South Park, S16E05
Stan took leadership of a video to combat bullying in schools after watching Butters struggle to do anything about his bully problem. Stan's role as head of the cause got him fame, and Butters was just a means to inflate his ego. When they went to the Dr. Oz show, Butters finally let out the rage against all the bullying he had been put through (including his participation in Stan's project and the hosts prodding him for information) and ruined Stan's movie production. He ended up just as Kyle predicted, naked in San Diego (that joke went way over my head).
Wasn't quite sure what the parody or commentary was underlying this episode, but I heard it had to do with either (or both) a movie coming out that documented bullying or the Kony 2012 film. I don't know much about those so that message was lost to me. I did get that the creators were decrying those who basically use people like Butters for their own gain. I didn't think that was Stan's intention until Kyle pointed it out and Hollywood got involved with something that was supposed to just be a school campaign. And of course, nothing about the video or the campaign was really helping Butters stand up to his evil grandmother.
I liked that they didn't have your typical bully, or at least the one that you would expect. Basically, they showed that anyone could bully anyone, even a seemingly sweet old lady. I really liked the bathroom scenes where the bully would wait for their target, leaning against the sink. The best of all was when Stan did it to Kyle. I totally didn't see that coming. Kyle was just as annoyed that Stan was resorting to such tactics as Stan was that Kyle wasn't supporting his video. He brought a great point that if he wanted to just educate people, he should have put the video on the internet where exposure was possible without so much profit to be made. Stan didn't have much to argue his point after that.
I wasn't too clear on why Butters' grandma wanted to make his life hell so badly, but it was a little sick. I mean, family members bullying each other is nothing new, but it just seems worse when the bully isn't even your own size or age. It made Butters look even less capable of defending himself against her--how could he really fight back against his grandmother (without getting in trouble with his parents)? It looked like Butters was going to have to just suck it up until he had a late night talk with his grandmother about understanding her feelings. It was great how Butters basically said that she could continue to treat him how she wanted, but one day she was going to die (soon, too), and he was going to keep living and being happy. Way to go, Butters. And all it took was kicking the crap out of Dr. Oz to get to that conclusion. Guess Stan's failed campaign had a little meaning after all.
I liked how they handled bullying in this episode. It didn't really offer a solution to the problem, but it did show how people make issues like that worse for the people involved and that sometimes people have to personally take care of their problems instead of having people rally causes for them. I wish that I could understand the "hidden" jokes that they were making, but I was happy enough to enjoy a story about Butters in general. I also didn't care for the song about San Diego (nor understood what the joke was all about), but it was just something at the end I could easily ignore. After that Passover story, I think just about anything is a step up and welcomed.
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