Poor and Stupid
Encyclopedia
"Poor and Stupid" is the eighth episode and mid-season premiere of the fourteenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 203rd overall episode of the series. It aired on Comedy Central
in the United States on October 6, 2010. In the episode, Cartman
wants to become a NASCAR
racer, but he feels that he cannot because he is not "poor and stupid enough" to fulfill his dream. After some experiments, his dream comes true, and he receives his own race car after his consumption of Vagisil brings massive attention to the product, much to the dismay of his friend Kenny
, who tries to stop Cartman from giving his favorite event a bad reputation.
"Poor and Stupid" received a mixed reception. 3.139 million viewers watched the episode, according to Nielsen Media Research
, making it the second most watched cable television show of its airdate, losing the number one spot to the baseball
game between the New York Yankees
and the Minnesota Twins
during the 2010 American League Division Series
.
and Kyle
find Cartman
crying in front of his locker at school, he tells them that he is upset over the fact that Mr. Garrison assigned an essay about what the students want to be when they grow up, a subject he does not like to think about. He explains that it is his dream to become a NASCAR
driver, and that he believes that this could never happen to people like him, referring to the fact that he is not poor and stupid, as he believes all NASCAR fans and racers are, pointing it out by confirming that Kenny
is indeed a huge NASCAR fan, much to their dismay. Stan and Kyle effectively convince Cartman that he is actually very poor and very stupid. He turns to Butters
for help in becoming as poor and stupid as he possibly can. He starts this by giving Butters all his money, and orders him to spend it and never give it back. He then consumes Vagisil, after viewing an ad that listed a side effect of short-term memory loss
. On race day, Butters convinces a driver to abandon his car because his wife has been raped. When Cartman tries to drive it, his total lack of knowledge causes an accident that puts him in the hospital. The doctor tells a disappointed Cartman that his accident is the stupidest he has ever seen, and Cartman is hopeful again. His antics cause the news media to wonder if all NASCAR fans are this stupid.
An upset Kenny storms to Cartman's house to give him a piece of his mind, but they are visited by Vagisil founder Jeff Hamill and his wife Patty. Since Cartman's determination has brought considerable attention to Vagisil, Hamill presents him with his own Vagisil sponsored car, to the further dismay of Kenny. Cartman's "bigoted and ignorant" statements on his podcast, and resulting media conclusion that "NASCAR really is just for the poor and the stupid", pushes Kenny to try and stop him at any costs. Cartman drives badly at his next race, crashing into drivers and mowing down spectators. Kenny tries to interrupt, but fails and is knocked onto the track. Two cars crash avoiding Kenny, leaving Cartman's as the only car remaining in the race. At that point, Jeff's wife Patty (tired of Jeff's condescending remarks towards her) gets onto the track and takes Jimmie Johnson
's damaged car. She beats Cartman and wins the race. Cartman apologizes to Kenny (who, surprisingly is still alive at the end of the episode) for trying to become a NASCAR driver, believing that he is too smart for NASCAR. He demands that Butters give back his money, then yells at him for not being able to do so, while Kenny watches in disbelief and confusion.
"Poor and Stupid" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA LV in the United States. It first aired on October 6, 2010 in the United States on Comedy Central.
The episode satirizes stereotypes associated with the NASCAR community. In the episode, Cartman claims that all NASCAR drivers and fans are poor and stupid, and that he too must become so in order to become a NASCAR driver. The NASCAR drivers are portrayed as well-spoken and the NASCAR fans are depicted as being fairly smart; it is only Cartman's stereotypical impersonation of the NASCAR community that casts them in a negative light.
, making it the second most watched cable television show of the night, losing the number one spot to the baseball
match between the New York Yankees
and the Minnesota Twins
during the 2010 American League Division Series
. The episode received a 2.0 rating/4 share, meaning it was seen by 2 percent of the population and 4 percent of the people watching television at the time of its broadcast. Among adult viewers between ages 18 and 49, the episode scored a 1.8 rating/5 share and among male viewers between ages 18 and 34, the episode received a 3.8 rating/12 share.
gave the episode a score of 7 out of 10. Reviewer Ramsey Isler described the episode as "docile" by South Park standards and asserted that the episode lacks the show's "signature style of biting ridicule". Despite some winning one-liners and sight gags he considered the episode among the weaker episodes of the season so far and hoped for more in future episodes.
Brad Trechak of TV Squad said that, while the episode had some humorous moments, the episode "doesn't feel like Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] at their best", and criticized the satire as "not [being] the sort of sharp social satire we would expect from South Park."
Writing for The Yorker
, Simon Cocks wrote that the episode turned out to be "reliable yet ultimately disappointing".
Merrill Barr of Film School Rejects was more positive, calling "Poor and Stupid" a "fine episode of South Park".
None of the NASCAR drivers lampooned in "Poor and Stupid" were reported to be offended by their depiction in the episode. Driver Jeff Gordon
said that he thought, although the episode was making fun of NASCAR, it was still good publicity for the sport.
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
set in the United States on April 26, 2011.
South Park (season 14)
The fourteenth season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 17 and November 17, 2010. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with...
of the American animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, and the 203rd overall episode of the series. It aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States on October 6, 2010. In the episode, Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
wants to become a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
racer, but he feels that he cannot because he is not "poor and stupid enough" to fulfill his dream. After some experiments, his dream comes true, and he receives his own race car after his consumption of Vagisil brings massive attention to the product, much to the dismay of his friend Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
, who tries to stop Cartman from giving his favorite event a bad reputation.
