Whale Whores
Encyclopedia
"Whale Whores" is the eleventh episode of the thirteenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 192nd overall episode of the series. It aired on Comedy Central
in the United States on October 28, 2009. In the episode, Stan
joins an anti-whaling crew in order to save dolphins and whales from Japanese whalers
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Whale Whores" addressed the topic of Japanese whaling, condemning both the whalers themselves and the activists who fight against them. The episode is particularly critical of the reality television series Whale Wars
and its star Paul Watson
, an environmental activist who is prominently featured in "Whale Whores".
In a response to the episode, Paul Watson said he was not offended by the portrayal, and was glad the show brought the issue of illegal whaling to a large audience. The episode also featured references to the show Deadliest Catch
and a rendition of the Lady Gaga
song "Poker Face
" sung by Eric Cartman
on the game Rock Band
. A downloadable version of the song was released for the game in March. "Whale Whores" was released on DVD
and Blu-ray
along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010. The episode was nominated for a Genesis Award
, but lost to the Family Guy
episode "Dog Gone
".
's ninth birthday at a public aquarium in Denver. As the Marshes enjoy interacting with the trained bottlenose dolphin
s, Japanese people
armed with spears suddenly storm the dolphinarium
and kill all the dolphins. The Japanese perform similar attacks at several other aquariums, and at an NFL
game, where they kill members of the Miami Dolphins
football team. Stan asks his friends Kyle
, Cartman
, and Kenny
to help him take on the cause of saving the dolphins and whales from the Japanese. Kyle declines, feeling they can't change Japan's views on the issue. Cartman and Kenny are much more interested in playing the video game Rock Band, professing they "don't give two shits about stupid-ass whales". Eventually, Butters
informs Stan about the television show Whale Wars
, stating that they can take volunteers to help them. Seeing this as his chance, Stan takes Butters' advice and joins host Paul Watson
and his crew aboard the Sea Shepherd, but is underwhelmed by their method of throwing "stinky butter"
at Japanese whalers in an effort to deter them. After the Japanese whalers kill Watson with a harpoon, Stan destroys their ship by igniting their fuel barrels with a flare gun. Stan becomes the new captain and leads a more successful campaign in impeding the Japanese whaling effort by employing more aggressive methods. The crew ends up getting interviewed by Larry King
, who describes Paul Watson as an "incompetent media whore" and questions Stan on his intentions of increasing ratings with violence. Stan dismisses the charge and contends he is only interested in saving the whales, not ratings.
Wanting to be on television, Cartman and Kenny join the ship's crew under false pretenses of wanting to save the whales. After a brief run-in with Captain Sig Hansen
and his crew from the show Deadliest Catch
, Japanese pilots launch kamikaze
attacks on the Sea Shepherd. The suicidal planes kill the Whale Wars crew except for Stan, Cartman and Kenny. The trio are captured and brought to Japan, where Emperor
Akihito
tells them retaliation for the bombing of Hiroshima
is the primary motive for Japan's whaling efforts. He shows them a doctored photograph—given to Japan by the United States after the bombing—of the Enola Gay
piloted by a dolphin and a killer whale. According to him, Japan was so grateful the Americans gave the Japanese these photos they declared peace. Knowing the picture is a fake, Stan decides to reveal the truth about the bombing, but Cartman hints that doing so might incite the Japanese to start another war with the United States. Claiming the U.S. government has authorized him to show the "original" photo, Stan presents Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
and other Japanese officials with a new doctored photo showing a cow and chicken
in the Enola Gay (created by Kyle, who Stan managed to phone beforehand). The Japanese become infuriated, now believing cows and chickens had modified the original photo to frame the innocent whales and dolphins. The Japanese agree to cease their whaling efforts and start slaughtering cows and chickens, storming farms full of the animals. The episode ends as Randy congratulates Stan for making the Japanese "normal, like us."
"Whale Whores" addresses the controversies surrounding Japanese whaling
, which had been a subject of considerable media attention around the time the South Park episode first aired. The episode is equally condemning of all sides involved in the matter, including the Japanese whalers themselves and the activists who fight against them. By having the Japanese attack the dolphins at the Denver Aquarium in the middle of a dolphin riding demonstration, it has been suggested the episode highlights the link between visiting dolphins at marine parks and the reality of how aquatic wildlife are captured and slaughtered. "Whale Whores" is not entirely critical of the practice of whaling, which the episode's script points out has been going on for hundreds of years.
