Sexual Harassment Panda
Encyclopedia
"Sexual Harassment Panda" is the 37th episode of Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

's animated series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

. It originally aired on July 7, 1999. This was the first episode to air after the release of the theatrical film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a 1999 animated musical comedy film based on the animated television series South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The film was directed by Parker, who also stars along with the rest of the regular voice cast from the series, including Stone, Mary...

. According to the DVD commentary of this episode, Trey and Matt were so exhausted and hungover from doing the South Park movie that they have no memory of making this episode.

Plot

Mr. Garrison's
Herbert Garrison
Mr. Herbert Garrison is a recurring character in the American animated television series South Park. He is voiced by Trey Parker. For the first eight seasons of the series, the character was known as Mr. Garrison but underwent sex reassignment surgery in the season 9 episode "Mr. Garrison's Fancy...

 class is visited by a friendly educational mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

, Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda
Giant Panda
The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

, who attempts to teach the kids about sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...

 so as to prevent it in school. During the visit, Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...

 calls Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...

 an "ass-sucker", and Cartman, inspired by the Panda's teaching, sues
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...

 Stan for sexual harassment; Kyle's
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...

 father, Gerald Broflovski, acts as his lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, and Cartman wins half of Stan's possessions. Gerald then decides to encourage Cartman (and later, others) not only to sue each other but also the teachers and the school, leading to chaos throughout the town as he gets rich. Kyle's dad quickly becomes the target of many people's wrath, while he continues to renovate their house into a mansion
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

 with his newly-gained assets. Soon afterwards the whole town is suing each other, and Gerald is taking advantage of this by being a lawyer for them all, getting more and more money from every case. And because everyone is scared of being sued, no one can stand up to Gerald.

Because the school board needs to cut costs, Sexual Harassment Panda is fired. He cannot get a new job as a panda mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

, and refuses to change his costume due to an apparently genuine belief that he is a panda. Thus, he goes to the Island of Misfit Mascots Commune, for mascots whose messages simply make no sense. One mascot kills Kenny by accident. Many mascots here also seem to believe they are the animals they're portraying. The boys, however, seeing the negative results of the lawsuits on their school, track him down and convince him to return to town with a new message. Meanwhile, Gerald is litigating the biggest sexual harassment lawsuit ever, Everyone v. Everyone, where he represents everyone who hires him to take on everyone else (flagrantly disregarding conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....

 in the process).

The Panda arrives back in South Park under a new name, Petey the "Don't Sue People" Panda, and delivers a sermon on how people should not sue each other constantly because it does nothing but damage the school system, taking away money from classrooms, schools and themselves, the taxpayers. The people, realizing the sagacity of this statement, angrily cry that they should sue Gerald, who quickly agrees to file no more lawsuits about sexual harassment in schools or anywhere else. In the end, all the sexual harassment suits are dropped and Kyle's dad presumably gets away with millions of dollars.

Cultural references

This episode satirizes the widely publicized lawsuits over sexual harassment in schools that occurred in the late 1990s. The Island of Misfit Mascots Commune is a parody of The Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Parker and Stone indicated in the DVD commentary that the Panda is actually Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 from "Jesus vs. Frosty", as they have the same voice.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK