The Passion of the Jew
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| South Park episode | |
| "The Passion of the Jew" | |
Kyle watches The Passion of the Christ. |
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| Episode no. | 114 |
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| Airdate | March 31, 2004 |
| South Park - Season 8 March 17, 2004 – December 15, 2004 |
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| ← Season 7 | Season 9 → |
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| List of all South Park episodes | |
"The Passion of the Jew" is episode 804 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on March 31, 2004.
The episode is a satire of the movie The Passion of the Christ, which was released in 2004.
It was #3 of the Comedy Central list "10 South Parks that changed the world".
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[edit] Plot
The boys are playing shuttlecraft "Spontaneity" in the new minivan that Cartman's mother has purchased. They go on an away mission and Cartman, as usual, gives Kyle a hard time about being a Jew, in this case a "Vulcan Jew." Cartman again tries to inform Kyle that in the movie The Passion of the Christ the Jews are the devil; he's seen the movie 34 times and he knows that the Jews had plenty of opportunity to save Jesus, but didn't. Stan and Kenny are tired of hearing them argue about the film and they decide to leave. Cartman accuses Kyle of being scared to learn the truth about the Jews. Kyle debates and then decides to go and see the movie for himself. He endures the film and its depiction of the final hours of Christ's life. When he leaves the theater, he wonders how the Jews could have done that to Jesus.
He goes to Cartman's house and sadly tells Cartman "he was right," a statement that Cartman relishes. Cartman prays to a picture of Mel Gibson (in Braveheart) and promises to organize the masses and spread the word about The Passion of the Christ. Stan and Kenny decide they need to see the film, but their feeling about the film is that it sucked and they want their money back. Stan calls it a "snuff film" and the guy at the box office tells them to go see the producer of the film if they want to get their money back; meanwhile Kyle is having nightmares about the film. Stan and Kenny try to get in contact with Mel Gibson by calling a 1-800 number they've found on a website. Stan dials the number which brings him in contact with someone who is running "Mel Gibson's 'The Passion' Fan Club," and they want to know how to contact Gibson and get their money back. The guy on the phone, whom Stan recognizes as Cartman, isn't any help other than telling them that Mel Gibson lives in Malibu. Stan decides that he and Kenny need to go there, because it's no longer about getting their money back, it's about holding the filmmaker responsible, which Stan says is how they got their money back for BASEketball, a box-office flop starring the creators of South Park.
Cartman is dressing in a brown Hitler-esque uniform and getting ready for the meeting he is holding in his backyard. People have gathered in the yard to celebrate their rediscovery of their Christianity, but Cartman has some different ideas. Cartman suggests those in attendance take one more person to see The Passion of the Christ before they begin "the cleansing." Out in Malibu, Stan and Kenny make their way into Mel Gibson's mansion. They see the man himself, but Mel Gibson starts going crazy while telling them that he won't be giving them their ticket money back. Back in South Park, Kyle talks with Father Maxi about Jesus, and makes up a fictitious friend in order to ask him how he can deal with his own guilt. Father Maxi suggests "atonement" for Kyle's friend, which gives Kyle an idea. Stan and Kenny manage to steal the money they want from Gibson's wallet and escape from the lunatic Gibson. In a rally outside the theater where "The Passion" is being shown Cartman begins speaking (poorly pronounced) German and his crowd of followers mistake his words for Aramaic, the language spoken in the film. He gets the crowd to march after him and as he exclaims "Es ist Zeit für Rache!" (It is time for revenge!) the crowd replies "Wir müssen die Juden ausrotten!" (We must exterminate the Jews!)
Kyle goes to his synagogue and suggests to the gathering that as the American government had for racial segregation and slavery, and the Germans had for the Holocaust, the Jewish community needs to apologize for the death of Jesus. Kyle's parents and the other Jews are outraged at the suggestion that they should apologize and are disturbed by the effect the movie is having on people, claiming it stereotypes Jews (ironically, every Jew in the temple has a big nose and speaks in a thick Yiddish accent). The rabbi suggest that "...we live in a rational society, where people will realize it is just a movie." Soon after saying this, Cartman is seen outside the temple with his followers, goose-stepping down the street. Meanwhile on the bus back from Malibu, Stan realizes that Gibson is chasing after the bus, recreating the famous truck chase scene from The Road Warrior, also honking his horn and shouting "Qapla! Qapla!" ("success" in the Klingon Language), to get his $18 back. The Jewish congregation marches on the theater and demands that the movie be removed from the theater, while Cartman and his group come from the other direction. Their dialogue about the film is interrupted by the arrival of Stan and Kenny's bus being chased by Gibson. Gibson's tanker truck explodes in front of the theater. Cartman sees this and rushes over to offer the services of his following, but Mel has gone off the deep end. Seeing Gibson's behavior makes Kyle wonder why he was freaked out by his movie. Stan makes a speech about how Christians should follow the teachings of Jesus, not the way in which he died, stating also that hundreds of people were crucified that way during that era. In the end Gibson shows his insanity again by defecating into Cartman's face.
[edit] Changes after Initial Airing
All airings of The Passion of the Jew after its first showing have a few changes in the scene where Stan and Kenny visit Mel Gibson:[citation needed]
- Gunshots are heard when Kenny and Stan steal $18 from Mel Gibson's wallet.
- More bouncy noises are put in when Mel Gibson is bouncing around.
- Mel Gibson's sung line "And good evening friends" is done much differently, including Mel running outside (rather than bouncing), he does a spin and sings his line, and walks off screen, instead of running.
- One bounce noise is added in when Mel Gibson jumps in front of the Jewish people.
- The whipping sounds are removed from later airings. The captions say the said sound, even though it was removed.
