Go God Go

For the Fred album, see Go God Go (album).

"Go God Go"
South Park episode
Eric Cartman discovers he is too far in the future.
Episode no.	Season 10 Episode 12
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker Matt Stone
Production code	1012
Original air date	November 1, 2006
Episode chronology
← Previous "Hell on Earth 2006" Next → "Go God Go XII"
List of South Park episodes

"Go God Go" is the 12th episode of the 10th season of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 1, 2006, and is part one of a two-part story. Part two is titled "Go God Go XII", which aired a week later. In "Go God Go", Cartman is unable to wait the three weeks until the Wii video game console is released, and attempts to freeze himself to get closer to the release date, but accidentally ends up much later in the future, in the atheistic world of 2546.

The episode was written by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and was directed by Parker, and was rated TV-MA in the United States. With religions often forming the subject matter of South Park, this two-parter satirizes atheism, as well as famous evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins, whose bestselling book The God Delusion was published in the months before the episode's broadcast.

Plot

Cartman is unable to wait three weeks until the Nintendo Wii console is released, causing him extreme insomnia and other symptoms (like hallucination, looking at the clock). He tries to go into cryonic suspension by getting in his refrigerator but his mother catches him. He finally gets Butters to freeze him in the mountains.

Concurrently, Mrs. Garrison resists being forced to teach the school's evolution curriculum, and mischaracterizes the theory, stating that man is "the retarded offspring of five monkeys who had butt-sex with a fish-squirrel." In response, the school administrator's hire outspoken evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins as an assistant teacher to help Mrs. Garrison present the evolution lesson. After some initial friction between the creationist Garrison and atheist Dawkins, a romantic interest soon develops.

During their date, Mrs. Garrison converts to atheism. Mrs. Garrison is convinced by Dawkins that religion is based on logical fallacies by claiming that one cannot disprove the existence of God in the same way that one cannot disprove a Flying Spaghetti Monster. Garrison comes to believe there is no great mystery to life, exclaiming that, "Evolution explains everything and God is a spaghetti monster". Mrs. Garrison is very thankful for this. Later they go back to Mrs. Garrison's house where they have sex. The next day in class, Garrison informs the students of his changed stance on evolution, prompting Stan to argue that one can have faith in both God and evolution. Because of this, he is forced to sit in a corner wearing a dunce cap that says “I Have Faith”. Later that night, as Dawkins and Garrison are cuddling in bed (surrounded by various erotic toys), Dawkins and Mrs. Garrison realize that they must get rid of religion and end religious wars forever.

By this time, Eric Cartman has become cold enough to enter suspended animation, and a freak avalanche buried his body. In a montage that spoofs the opening credits of the late-1970s TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,^[1] it is revealed that Cartman ultimately remains frozen for over five centuries, until being discovered and thawed out by members of the Unified Atheist League (UAL).

In the year 2546, the entire world is atheistic and dedicated to rationality and science. Atheism is divided into several denominations. These factions are at war with each other over who has the right answer to the Great Question. Cartman is told that their inspiring leader from the past, Richard Dawkins, showed them the way, but it was his "beautiful wife", Mrs. Garrison, who showed how one must be a dick to people they don't agree with. The UAL explains what happened to him and that his family and friends have been dead for over 500 years, but he does not care about it. However, Cartman is horrified to learn that no one in the future plays video games, including the Wii.

On their way to the Ancient Technology Museum in search of a Wii console, the UAL comes under attack by a rival group, the United Atheist Alliance (UAA). After a fierce battle that leaves all the UAL members dead and Cartman a UAA hostage, the group is contacted by yet another faction, the Allied Atheist Allegiance (AAA) -- who are super-intelligent sea otters at war with the humans of the UAL and UAA over world domination and the Great Question. The Otter King threatens to smash Cartman's skull "like a clam on my tummy."

Production

Trey Parker and Matt Stone briefly describe one part of the inspiration for "Go God Go" in their director commentaries for the Season 10 DVD. During an appearance by the pair on TV's Nightline, an interviewer had asked, "May I assume you two are atheists, since you make fun of religious beliefs so often?" Surprised by the question, Parker and Stone emphatically said that they did not consider themselves to be atheists—leading to a phone call shortly thereafter from their friend Penn Jillette, an outspoken advocate for atheism who had seen the interview and was evidently disappointed to learn that the two were not "on the Atheist team." Their subsequent conversations with Jillette about atheism and related topics (e.g., the difference between "atheism" and "agnosticism") gave rise to the idea of satirizing the "militant" or "evangelical" atheism as represented in the episode by Dawkins and Garrison.^{[citation needed]}

Reaction

Nintendo's response

The week of November 5, 2006, a poll on Nintendo.com asked "How bad do you want a Wii?" With the responses being "Bad", "Way Bad", and "Worse than Cartman," with the third choice holding out with 80% of the votes.

At Nintendo's 2007 E3 press conference, a clip of the episode where Cartman tells his mother he must have a Wii was included in a montage of clips about the demand for the Wii.

Richard Dawkins in this episode.

Also, on the Season 10 DVD Commentaries, Parker and Stone mention that, due to this episode, they actually received free Wii systems from Nintendo.

Richard Dawkins' response

Richard Dawkins, in a Q & A session at the Free Library of Philadelphia said: "I would have thought they could at least have got an actor that could do a proper British accent." On his website, Dawkins states: "I’m buggered if I like being portrayed as a cartoon character buggering a bald transvestite. I wouldn’t have minded so much if only it had been in the service of some serious point, but if there was a serious point in there I couldn’t discern it. And then there’s the matter of the accent they gave me. Now, if only I could be offered a cameo role in The Simpsons, I could show that actor how to do a real British accent."^{[2][dead link]}

Episode name

There was some confusion regarding the episode title. Originally, many cable and satellite providers listed it as "Go, God, Go! Part II," despite the lack of a "Go, God, Go! Part I." When the episode was broadcast, the official South Park website simply listed it with the generic title "TBA". Several days after its initial broadcast, it was officially designated "Go God Go."^[3]

The German title of the episode is "Gott ist tot", which translates to "God is dead",^[4] a widely-quoted statement by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

References

1. ^ South Park FAQ
2. ^ Last half of US tour RichardDawkins.net. November 10, 2006.
3. ^ Episode Guide
4. ^ southpark.de Episode Guide

External links

• Go God Go Full episode at South Park Studios
• Go God Go Episode guide at South Park Studios