes a movement - the Ginger Separatist Movement - to promote the better aspects of being ginger.

Cartman's movement quickly becomes violent and Nazi-esque in tone, arguing that Gingers are the "chosen race." He and his organization start holding protests, including beating up a brunette who played Annie for playing a Redhead but not actually being one. Eventually, Cartman and the Gingerkids decide to kill all the non-gingers.

In the dead of night Stan, Kyle, and Kenny decide to sneak into Cartman's room and change him back to his original appearance. However, on their way over, Gingerkids start to creep out of seemingly nowhere and follow them. At first, though terrified, the boys try to ignore them. Kenny is suddenly snatched away, prompting Kyle and Stan to break into a run. Meanwhile, kids across the town are abducted from their homes by the Gingerkids. Eventually, Stan and Kyle are the only ones left. They lock themselves in a barn for protection but the Gingerkids break in and overwhelm the two boys.

All the non-gingers are taken to a room (rented by the Gingerkids) resembling a sacrificial chamber, complete with a lava pit. They are all imprisoned in cages and will be chosen for sacrifice one by one.

Kyle is chosen as the first. However, he claims that before he dies, he would like to say something privately to Cartman, which Cartman allows. Kyle whispers to Cartman that he has merely been modified to look ginger, and Cartman is shocked. He then tells his followers that he has suddenly had an epiphany and now realizes that everybody has to get along. As the other children are freed, Kyle mutters to Cartman that he is a manipulative asshole. Cartman (for once) agrees but doesn't care as long as he isn't killed by the people of his movement.

[edit] Cultural references

The Ginger kids attacking non-Gingers are an overall parody of vampire movies, or movies such as Children of the Corn^[3].

[edit] Controversy

Although airing in 2005, this episode caused some controversy in November 2008. The episode has been blamed with inspiring "national kick a ginger day." On November 20, 2008 a Facebook group titled "National Kick a Ginger Day, are you going to do it?" surfaced, suggesting abuse towards red-heads.^[4] This episode was a heavy influence for this group, as evident through school boards in Canada and the U.S. The 14-year old group administrator from Vancouver Island said the group (which had over several thousand members) was only a joke, and he was sorry.^[4]

The page, which urges members to "get them steel toes ready," had garnered hundreds of messages. Many were from people claiming to have already kicked redheads that day; others expressed outrage.^[4][5][6]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Direct link to episode

Preceded by “Follow That Egg!”

South Park episodes

Followed by “Trapped in the Closet”