Sexual Healing (South Park)
Encyclopedia
"Sexual Healing" is the fourteenth season
premiere of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 196th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central
in the United States on March 17, 2010, and on Comedy Central UK on March 19, 2010. The title of the episode is derived from the song of the same name
by soul singer Marvin Gaye
. In the episode, the sex scandal of golf
pro Tiger Woods
has the media and public frantic to determine why rich and successful men would suddenly crave sex with multiple partners. Meanwhile, schools are screened
for the condition and Kyle
, Kenny
and Butters
are diagnosed with sexual addiction
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Sexual Healing" parodies several elements of the Woods scandal, including alleged fights with his wife Elin Nordegren
, which are portrayed as part of a new Tiger Woods PGA Tour
video game played by Cartman
, Stan
, and Kenny
. In addition to mocking Woods himself, the script parodied the large amount of media attention surrounding the scandal, and suggested because it is natural for men to crave sex, Woods's actions can be understood, although not condoned.
Cartoon parodies of several celebrities who have experienced real-life sexual scandals were featured in the episode, including Bill Clinton
, David Letterman
, Charlie Sheen
, David Duchovny
and Ben Roethlisberger
. The treatment these celebrities received is portrayed as ineffective and ridiculous, suggesting celebrities should not have to undergo insincere acts of public apology for their sexual transgressions. "Sexual Healing" received generally mixed reviews from critics.
According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Sexual Healing" was seen by 3.7 million households, making it the most watched South Park premiere since "Rainforest Shmainforest" in 1999, and helping make March 17 the most-watched night of the year for Comedy Central to that point. Shortly after the episode aired, Internet rumors spread that EA Sports planned to sue South Park creators Parker and Matt Stone
over their portrayal in the episode. EA Sports specifically denied the claims.
series of video games incorporates elements of the alleged physical altercations Woods had with his wife regarding his extramarital affairs, and resembles a fighting game
more than a golf simulation. Cartman
, Stan
, Kyle
and Kenny
become big fans of the game. Meanwhile, scientists at the Center for Disease Control determine that sex addiction
is a disease reaching epidemic proportions. They decide to screen schoolchildren for the disease, and Kenny, Kyle, and Butters
are diagnosed as sex addicts. Kenny is killed after attempting autoerotic asphyxiation
while in a Batman
suit, while Kyle and Butters are sent to attend a therapy session for sex addicts consisting of Michael Douglas
, Michael Jordan
, Ben Roethlisberger
, David Duchovny
, Charlie Sheen
, David Letterman
, Bill Clinton
, Billy Bob Thornton
, Kobe Bryant
, Eliot Spitzer
, and Tiger Woods
.
When performing an experiment on chimpanzees, the CDC determines that money is somehow responsible for infecting males with sexual addiction. Because an image of Independence Hall
appears on the back of a $100 bill
, they believe the origins of the disorder can somehow be traced there. They submit their findings to President
Barack Obama
, who reveals that a virus for sex addiction had previously been brought to Earth by extraterrestrials. He accompanies a SWAT team on their raid on Independence Hall in search of the "wizard alien" that is responsible for the sex addiction epidemic. When one member of the team suggests that the mission is irrational and that sex addiction is simply an inherent part of the male ego, he is ordered by Obama to be hauled away.
Because Kyle also feels sex addiction is not a disease, but rather a natural male desire that can be kept under control with the proper discipline, others suggest he is somehow immune from the "spell" of the wizard alien. He is brought to Independence Hall along with Butters and both are given rifles by the SWAT team. The hauled-off SWAT member, gagged and bound in an alien wizard costume, stumbles into the room. On orders from the SWAT team, Kyle and Butters shoot the costumed officer dead and the "spell" is suddenly lifted. Woods announces he is cured of his sex addiction, and the next incarnation of his video game once again focuses on golf. Cartman and Stan reject the new game, with Stan proclaiming that "golf is stupid again."
fourteenth season
premiere, was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It originally aired on Comedy Central
in the United States on March 17, 2010, and in the United Kingdom on March 19. A teaser clip of the episode called "All the Temptations" featuring a parody of Woods's February 2010 televised public apology was featured on the official South Park website, South Park Studios, and drew 62,000 viewers on the first day. Before the episode aired, several news outlets incorrectly reported the episode's title was "All the Temptations" due to the clip.