However, the episode prominently features and mocks the animal rights and environmental activist Paul Watson and his Animal Planet
reality series, Whale Wars. Watson has received wide criticism for his method of disrupting whale hunts by at times attacking and sinking Japanese and Norwegian
whaling ships. "Whale Whores" presents Watson and his show in a way that condemns these actions and other forms of eco-terrorism
. The episode mocks Whale Wars and its attempts to present mundane ship-board activities as dramatic television. This is particularly illustrated in newspaper headlines after Stan takes over Watson's ship: "New Captain Turns Vegan Pussies Into Real Pirates" and "Whale Wars Gets Better: Things Actually Happen!" Watson himself is also portrayed in a physically unflattering way, with his stomach too fat to be entirely covered by his shirt. "Whale Whores" also refers to the criticisms that Watson bends the truth in order to further his positions. This is particularly reflected through the fictional interview with Larry King, who calls Watson "an unorganized, incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause." The fact that Whale Wars gets better ratings after Stan takes over and employs more violent tactics is a satire of the tendency in Whale Wars, and television in general, to exploit violence for money and viewership.
are identified as the cause of Japanese whaling. The two Japanese cities were destroyed by atomic weapons during the final stages of World War II
under orders by U.S. President
Harry Truman, which killed about 220,000 people. In "Whale Whores", the Japanese are presented with a doctored picture of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber
that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The picture shows a dolphin and a whale piloting the plane to bomb the city. The Miami Dolphins, a National Football League
professional football team, are killed along with real dolphins by the whalers in "Whale Whores". Near the end of the episode, Stan and the crew of the MY Steve Irwin encounter fishing ship captain Sig Hansen
and his crew from the Discovery Channel
reality series, Deadliest Catch
. The scene with Paul Watson's crew throwing "stinky butter" at the whalers refers to Watson and his crew's practice of throwing stink bombs containing butyric acid
, an acid found in rancid butter and cheese, at Japanese whaling vessels, including the factory vessel, the Nisshin Maru
.
An Entertainment Weekly
magazine cover is shown with the headline, "We’re STILL Remembering Michael Jackson", a reference to the extremely large amount of media coverage surrounding the then-recent death
of pop singer Michael Jackson
. During one scene, Stan frightens off a group of Japanese whalers by uncovering a large statue of Godzilla
, the famous Japanese movie monster. During the episode Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are shown performing Lady Gaga
's song "Poker Face
" on the video game Rock Band
. On March 16, 2010, Rock Band developer Harmonix released this version of the song (along with the original version) as downloadable content for the game.
described the criticism of the save-the-whales conservationists as a "delightfully savage ridicule". Brian Jacks of MTV
complimented the show's focus on whale conservation, writing, "Leave it to the hard-hitting folks at South Park to do more for conservationism than fifteen cable reality shows put together." Josh Modell of The A.V. Club
said the episode was unfunny and mocked a television series that was "culturally insignificant" and not particularly well-known. Modell wrote, "The show's star, Paul Watson, seems to have really pissed off South Park
's creators Parker and Stone [...] Fine, but could you make me laugh a few times while you beat me over the head with information about a guy that I couldn't care less about?"
Ramsey Isler of IGN
called "Whale Whores" an entertaining episode, but said the episode could have provided more meaningful satire and did not explain the whaling issue very well, especially considering the show's target audience was probably unfamiliar with it. Isler praised some of the individual jokes revolving around the Japanese attacks, and called Cartman's "Poker Face" rendition a classic South Park moment, but dismissed the Enola Gay twist as "stupid". Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said "South Park swung and missed" with "Whale Whores". Delgado said many of the jokes were random and "weird", particularly the Enola Gay twist and the Japanese kamikaze attacks.
Paul Watson said he was not offended by his portrayal in the episode, and was glad "Whale Whores" brought the issue of dolphin and whale slaughter to a large audience, as well as the role of the Japanese in the deaths. Watson said, "It's a tough situation we are in. We can't hurt the whalers and we have to stay within the boundaries of the law in opposing illegal whaling operations. If that makes us pussies, so be it. It's better than being portrayed as killers." Watson said the episode failed to portray that his actions have hurt Japanese profits from whaling, but that the episode demonstrated how successful Whale Wars and the Sea Shepherd has been. In February 2010, "Whale Whores" was nominated for a Genesis Award
in the television comedy. The Genesis Awards pay tribute to news and entertainment media for outstanding work that raise public understanding of animal issues. "Whale Whores" ultimately lost to the Family Guy
episode "Dog Gone
".
set and two-disc Blu-ray
set in the United States on March 16, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and a special mini-feature Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios, which discussed the process behind animating the show Inside xBox.
