Whale Whores
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"Whale Whores" is the eleventh episode of the thirteenth season of the animated television series South Park. It aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 28, 2009[1] and on Comedy Central on October 30, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The episode centers on the criticism of Whale Wars, an Animal Planet television show following Paul Watson and his crew as they attempt to deter Japanese ships from killing whales, and on the Japanese people through absurd stereotyping. In the episode, the method Watson's crew uses to deter whalers is to "throw stinky butter at them".[2]
Plot
The Marsh family are spending Stan's birthday at the Denver Aquarium, in close contact with dolphins. The vacation goes bad when Japanese people appear out of nowhere and slaughter all the dolphins in the pool. This happens at several other aquariums, culminating the killing of the Miami Dolphins football team as they are beginning a game. As a result, Stan takes on a cause to save the dolphins and whales from the Japanese. Failing to recruit Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny who are more interested in playing Rock Band, Stan volunteers to work on a ship with Paul Watson from the television show Whale Wars. Watson's method for deterring the Japanese whalers is to throw "stinky butter" on them.[2] In retaliation the Japanese shoot a harpoon through Watson, killing him. Stan, surprised by the crew's impotent methods of deterrence, fires a flare gun at the Japanese ship igniting fuel barrels and destroying the ship. Stan becomes the new captain of the ship and drastically increases the ratings of Whale Wars by violently attacking other Japanese whalers.[3] The crew is interviewed on Larry King Live, where the host, Larry King, criticizes Paul Watson and questions Stan on the morality of increasing ratings by using violence.
Jealous of Stan's media attention, Cartman and Kenny join the ship's crew. They soon have a run-in with the crew from a ship from Deadliest Catch, who are angered that Stan is stealing ratings from them. Grateful whales appear and remove the blockading ship, but the Japanese launch a World War II style kamikaze attack on Stan's ship. The suicidal planes kill the helpful whales and the Whale Wars crew except for Stan, Cartman, and Kenny. The trio are captured by the Japanese and briefly imprisoned before Emperor Akihito takes them to the Hiroshima memorial museum and reveals to them why the Japanese slaughter dolphins and whales: for revenge, as the Japanese believe that the animals were responsible for the bombing of Hiroshima due to receiving a doctored photo from the United States the day after the explosion depicting the Enola Gay piloted by a whale and a dolphin. The emperor says that after receiving the photo, Japan ended the war with America to focus on their true enemies: whales and dolphins. Stan then gives the Japanese a new doctored photo showing a cow and chicken in the Enola Gay. The Japanese become infuriated, believing that the cows and chickens had framed the innocent whales and dolphins by doctoring the original photo. The Japanese resolve to cease their whaling efforts and begin a violent vendetta of slaughtering cows and chickens. The episode ends as Stan's father congratulates him for making the Japanese "normal, like us"[4] by encouraging them to kill cows and chickens rather than whales and dolphins.
Cultural references
During the episode Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are performing Lady Gaga's song "Poker Face" on the video game Rock Band. Cartman later improvises as he sings the song to include lyrics which mock caring for whales.[5][6] "Poker Face" is not available in Rock Band, but Kotaku's reviewer Mike Fahey appreciated the rendition so much that he is "convinced it needs to be".[7]
Reception
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described the criticism of the save-the-whales conservationists as a "delightfully savage ridicule".[5] The AV Club's Josh Modell did not enjoy the episode's mockery of Whale Wars: "The show’s star, Paul Watson, seems to have really pissed off [South Park's creators] Parker and Stone [...] Fine, but could you make me laugh a few times while you beat me over the head with information about a guy that I couldn’t care less about?"[6] Brian Jacks of MTV appreciated the show's focus on whale conservation, believing that the mockery of existing conservation efforts in South Park did more for the movement than the actual Whale Wars show.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "South Park episode guide". South Park Studios. 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ^ a b "Whale Whores". South Park. Season 13. Episode 11. Comedy Central. Quote: Paul Watson: "It's time to bring out the big guns. You guys ready? Ready and throw the stinky butter at them!"
- ^ "Whale Whores". South Park. Season 13. Episode 11. Comedy Central. Quote: Spinning magazine headline: "Whale Wars Ratings Skyrocket: New Captain Not a fat liar like the old one"
- ^ "Whale Whores". South Park. Season 13. Episode 11. Comedy Central. Quote: Randy Marsh: "Great job son. Now the Japanese are normal, like us."
- ^ a b Tucker, Ken (October 29, 2009). "'South Park' and 'Whale Whores': Lady Gaga and Entertainment Weekly harpooned, er, lampooned". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Modell, Josh (October 29, 2009). "Whale Whores". The AV Club. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Fahey, Mike (October 30, 2009). "Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" Comes To Rock Band In South Park". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
- ^ Jacks, Brian (October 29, 2009). "'South Park' Takes On Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face'". MTV. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