The episode satirized the sex scandal surrounding golf pro Tiger Woods
, who had admitted to cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren
with multiple partners. The Woods scandal had been one of the biggest media stories in the months since South Park' s thirteenth season
ended in November 2009. Series co-creator Matt Stone
said the scandal provided so much material for satire that an entire season could have been dedicated to it, and the media storm surrounding Woods meant they had even less to worry about the delicacy of their parody. Stone said he was simultaneously fascinated and disgusted by Woods's public apology, so the writers were sure to include it in the episode. The script to "Sexual Healing" was not finished until after March 12, five days before the episode aired. This was in keeping with a continued practice from previous South Park seasons, in which Parker and Stone write and produce their episodes within the week before their broadcast dates in order to harness energy for the final product and keep the material fresh.
"Sexual Healing" parodied several real-life elements of the scandal, including Nordegren's discovery of Woods's infidelity by reading text messages on his cellular phone, and Woods's loss of commercial endorsements as a result of his infidelity. The episode also parodies the alleged fight that was reported between Woods and Nordegren on Thanksgiving
in which Nordegren attacked Woods's car with a golf club and caused him to crash into a fire hydrant. "Sexual Healing" also included a version of the public apology Woods delivered on February 2010, which was closely covered and examined by the mainstream media. The episode aired only a few days after Woods publicly announced he would return to golf at the 2010 Masters Tournament
in April.
The shock and confusion with which the male characters in "Sexual Healing" react to the Woods scandal, and the extreme measures they undertake to learn why rich and successful men crave sex, served as a parody to the wide media attention and analysis the scandal received. The episode puts forward a pragmatic explanation that it is natural for men to crave sex, so although Woods's actions cannot be condoned, they can at least be understood for what they are. This point of view particularly conveyed in the speech of one SWAT team member near the end of the episode, who is ostracized, imprisoned and unknowingly shot to death by Kyle and Butters after expressing his common sense views. The episode suggests men of normal financial means would likely be tempted by infidelity and sexual affairs if they had enough fame and money to obtain them easily.
"Sexual Healing" suggests celebrities involved in sexual scandals should not be forced to undergo rehabilitation and public acts of contrition. The scene in which the celebrities start shaking and dancing, proclaiming "Look, the sex addiction is leaving my body!", demonstrates the insincerity and ridiculousness of these public steps. The episode also mocked the measures used to diagnose and treat sexual addiction in the United States. This is particularly prevalent when Kenny, Kyle and Butters are misdiagnosed with sexual addiction based on an inaccurate test of simply presenting an image of a naked woman to them and testing whether they could identify a handkerchief in the woman's hand and specify its color. The rehabilitation courses themselves are also mocked as ineffective and unnecessary, particularly because the most important lesson taught in them is how to avoid getting caught.
, night talk show host David Letterman
, NFL
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
, former New York
governor Eliot Spitzer
, basketball players Michael Jordan
and Kobe Bryant
, and actors Charlie Sheen
, David Duchovny
, Michael Douglas
and Billy Bob Thornton
. While discussing how to avoid getting caught, Roethlisberger says, "Don't screw girls in the public bathrooms", a reference to his March 2010 sex scandal in Milledgeville
, Georgia
. Clinton suggests not putting cigars into any woman's vagina, a reference to his alleged sexual act with former White House
intern Monica Lewinsky
during the Lewinsky scandal
. David Letterman says, "When they ask you for money, pay them", a reference to the October 2009 scandal in which CBS
producer Joe Halderman
attempted to blackmail Letterman with information about his sexual affairs.
