Eek, a Penis!

"Eek, a Penis!"
South Park episode
Episode no. Season 12
Episode 5
Directed by Trey Parker
Written by Trey Parker
Production code 1205
Original air date April 9, 2008

"Eek, a Penis!" is the fifth episode in the twelfth season of the American animated series South Park.[1] The 172nd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 9, 2008. In the episode, Mrs. Garrison seeks to become a man again through the help of a new medical procedure, and Cartman helps teach struggling inner-city school children how to succeed by cheating. This episode is a parody of the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, with Eric Cartman playing a role similar to that of Edward James Olmos's character.

The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker and co-written by series co-creator Matt Stone.

Plot summary

The episode begins with Mrs. Garrison crying in front of her class as she recounts the story of a pregnant transsexual who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show a week before the episode's release. She claims that having a baby makes her a woman and that Mrs. Garrison herself is still a man deep down inside. She then explains that she is no longer happy as a woman, but is unable to return to being a man because her penis was destroyed after her sex-change operation. After launching into a rage, Garrison is removed from teaching by Principal Victoria until she gets her personal life in order, and Cartman is appointed as temporary teacher in Garrison's place. The kids in class then steal the answer sheet for the next day's test from Garrison's desk, and as a result pass with high scores. Impressed by the high scores, the Denver County school board asks Cartman to teach a struggling inner-city classroom at Jim Davis High School.

Mrs. Garrison sees a news report describing how scientists can use a mouse to grow a human ear, and decides to have the same experiment performed on her to get a new penis. Using some of her male DNA, and all of her money, scientists are able to create a mouse with a penis on it, but he opens its cage and escapes from the lab and begins to race all over town, causing stereotypical hysterical reactions in all the women who see it (who only refer to it as a "penis") screaming "EEK!" when they see it. Mrs. Garrison looks for it in vain, as it winds up in various houses and restaurants. At a certain point, during the chase, the mouse stops on a fence and starts singing a song to the moon. Later the penis joins in and they form a duet. The song is interrupted by Garrison and eventually the mouse vanishes into the sewers, and Mrs. Garrison goes back to moping that she will never be a real man again.

Meanwhile, Cartman, taking Kyle's warning about the dangers of inner-city students who will "fucking murder him", disguises himself as a Latino named "Mr. Cartmenez", and teaches his students how white people are able to succeed even when they cannot: by cheating. Cartman often wonders aloud "How do I reach these keeeds kids?" He then teaches his class numerous cheating techniques, explaining that as long as they succeed, no one will judge them. Cartman cites New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's success after cheating in the Spygate football scandal. He teaches them to memorize test answers, use cameras, and, in the case of a pregnant girl, getting an abortion (which he explains is "cheating nature itself", and that "white girls do it all the time and get away with it"). When the kids do amazingly well, they are then challenged to take the hardest, most secure standardized test in the state. When the kids begin to doubt Cartman's methods, he again points to Bill Belichick, implying that after he decided to win a game "for real", he ended up losing (to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII). The kids are encouraged by this, and all receive perfect scores (by cheating). The class honors "Mr. Cartmenez" for teaching them "The White People Method", and he is universally praised.

While Mrs. Garrison is moping in the park, the mouse with his penis shows up and allows itself to be caught, and Mrs. Garrison undergoes an operation to become Mr. Garrison again. He arrives back at school and explains that he now realizes that the true judge of gender is whether someone can get pregnant. The episode concludes when one teacher objects that his wife can't have babies because of ovarian cancer, and Mr. Garrison responds with, "Well then get an AIDS test, Thomson, 'cause your wife's a dude, faggot!... Yeah! I'm back!" while jumping in the air as the mouse (who grew the penis) lets out a squeak.

Cultural references

A large part of the plot parodies the film Stand and Deliver (Garfield High School / Jim Davis High School), with Cartman assuming a similar role that of Edward James Olmos, although where in the film, the students were falsely accused of cheating, in the episode, the students actually did cheat and got away with it.[2][3] A scene where Mrs. Garrison's penis and a mouse sing a duet references the 1986 film An American Tail, with the song performed similar to "Somewhere Out There".[4][3] Reference is also made to Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, the Spygate scandal of 2007, and Super Bowl XLII.[3]

The episode name is a reference to dancehall singer Eek-A-Mouse, a close friend of South Park co-creator Trey Parker. The penis on the loose theme borrows from the Frank Henenlotter horror comedy film Bad Biology.

Reception

The AV Club's Sean O'Neal gave the episode a C rating, feeling that the parody of Stand and Deliver took away from the episode's message, "Even as someone who appreciated the reference I found it distracting, particularly since Cartman's lesson plan –teaching his students to cheat "the white people way"– worked well enough on its own, making the allusion sort of superfluous". O'Neal felt that the references to the film were dated: "Would anyone under, say, the age of 25 get that Cartman gave himself an Edward James Olmos makeover, right down to the cardigan vests and the way he tucked his hand in his waistband?" and the Belichick appearance "fell flat."[2]

TV Squad's Brad Trechak felt that "episodes have felt lower in quality this season" but the episode succeeded in being "unconventionally funny" and singled out the mouse/penis duet for praise.[4]

Travis Fickett of IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.7, stating that the episode "will probably not end up as one of the more memorable episodes in the canon, but it's pretty damn fun nonetheless". Fickett also singled out the mouse/penis duet as "It is just about to get old when the penis-mouse stops by the light of the moon to sing the An American Tail inspired ballad about being lost".[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Episode 1205 Press Release". Comedy Central. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  2. 1 2 "South Park: "Eek, A Penis!"". The A.V. Club. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "South Park: "Eek!, A Penis!" Review". IGN. IGN. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  4. 1 2 "South Park: Eek, A Penis!". TV Squad. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2009.

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