South Park (season 13)
The 13th season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 11 and November 18, 2009. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with Anne...
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 192nd 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 28, 2009. In the episode, Stan
Stan 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...
joins an anti-whaling crew in order to save dolphins and whales from Japanese whalers
Whaling in Japan
Whaling in Japan may have begun as early as the 12th century. During the 20th century, Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling until the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986...
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker
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 L in the United States. "Whale Whores" addressed the topic of Japanese whaling, condemning both the whalers themselves and the activists who fight against them. The episode is particularly critical of the reality television series Whale Wars
Whale Wars
Whale Wars is a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard their various vessels harass Japanese...
and its star Paul Watson
Paul Watson
Paul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....
, an environmental activist who is prominently featured in "Whale Whores".
In a response to the episode, Paul Watson said he was not offended by the portrayal, and was glad the show brought the issue of illegal whaling to a large audience. The episode also featured references to the show Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
and a rendition of the Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
song "Poker Face
Poker Face (Lady Gaga song)
"Poker Face" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga from her debut album, The Fame. Produced by RedOne, it was released as the album's second single in late 2008 for some markets and in early 2009 for the rest of the world...
" sung by Eric 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...
on the game Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
. A downloadable version of the song was released for the game in March. "Whale Whores" was released on DVD
DVD
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....
and 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...
along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010. The episode was nominated for a Genesis Award
Genesis Awards
The Genesis Awards are awarded annually to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by The Humane Society of the United States, the awards show takes place every March in California...
, but lost to the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Dog Gone
Dog Gone (Family Guy)
"Dog Gone" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 29, 2009. The episode features Brian, the family pet, attempting to prove that a dog's life is just as important as that of a human's, after he...
".
Plot
The Marsh family is spending 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...
's ninth birthday at a public aquarium in Denver. As the Marshes enjoy interacting with the trained bottlenose dolphin
Bottlenose Dolphin
Bottlenose dolphins, the genus Tursiops, are the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Recent molecular studies show the genus contains two species, the common bottlenose dolphin and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin , instead of one...
s, Japanese people
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
armed with spears suddenly storm the dolphinarium
Dolphinarium
A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a large pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or for public performances...
and kill all the dolphins. The Japanese perform similar attacks at several other aquariums, and at an NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
game, where they kill members of the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
football team. Stan asks his friends 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...
, 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...
, and 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...
to help him take on the cause of saving the dolphins and whales from the Japanese. Kyle declines, feeling they can't change Japan's views on the issue. Cartman and Kenny are much more interested in playing the video game Rock Band, professing they "don't give two shits about stupid-ass whales". Eventually, 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...
informs Stan about the television show Whale Wars
Whale Wars
Whale Wars is a weekly American documentary-style reality television series that premiered on November 7, 2008 on the Animal Planet cable channel. The program follows Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, as he and his crew aboard their various vessels harass Japanese...
, stating that they can take volunteers to help them. Seeing this as his chance, Stan takes Butters' advice and joins host Paul Watson
Paul Watson
Paul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....
and his crew aboard the Sea Shepherd, but is underwhelmed by their method of throwing "stinky butter"
Butyric acid
Butyric acid , also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a carboxylic acid with the structural formula CH3CH2CH2-COOH. Salts and esters of butyric acid are known as butyrates or butanoates...
at Japanese whalers in an effort to deter them. After the Japanese whalers kill Watson with a harpoon, Stan destroys their ship by igniting their fuel barrels with a flare gun. Stan becomes the new captain and leads a more successful campaign in impeding the Japanese whaling effort by employing more aggressive methods. The crew ends up getting interviewed by Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, who describes Paul Watson as an "incompetent media whore" and questions Stan on his intentions of increasing ratings with violence. Stan dismisses the charge and contends he is only interested in saving the whales, not ratings.
