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The Coon

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"The Coon"

"The Coon" is the second episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 183rd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 18, 2009 and Comedy Central in the United Kingdom on March 20, 2009. In the episode, Cartman poses as a superhero vigilante named "The Coon", who grows increasingly jealous of the popularity and success of a rival superhero named "Mysterion".

The episode was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It was originally conceived as an episode about the economic recession, but those elements were later adapted into the future episode, "Margaritaville". "The Coon" generated a great deal of speculation about the true identity of Mysterion, but Parker and Stone said there is no specific answer to the question.

The episode parodied several dark-toned comic book films that had been recently released at the time, including The Spirit, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight. It received generally positive reviews and, according to Nielsen Media Research, was seen by 3.27 million households the week it aired. Comedian Bruce Vilanch, who is mocked in the episode, sent a thank you card to Parker and Stone after the episode aired. "The Coon" was released on DVD and Blu-ray along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010.

Plot

Disguised as a raccoon, Cartman becomes a vigilante dubbed "The Coon", who attempts to wipe out crime in South Park. Though Cartman tries to raise awareness about The Coon through word of mouth, nobody pays much attention to The Coon's efforts. When he reports "crimes" (such as mistaking a man innocently trying to kiss his date for a rapist) to the police department, he is threatened with jail time and snubbed off. During class, Cartman tries to hype up an appearance from The Coon, saying he will be on roof of a Walgreens later that evening. Cartman (as The Coon) shows up to the spot to find another child superhero named "Mysterion" who is far more successful in garnering appreciation as a crime stopping icon from the police and South Park citizens who want to know just "Who is Mysterion?". Cartman is angered by his lack of popularity and the attention Mysterion is receiving. The Coon tries to discover the identity of Mysterion, but only finds more questions when Wendy suggests that it may not necessarily be a boy.

Cartman decides to turn to the "dark side" to rid the town of Mysterion, enlisting the help of Professor Chaos (Butters) and his sidekick General Disarray (Dougie) who are, unlike The Coon, as familiar to residents of South Park as Mysterion has quickly become. Butters also wants to know the identity of Mysterion but can only narrow the list of suspects to the few boys from Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class whose appearance doesn't differ greatly from the others. In a scheme to uncover Mysterion's identity, Cartman convinces Professor Chaos to threaten the destruction of a hospital unless Mysterion reveals his or her identity. After Cartman plants the TNT and leaves to buy detonators, Mysterion unexpectedly arrives and fights Professor Chaos and General Disarray on top of the building. A crowd forms below and cheers on Mysterion as the police take no actions realizing that their bullets are no match for Professor Chaos' aluminum foil armor. Dramatically, Cartman appears to fight on the side of Mysterion, with the hopes that he too will be hailed as a hero. At that point, Professor Chaos and General Disarray run off in defeat. After their victory, Cartman convinces Mysterion to unmask himself by claiming such threats to public safety will continue until Mysterion's secret is revealed.

Despite the threat of imprisonment, Mysterion unmasks himself showing the television viewers only the portion of Mysterion's face which looks similar to almost all of Mr. Garrison's 4th grade class. The crowd, however, is shocked to learn his identity. Mysterion is hauled to prison, much to the regret of all except Cartman. With Professor Chaos, General Disarray, and Mysterion defeated, Cartman now perceives that he is the "super hero" in South Park and that every town should have a Coon like him.

Production

"The Coon" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker. It first aired on March 18, 2009 in the United States on Comedy Central.[1] Like most South Park episodes, "The Coon" was first conceived by Parker and fellow co-founder Matt Stone within a week of the episode's broadcast date.[2] They originally planned to make Kenny, Kyle, and Stan superheros as well as Cartman, and for the episode to revolve around a group of superheros in the style of Watchmen, a comic book film that had been released earlier that month. They started working on sketches of the other superhero costumes, but Cartman and his alter-ego the Coon were finished first. From the start, Parker and Stone wrote Cartman as caring more about his superhero image than fighting crime, but as they worked further on the episode, it began to take up more and more of the story until they decided to make Cartman the only superhero of the four boys.[3]

Parker and Stone long planned to create an episode about the economic recession, and originally planned for Cartman to dress as a superhero named "The Coon" and fight the economy. This is why the opening scene of "The Coon" involves Cartman discussing the poor economic state of the nation and the election of U.S. President Barack Obama. Eventually, Cartman would discover the recession stemmed from the sale of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville blenders, and he would have to battle singer Jimmy Buffett and investor Warren Buffett, who would be portrayed as Jimmy's brother. Eventually, the idea was scrapped, and "The Coon" turned into an episode resolving entirely around a comic book film parody. Elements of the economic recession and the Margaritaville blenders were eventually incorporated into future episode "Margaritaville".[4]

Mysterion is just another one of those things, like 'Who is Cartman's dad?' where everybody wants to ask us who is Mysterion. And we don't know.