When a doctor explains auto-erotic asphyxiation to Kenny, Kyle and Butters, he refers to the deaths of actor David Carradine
and INXS
singer Michael Hutchence
. Michael Hutchence is referred to a second time later in the episode at Kenny's funeral where Butters exclaims "There! It was like that", a reference to serial pest Peter Hore
's interrupting of Hutchence's funeral. After it is explained to Kenny that auto-erotic asphyxiation often involves wearing a costume of some type, he dons a costume of Batman
, the DC Comics
fictional superhero, and subsequently dies in the outfit. The title of the episode is derived from the song of the same name
by soul singer Marvin Gaye
. A version of the song, sung by series co-creator Trey Parker, is featured at the end of the episode, when the celebrities claim the sexual addiction has left their bodies. The angry and violent confrontations between Woods and Nordegren are portrayed not as reality within the episode, but as simulated elements of the newest Tiger Woods PGA Tour
video game installment by EA Sports
. Scientists from the Center for Disease Control
, a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
, conduct experiments on chimpanzees in "Sexual Healing" to discover why celebrities crave sex with multiple women.
, making it the most watched South Park debut since the third season
premiere "Rainforest Shmainforest" in 1999. The day it aired, "Sexual Healing" was the highest-rated show in all of television among men between ages 18 and 34, and was the highest rated cable show among adults between ages 18 and 49.March 17 ranked as the most-watched night of the year for Comedy Central. "Sexual Healing" drew a 2.6 overall rating, a 2.4 rating among adults between ages 18 and 49, a 5.2 rating among men between ages 18 and 34, and a 6.9 rating among men between ages 18 and 24. "Sexual Healing" aired before the series premiere of the animated comedy series Ugly Americans
, which drew 2.1 million viewers. The network was also the highest-rated and most-watched overall television network among men between ages 18 and 24, and the highest-rated and most-watched cable network among adults between ages 18 and 49 and men between ages 18 and 34.
"Sexual Healing" received generally mixed reviews. Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun
praised the timeliness of the episode, which he said has kept South Park relevant throughout its 14 seasons. Harris complimented the episode for addressing the larger issue of how sexual acts among celebrities are dissected and analyzed by the media and public. MTV News
praised the Woods parody, which they said was particularly timely because of the golf pro's recent announcement to return to golf. It said, "It was on-the-nose while still being clever, which is a balance that the makers of "South Park" have mastered brilliantly." Bill Brownstein, from the Canwest News Service
, called it "an absolutely blistering and timely satire" on Woods and sexual addiction. A CNN
review called the Woods satire "brilliant" and a strong improvement over the previous season's "Dead Celebrities
", which also included several cameos of celebrity parodies. The review also found the ending of the episode, with Stan and Cartman growing bored with their video game once it focused on golf rather than sex scandals and fighting, to be a "pretty hilarious gag". Ryan Waxon, of The Cowl, said "Sexual Healing" stood out from other Woods jokes and proved Parker and Stone "can do satire like nobody else". He particularly praised the Woods video game and the subplot with Butters trying to learn about women's pubic hair, claiming, "Butters’ low intelligence and complete innocence make for some the greatest moments that the show has to offer."
Entertainment Weekly
television reviewer Ken Tucker said the episode was "rather short on laugh-out-loud funniness", but included several clever ideas, including the Tiger Woods video game, the satire of the media attention to the Woods scandal, and "one of the best Kenny death scenes ever". Newsweek
writer Joshua Alston said the Woods parody "didn't manage to be terribly funny or insightful", and suggested the speed at which South Park writers can produce a topical episode just days before its broadcast is actually a detriment to the show. Alston said, "Whereas once the show's creators swiftly turned around topical episodes because they could, now the South Park team is expected to seize on the news." Ramsey Isler of IGN
found much of the episode's humor mediocre, in particular the rehabilitation of the celebrities and the CDC studies of the chimpanzees. Isler said he enjoyed Kenny's death and Butters' obsession with "bush", but felt the theme of the episode was too obvious and less clever than previous South Park episodes. The A.V. Club
writer Zack Handlen appreciated the timeliness and relevancy of the subject matter, but felt "the satirical target here wasn't meaty enough to warrant a full episode, and the developing plot just felt too half-assed". Handlen said some individual jokes were funny, but the episode as a whole was too one-note and redundant. Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said the Woods scandal was several months old, so the episode felt stale and old news. Delgado felt the alien infection theory was too random and lazy, and the idea that men would cheat on their wives if they had more money and opportunity was offensive, but not entirely untrue.
