Proper Condom Use

Infobox Television episode
Title = Proper Condom Use
Series = South Park


Caption = Cartman plays Red Rocket
Season = 5
Episode = 72
Airdate = August 1, 2001
Production = 507
Writer = Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Director = Matt Stone
Trey Parker
Guests =
Episode list = List of "South Park" episodes
Season list = Infobox South Park season 5 episode list
Prev =
Next =

"Proper Condom Use" is episode 72 of Comedy Central's "South Park". It originally aired on August 1, 2001.

Plot

Cartman excitedly tells Stan and Kyle to come with him to Kenny's house. Repeating the phrase "red rocket", he masturbates Kenny's dog to the point of ejaculation, or, as he says, "milks the dog."

Stan demonstrates the technique on his own dog Sparky in front of his parents and their friends, for which he is grounded for ten months. Stan cannot understand why he is being punished, his parents are too embarrassed to explain to him about sexual stimulation. The parents decide at the next PTA meeting the school should be giving sex education at a younger age.

Mr. Mackey tries to teach the fourth grade boys about male anatomy and the mechanics of sexual intercourse. Not having had sex since he was 19, 21 years before (or so he tells them), Mr. Mackey's can't teach the boys anything. Ms. Choksondik tells the girls that they will catch an STD and die if the boys are not wearing condoms, without telling them that they would need to have sex. The girls, who were curious at first, are now terrified.

The boys, having learned nothing, ask the girls what they had learned. The girls back away screaming since the boys are not wearing condoms. Scared they will catch a disease, the boys then go to the pharmacy where the male pharmacist refuses to sell them condoms, stating that they are too young. The female pharmacist sells them the condoms because she wants them to be safe if they are having sex.

Hearing from the pharmacist that condoms were purchased the school believes this is due to the students being sexually active. As a result Ms. Choksondik says they should start teaching kindergarten students about sex education, although Chef is appalled at this decision and objects. Therefore Mr. Garrison is tasked with teaching proper condom use to kindergarten children, and his preferred method of applying a condom using his mouth shocks his students.

Now more motivated than ever to scare the girls into getting boys to wear condoms, Ms. Choksondik teaches the girls about pregnancy, which scares them even more than before when she shows them a video of a woman giving birth. The boys then buy the condoms and wear them at all times, but after Cartman tries to put his on during class, Mr. Mackey tells them they only have to wear them when they are having sex. Angry that the girls misled them, they come to believe that they must get rid of the girls. The girls, terrified by Ms. Choksondik's traumatizing lessons, build a massive fort to keep the boys out. The boys find where the girls are hiding and tell them to come out. The girls refuse, leading to a fight.

While preparing the lesson plan Miss Choksondik and Mr. Mackey become aroused by the sexual nature of their conversation, and admit to having sexual fantasies about each other. The two undress, and engage in unprotected sexual intercourse.

The battle between girls and boys lead to several casualties, and the parents think the children are responsible. Ms. Choksondik takes full responsibility for the conflict and apologizes to the girls, for not telling them you must have intercourse in order to catch an STD.

Chef, however, states that it is not Ms. Choksondik, but the parents who are to blame, explaining that sex is an emotional topic and needs to be taught by parents, as the person who teaches them sexual education in school may not be sufficiently knowledgable in the subject to teach it (Mr. Mackey), may have a bad opinion of it (Ms. Choksondik), or may simply be a total pervert (Mr. Garrison). He adds that sex ed. classes are being taught to younger and younger students, and all of this led to the confrontation. When asked when children are ready to have sex, he responds with an unconditional, "17 — you're ready" (a reference to Colorado's age of consent). The children are relieved they don't have to worry about disease for at least eight years, especially Stan and Wendy, and the episode ends with Cartman playing "red rocket" with another dog.

Reaction

A study by the Parents Television Council on violence, sexual content, and profanity on cable television briefly referred to multiple scenes in this episode. [ [http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/2004cablestudy/main.asp Cable TV Study - Violence, sex and profanity on cable - Basic Cable Awash in Raunch ] ]

Ratings and censorship

In Australia, this episode received an MA rating (similar to the TV-MA rating on American TV) as opposed to the usual M rating (similar to the TV-14 rating on American TV), due to its strong sexual content throughout the episode and the graphic violence near the end of the episode (the sequence where the boys attack the girls at the fortress). Because of its content, this episode also aired at 9:00 at night instead of its usual 8:30 timeslot. However, the British satellite channel Sky One banned this episode for its strong sexual and violent content (despite airing a TV trailer with scenes from the episode). The UK terrestrial channel Channel 4, however, aired this uncut. Paramount Comedy 1 has also shown this episode. MTV UK has also shown this episode uncut.

According to DVD commentary, the Comedy Central censors told Parker and Stone to drastically shorten the part where Mr. Garrison demonstrates how to put on a condom by using his mouth with a condom around the lips and deep-throating the model penis used in the lesson. However, they ignored Comedy Central and put it in the episode anyway (though the scene still cut from Mr. Garrison putting his lips on the dildo to the children staring in shock at what Garrison is doing off-screen).

This episode has not been shown in American syndication due to its strong sex-related content. (It has aired in the normal syndication run on Canada's Comedy Network.)

References