With Apologies to Jesse Jackson
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| “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson” | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Randy collects shocked responses after saying "niggers" on the TV show, Wheel of Fortune. |
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| Episode no. | Season 11 Episode 154 |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Production no. | 1101 |
| Original airdate | March 7, 2007 |
| Season 11 episodes | |
| South Park - Season 11 March 7, 2007 – November 14, 2007 |
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| ← Season 10 | Season 12 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" is episode 1101 (#154) of Comedy Central's animated comedy series South Park and the premiere of the show's 11th season. The episode premiered on March 7, 2007, which was a period in time on American television when numerous offensive celebrity racial slur incidents had been reported within a short time frame, resulting in multiple official apologies issued by the respective television and radio personalities who had uttered the obscenities and a "redeeming period" that typically involved first apologizing to Jesse Jackson and/or Al Sharpton in person, followed by a public apology and a possible voluntary admittance into rehab. The seeming standardization of this "procedure" is the reason behind the humorous title of the episode.
Incidents referenced include the Laugh Factory incident in Los Angeles, California, in which actor Michael Richards angrily shouted racial slurs at a black audience member who was heckling him.[1] This episode is particularly notable for its use of the word nigger, which is used a total of 41 times uncensored. Additionally, other strong profanity was left uncensored for the first time on downloadable versions available through the iTunes Store and on Xbox Live Marketplace. The episode was also uncensored on the Comedy Network in Canada.
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[edit] Plot
Randy Marsh appears on Wheel of Fortune and is presented with a bonus round puzzle whose category is "People Who Annoy You" and solved letters are "N_GGERS." With five seconds to go he reluctantly guesses: "Niggers!" on live national television, shocking his family, friends and millions of viewers worldwide. The correct answer is actually naggers, and Randy loses.
The next day, Cartman warns Stan that Token will be mad at him, so Stan attempts to defend his father. Token tells Stan he doesn't understand how black people feel about that word. Despite Cartman's attempts to escalate the incident into a "race war," Token refuses to fight (leading Cartman to proclaim "Blacks forfeit! White people win again!").
Randy attempts to rectify his mistake by officially apologizing to Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jackson only accepts after getting a picture of Randy kissing his ass, which is published in several newspapers. Stan thinks everything is okay now, but Token states that "Jesse Jackson is not the emperor of black people!" (despite Jackson apparently telling Randy that he was). Meanwhile, Randy goes to a comedy club and the black comedian recognizes, points him out and makes jokes, calling him "the nigger guy," which soon catches on as Randy's new epithet.
Back at school, a dwarf by the name of Dr. David Nelson (voiced by Trey Parker while inhaling helium) is called in to give a presentation on sensitivity. He insists "words are like bullets; they go through me." As soon as Cartman sees him he begins to laugh, disrupting the assembly so Dr. Nelson cannot speak. Dr. Nelson decides to go against his standards and get revenge by making the other kids mock Cartman's weight problem, however he is frustrated as Cartman continues to laugh uncontrollably at him.
Randy continues trying to redeem himself by founding a scholarship for blacks. However, he is soon accosted by a gang of socially progressive rednecks, who hunt the "nigger guy." They criticize him for "slandering an entire race on national television" and say "We don't take kindly to social ignorance." A group of other "nigger guys," including Michael Richards (who said the word in the Laugh Factory Incident) and Mark Fuhrman (who called OJ Simpson a nigger during the OJ Simpson Murder Case), scare the rednecks away and invite Randy to join their organization of people who have become pariahs for the use of the word nigger. They successfully lobby Congress to pass a law saying at least seven words must always separate the words nigger and guy.
Cartman and Dr. Nelson wrestle to Disturbed's "Down with the Sickness," and Cartman forces Dr. Nelson to submit by saying "uncle" and "Carol Anne, don't go into the light!", despite being beaten Dr. Nelson claims victory and to have proved his point. Stan and Kyle say that they have no idea what Dr. Nelson's point was, but then Stan concludes that not knowing the point is the point. He explains to Token that, as a white person, he will never understand why Token is so upset by the word, and why it can make black people mad when a white person says it in any context. Token is finally satisfied that Stan gets that he doesn't get it, thus creating an understanding between them.
[edit] Reception and controversy
This episode had news broadcasts on the CNN programs Showbiz Tonight and Paula Zahn Now [2] in the days following the broadcast of this episode. Kovon and Jill Flowers, who co-founded the organization Abolish the "N" Word, which is linked with the NAACP, praised this episode, saying it was a good example of how it felt to be called nigger.
"This show, in its own comedic way, is helping people to educate the power of this word... and how it feels to have hate language directed at you." - Kovon and Jill Flowers
However, the Parents Television Council founder L. Brent Bozell claimed that there was a lack of protest against this episode compared to radio host Don Imus's comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, even challenging Flowers' comments that the episode's use of nigger was not intended to be racist, but in fact the theme of the episode was to argue against those who support civility. [3] In fact, the PTC named this episode, along with the episode of The Sarah Silverman Program that aired right after this episode, the "Worst Cable Content of the Week" in its campaign for cable choice.[4] The episode received about 2.8 million viewers.[1]
This episode's initial few runs' closed captioning changed every incidence of nigger to n-word or n-guy. Later runs had the captions uncensored.
[edit] Notes
In Randy Marsh's Wheel of Fortune bonus round he is given the letters "RSTL and E" and allowed to choose three more consonants and another vowel, while actual Wheel of Fortune bonus rounds start off with the six letters "RSTLNE" and allow the contestant to choose three more consonants and another vowel.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lisa de Moraes (2007). The Show That Keeps Them Hanging On (HTML). The TV Column. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ Transcript of "Paula Zahn Now" from 8 March, 2007. CNN. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
- ^ L. Brent Bozell. "The Incomplete Anti-Imus Lobby". Parents Television Council. April 12, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
- ^ White, Keith (2007-03-15). Worst Cable Content of the Week - South Park and the Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central. Web.archive.org. Parents Television Council. Retrieved on 2007-07-03.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by “Stanley's Cup” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Cartman Sucks” |
