Major Boobage

"Major Boobage"

"Major Boobage" is episode 1203 (#170) of the animated series South Park. It was broadcast on March 26, 2008. The episode is inspired by the 1981 Canadian film Heavy Metal, and includes references to various rumored drug crazes, the experiences of Anne Frank's family during World War II, and Eliot Spitzer's 2008 prostitution scandal. This is the first episode of South Park to be rated TV-MA LSV (in the United States).

Plot

Mr. Mackey lectures the kids on the dangers of choking themselves to get high, as well as other methods that are becoming popular. In response, Kenny tries to get high off choking himself. Butters mentions that his cousin from Florida told him about "getting high off of cat pee". This is a reference to the slang terminology, "cat piss", used to describe potently stinky marijuana. The other children don't believe him until Mr. Mackey states that it is true that a concentrated form of cat urine which male cats use to mark their territory in the presence of other male cats can cause one to get "really, really high" when inhaled. Mr. Mackey immediately regrets giving the kids this information.

Excited, the boys go to Cartman's house and confirm it for themselves, by having Cartman's cat, Mr. Kitty, squirt urine in Kenny's face. Kenny experiences a drug trip inspired by the 1981 film Heavy Metal, driving a rocket-powered, t-topped 1979 black Pontiac Trans Am through space and encountering a woman with large breasts. At the height of the trip, as he is about to "bathe with [her...to] appease the gods by lathering her boobs with soapy suds", Cartman manages to pin him to the ground and bring him back into reality, where he was running around and removing his clothing. Angered, Kenny violently attacks Cartman until Stan and Kyle stop him, saying that they should lay it off for good.

The new drug craze becomes national news, with Fox News calling it "cheesing" (because it's so "Fon to Due"). This purposely resembles the ungrounded report Fox News ran about a supposed drug named Jenkem. Kyle's parents, horrified, bring it to the attention of other parents and Gerald drafts a bill that will make cats illegal in South Park, and all cats are taken into custody. Cartman hides Mr. Kitty in his attic and tells it to "write a diary", a reference to the name of Anne Frank's diary, Kitty. He then ends up reluctantly hiding many of the neighborhood cats, similar to the way Jews were hidden in from the Nazis during World War II, such as Anne Frank's family, as recounted in The Diary of Anne Frank.

Kenny, meanwhile, is still able to acquire cat urine, and is now addicted. The boys try to stop Kenny's cheesing addiction; even threatening to tell on him, and confiscating his cat. Kyle's mother Sheila finds the cat in Kyle's dresser drawer, but Kyle denies that it is his, saying truthfully that he is "holding it for a friend". Kyle is nevertheless grounded and Gerald takes the cat downstairs. Despite being clean for ten years, temptation takes over and Gerald, using an elaborate setup that was hidden under a dust cover, cheeses himself "one last time". Under the influence, he finds himself in the fantasy world, flying a B-17G. After encountering the woman with the large breasts, he is annoyed to find that Kenny is there too, and they are told they must battle at the "Breastriary in Nippopolis".

Back in reality, a large audience is watching Gerald and Kenny fight at the playground (still believing themselves to be in the fantasy world) before they are brought to their senses. Being the major proponent of the cat ban, it is embarrassing for Gerald to be caught high on cat urine. He makes a public apology (reminiscent of the public apology of former New York governor Eliot Spitzer) with a very displeased Sheila by his side, and lifts the ban on cats. He urges people to take personal responsibility, and makes the point that no matter what is done, children will always find ways to get high, listing some possibilities such as "fermenting feces" and "licking toad". Gerald was about to list some more ways to get high until Butters' father Stephen tells him to stop, not wanting Butters or other children to be influenced.

At the end of the episode, Cartman says having learned that you can't deprive a living being from its freedom. Kyle, infuriated by the fact that Cartman is insensitive to the prosecution Jewish people suffered during World War II, asks Cartman if he doesn't notice a similarity between the recent happenings and anything else in history but Cartman seems oblivious to it.

Kenny, in the meantime, appears to be getting "super wasted" on life when he starts sniffing flowers with Sammy Hagar's "Heavy Metal" playing in his head.

Reception

Travis Fickett of IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.0 out of 10, saying "There were more laughs in the first two minutes of this episode than could be found in the past two episodes combined."

Influence from Heavy Metal

Many plot elements in the hallucination scenes were inspired by the film Heavy Metal, such as:

• The songs "Heavy Metal (Takin' a Ride)" by Don Felder, "Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar, and "Radar Rider" by Riggs are played when Kenny and Gerald are high. These songs were on the soundtrack to the movie Heavy Metal.
• Kenny drives a Pontiac Trans Am in a barren landscape similar the astronaut in the film's opening credits sequence (instead of a Corvette).
• The bird-like creature that Kenny rides during his second hallucination, as well as the anonymous female are modeled after the "Taarna" segment.
• Gerald flies a B-17, but without the zombie crew, his plane was called the "Jewish Princess", influenced by the eponymous scene.
• A statue supporting the breasts of the girl that Kenny and Gerald are fighting for is referred to as the Loc-Nar, the same name as the green stone that plays a role in each of the segments in the film.