Ginger Kids

Template:Infobox South Park episode "Ginger Kids" aka "Gingervitis" is episode 911 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It aired on November 9, 2005.

Plot Summary

Template:Spoiler In a class presentation, Cartman argues that "Gingers"—those with red hair, freckles, and pale skin —are creepy and evil. They suffer from "gingervitis" and their light skin comes from their lack of a soul. He also argues that they cannot stand the sun, and that Kyle, who has red hair (but not light skin or freckles)—is a daywalker, a half-ginger (an apparent reference to the movie Blade). Kyle gets angry and gives a counterpoint report, but is further irked when Cartman's ideas lead other kids to discriminate against redheads. Kyle and the others get together in the night to dye Cartman's hair red, bleach his skin a lighter hue, and give him henna freckles, to make him "ginger," after which Cartman begins to be discriminated against by the kids he influenced by his speech.

However, Cartman—who cannot stand the thought of being inferior to anyone else, becomes a leader of the "Ginger Separatist Movement," at first asking to be treated like everyone else.

Eventually, however, Cartman's movement becomes violent, Hitlerian in tone. He begins to preach that redheads are, in fact, the "chosen race," and orders the eradication of all non-redheads from the Earth. Following Cartman's orders, the redheads abduct as many of South Park's children as they can, including Kyle and Stan, then bring them to their meeting place the Sunset Room at the Airport Hilton to throw them all into a pit of lava.

Kyle is chosen as the first to die, but before the gingers throw him into the lava, he whispers to Cartman that they really made him 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.

References to pop culture

• Cartman's speech is eerily similar to the Two Minutes Hate featured in George Orwell's classic novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
• Cartman's chant of "Better red than dead!" is a take-off of the anti-Communist slogan "Better dead than Red!" although many countered McCarthyism in the 1950s with Cartman's exact rephrasing.
• Cartman's other chant of "Red Power!" is taken from American Indian Movement
• "Daywalker" is a term used in Blade to describe Blade himself, who had the powers of a vampire, but could walk in the sunlight.
• The scene in which Stan and Kyle hide from the ginger kids in a barn bears similarities to the climax of the cult classic Zombi 2.
• The Ginger Kids protesting the production of Annie reflects the controversy that surrounded the casting of a non-Asian actor in the leading role of an Asian character in the original Broadway production of the musical Miss Saigon.
• The scene in which the ginger kids abduct non-gingers is a parody of a scene found in the mini-series Salem's Lot.
• The scene where one ginger girl is standing outside another child's house singing is a reference to a scene in A Nightmare On Elm Street. The girl sings a creepy song similar to the one Freddy Krueger sang:

One two: Freddy's coming for you. Three four: Better lock the door. Five six: Grab your crucifix. Seven eight: Better stay up late. Nine ten: He's back again.

Trivia

• When Mr. Foley (the father of the three Ginger Kids that Kyle went to interview for his presentation) makes a reference to a "man marrying a Japanese woman very soon," he is, according to the episode's commentary on the DVD, referring to Trey Parker's (at the time) upcoming wedding.
• In the scene where Cartman first gets on the bus after being turned into a "ginger", Butters begins laughing at him and the subtitle for this scene reads: *butter-chuckle*

External links

• "Ginger Kids" episode summary at TV.com
• Chat with Matt Stone
• International gingerkids foundation (parody)
• "Ginger Kids" at IMDb