| "Le Petit Tourette" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| File:CartmanIAS1.jpg Cartman learns about Tourette's syndrome. | |
| Episode no. | Season 11 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Production code | 1108 |
| Original air date | October 3, 2007 |
"La Petit Tourette" is the eighth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 161st overall episode of the series. It originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central on October 3, 2007, and in Canada on November 16, 2007, on Comedy Network. In the episode, Cartman discovers Tourette's syndrome and decides to fain having the disease in order to freely spout out obscenities in public, and eventually uses it as a outlet to appear on Dateline NBC to mock Jewish people.
Written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, "Le Petit Tourette" was rated TV-MA-LV in the United States. Cartman uses a large amount of obscenities throughout the episode which remained completely uncensored during the episode's broadcast. The episode portrays its characters as completely ignorant to the actual reality of Tourette's syndrome. The episode also largely parodies Chris Hansen, disparaging him and his television programs Dateline NBC and To Catch a Predator.
"La Petit Tourette" received mixed reviews from television reviewers, who were divided about the quality of its humor and largely disappointed at its jokes about Tourette's syndrome. The Tourette Syndrome Association, who issued a press release asking Comedy Central to warn of the episode's offensiveness towards the disease, was generally pleased with the episode and impressed by the level of research Parker and other co-founder Matt Stone did.
Plot summary edit
While shopping at a toy store, Cartman sees a young boy named Thomas, who suffers from Tourette's syndrome. Upon learning that the illness allows for openly exclaiming obscenities in public without being chastised, he decides to fain having the disease. He openly swears and insults people at school under the excuse that he has the illness. Kyle does not believe in Cartman's sudden disorder and eventually gets a confession out of him, but Cartman refuses to fess up. Kyle confronts Principal Victoria about Cartman, but his judgment is deemed merely an offensive assault on people with Tourrete's by Mr. Donaldson—who has coprolalia—from the "Tourette's Tolerance and Understanding Foundation," and he is forced to watch children suffering from the disease in order to learn to be less arrogant.
Cartman nails an appearance on Dateline NBC after sending in a letter to host Chris Hansen. Cartman invites Kyle over to his house, where he informs him that he plains on using the appearance to make an anti-Semitic hate speech on air and be viewed as bold by television audiences. While at a party in his honor congratulating him for landing a spot on the show, Cartman begins loosing his ability to filter himself and starts unintentionally spouting out freudian slips. He attempts to convince Hansen to cancel his appearance on Dateline, but Hansen refuses and threatens to kill Cartman if he does not do the show. Meanwhile, Kyle enlists the help of Thomas to lure in pedophiles onto the studio during Cartman's taping under the impression that they will be able to have sex with underage children. When each pedophile enters the studio and sees Hansen (known for his To Catch a Predator hidden camera program) they immediately commit suicide, causing all the audience members to flee from set. When Kyle confronts Cartman to gloat, Cartman rejoices that he did not divulge his own secrets on national television.
Production and theme edit
"La Petit Tourette" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA-LV in the United States. It first aired in the United States on Comedy Central on October 3, 2007, and in Canada on November 16, 2007, on Comedy Network.[1] It was the first South Park episode to air since April when "Night of the Living Homeless" premiered.[2] Throughout the episode, an assortment of obscenities are spoken by Cartman, such as "shit" and "cock," and remain free of censorship, a practice that would usually be performed on American programming when such vulgarity is spoken.[3] Many commentators have noted that this dynamic fuels the show's humor, as it displays the disparity between the cute appearance of the characters and their crude behavior.[4][5] However, Parker and other co-creator Matt Stone said in an early interview that the show's language is realistic. "There are so many shows where little kids are good and sweet, and it's just not real ... Don't people remember what they were like in third grade? We were little bastards."[6]
The episode touches upon and satirizes the issue of Tourette's syndrome. Characters in the episode are portrayed as being ignorant towards the illness and consistently displays the negative repercussions because of this ignorance.[2][3][7] Upon discovering the cultural side effects of Tourette's, Cartman asserts that it is his "golden ticket" and will allow him to swear and insult people under the defense that he suffers from a disease.[7] Others around him either empathize or envy him because of his new-found freedom; Clyde, in particular, upon hearing Cartman use vial language to a authority figure will remark that if he could perform such actions, he "would be so happy..."[3] Kyle is the only one who notes the obvious absurdity of Cartman suddenly having Tourette's when the disease is hereditary. However, his rational complaints and assertions that Cartman is faking are perceived as personal assaults on people with Tourette's, and he is forced to watch children suffering from the disease with hopes of making him empathize with them.[2][3][7] Eventually, Cartman continues the ruse so much that he actually looses his ability to censor his own actions and, in stead of swearing, spouting out embarrassing information about his past publicly. This repercussion serves as a feet of irony and is meant to show Cartman the gravity of the disease and how it effects people personally.[7]
Cultural references edit
Reception edit
References edit
- ^ "New show lampoons breakfast TV". The Leader-Post. 2007-11-16. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- ^ a b c Dahl, Oscar (2007-10-03). "South Park : Cartman, Tourette's, and Chris Hanson". BuddyTV. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- ^ a b c d Modell, Josh (2007-10-04). "South Park: "Le Petit Tourette"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- ^ Martin, Rick (1997-07-21). ""Peanuts" Gone Wrong". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (1997-08-13). "Out of the mouths of babes..." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
- ^ Owen, Rob (1997-08-12). ""South Park" is Sure to Make Parents Cringe". Times Union.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ a b c d Ficket, Travis (2007-10-04). "South Park: "Le Petit Tourette" — Cartman fakes Tourette's Syndrome and finds his "golden ticket."". IGN. Retrieved 2010-04-05.