The S-Word (The Boondocks)

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The Boondocks episode
“The S-Word”
Original airdate January 21, 2008
Season no. 2
Episode no. 26
Production no. 213
Director Dan Fausett
Writer(s) Aaron McGruder
Rodney Barnes
Guest star(s) Fred Willard, Cee-Lo Green
The Boondocks - Season 2
October 8, 2007 – ?
  1. ...Or Die Trying
  2. Tom, Sarah and Usher
  3. Thank You for Not Snitching
  4. Stinkmeaner Strikes Back
  5. The Story of Thugnificent
  6. Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch
  7. Shinin'
  8. Ballin'
  9. Invasion of the Katrinians
  10. Home Alone
  11. The S-Word
  12. The Story of Catcher Freeman
  13. The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2
  14. The Hunger Strike
  15. The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show
Canada-only
Season 1

"The S Word" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the Adult Swim animated television series The Boondocks and the twenty sixth episode overall. It originally aired on January 21, 2008.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The shows begins with a news report of a third grade teacher being suspended without pay for calling Riley the "N word" (Nigga). Mr. Petto (Willard) then says on the news there is a difference between nigga and nigger. Robert wants to sue him for restitution. However, Huey believes they should not take legal action because of the selfish reasons motivating it. Despite Huey's warning, Granddad decides to sue. While giving a press conference Rev. Rollo Goodlove (Cee-Lo) appears and announces that he and the Freemans are expecting money from the district for the emotional distress caused to the Freeman family. The Freemans and Goodlove appear on a number of TV shows, including Larry King Live, on all of which Goodlove does most of the talking. Ann Coulter appears alongside them on each show as their verbal adversary. She argues that the teacher should not be punished, as he used the same word as Riley. Eventually it is revealed that Goodlove and Coulter have been working together to gain more individual press attention. After tirelessly waiting to find out if Riley's school district will award financial compensation, an announcement is made on television stating that, unfortunately for the Freemans, the offending teacher, Mr. Petto, will not be fired. Instead, Mr. Petto is punished with a 10-day suspension and mandatory sensitivity training. Additionally, the Freemans and Goodlove find out that the school board will not award them the funds they had been seeking (since, as both Huey and Tom DuBois had pointed out, the school lacks such funds itself). Disappointed with this announcement, Granddad admits that Huey was right about the whole thing and the entire family heads home, opting to forgo Goodlove's offer to stage a protest the following day. The episode ends with the Freemans watching Goodlove's protest on television, during which Goodlove and his cohorts were called the "N word" by a group of elderly ladies who had reserved the area for an unrelated protest (namely Second Amendment NRA rights, meaning all the ladies are armed to the hilt with assault weapons). Granddad states that he will never again listen to Huey, as Rollo Goodlove had new grounds for a lawsuit, and, according to Granddad, is "going to get rich for sure."

[edit] Allusions

A comparison of the real life incident, and the episode's story.
A comparison of the real life incident, and the episode's story.
  • Rollo Goodlove's sitcom, "My Dad Rollo" can be interpreted as a reference to the former NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. This is due to the fact that the two shows bare many similarities including Rollo's large family cast in his show (like The Cosby Show, which included 4 kids and 2 adults), and Rollo's wearing of a sweater (as Bill Cosby would frequently wear in the series history).
  • Rollo appears to be a broadly drawn caricature of Al Sharpton examples of this include but are not limited to the fact that:
    • He's portly.
    • He dresses elaborately.
    • He has a toupee (which could be interpreted as a possible dig at Al Sharpton's hairstyle)
    • He seems more interested in furthering himself in the media than actually dealing with injustice.
    • He is friends with Jesse Jackson
  • This episode is based on a real-life incident, where a white teacher actually told his black student to "sit down, nigga." Details such as Mr. Petto's holding up of two papers (with "nigger" written in comparison to "nigga"), his claims that the two words are completely different, and the punishment Mr. Petto was awarded in the episode are all based on real-life details of the case.[1]

The "video hoe" girl is suppose to represent Superhead aka Karrine Steffans

[edit] Trivia

  • The titular "s-word" is "spearchucker", a now-obscure slur which is used by the school system as an example of another word that is not tolerated.
  • Ann Coulter and Larry King are not voiced by themselves
  • This is the first appearance of Mr. Petto from The Boondocks comic strip. However, instead of being Huey and Caesar's teacher, as in the comic strip, he appears as Riley's teacher in the TV series.
  • Ann Coulter is shown tossing her hair during interviews -- as the real Ann Coulter does frequently when she gets annoyed. Her haughty laughter is exaggerated to a humorous effect.
  • Rollo makes many references to food in the episode examples of this include but are not necessarily limited to the fact that:
    • He leads an organization called "Jambalaya of Justice."
    • He cites Skillet Sensations, Betty Crocker's answer to Hamburger Helper, as being served to the school kids as a sign of the school district being cheap.
    • Ironically, he later offers his "protesters" a Lunchable apiece for their efforts, presumably to buy them off with a very inexpensive meal.
  • After Robert fires Tom and Tom whimpers his way out the Freeman's house, Riley quotes "He gonna cry when he gets home!" This is a reference to the movie Friday, when Smokey says "He gonna cry in the car" after Deebo steals DJ's chain.


Preceded by
Home Alone
The Boondocks episodes Followed by
The Story of Catcher Freeman

[edit] References

  1. ^ Teacher Calls Student the N' Word. YouTube. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.