Within days of the episode's original broadcast, rumors began to spread throughout the Internet that EA Sports planned to sue Parker and Stone over their portrayal of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game in "Sexual Healing". The rumor began with a March 21 post on the blog Daily Informer, which quoted an unnamed EA Sports source who said the episode had "a few copyright infringements in there that I’m sure will be dealt with accordingly". The claims quickly spread to other blogs and websites, but EA Sports specifically denied the rumor, claiming, "The reports that EA Sports is planning to sue the creators of 'South Park' are completely false."
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
set in the United States on April 26, 2011.
South Park (season 14)
The fourteenth season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 17 and November 17, 2010. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with...
premiere of the American animated television 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...
, and the 196th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States on March 17, 2010, and on Comedy Central UK on March 19, 2010. The title of the episode is derived from the song of the same name
Sexual Healing
"Sexual Healing" is a 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year...
by soul singer Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
. In the episode, the sex scandal of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
pro Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
has the media and public frantic to determine why rich and successful men would suddenly crave sex with multiple partners. Meanwhile, schools are screened
Screening (medicine)
Screening, in medicine, is a strategy used in a population to detect a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms of that disease. Unlike what generally happens in medicine, screening tests are performed on persons without any clinical sign of disease....
for the condition and Kyle
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...
, Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
and Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
are diagnosed with sexual addiction
Sexual addiction
Sexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Sexual Healing" parodies several elements of the Woods scandal, including alleged fights with his wife Elin Nordegren
Elin Nordegren
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren is a former Swedish model and the ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods.- Early life :Nordegren was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a politician and the former Swedish migration and asylum policy minister, and the current Governor of...
, which are portrayed as part of a new Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
video game played by 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...
, 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...
, and Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
. In addition to mocking Woods himself, the script parodied the large amount of media attention surrounding the scandal, and suggested because it is natural for men to crave sex, Woods's actions can be understood, although not condoned.
Cartoon parodies of several celebrities who have experienced real-life sexual scandals were featured in the episode, including Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
and Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger
Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...
. The treatment these celebrities received is portrayed as ineffective and ridiculous, suggesting celebrities should not have to undergo insincere acts of public apology for their sexual transgressions. "Sexual Healing" received generally mixed reviews from critics.
According to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, "Sexual Healing" was seen by 3.7 million households, making it the most watched South Park premiere since "Rainforest Shmainforest" in 1999, and helping make March 17 the most-watched night of the year for Comedy Central to that point. Shortly after the episode aired, Internet rumors spread that EA Sports planned to sue South Park creators Parker and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
over their portrayal in the episode. EA Sports specifically denied the claims.
Plot
The new edition of the Tiger Woods PGA TourTiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
series of video games incorporates elements of the alleged physical altercations Woods had with his wife regarding his extramarital affairs, and resembles a fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
more than a golf simulation. 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...
, 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...
, Kyle
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...
and Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
become big fans of the game. Meanwhile, scientists at the Center for Disease Control determine that sex addiction
Sexual addiction
Sexual addiction is a popular model to explain hypersexuality—sexual urges, behaviors, or thoughts that appear extreme in frequency or feel out of one's control...
is a disease reaching epidemic proportions. They decide to screen schoolchildren for the disease, and Kenny, Kyle, and Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
are diagnosed as sex addicts. Kenny is killed after attempting autoerotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation or breath control play is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. The sexual preference for that behavior is variously called asphyxiophilia, autoerotic asphyxia, hypoxyphilia. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a...
while in a Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
suit, while Kyle and Butters are sent to attend a therapy session for sex addicts consisting of Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger
Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...
, David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
, Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
, Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
, and Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
.
When performing an experiment on chimpanzees, the CDC determines that money is somehow responsible for infecting males with sexual addiction. Because an image of Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
appears on the back of a $100 bill
United States one hundred-dollar bill
The United States one hundred-dollar bill is a denomination of United States currency. U.S. statesman, inventor and diplomat Benjamin Franklin is currently featured on the obverse of the bill. On the reverse of the banknote is an image of Independence Hall. The time on the clock according to the...
