| "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" | |||
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| South Park episode | |||
Osama bin Laden and a camel in repose |
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| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 9 |
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| Directed by | Trey Parker | ||
| Written by | Trey Parker | ||
| Production code | 509 | ||
| Original air date | November 7, 2001 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of season 5 episodes List of South Park episodes |
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"Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 74th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 7, 2001; and is notable as the first episode to air after the September 11 attacks. The episode deals primarily with the aftermath of the attacks and the American invasion of Afghanistan.
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Since the September 11 attacks, everything has changed in South Park: everyone is afraid of terrorists, American flags are plastered everywhere to show widespread patriotism, everyone wears gas masks for fear of more anthrax attacks, and Stan's mother simply sits on the couch watching the news all day, in an almost catatonic state. Upon arriving at school, the boys discover that they must, in response to President Bush's request for charity to Afghanistan, donate a dollar. Cartman is unwilling to do so, as he only brought a dollar to school to buy himself a chocolate milk at lunch (he hates regular milk). However, Cartman is forced to donate his dollar. The boys' dollars are sent to four Afghan kids who closely resemble them, except they are Afghan and speak Farsi amongst themselves. Though their town is in ruins after excessive American bombing and the money is useless to them, in return the four Afghan boys send the South Park boys a goat in the mail.
The boys realize they cannot keep the goat, and so try to send it back to Afghanistan; but since only U.S. military planes are flying over the country, they can only do it by sneaking the goat aboard a military plane. They sneak into a nearby base, able to do so when the guards mistake the goat for Stevie Nicks there for a USO show; however, the boys wind up on the plane too, and arrive in Afghanistan after enduring Cartman's flatulence for 20 hours.
The boys manage to find their Afghan counterparts, who refuse to take back the goat; furthermore, the two groups get into an argument over America. The South Parkers assumed that most Afghans liked America, but the Afghan boys reveal that they hate the country. This angers the boys, as they cannot return the goat this way.
After the boys leave to try to get home, they get caught by terrorists and are brought to the hiding place of Osama bin Laden, who is depicted as completely insane. Bin Laden makes a video tape revealing his hostages, and again the Army mistakes the goat for Stevie Nicks. The Afghan boys, finding out about this, go and rescue the American boys despite their argument, stating that if they do not help the innocent they are no better than America. Cartman, however, goes to challenge Bin Laden in a struggle of wits (a reference to the style of Anti-German/anti-Japanese Looney Tunes and Disney's animated cartoons during World War II
The U.S. Army storms the cave to rescue "Stevie Nicks". Amidst the firefight, Kenny and his Afghan counterpart are strafed by a U.S. helicopter, causing the Afghan Stan and Kyle to say "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!... You bastards!" in Farsi. The boys wind up getting in yet another fight. Meanwhile, Cartman and Osama are fighting amongst themselves; Osama creeps up to a moving bush (actually Cartman, who later reveals that the war is about Osama's extremely tiny penis with a sign and some magnifying glasses). Cartman then dresses up as a seductively pretty Afghan woman to lure Osama (although Osama falls in love with the camel Cartman was riding instead), then suddenly appears in a producer's uniform and hurries Osama behind a changing screen to prepare for another anti-American film. Osama re-emerges from behind the screen in an Uncle Sam costume, and Cartman hands him a lit stick of dynamite as a microphone. A bunch of terrorists crowd around to kill him, but they all end up getting killed. Though subdued, Bin Laden is executed by an American soldier. With the Taliban overthrown and Bin Laden dead, the boys say goodbye to the Afghan kids who still hate them. Stan replies with "maybe... someday...we can learn to hate you too". The Afghan kids reply positively, confusing Kyle.
The troops celebrate their victory with a show by Fleetwood Mac and "Stevie Nicks." Before they leave, Stan sticks a small American flag into the ground, prompting Kyle to say to him, "Dude, I almost thought those Afghani kids talked you into not liking America." Stan replies, "No, dude. America may have some problems, but it's our home, our team. If you don't want to root for your team, then you should get the hell out of the stadium." The episode ends with Stan and Kyle saluting the American flag, saying "Go America," and finishing with "Go Broncos."
This episode was nominated for a 2002 Emmy for outstanding animated program, but lost to Futurama.
IGN rated the episode a 9/10, stating "There are a number of terrific jokes that manage to perfectly capture the mood and climate at the time" and praises the episode for its Looney Tunes parody between Cartman and Osama bin Laden. They conclude that the episode is an example of "an accurate and thoughtful appraisal of the national mood and the international realities, as well as a bit of patriotic chest thumping in the aftermath of a crisis" and states it's why South Park stands out in television landscape.[1]
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