Story

Description

The boys are playing Star Trek outside of Cartman's house. While exploring the "foreign planet," Captain Cartman has Kyle immediately "eaten" by an imaginary space monster. Not wanting to be killed off, Kyle gets into a heated debate with Cartman which quickly turns sour. Referencing the Mel Gibson-directed film The Passion of the Christ (which he's seen 34 times), Cartman claims that everyone hates Jews because they killed Jesus -- and that if Kyle wants the real story, he should see The Passion of the Christ.

Kyle does indeed watch the film, and is appalled by the violent, bloody killing of Jesus. He tells Cartman -- to his near-orgasmic delight -- that he was right. Energized by this victory, Cartman prays before a poster of Mel Gibson and solemnly vows to spread the word about his film.

Stan and Kenny also see the film and are appalled for different reasons -- they think it sucks and want their $18 back. However, they're told that if they want a refund, they'll have to take it up with Mel Gibson himself. Throughly pissed off, Stan and Kenny do just that. They take a bus to the actor's Malibu home and confront him in person only to realize he's completely insane. He's also a sadomasochist, and tells the boys he won't return their cash even if they torture him -- which he demands they do.

When the boys refuse, Gibson starts chasing them with a gun. They spot his wallet on a table, retrieve their $18 and flee to the bus station. But Gibson commandeers a tanker truck and pursues them.

Back in South Park, Cartman forms a Mel Gibson fan club that's filled with earnest adults interested in spreading The Passion of the Christ's message. They seem oblivious to the fact that Cartman (who's dressed in a Nazi-like uniform) is spreading a different message -- extermination of the Jews. The clueless group holds a rally in front of the local theater, then marches through the streets while chanting anti-Semitic slogans in German. The crowd thinks they're speaking Aramaic.

Cartman's rally passes the local synagogue, where Kyle has astounded the congregation by suggesting that Jews should officially apologize for the crucifixion of Christ. The members of the local Jewish community (who want The Passion of the Christ removed from the theater) confront Cartman and his followers. Suddenly the bus carrying Stan and Kenny arrives, pursued by Gibson's tanker truck, which crashes into the theater and explodes.

Gibson emerges unscathed and launches into an insane rant that ends with him smearing his own feces on a building and imploring shocked onlookers to torture him. Seeing Gibson in his true form causes Cartman's followers to scatter, and Kyle's feelings of Jewish guilt quickly vanish.

What I Learned Today

"If you wanna be Christian, that's cool, but you should follow what Jesus taught instead of how he got killed. Focusing on how he got killed is what people did in the Dark Ages and it ends up with really bad results."

Memorable Quotes

• "That wasn't a movie, that was a snuff film!" Stan
• "If I knew where Mel Gibson was, I'd be down on the floor licking his balls at this very moment, sir." Cartman
• "No! Don't form an angry mob! The last time we did that we killed Jesus!" Kyle
• "Oh we WILL! This is America, and in America if something sucks, you're supposed to be able to get your money back!" Stan
• "Well go ahead. I just sure hope you don't use those whips over there on the wall." Mel Gibson
• "Come on Kenny, we're going to Malibu!" Stan
• "Oh, my nipples are so tender! Don't squeeze them anymore!" Mel Gibson
• "Hail, Mel Gibson." Cartman
• "Sweet, now I can just play with myself." Cartman
• "Bitch don't call me a bitch I'll pop your fucking head open." Cartman
• "Leave it to a child to show us all the way, huh?" Man at a Passion meeting
• "So you DO intend to torture me, huh? Go ahead!" Mel Gibson
• "Ooh, Aramaic! Cool!" Ticket Guy
• "Stereotyping Jews is terrible!" Jewish Woman
• "Have I been a good boy, Mr. Gibson?!" Cartman
• "I feel so much better about being Jewish now that I see Mel Gibson is just a big whacko douche." Kyle

Characters

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Liane Cartman

Gerald Broflovski

Sheila Broflovski

Jack and Elsie Garrett

Terrance

Phillip

Father Maxi

Star Trek Outfits

Cartman Star Trek Outfit

Kenny Star Trek Outfit

Stan Star Trek Outfit

Kyle Star Trek Outfit

Character Debuts

Mel Gibson. Just like Saddam Hussein, he's portrayed using an actual photo of the actor's head. He'll return in "Imaginationland: Episode I," again complaining about his tender nipples.

Mel Gibson

Locations

Mel Gibson's Residence

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

Matt and Trey knew that The Passion of the Christ was coming out, and went round and round trying to figure out how to handle it. They finally settled on the idea that Gibson, who includes graphic torture scenes in a disturbing number of his movies, was some sort of sadomasochist.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

Stan tells Kenny they're going to get their money back because it's about "being able to hold bad filmmakers responsible." He goes on to add, "This is just like when we got our money back for BASEketball." This is a joke on the 1998 film starring Trey and Matt. This episode begins with the boys playing Star Trek in Cartman's mom's minivan (aka "Shuttle Craft Spontaneity"). Their ranks are: Captain Cartman, 1st Officer Stan, engineer Kenny, and Vulcan Jew Kyle.

Numerous allusions are made to Gibson's movie catalogue. His shout of "Give me back my money," references his 1996 movie Ransom. Later he shouts "Freedom!" and paints his face with blue streaks -- an homage to 1995's Braveheart. Cartman also prays to a picture of Gibson in his full Braveheart garb. Finally, he chases the boys in a tanker truck similar to the one featured in 1981's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Gibson even lifts a quote from that movie, "Two days ago I saw a rig that could haul that tanka. You wanna get outta here? You talk to me!" Obviously, there are also tons of The Passion of the Christ references throughout, including recreations of Jesus' torture done South Park-style. Cartman even gets specific about the film's stats, "Three hundred million domestic box office, Kyle. The top grossing film of all time, Kyle. Those numbers don't lie."

Pwn'd

Mel Gibson gets the royal treatment here -- he's portrayed as an insane, unstable wacko with a weakness for torture and nipple-pinching. Also, Kyle has a horrific Passion-inspired dream filled with bloody images of Christ's death and one quick picture of M*A*S*H star Alan Alda.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

This is the second episode (after Season One's "Pinkeye") in which Cartman dresses as Hitler. Mel Gibson's wild, cartoonish antics are similar to those employed by Daffy Duck in the classic animated show Looney Tunes. Cartman gets a taste of his own medicine here, with Mel Gibson pooping all over his face. Butters met a similarly stinky fate in "Good Times With Weapons" , after the boys dressed him up as a dog and he wound up in an animal shelter.

Season 8

e1 Good Times With Weapons

e2 AWESOM-O

e3 Up the Down Steroid

e4 The Passion of the Jew

e5 You Got F'd in the A

e6 Goobacks

e7 The Jeffersons

e8 Douche and Turd

e9 Something Wall Mart This Way Comes

e10 Pre-School

e11 Quest for Ratings

e12 Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset

e13 Cartman's Incredible Gift

e14 Woodland Critter Christmas