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"Major Boobage" is episode 1203 (#170) of the animated series South Park.[1] It was first broadcast on March 26, 2008, and is inspired by the 1981 Canadian film Heavy Metal[2], and includes references to various rumored drug crazes, the experiences of Anne Frank's family during World War II, and Eliot Spitzer's 2008 prostitution scandal.[3] This is the first episode to be rated TV-MA-DSV.
Plot
Mr. Mackey lectures the kids on the dangers of choking themselves to get high, as well as other methods that are becoming popular. In response, Kenny attempts to get high by choking himself, while Butters mentions that his cousin from Florida told him about kids in his school "getting high off of cat pee.", in reference to the slang term "cat piss", used to describe the potent stench of some varieties of marijuana.[4] The other children do not believe him until Mr. Mackey confirms that it is true that a concentrated form of cat urine, used by male cats to mark their territory in the presence of other male cats, can cause one to get "really, really high" when inhaled. Mr. Mackey immediately regrets giving the kids this information.
Curious, the boys go to Cartman's house and confirm it for themselves, by having Cartman's cat, Mr. Kitty, squirt urine in Kenny's face. Kenny then experiences a drug trip inspired by the 1981 film Heavy Metal, driving a rocket-powered, t-topped 1979 black Pontiac Trans Am through space and encountering a woman with large breasts similar to the protagonist in Heavy Metal. At the height of the trip, as he is about to bathe with her, Cartman manages to pin him to the ground and bring him back to reality, where he has been running around and removing his clothing. Angered, Kenny violently attacks Cartman until Stan and Kyle stop him, suggesting that they should permanently abstain from using cat urine.
The new drug craze becomes national, with Fox News calling it "cheesing" (because it's "Fon to Due"), resembling a report Fox News ran about a drug called Jenkem, 'Cheese' also is a cultural reference to Cheese heroin, a drug which was used primarily by teenagers to get high. Kyle's parents, horrified, bring it to the attention of other parents and Gerald Broflovski drafts a bill that will make cats illegal in South Park, whereupon all cats are subsequently taken into custody. Cartman hides Mr Kitty in his attic and suggests that it "write a diary", a reference to Anne Frank's diary. He ends up reluctantly hiding many of the neighborhood cats, similar to the way Jews were hidden from the Nazis during World War II and recounted in the aforementioned diary. Cartman later accuses Kyle of not understanding what it's like to go into hiding in fear of death — ironically, given that many Jews had to go through the same thing during The Holocaust.
Kenny, meanwhile, is still able to acquire cat urine and is now addicted. The boys try to stop his cheesing addiction, even threatening to tell on him, and confiscate his cat. Kyle's mother Sheila finds the cat in Kyle's dresser drawer, but Kyle denies that it is his, saying truthfully that he is "holding it for a friend." Kyle is nevertheless grounded and Gerald takes the cat downstairs. Despite being clean for ten years, temptation takes over, and, using an elaborate setup consisting of a cat retainer that was hidden under a dust cover and a projector showing a film of an antagonistic cat (which is meant to rouse the real cat), cheeses himself "one last time". Under the influence, he finds himself in the fantasy world, flying a B-17G. After encountering the woman with the large breasts, he is annoyed to find that Kenny is there, too. They are told that they must battle at the "Breastriary in Nippopolis."
Back in reality, a large audience is watching Gerald and Kenny fight at the playground (still believing themselves to be in the fantasy world), shocking Sheila and embarrassing Kyle. Being the major proponent of the cat ban, it is mortifying for Gerald to be caught high on cat urine. He makes a public apology (reminiscent of that of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer) with a very displeased Sheila by his side, and lifts the ban on cats. He tells his audience that it is not the fault of cats; the cats only produce urine while people actively choose to use it. He tells them that it's personal responsibility that matters and makes the point that no matter what is done, children will always find ways to get high, listing some possibilities such as "fermenting feces" and "licking toad" until Butters's dad Stephen, holding his hands over his son's ears (not wanting him to be influenced by those possibilities), tells Gerald that the point has been made.
At the end of the episode (with the returned cats exacting revenge on their owners), Cartman says he has learnt that you cannot deprive a living being of its freedom. Kyle, angered by the fact that Cartman is insensitive to the persecution Jewish people suffered during World War II, asks Cartman if he does not notice a similarity between the recent happenings and anything else in history, but Cartman seems oblivious to it.
The boys then find Kenny, to their delight, sniffing a flower, claiming that he is getting "high on life". Suddenly Kenny starts rapidly sniffing a handful of flowers concerning the boys saying that Kenny is getting "super wasted on life", Kenny then gets high going back to his drug trip.
Behind the Scenes
According to the official site, this episode took eight weeks to complete, which is eight times that of a normal episode, due to the use of traditional animation in order to make it resemble the film Heavy Metal. It also reveals the origin of Kenny's car, which was sometimes an actual 3-D model instead of animation.
References
External Links
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