Super Best Friends

Infobox Television episode
Title = Super Best Friends
Series = South Park


Caption = The Blaintology Compound
Season = 5
Episode = 68
Airdate = July 4, 2001
Production = 504
Writer = Trey Parker
Director = Trey Parker
Guests =
Episode list = List of "South Park" episodes
Season list = Infobox South Park season 5 episode list
Prev =
Next =

"Super Best Friends" is episode 68 of the Comedy Central series "South Park", aired on July 4, 2001.

Plot synopsis

A street magician named David Blaine comes to South Park. The boys are tricked into joining "Blaintologists", a cult. Stan is creeped out and soon leaves; Kyle refuses to join him. Stan looks for help from South Park's own resident messiah, Jesus.

At Blaine's big show in Denver, filled with Blaintologists and those interested in Blaintology as well, Jesus appears and challenges Blaine, and shows one of his famous miracles, the miracle of the loaves and fishes. However, this miracle proves to be very weak (he has everybody in the audience turn around to do it), and Blaine manages to win the crowd with much more powerful enchantments. Jesus realizes he needs help, and calls the Super Best Friends, a group of major religious figures (and Sea Man) who defend the world against evil (except for Buddha who doesn't really believe in evil).

The Blaintologists, meanwhile, petition the government for tax-exempt status, which would make them a real religion and therefore unstoppable; when they are denied, all the Blaintologists are told they are to commit mass suicide in Washington, D.C. Kyle realizes now that the cult is evil, but when he tries to convince Cartman that they should flee, Cartman tells on him and he is imprisoned in a glass bubble and told he will be killed involuntarily at the mass suicide. When word gets out to the SBF, they consult Moses for advice.

At Washington, the Blaintologists begin to drown themselves in the Reflecting Pool (even though it is only about a foot deep and they have to lie on their fronts to do it), and Cartman puts a hose in Kyle's glass bubble to fill it with water so he will die involuntarily. The Super Best Friends arrive, but Blaine brings the statue of Abraham Lincoln to life to fight them. Meanwhile, Stan went out in search of his friends. He finds Kenny drowned in the pool and shouts " you killed Kenny!" and in response Kyle shouts " You bastards!". Stan repeats the phrase in order to find Kyle, in a Marco Polo fashion. To defeat the Abraham Lincoln statue, the SBF create a giant stone John Wilkes Booth, and it shoots Blaine's puppet in the head. The resulting fall shatters Kyle's prison (which the statue had picked up and shaken, believing it to be a snow globe) and the pool is frozen using Joseph Smith's ice powers to prevent more suicides. Cartman has not managed to kill himself, as he keeps coming up for air because he doesn't like to swim. Kyle reconciles with Stan. Cartman remarks in a fake sweet voice "Aah! That's so sweet you guys!" then asks them if they want to get a room to make out for a while and laughs, but then ends up getting repeated kicks in the testicles from both of them.

Blaine flies away in a rocket ship, and Stan announces to everyone that any religion that forces you to give up your money or control of your life is really a cult. The Super Best Friends then fly away, to await when the world will need their aid again.

Cultural references

uper Best Friends characters

Seven of the 8 Super Best Friends are major religious characters: Jesus (Christianity), Moses (Judaism), Buddha (Buddhism), Muhammad (Muslim), Krishna (Hinduism), Joseph Smith (Mormon), and Lao Tzu (Taoism). Sea Man is a reference to the comic book character Aquaman. [ [http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/152720 Meeting the Super Best Friends] , South Park Studios, retrieved 2008-10-10] [ [http://www.comicbookreligion.com/index.php?Teams=Super_Best_Friends Religion of Super Best Friends] , Comic Book Religion, retrieved 2008-10-10]

References to Scientology and other religions

In the DVD commentary Parker talks about how the episode's reference to real-life magician David Blaine and "Blaintology" was "really basically [to] Scientology" [cite web
url = http://www.southparkstuff.com/season_5/episode_504/
title = South Park: Episode 504 - Super Best Friends - South Park Stuff.com
publisher = South Park Stuff
date = 2007-10-07] . The show would later do a full parody of the religion in the episode "Trapped in the Closet." In addition to the implicit reference to Scientology, the episode also references the figureheads of the major world religions (namely "Super Best Friends" members Buddha, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Lao Zi, Moses and Muhammad) in a manner that also parodies the 1970s cartoon "Super Friends". Sea Man's inclusion is a parody of Aquaman, an often extraneous hero as depicted on "Super Friends" (see "Super Friends" Parodies.)The manner in which the Blaine-tologists shave their heads is also a reference to Hare Krishnas, who follow the same practice.The mass-suicide also may be a reference to the mass murder-suicide of Jonestown by the Peoples Temple or Heaven's Gate. The fictional Blaintology Compound very closely resembles the former [http://www.getwaco.com/media/fire.jpgMount Carmel Center in Waco, Tex.] . The Mount Carmel Center was the Branch Davidian headquarters and location of the infamous 1993 Waco Siege.

Paula Poundstone

On June 28th 2001 (a week prior to the airing of this episode) stand-up comic
Paula Poundstone was arrested on a felony warrant for three counts of committing a lewd act on an unidentified girl under the age of 14, and with endangering two other unidentified girls and two boys. [cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/06/27/poundstone.arrest/|title=Comedian Poundstone charged with molesting child - June 28, 2001|publisher=CNN.com|first=Martin|last=Samuel|date=2001-06-28|accessdate=2007-10-07] In reference to this current news event, when Kyle wakes Cartman up at the Blaintology Compound, Cartman is heard muttering in his sleep: "No, Paula Poundstone! Leave me alone!"

That's My Bush!

When George W. Bush is shown, the cast from "That's My Bush!" is shown with him, including Larry saying "Hey George what's going on?"

Reaction

The Jyllands-Posten controversy

Although the original airing of the episode in 2001 wasn't controversial, controversy erupted over the episode in early 2006 following the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy due to the visual depictions of Muhammad it contained. Paramount Comedy in the United Kingdom has banned the episode following the controversy, despite airing adverts for "South Park" that state Muslims (among others) should be very offended. [cite news|url=http://newsbusters.org/node/4790|title=If you want a real history lesson, watch South Park|publisher=newsbusters.org|first=Martin|last=Samuel|date=2007-04-03|accessdate=2007-04-03] However the episode was aired in the United Kingdom by MTV with no special warning other than the standard South Park disclaimer which appears before every episode. A Bosnian TV station, OBN, aired this episode in July 2006, sparking some outrage from local Muslim leaders.The controversy was referenced in the "South Park" episodes "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II" from the tenth season, which parodied the censorship of Muhammad in the media. [cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302212.html|title=Comedy Central Again Steals 'South Park' Thunder|publisher=washingtonpost.com|first=Lisa|last=de Moraes|date=2006-04-14|accessdate=2007-04-03] The episodes, however, focused on Muhammad's portrayal on "Family Guy" (which never actually happened) rather than on "South Park" itself. [cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12303873/|title='South Park' takes on own network over ban|publisher=msnbc.msn.com|date=2006-04-18|accessdate=2007-03-04] In Latin America, the episode has been broadcast recently (in December 2007). In Europe the episode still airs, most recently on TMF Flanders on 30 May, 2008, on MTV Italy on 21 April, 2008, on MTV Central on 28 April, 2008, and on the A2 TV in Macedonia on September 23, 2008.

References