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"Breast Cancer Show Ever" is the ninth episode in the twelfth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 176th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 15, 2008.[1][2] The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. In the episode, Eric Cartman's disrespectful behavior puts him on the wrong side of Wendy Testaburger when he mocks her presentation on breast cancer awareness, which leads to Wendy threatening to beat him up after school. The episode was rated TV-MA L in the United States.
| "Breast Cancer Show Ever" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 12 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Production code | 1209 |
| Original air date | October 15, 2008 |
During Wendy Testaburger's presentation on breast cancer, Eric Cartman ridicules the disease, though claims he is attempting to "engage in a constructive dialogue" about its effects when their teacher Mr. Garrison attempts to stop him. After class, as Wendy is putting up posters to raise breast cancer awareness, Cartman continues to mock the illness, to Wendy's increasing fury. Infuriated after Cartman jokingly claims he is worried that Wendy's breasts will attack him, Wendy challenges Cartman to a fistfight after school. Butters Stotch immediately informs his peers, including Bebe Stevens, who alerts her peers in the girls' bathroom, and word of the upcoming fight quickly spreads throughout the school, including to the kindergarten class and the isolated Goth students (who were mistaken to be emo).
After Butters claims that their peers will reject him if a girl beats him up, Cartman becomes frightened and reluctant. He tries to call off the fight with quiet apologies and bribery, though he attempts to withhold these efforts from the rest of the school: as he claims to be brave and "hardcore". When Wendy threatens Cartman that, "[She will] shove [his] ass down your throat and make [Eric] eat [his] underwear", Cartman concedes: removing his own underwear and consuming it in an attempt to appease her, though this only disgusts and angers her further.
Cartman tries to convince Stan Marsh to talk Wendy out of it: claiming that she has already asked him to call off the fight, but Stan does not believe he can do anything to stop her. Finally, Cartman pulls Wendy aside and claims that, in an ironic twist of fate, he has just been informed that his mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer, though she does not believe him. Desperate to avoid the fight, Cartman defecates on Mr. Garrison's desk in order to get detention. Butters, Craig Tucker, and Jimmy Valmer tell Cartman there are rumors that he deliberately got detention to avoid the fight, though Cartman refutes this: claiming he defecated on the teacher's desk due to his "hardcore" rebellious nature. Relieved, the group reveal that they rescheduled the fight for the following morning before school.
Later, Cartman plays the victim by having his mother convince Wendy's parents that he is being tormented and bullied by Wendy at school. Wendy's parents forbid her from fighting and she reluctantly acquiesces. Cartman then taunts Wendy further by making faces at her and giving her the middle finger, unseen by the adults, further enraging Wendy, who knows that she can no longer fight back lest her parents find out. Due to the severe warnings from her parents, Wendy is a no-show for the fight the following morning, arriving only in time to begin school. Cartman takes the opportunity to call her names like "chicken", convincing the others that she is a coward.
In class, Cartman taunts Wendy further by giving a presentation about breast cancer the following day, claiming that "much like the victims of breast cancer, there's something [he] need[s] to get off [his] chest": ridiculing Wendy's prior efforts. Wendy, losing her temper, begins to attack Cartman but is called to Principal Victoria's office.
After Wendy assures her that there will be no fight between her and Cartman, Principal Victoria commends Wendy for all she has done to spread awareness of breast cancer, and reveals that she is a breast cancer survivor herself, to Wendy's astonishment. Principal Victoria continues to talk about cancer, using underlying subtext, refers to Cartman as a cancer that is "pure evil" and "a fat little lump that needs to be destroyed." She then concludes by explaining, "When you have cancer, you fight. Because it doesn't matter if you beat it or not. You refuse to let that fat little lump make you feel powerless." Realizing that Cartman will never stop of his own will, and that she has Principal Victoria's support, Wendy decides to fight him.
Wendy then meets Cartman on the playground for the fight. Cartman makes final efforts to escape the situation: claiming it is too late in their recess period do go through, but he eventually gives in: calling Wendy a "big bully" and decides to fight. Although Cartman briefly gains the upper hand, Wendy dominates the fight and soon emerges victorious with only a few bruises, while leaving Cartman bruised, bloody, and having knocked out many of his teeth. The other students cheer her, and after Wendy leaves and a few students disperse, Cartman begins to sob in front of the remaining students: bemoaning that he will no longer be considered "the cool kid". Cartman's classmates assure him that they never thought he was cool in the first place; they have always hated him, and they could not possibly think any less of him. Cartman misinterprets this as them pretending to not think differently about him in order to make him feel better, reasoning that if they are trying to make him feel better, they must still like him. Cartman is suddenly elated at this thought, leaving the others perplexed.
The plot of the episode is loosely based on the film Three O'Clock High.[3] The fight scene is also based on that of the film Snatch and references the ending scene of There Will Be Blood. In the DVD commentary, Parker and Matt Stone refer to the character's interactions in the episode as thematically similar to the cartoon show Peanuts and "kids being kids".[4] While Cartman awaits the fight in class, Mr. Garrison says, "So you see, at this point Euripides knew he could not win the battle", referencing The Frogs, a comedic play by Aristophanes where the Greek tragedians Euripides and Aeschylus are measured against one another, the better to be revived so he can "educate the thoughtless" and rid Athens of evil politicians that are ruining the city (1500-1502, The Frogs).[5]
The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, stating "All in all, not the most-ambitious episode, but that actually worked in its favor: Outside of Wendy's crib from There Will Be Blood at the end, it could have been broadcast 10 years ago and worked, and I also have a feeling it will still be funny 10 years from now since it wasn't crammed with instantly-dated references".[6] IGN gave the episode an 8.2/10 rating, stating "While this is a fun sequence, and a nice bit of observation, the episode does seem somewhat anticlimactic. It's amusing that Cartman thinks he somehow achieved something when he finds out the kids always thought he sucked and their opinion of him 'couldn't possibly be any lower'. Massive self-delusion is part of Cartman's 'charm'. But the episode is unusually focused for South Park and once the fight is over there's a sense (perhaps intentionally?) of 'that's it?'. It's not one of the best episodes ever, but it's a solid old-school installment that offers up some truly great moments – many of them quintessential Cartman. Which is always fun to watch".[7]
"Breast Cancer Show Ever", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's twelfth season, were released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-ray set in the United States on March 10, 2009. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and two special mini-features, The Making of 'Major Boobage and Six Days to South Park.[8]
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