, they believe the origins of the disorder can somehow be traced there. They submit their findings to President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, who reveals that a virus for sex addiction had previously been brought to Earth by extraterrestrials. He accompanies a SWAT team on their raid on Independence Hall in search of the "wizard alien" that is responsible for the sex addiction epidemic. When one member of the team suggests that the mission is irrational and that sex addiction is simply an inherent part of the male ego, he is ordered by Obama to be hauled away.
Because Kyle also feels sex addiction is not a disease, but rather a natural male desire that can be kept under control with the proper discipline, others suggest he is somehow immune from the "spell" of the wizard alien. He is brought to Independence Hall along with Butters and both are given rifles by the SWAT team. The hauled-off SWAT member, gagged and bound in an alien wizard costume, stumbles into the room. On orders from the SWAT team, Kyle and Butters shoot the costumed officer dead and the "spell" is suddenly lifted. Woods announces he is cured of his sex addiction, and the next incarnation of his video game once again focuses on golf. Cartman and Stan reject the new game, with Stan proclaiming that "golf is stupid again."
Production and themes
"Sexual Healing", the South ParkSouth 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...
fourteenth season
South Park (season 14)
The fourteenth season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 17 and November 17, 2010. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with...
premiere, was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It originally aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States on March 17, 2010, and in the United Kingdom on March 19. A teaser clip of the episode called "All the Temptations" featuring a parody of Woods's February 2010 televised public apology was featured on the official South Park website, South Park Studios, and drew 62,000 viewers on the first day. Before the episode aired, several news outlets incorrectly reported the episode's title was "All the Temptations" due to the clip.
The episode satirized the sex scandal surrounding golf pro Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
, who had admitted to cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren
Elin Nordegren
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren is a former Swedish model and the ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods.- Early life :Nordegren was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a politician and the former Swedish migration and asylum policy minister, and the current Governor of...
with multiple partners. The Woods scandal had been one of the biggest media stories in the months since South Park
South Park (season 13)
The 13th season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 11 and November 18, 2009. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with Anne...
ended in November 2009. Series co-creator Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
said the scandal provided so much material for satire that an entire season could have been dedicated to it, and the media storm surrounding Woods meant they had even less to worry about the delicacy of their parody. Stone said he was simultaneously fascinated and disgusted by Woods's public apology, so the writers were sure to include it in the episode. The script to "Sexual Healing" was not finished until after March 12, five days before the episode aired. This was in keeping with a continued practice from previous South Park seasons, in which Parker and Stone write and produce their episodes within the week before their broadcast dates in order to harness energy for the final product and keep the material fresh.
"Sexual Healing" parodied several real-life elements of the scandal, including Nordegren's discovery of Woods's infidelity by reading text messages on his cellular phone, and Woods's loss of commercial endorsements as a result of his infidelity. The episode also parodies the alleged fight that was reported between Woods and Nordegren on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving (United States)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday,...
in which Nordegren attacked Woods's car with a golf club and caused him to crash into a fire hydrant. "Sexual Healing" also included a version of the public apology Woods delivered on February 2010, which was closely covered and examined by the mainstream media. The episode aired only a few days after Woods publicly announced he would return to golf at the 2010 Masters Tournament
2010 Masters Tournament
The 2010 Masters Tournament, played April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club, was the 74th Masters Tournament. This was the first major championship of the 2010 season.Phil Mickelson won his third Masters title by three shots over runner-up Lee Westwood....
in April.
The shock and confusion with which the male characters in "Sexual Healing" react to the Woods scandal, and the extreme measures they undertake to learn why rich and successful men crave sex, served as a parody to the wide media attention and analysis the scandal received. The episode puts forward a pragmatic explanation that it is natural for men to crave sex, so although Woods's actions cannot be condoned, they can at least be understood for what they are. This point of view particularly conveyed in the speech of one SWAT team member near the end of the episode, who is ostracized, imprisoned and unknowingly shot to death by Kyle and Butters after expressing his common sense views. The episode suggests men of normal financial means would likely be tempted by infidelity and sexual affairs if they had enough fame and money to obtain them easily.
