Britney's New Look

"Britney's New Look"

"Britney's New Look" is the second episode of season 12 of South Park and the Comedy Central's animated comedy series South Park. It was broadcast on March 19, 2008. The episode is a parody of "The Lottery".

Plot

Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Butters are watching a Democratic Party debate between Obama and Clinton with Randy when the show is interrupted by a news bulletin that Britney Spears was spotted in South Park, and that a man was paid $100,000 for a photo of the celebrity urinating on a ladybug.

The boys decide to stage a photograph of her "crapping" on a squirrel (actually Butters in a costume). Butters opposes this idea, saying that they should leave Spears alone. They passed "Komfort Inn" security by claiming to be her children. Once they reach in to her suite, they tell Butters to get next to her, but he angrily refuses. Annoyed, the boys asked Spears to flash them her 'crotch or something'. Spears is overcome by the constant harassment and attempts suicide by blowing her head off with a shotgun. The boys are shocked by this, and both Cartman and Butters run away, leaving Stan and Kyle in the suite until security comes by.

Miraculously she survives, but is missing her head above the jaw. Guilt-ridden, Kyle and Stan visit her in the hospital to apologize, saying to themselves they should have left her alone like Butters said. When her manager shows up, one of the paparazzi breaks through the window. Britney's manager manages to sneak Britney and the boys out the back into his car. The paparazzi chase them zombie-like, but they escape to her recording studio to record a comeback song. She then performs at the MTV Video Music Awards where the crowd nitpicks her 'flaws'.

The boys decide that they need to help Britney and devise a plan to take her to the North Pole by train to escape. Kyle diverts the paparazzi by switching hats with Spears. When he confronts the paparazzi for abusing the celebrity, they explain that Spears must be killed, and begin singing in loud semi-Latin chanting, reminiscent of the theme from The Omen.

The train engineer identifies Spears on his train, and stops at a village site where the paparazzi, villagers, and Kyle are waiting. The villagers explain to the boys that ritual human sacrifice is needed for a good corn harvest, but in modern times, people prefer to drive the sacrifice to suicide rather than stoning them to death. The crowd overwhelms Spears and proceed to somehow photograph her to death, leaving Stan and Kyle in shock. This segment of the episode is closely based on Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery". The story is about the selection and stoning of a sacrifice for a better harvest season.

Months later, South Park residents comment on the good corn harvest while at the supermarket. A newsflash appears on the TV, informing the townspeople that Miley Cyrus (star of Hannah Montana) is quickly becoming a major superstar. The shoppers in the supermarket see her as the next target and begin singing in Latin again. Stan and Kyle appear confused but give up any hope of reasoning with the adults and join in on the singing.

Kenny does not appear in the episode.

Influences

• Towards the end of the episode, The Lottery, a short story from 1948, is consistently referenced. In The Lottery a town specially selects a victim to be sacrificed in the name of a good harvest.
• South Park alludes to the 1969 Frosty the Snowman (TV program) when Kyle and Stan buy train tickets to the North Pole in an effort to save Britney Spears.

Reception

IGN gave the episode a mixed review of 6.0 out of 10, saying that it felt like "someone attempting to do South Park, and failing" but admitted that it was "a series of near misses as opposed to a complete disaster". Their main criticism was how the episode focused more of having a social commentary about the media and Britney Spears without being funny. As of April 9, it is currently the second-lowest rated episode on IMDB.

External links

Full Episode on South Park Studios Template:Episode navigation