"Poor and Stupid" received a mixed reception. 3.139 million viewers watched the episode, according to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, making it the second most watched cable television show of its airdate, losing the number one spot to the baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
game between the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
during the 2010 American League Division Series
2010 American League Division Series
The 2010 American League Division Series were two best-of-five game series to determine the participating teams in the 2010 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners and a fourth "Wild Card" team played in two series from October 6 to October 12...
.
Plot
When StanStan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
and Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
find Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
crying in front of his locker at school, he tells them that he is upset over the fact that Mr. Garrison assigned an essay about what the students want to be when they grow up, a subject he does not like to think about. He explains that it is his dream to become a NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
driver, and that he believes that this could never happen to people like him, referring to the fact that he is not poor and stupid, as he believes all NASCAR fans and racers are, pointing it out by confirming that Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
is indeed a huge NASCAR fan, much to their dismay. Stan and Kyle effectively convince Cartman that he is actually very poor and very stupid. He turns to Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
for help in becoming as poor and stupid as he possibly can. He starts this by giving Butters all his money, and orders him to spend it and never give it back. He then consumes Vagisil, after viewing an ad that listed a side effect of short-term memory loss
Anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is a loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long-term memories from before the event remain intact. This is in contrast to retrograde amnesia, where memories...
. On race day, Butters convinces a driver to abandon his car because his wife has been raped. When Cartman tries to drive it, his total lack of knowledge causes an accident that puts him in the hospital. The doctor tells a disappointed Cartman that his accident is the stupidest he has ever seen, and Cartman is hopeful again. His antics cause the news media to wonder if all NASCAR fans are this stupid.
An upset Kenny storms to Cartman's house to give him a piece of his mind, but they are visited by Vagisil founder Jeff Hamill and his wife Patty. Since Cartman's determination has brought considerable attention to Vagisil, Hamill presents him with his own Vagisil sponsored car, to the further dismay of Kenny. Cartman's "bigoted and ignorant" statements on his podcast, and resulting media conclusion that "NASCAR really is just for the poor and the stupid", pushes Kenny to try and stop him at any costs. Cartman drives badly at his next race, crashing into drivers and mowing down spectators. Kenny tries to interrupt, but fails and is knocked onto the track. Two cars crash avoiding Kenny, leaving Cartman's as the only car remaining in the race. At that point, Jeff's wife Patty (tired of Jeff's condescending remarks towards her) gets onto the track and takes Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....
's damaged car. She beats Cartman and wins the race. Cartman apologizes to Kenny (who, surprisingly is still alive at the end of the episode) for trying to become a NASCAR driver, believing that he is too smart for NASCAR. He demands that Butters give back his money, then yells at him for not being able to do so, while Kenny watches in disbelief and confusion.
Production and theme
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, and was rated TV-MA LV in the United States. It first aired on October 6, 2010 in the United States on Comedy Central.
The episode satirizes stereotypes associated with the NASCAR community. In the episode, Cartman claims that all NASCAR drivers and fans are poor and stupid, and that he too must become so in order to become a NASCAR driver. The NASCAR drivers are portrayed as well-spoken and the NASCAR fans are depicted as being fairly smart; it is only Cartman's stereotypical impersonation of the NASCAR community that casts them in a negative light.
Ratings
In its original American broadcast on October 6, 2010, "Poor and Stupid" was watched by 3.139 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, making it the second most watched cable television show of the night, losing the number one spot to the baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
match between the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
during the 2010 American League Division Series
2010 American League Division Series
The 2010 American League Division Series were two best-of-five game series to determine the participating teams in the 2010 American League Championship Series. The three divisional winners and a fourth "Wild Card" team played in two series from October 6 to October 12...
. The episode received a 2.0 rating/4 share, meaning it was seen by 2 percent of the population and 4 percent of the people watching television at the time of its broadcast. Among adult viewers between ages 18 and 49, the episode scored a 1.8 rating/5 share and among male viewers between ages 18 and 34, the episode received a 3.8 rating/12 share.
Critical response
"Poor and Stupid" received mixed reviews. The AV Club gave the episode a B- rating. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a score of 7 out of 10. Reviewer Ramsey Isler described the episode as "docile" by South Park standards and asserted that the episode lacks the show's "signature style of biting ridicule". Despite some winning one-liners and sight gags he considered the episode among the weaker episodes of the season so far and hoped for more in future episodes.
Brad Trechak of TV Squad said that, while the episode had some humorous moments, the episode "doesn't feel like Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] at their best", and criticized the satire as "not [being] the sort of sharp social satire we would expect from South Park."
Writing for The Yorker
The Yorker
The Yorker is a student-run website that provides news, features, comments, university and college sports, and reviews for the University of York. As a private limited company, The Yorker is the only independent media outlet on campus...
, Simon Cocks wrote that the episode turned out to be "reliable yet ultimately disappointing".
Merrill Barr of Film School Rejects was more positive, calling "Poor and Stupid" a "fine episode of South Park".
None of the NASCAR drivers lampooned in "Poor and Stupid" were reported to be offended by their depiction in the episode. Driver Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
said that he thought, although the episode was making fun of NASCAR, it was still good publicity for the sport.
Home release
"Poor and Stupid", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Parks fourteenth season, were released on a three-disc DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
set in the United States on April 26, 2011.
External links
- "Poor and Stupid" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Poor and Stupid" Episode guide at South Park Studios