"Sexual Healing" suggests celebrities involved in sexual scandals should not be forced to undergo rehabilitation and public acts of contrition. The scene in which the celebrities start shaking and dancing, proclaiming "Look, the sex addiction is leaving my body!", demonstrates the insincerity and ridiculousness of these public steps. The episode also mocked the measures used to diagnose and treat sexual addiction in the United States. This is particularly prevalent when Kenny, Kyle and Butters are misdiagnosed with sexual addiction based on an inaccurate test of simply presenting an image of a naked woman to them and testing whether they could identify a handkerchief in the woman's hand and specify its color. The rehabilitation courses themselves are also mocked as ineffective and unnecessary, particularly because the most important lesson taught in them is how to avoid getting caught.
Current affairs references
Several celebrities who had experienced well publicized sexual scandals or affairs were featured in a sexual addiction rehabilitation class "Sexual Healing". Among them were former U.S. President Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, night talk show host David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger
Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...
, former New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
governor Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
, basketball players Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
and Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, and actors Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, David Duchovny
David Duchovny
David William Duchovny is an American actor, writer and director. He has won Golden Globe awards for his work as FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files and as Hank Moody on Californication.-Early life:...
, Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
and Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
. While discussing how to avoid getting caught, Roethlisberger says, "Don't screw girls in the public bathrooms", a reference to his March 2010 sex scandal in Milledgeville
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. Clinton suggests not putting cigars into any woman's vagina, a reference to his alleged sexual act with former White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
intern Monica Lewinsky
Monica Lewinsky
Monica Samille Lewinsky is an American woman with whom United States President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an "improper relationship" while she worked at the White House in 1995 and 1996...
during the Lewinsky scandal
Lewinsky scandal
The Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
. David Letterman says, "When they ask you for money, pay them", a reference to the October 2009 scandal in which CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
producer Joe Halderman
Joe Halderman
Robert Joel "Joe" Halderman is an American television news writer, director, producer, and convicted felon.-Career:Halderman's journalistic career began in the early 1980s, when he was a producer on the CBS Morning Show with Diane Sawyer and Bill Kurtis...
attempted to blackmail Letterman with information about his sexual affairs.
When a doctor explains auto-erotic asphyxiation to Kenny, Kyle and Butters, he refers to the deaths of actor David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
and INXS
INXS
INXS are an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass guitar, Andrew Farriss on guitar/keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax...
singer Michael Hutchence
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
. Michael Hutchence is referred to a second time later in the episode at Kenny's funeral where Butters exclaims "There! It was like that", a reference to serial pest Peter Hore
Peter Hore
Peter Hore , also known as SHOK is the nom de guerre of Peter Michael Howard...
's interrupting of Hutchence's funeral. After it is explained to Kenny that auto-erotic asphyxiation often involves wearing a costume of some type, he dons a costume of Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
fictional superhero, and subsequently dies in the outfit. The title of the episode is derived from the song of the same name
Sexual Healing
"Sexual Healing" is a 1982 song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye on the Columbia Records label. It was his first single since his exit from his long-term record label Motown earlier in the year, following the release of the In Our Lifetime album the previous year...
by soul singer Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
. A version of the song, sung by series co-creator Trey Parker, is featured at the end of the episode, when the celebrities claim the sexual addiction has left their bodies. The angry and violent confrontations between Woods and Nordegren are portrayed not as reality within the episode, but as simulated elements of the newest Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
video game installment by EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
. Scientists from the Center for Disease Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
, a federal agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
, conduct experiments on chimpanzees in "Sexual Healing" to discover why celebrities crave sex with multiple women.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on March 17, 2010, "Sexual Healing" was watched by 3.7 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
, making it the most watched South Park debut since the third season
South Park (season 3)
Season Three of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on April 7, 1999. The third season concluded after 17 episodes on January 12, 2000.- Episodes :-External links:...
premiere "Rainforest Shmainforest" in 1999. The day it aired, "Sexual Healing" was the highest-rated show in all of television among men between ages 18 and 34, and was the highest rated cable show among adults between ages 18 and 49.March 17 ranked as the most-watched night of the year for Comedy Central. "Sexual Healing" drew a 2.6 overall rating, a 2.4 rating among adults between ages 18 and 49, a 5.2 rating among men between ages 18 and 34, and a 6.9 rating among men between ages 18 and 24. "Sexual Healing" aired before the series premiere of the animated comedy series Ugly Americans
Ugly Americans (TV series)
Ugly Americans is an American animated television series created by Devin Clark and developed by David M. Stern. The program focuses on the life of Mark Lilly, a social worker employed by the Department of Integration, in an alternate reality version of New York City inhabited by monsters and other...