Trey Parker,
South Park co-creator[3]

The identity of Mysterion is never revealed in "The Coon". After the episode aired, the question "Who is Mysterion?" became the frequently asked question at the FAQ for the official South Park website, South Park Studios. The answer posted at that site was that "there is no answer", and that only Trey Parker and Matt Stone actually know.[5] Parker said it was one of the most common questions he was asked about the show, along with the identity of Cartman's father, which was resolved in the second season episode "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut". Parker and Stone have said there is no actual answer to Mysterion's identity, as they never chose a specific character to be him. In the original ending of the episode, after Mysterion is arrested, Kyle is shown to be in prison and it is believed he is the superhero. However, the real Mysterion visits him, and Kyle explains he pretended to be Mysterion so the real superhero could remain free and continue fighting crime. As a thank you, Mysterion revealed his identity by showing his face, but like in the actual episode, the viewer cannot determine who he is because all the children look alike without hats. The ending was ultimately cut because Parker and Stone decided it took too much time for a simple throwaway gag and to show that Kyle was not Mysterion. The clip is available as a deleted scene in the thirteenth season DVD and Blu-ray sets.[3]

Keo Thongkham and Kevin Dalton, who serve as South Park storyboard artists, drew the detailed image of Mysterion that appeared in a news broadcast within the episode.[6] Within a week of the episode's original broadcast, the online retailer Zazzle and South Park Studios, the official South Park website, released t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode, including one with an image of Cartman as the Coon, and one of Mysterion with the words, "Who is Mysterion?"[7][8][9]

Cultural references

Comedian Bruce Vilanch (pictured), who was mocked in "The Coon", sent a card to the South Park creators thanking them for referring to him in the episode.

"The Coon" is primarily a parody of dark-toned comic book movies.[10][11] The Dark Knight (2008), The Spirit (2008), and Watchmen (2009) are the most commonly referred to films, but others such as Spider-Man 3 (2007) are also frequently referenced.[12] Matt Stone said the episode started as a parody specifically of Watchmen, but then elements of other comic book films were added as the writing progressed.[13] The music used in "The Coon" is inspired by the style of film scores by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, both of whom collaborated on the scores for Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight.[11] To promote The Coon, Cartman uses a similar tagline as was used to promote Darkman, printing shirts asking "Who is The Coon?".[14] The Coon and Mysterion use deep and ominous voices similar to that used by Christian Bale in the Batman films and Rorschach in Watchmen.[12] Stone said he found Bale's voice particularly annoying in The Dark Knight, and found it amusing that so many comic book movies had heroes whose voices were so low, it sounded like they were "whispering, like you've been up all night smoking".[13]

Cartman and Mysterion both refer to themselves as "the symbol this town needs", a line from The Dark Knight, and Cartman encourages Butters to film a video threatening to blow up a hospital, the same as the Joker from a scene in that film. The opening shot of "The Coon" is also inspired by the opening sequence from Watchmen: both start at a close-up of a city sidewalk and zoom out to someone looking down from the top of a tall skyscraper.[12] A poster of The Coon shown at Cartman's Coonicon 2009 is inspired by the front cover of The Dark Knight Returns, the Batman graphic novel by Frank Miller. Other common comic book film traits parodied in "The Coon" include costumes that do little to actually conceal secret identities, trophies adorning superhero secret lairs, and sudden disappearing exits and entrances.[10]

Cartman's Coonicon 2009 convention is held at the Airport Hilton, the same place where he holds his "ginger pride" event in the episode "Ginger Kids" and the AIDS benefit in the episode "Tonsil Trouble".[12] Butters dresses up as Professor Chaos, and Dougie dresses as General Disarray, both of which are the supervillian alter egos they first take on in the sixth season episode "Professor Chaos".[12] Based on the physique of The Coon, Butters considers heavyset gay entertainers Bruce Vilanch and Harvey Fierstein as suspects for his secret identity.[12] Vilanch sent a card to Parker and Stone after "The Coon" aired, thanking them for referring to him in the episode.[3] Cartman plans to purchase detonators for his TNT from Ace Hardware, a real-life Illinois-based hardware company chain.[12] Cartman refers to the economic recession as one of the primary factors that has led to an increase in crime.[11] News footage of a group of South Park residents talking about Mysterion which focuses on a man with gold teeth and a blue baseball cap was inspired by the Crichton Leprechaun sighting YouTube video.[15]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The Coon" was watched by 3.27 million overall households, according to the Nielsen Media Research. The episode received a 1.8 rating/5 share among adults aged between 18 and 49, making it the most watched cable entertainment program in that age group for the week of March 16 to March 22.[16]

