Sexual Harassment Panda
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| "Sexual Harassment Panda" |
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"Sexual Harassment Panda" is the 37th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on July 7, 1999.
Plot
Mr. Garrison's class is visited by a friendly educational mascot, Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda, who attempts to teach the kids about sexual harassment so as to prevent it in school. During the visit, Stan calls Cartman an "ass-sucker", and Cartman, inspired by the Panda's teaching, sues Stan for sexual harassment; Kyle's father, Gerald Broflofski,[1] acts as his lawyer, and Cartman wins half of Stan's possessions. Gerald then decides to encourage Cartman (and later others) not only to sue each other but also the teachers and the school, leading to chaos throughout the town as he gets rich. Kyle's dad quickly becomes the target of many people's wrath, while he continues to renovate their house into a mansion with his newly-gained assets. Soon afterwards the whole town is suing each other, and Gerald is taking advantage of this by being a lawyer for them all, getting more and more money from every case. And because everyone is scared of being sued, no-one can stand up to Gerald.
Because the school board needs to cut costs, Sexual Harassment Panda is fired. He cannot get a new job as a panda mascot, and refuses to change his costume due to an apparently genuine belief that he is a panda. Thus, he goes to the Island of Misfit Mascots Commune, for mascots whose messages are dumb or simply make no sense. Many mascots here also seem to believe they are the animals they're portraying. The boys, however, seeing the negative results of the lawsuits on their school, track him down and convince him to return to town with a new message. Meanwhile, Gerald is litigating the biggest sexual harassment lawsuit ever, Everyone v. Everyone, where he represents everyone who hires him to take on everyone else.
The Panda arrives back in South Park under a new name, Petey the Don't Sue People Panda, and delivers a sermon on how people should not sue each other constantly because it does nothing but damage the school system, taking away money from classrooms, schools and themselves, the taxpayers. The people, realizing the sagacity of this statement, angrily cry that they should sue Gerald, who quickly agrees to file no more lawsuits about sexual harassment in schools or anywhere else. In the end, all the sexual harassment suits are dropped, Stan gets his possessions back, but the one who suffers the most is Gerald, who is disappointed to see his mansion revert to a regular two-story house.
Sexual Harassment Panda's Song
Who lives in the east 'neath the willow tree
Sexual Harassment Panda!
Who explains sexual harassment to you and me
Sexual Harassment Panda!
Don't say that don't touch there
Don't be nasty says the silly bear
He's come to tell you what's right and wrong
Sexual Harassment Panda!
Cultural references
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (April 2008) |
- This episode satirizes the widely publicized lawsuits over sexual harassment in schools that occurred in the late 1990s.
- The Island of Misfit Mascots Commune is a parody of The Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
- Parker and Stone indicated in the DVD commentary that the Panda is actually Santa Claus as they have the same voice.
References
- ^ The Broflovskis' last name spelling changes throughout the series; in this particular episode, the "v" is replaced by a second "f", and is therefore used here.