, which drew 2.1 million viewers. The network was also the highest-rated and most-watched overall television network among men between ages 18 and 24, and the highest-rated and most-watched cable network among adults between ages 18 and 49 and men between ages 18 and 34.
"Sexual Healing" received generally mixed reviews. Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun
Toronto Sun
The Toronto Sun is an English-language daily tabloid newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is known for its daily Sunshine Girl feature and for what it sees as a populist conservative editorial stance.-History:...
praised the timeliness of the episode, which he said has kept South Park relevant throughout its 14 seasons. Harris complimented the episode for addressing the larger issue of how sexual acts among celebrities are dissected and analyzed by the media and public. MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
praised the Woods parody, which they said was particularly timely because of the golf pro's recent announcement to return to golf. It said, "It was on-the-nose while still being clever, which is a balance that the makers of "South Park" have mastered brilliantly." Bill Brownstein, from the Canwest News Service
Canwest News Service
Postmedia News is a national news agency with correspondents in Canada, Europe, and the United States and is part of the Canadian newspaper chain owned by Postmedia Network Inc.-History:...
, called it "an absolutely blistering and timely satire" on Woods and sexual addiction. A CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
review called the Woods satire "brilliant" and a strong improvement over the previous season's "Dead Celebrities
Dead Celebrities
"Dead Celebrities" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 189th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 7, 2009...
", which also included several cameos of celebrity parodies. The review also found the ending of the episode, with Stan and Cartman growing bored with their video game once it focused on golf rather than sex scandals and fighting, to be a "pretty hilarious gag". Ryan Waxon, of The Cowl, said "Sexual Healing" stood out from other Woods jokes and proved Parker and Stone "can do satire like nobody else". He particularly praised the Woods video game and the subplot with Butters trying to learn about women's pubic hair, claiming, "Butters’ low intelligence and complete innocence make for some the greatest moments that the show has to offer."
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
television reviewer Ken Tucker said the episode was "rather short on laugh-out-loud funniness", but included several clever ideas, including the Tiger Woods video game, the satire of the media attention to the Woods scandal, and "one of the best Kenny death scenes ever". Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
writer Joshua Alston said the Woods parody "didn't manage to be terribly funny or insightful", and suggested the speed at which South Park writers can produce a topical episode just days before its broadcast is actually a detriment to the show. Alston said, "Whereas once the show's creators swiftly turned around topical episodes because they could, now the South Park team is expected to seize on the news." Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
found much of the episode's humor mediocre, in particular the rehabilitation of the celebrities and the CDC studies of the chimpanzees. Isler said he enjoyed Kenny's death and Butters' obsession with "bush", but felt the theme of the episode was too obvious and less clever than previous South Park episodes. The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
writer Zack Handlen appreciated the timeliness and relevancy of the subject matter, but felt "the satirical target here wasn't meaty enough to warrant a full episode, and the developing plot just felt too half-assed". Handlen said some individual jokes were funny, but the episode as a whole was too one-note and redundant. Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said the Woods scandal was several months old, so the episode felt stale and old news. Delgado felt the alien infection theory was too random and lazy, and the idea that men would cheat on their wives if they had more money and opportunity was offensive, but not entirely untrue.
Within days of the episode's original broadcast, rumors began to spread throughout the Internet that EA Sports planned to sue Parker and Stone over their portrayal of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game in "Sexual Healing". The rumor began with a March 21 post on the blog Daily Informer, which quoted an unnamed EA Sports source who said the episode had "a few copyright infringements in there that I’m sure will be dealt with accordingly". The claims quickly spread to other blogs and websites, but EA Sports specifically denied the rumor, claiming, "The reports that EA Sports is planning to sue the creators of 'South Park' are completely false."
Home release
"Sexual Healing", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Parks fourteenth season, were released on a three-disc DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
set in the United States on April 26, 2011.
External links
- "Sexual Healing" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Sexual Healing" Episode guide at South Park Studios