The Death Camp of Tolerance
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| South Park episode | |
| "The Death Camp of Tolerance" | |
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| Episode no. | 93 |
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| Airdate | November 20, 2002 |
| South Park - Season 6 March 6, 2002 – December 11, 2002 |
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| ← Season 5 | Season 7 → |
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| List of all South Park episodes | |
"The Death Camp of Tolerance" is episode 614 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on November 20, 2002.
[edit] Plot
In this episode, Mr. Garrison is promoted from being the kindergarten teacher to the fourth grade teacher; he had been previously demoted for admitting to being a homosexual. However, realizing that getting fired could allow him to sue the school for millions, he decides to get a "partner" (business and personal) named Mr. Slave, an S&M whore. He then proceeds to do outrageous acts in the classroom, culminating with performing gerbilling on the class pet, Lemmiwinks.
The kids' parents, hearing the children complain about their gay teacher, feel they are intolerant and send them to the Museum of Tolerance, and then a Tolerance "Camp" which uses arts and crafts and strict tactics to teach children tolerance, and where "intolerance will not be tolerated!". Back at school, Mr. Garrison is set to receive the "Courageous Teacher Award" for overcoming adversity, and plans to make himself seem as insanely homosexual as possible to get fired; Chef remains the only adult critical of Garrison's behavior, however: "Children, there's a big difference between gay people and Mr. Garrison." Meanwhile, Lemmiwinks traverses the regions of Mr. Slave's bowels, receiving advice from a series of animal spirits who have already died there.
Finally, at the Awards Ceremony, Mr. Garrison appears with his lover in the most stereotypically, flamboyantly gay, not to mention sexually suggestive, mode ever, and when people continue to call him "courageous" for his actions he finally breaks down and screams at them, telling them that tolerance of something you hate is different from acceptance of it as good, and that he should not be allowed to teach the way he does. Revealing his plan to get money, he is thrown into Tolerance Camp, as Principal Victoria deems him "intolerant of his own behavior." The parents apologize to their kids, who have been released from Tolerance Camp, yet the parents tell them that they should have told their parents about Mr. Garrison, which they had been trying to do throughout the episode. As he is being brought into the camp, Mr. Slave coughs up Lemmiwinks, who has freed the spirits of other animals who died inside Mr. Slave's body. They appear to Lemmiwinks, revealing that he is actually the Gerbil King. Lemmiwinks is crowned and goes off to have more adventures.
[edit] Trivia
- The laughter following Mr. Mackey saying "Ms. Choksondik" may imply that the children finally got the joke about her surname, though it more obviously implies that the children aren't taking Ms. Choksondik's death as hard as Mr. Mackey thinks.
- Randy Marsh says that Stanley should know better than to bash homosexuals. This is a reference to the lesson Stan learned when he was searching for his dog, Sparky, in the season one episode Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride.
- The minorities shown in the Hall of Stereotypes:
- A Black man eating fried chicken and watermelon (the tour guide ignores the fact that he has a goofy, wide-eyed look, is wearing "bling", is very muscular, has unkempt hair, and has a gun, all of which are common stereotypes.)
- An Arab as a terrorist
- An Asian with a calculator; the guide ignores that the model has buck teeth, glasses, and is incredibly short, another stereotype. However in this case, this is probably because the guide was showing an example of a positive stereotype (that Asians excel in math and engineering).
- A covetous Jew (the guide ignores that the model has a hook nose and a hunchback, which is the stereotypical look of Jewish people).
- A sleeping Mexican janitor (who turns out to be a real, sleepy, Mexican janitor).
- The old, cartoon version of The Hobbit is lampooned in Lemmiwinks' adventures.
- This is the first episode of South Park to use the word nigger unbleeped.
- Even though Lemmiwinks has only appeared in this episode and was parodied in the episode Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset, he is one of the most popular characters.
- The derogatory terms used in the Tunnel of Prejudice:
- Queer (derogatory name for homosexual men)
- Beaner (derogatory name for Mexicans)
- Chink (derogatory name for Chinese people; derived from the days when Chinese workers built railroads)
- Nigger (derogatory name for African-Americans; corruption of the Spanish word "negro" meaning "black")
- Heeb (derogatory name for Jewish people; short for Hebrew)
- Faggot (another derogatory name for homosexual men)
- Cracker (derogatory name for white people, specifically those who are poor and living in rural areas in the Southern United States)
- Slope (derogatory name for an Oriental person; based on the shape of their eyes)
- Jap (derogatory name for a Japanese person; also an acronym meaning "Jewish American Princess")
- During Lemmiwinks' adventures inside Mr. Slave, the Catata Fish is holding a pistol. The Frog King and The Sparrow Prince carry a scepter and a sword respectively.
- "The Death Camp of Tolerance" is a parody of the Holocaust section of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, in which visitors are led in a role-playing scenario representing the Nazi treatment of Jews. It also broadly parodies concentration camps during World War II. The Death Camp sequence itself was in black-and-white, in a parody of Schindler's List.
- Author Paul Gottfried invoked the "death camp of tolerance" as a conceivable logical conclusion to the trends in European politics he was polemicizing against in his book The Strange Death of Marxism.
- While neither Butters nor Tweek were with the boys in the previous two episodes, they both go with Stan, Kyle and Cartman to the museum. This is the first time the two have been a part of the main group of boys together.
- At the tolerance camp, among the boys that were taken there, was the homeschooled child Mark from the episode Hooked on Monkey Phonics.
- This episode was the first time Mr. Slave is properly introduced in the series; he had previously appeared as one of the characters that Butters encounters in the bath house scene in Butters' Very Own Episode and singing "Take On Me" by A-ha during the credits for Asspen.
- After Mr. Garrison's angry outburst, a character responds "But the museum tells us to be tolerant." This character and event is a reference to a Star Trek: The Original Series episode called "The Apple."
- The song Mr. Garrison is humming when he rides in on Mr. Slave is "On The Trail" from the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé.
- The instructor in the "tolerance camp" greatly resembles Heinrich Himmler. He sometimes falls into German ("ein Bär?" - "a bear?"), though it is hardly comprehensible even for native German speakers.
- In the entrance to the museum, behind the guide there is a "Clock of Intolerance", reading 2002 years, implying that intolerance has only existed since Christianity was founded.
- The tour guide in the Museum of Tolerance appears to be wearing a Star of David necklace, indicating she is also Jewish.
| Preceded by "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers" |
South Park episodes | Followed by "The Biggest Douche in the Universe" |