- In the DVD releases, there is a pair of banners with Nazi swastikas on them at the rally outside the theater. The swastikas are removed for the television broadcast version.
- In syndication, the scenes where Mel Gibson spreads feces on the wall and defecates on Cartman are removed.
[edit] Pop Culture References
- Mel Gibson's behavior through much the episode is a parody of Daffy Duck, with Stan even mentioning his behavior to be "freaking daffy." In a specific scene, Gibson parodies the cartoon Yankee Doodle Daffy, in which Porky Pig is trying to escape through multiple doors, only to be blocked by Daffy in a different costume.
- When Stan and Kenny leave to get their money back from Mel Gibson, Stan says that they had done the same thing after seeing BASEketball, a film both the creators of South Park starred in.
- As Kyle's nightmare progresses the montage "speeds up", with the different Jesus and his crucifixion related scenes having less and less duration. He wakes up screaming after a split second "appearance" of Alan Alda. The reason for this has never been explained.
- Mel Gibson uses the Klingon battle cry "Qapla'" several times as he chases Stan and Kenny. This has also been used by George Clooney and other actors in Team America which was also made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
- The vehicle that Mel Gibson is driving in when chasing after Stan and Kenny is obviously modeled after the vehicle he drove in The Road Warrior.
- When Mel Gibson is chasing Stan and Kenny through his house, he stops in front of a mirror and says, "Two days ago I saw a rig that could haul that tanker. If you want to get out of here, talk to me." which is a line from The Road Warrior.
- The explicit use of the Swastika or "Hakenkreuz" as a nazi-symbol has been censored out in Europe, because the symbol is illegal in most European countries. It also has been censored in the USA in syndication.
[edit] Instances of Violence in Mel Gibson's Movies
- Mel Gibson's multiple attempts to get Stan and Kenny to physically abuse or torture him with whips and other items, seem to have been designed to make the audience think that he simply enjoys masochism and sadism. In DVD commentary, Parker and Stone mention that many of Gibson's movies go to great lengths depicting physical torture, and comment that Gibson seems to have an obsession with it, possibly even a fetish. Many of the characters Gibson has played in his career have been on the receiving end of torture, and as director of The Passion of the Christ, he subjects Jesus Christ to such extreme torture that the characters in this episode come to regard it as a snuff film.
- In Mad Max, he watched his family be run over and murdered.
- In Lethal Weapon, he was subjected to torture through electrocution for information. It was found to be a pointless endeavor because he knew nothing. He was then to be murdered through electrocution at which point he killed his would-be murderer by strangling him with his legs.
- In Lethal Weapon 2, he watched in horror as his girlfriend was murdered by drowning then faced drowning himself, only freeing himself from his chains as he was drowning by dislocating his shoulder which he later put back into place with a hellish howl. He was stabbed in the back of the leg and the knife was driven deeper in a torturous scene. He later killed that attacker by crushing him with a massive cargo container. He was then shot about 8 times in the back with a broomhandle mauser. He gagged, coughed up blood and gasped for several minutes to close the movie.
- In Lethal Weapon 3, he faced a fight with a much tougher opponent and was thrashed relentlessly for a few moments. Later that evening his best friend sucker punched him very hard sending him flying.
- In Forever Young, he undergoes a 50+ year freeze. At the end of the movie he ages 50+ years in twenty minutes going through intense pain.
- In The Man Without a Face he has a massive facial scar that covers the entire side of his head and neck. In the sequence explaining this injury he was driving a car and a student of his surprised him in revealing he had a homosexual crush on him. This startled Gibson's character and caused him to crash. His life was torture in the aftermath.
- In Braveheart, he was subjected to horrendous tortures, including a stretch on the rack and disembowelment while being alive and fully conscious.
- In Payback, he was taken captive and tied to a chair. He was tortured for information by having his toes pulverized with a hammer.
- In Conspiracy Theory, Mel was tortured and brainwashed by government officials.
[edit] Miscellanea
- This episode proved so popular that it was released on DVD long before the Season 8 boxset. It came out on August 31, 2004 on a DVD including the episodes Christian Rock Hard and Red Hot Catholic Love. This was to coincide with the release of The Passion of the Christ on DVD.
- Like Good Times with Weapons, this episode has a sequence with more complex animation. (Kyle's dream)
- The Rabbi seems to have an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Schwartz from Ike's Wee Wee in Season 2.
- The Jesus seen in the movie is different from the regular one in the series. This can be explained by the fact that the Jesus in the movie is an actor playing Jesus and not Jesus himself.
- Cartman calls Mel Gibson "Mein Führer"
- The boys steal $18 from Mel Gibson's wallet, which is ironically the Jewish "lucky number," corresponding to chai (חי).
- After Cartman dressed up as Hitler his mother called him Erich, pronounced in a German fashion.
- Because of Kyle's role in the episode, Kenny takes up Kyle's usual place as Stan's travelling friend.
- The ticket guy at the movie theater, Schlomo, is Jewish as seen in Jewbilee. He acts like a Christian in this episode, implying he has converted.
- This episode was re-aired August 9, 2006 following Gibson's recent arrest.
- Cartman remarks that The Passion of the Christ is the highest grossing film of all time. In reality, the movie never achieved this honor and, at the time of airing, the highest grossing movie of all time was and is still Titanic.
- At the fanclub meeting when Cartman is revealing his plans he says "It's best we not say anything until they're on the train to the camps." This refers to the concentration camps of World War II in which many Jews and other "undesirables" were sent to. Also at the end when he mentions his "Final Solution", he is referring to a phase of the The Holocaust.
- The cinema in South Park charges $9 for a child ticket.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: "Up the Down Steroid" |
South Park episodes | Followed by: "You Got F'd in the A" |