The episode received generally positive reviews. Carlos Delgado of iF magazine said, "The mockery of comic book based movies is perfectly done...Though not quite as funny as last week’s 'The Ring', 'The Coon' is right up there as a classic episode, ... A beacon of hope in the sometimes drab world of television,"[17] while at the same time, he believed the episode title, "The Coon" (being a well-known ethnic slur against black people) was a jab intended for Barack Obama, the first African American U.S. President.[17] Rick Ellis, television critic for the Philadelphia Examiner, called the episode "another highly politically-incorrect yet hilarious new episode."[18]

Perry Olsen, television editor for Student Life, said "The Coon" was an improvement over "The Ring" because it was less heavy-handed in its morals. Olsen also said it raised the question, "What ever happened to the goofy superhero movies? From Batman to the Hulk, it seems like every comic book hero movie has been given a splotch of mud and some dim lighting before being sent out the door."[19] Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ grade, although she did not like the "non-reveal" ending. She also said the target material for "The Coon" is too easy ("ooh, a superhero parody, don't hurt yourself, guys"), but she said the episode was "really likable" and she particularly liked Cartman's growing frustration when his superhero persona is ignored.[12] Travis Fickett of IGN also said he did not like the ending and, although he liked Butters' part in the episode and the riffing on comic book stereotypes, Fickett felt the episode lacked any "brilliant moments" and "ultimately runs out of steam with the super-hero riff".[20] Mitchell Geller of The Tufts Daily said the episode would be more enjoyable to people familiar with the comic book film franchise it was spoofing than it would be for those who are not, although he said Cartman "never ceases to be funny".[15]

Home release

"The Coon", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's thirteenth season, were released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-ray set in the United States on March 16, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode,[21] a collection of deleted scenes, and a special mini-feature Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios, which discussed the process behind animating the show Inside xBox.[22]

References

  1. ^ "'Who is The Coon?' In an All-New 'South Park' on Wednesday, March 18 at 10:00 p.m. on Comedy Central(R)". PR Newswire. March 16, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  2. ^ Lewinski, John Scott (March 31, 2009). "Creative Chaos Keeps South Park Timely, Tack-Sharp". Wired. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d Parker, Trey (November 2010). South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season: "The Ring" (Blu-ray Disc). Paramount Home Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ Parker, Trey (November 2010). South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season: "Margaritaville" (Blu-ray Disc). Paramount Home Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ "FAQ". South Park Studios (official). Retrieved February 12, 2010.
  6. ^ "The Coon Online". South Park Studios. March 18, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  7. ^ "Get South Park Stuff!". South Park Studios. March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  8. ^ "Products: 013 Who's Watching South Park?". Zazzle. March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  9. ^ "Products: 013 Who is Mysterion?". Zazzle. March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  10. ^ a b Marshall, Rick (March 19, 2009). "'South Park' Superhero Parody Spoofs 'Watchmen,' 'The Dark Knight' & Dark Comics Trend". MTV. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  11. ^ a b c Outlaw, Kofi (March 19, 2009). ""South Park" episode parodies Watchmen & The Dark Knight". ScreenRant. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Koski, Genevieve (March 18, 2009). ""The Coon"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 19, 2009. Cite error: The named reference "AVClub" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b Stone, Matt (November 2010). South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season: "The Coon" (Blu-ray Disc). ParamountHome Entertainment. {{cite AV media}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
  14. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099365/taglines
  15. ^ a b Geller, Mitchell (March 23, 2009). ""South Park" takes on the Jonas Brothers and costumed superheroes in new season". The Tufts Daily. Medford, Massachusetts. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  16. ^ Kissell, Rick (March 24, 2009). "Fox leads TV ratings in key demos". Variety. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  17. ^ a b Delgado, Carlos (March 19, 2009). ""TV Review: South Park - Season 13 - "The Coon"". If Magazine. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  18. ^ Ellis, Rick (March 19, 2009). "South Park's "Who is the Coon" turns Cartman into a vigilante". Philadelphia Examiner. Philadelphia. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  19. ^ Olsen, Perry (March 20, 2009). ""South Park" starts 13th season". Student Life. St. Louis, Missouri. Retrieved March 23, 2009. [dead link]
  20. ^ Fickett, Travis (March 19, 2009). "South Park: "The Coon" Review". IGN. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  21. ^ Foster, Dave (December 14, 2009). "South Park Season 13 (R1/US BD) in March". DVD Times. Retrieved February 24, 2010.
  22. ^ Liebman, Martin (March 5, 2010). "South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season Blu-ray Review". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
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