Wanting to be on television, Cartman and Kenny join the ship's crew under false pretenses of wanting to save the whales. After a brief run-in with Captain Sig Hansen
Sig Hansen
Sigurd Jonny "Sig" Hansen is an American Captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern. Since 2006, Hansen has been featured in all seasons of the documentary television series Deadliest Catch, for which he also serves as technical advisor for the production.-Early life:Sigurd Jonny Hansen was born...
and his crew from the show Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
, Japanese pilots launch kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attacks on the Sea Shepherd. The suicidal planes kill the Whale Wars crew except for Stan, Cartman and Kenny. The trio are captured and brought to Japan, where Emperor
Emperor of Japan
The Emperor of Japan is, according to the 1947 Constitution of Japan, "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people." He is a ceremonial figurehead under a form of constitutional monarchy and is head of the Japanese Imperial Family with functions as head of state. He is also the highest...
Akihito
Akihito
is the current , the 125th emperor of his line according to Japan's traditional order of succession. He acceded to the throne in 1989.-Name:In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name, but rather is referred to as "His Imperial Majesty the Emperor" which may be shortened to . In...
tells them retaliation for the bombing of Hiroshima
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
is the primary motive for Japan's whaling efforts. He shows them a doctored photograph—given to Japan by the United States after the bombing—of the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
piloted by a dolphin and a killer whale. According to him, Japan was so grateful the Americans gave the Japanese these photos they declared peace. Knowing the picture is a fake, Stan decides to reveal the truth about the bombing, but Cartman hints that doing so might incite the Japanese to start another war with the United States. Claiming the U.S. government has authorized him to show the "original" photo, Stan presents Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....
and other Japanese officials with a new doctored photo showing a cow and chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
in the Enola Gay (created by Kyle, who Stan managed to phone beforehand). The Japanese become infuriated, now believing cows and chickens had modified the original photo to frame the innocent whales and dolphins. The Japanese agree to cease their whaling efforts and start slaughtering cows and chickens, storming farms full of the animals. The episode ends as Randy congratulates Stan for making the Japanese "normal, like us."
Theme
Whaling in Japan
Whaling in Japan may have begun as early as the 12th century. During the 20th century, Japan was heavily involved in commercial whaling until the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling went into effect in 1986...
, which had been a subject of considerable media attention around the time the South Park episode first aired. The episode is equally condemning of all sides involved in the matter, including the Japanese whalers themselves and the activists who fight against them. By having the Japanese attack the dolphins at the Denver Aquarium in the middle of a dolphin riding demonstration, it has been suggested the episode highlights the link between visiting dolphins at marine parks and the reality of how aquatic wildlife are captured and slaughtered. "Whale Whores" is not entirely critical of the practice of whaling, which the episode's script points out has been going on for hundreds of years.
However, the episode prominently features and mocks the animal rights and environmental activist Paul Watson and his Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
reality series, Whale Wars. Watson has received wide criticism for his method of disrupting whale hunts by at times attacking and sinking Japanese and Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
whaling ships. "Whale Whores" presents Watson and his show in a way that condemns these actions and other forms of eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
. The episode mocks Whale Wars and its attempts to present mundane ship-board activities as dramatic television. This is particularly illustrated in newspaper headlines after Stan takes over Watson's ship: "New Captain Turns Vegan Pussies Into Real Pirates" and "Whale Wars Gets Better: Things Actually Happen!" Watson himself is also portrayed in a physically unflattering way, with his stomach too fat to be entirely covered by his shirt. "Whale Whores" also refers to the criticisms that Watson bends the truth in order to further his positions. This is particularly reflected through the fictional interview with Larry King, who calls Watson "an unorganized, incompetent media whore who thought lying to everyone was OK as long as it served his cause." The fact that Whale Wars gets better ratings after Stan takes over and employs more violent tactics is a satire of the tendency in Whale Wars, and television in general, to exploit violence for money and viewership.
Cultural references
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
are identified as the cause of Japanese whaling. The two Japanese cities were destroyed by atomic weapons during the final stages of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
under orders by U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Harry Truman, which killed about 220,000 people. In "Whale Whores", the Japanese are presented with a doctored picture of the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress bomber
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The picture shows a dolphin and a whale piloting the plane to bomb the city. The Miami Dolphins, a National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
professional football team, are killed along with real dolphins by the whalers in "Whale Whores". Near the end of the episode, Stan and the crew of the MY Steve Irwin encounter fishing ship captain Sig Hansen
Sig Hansen
Sigurd Jonny "Sig" Hansen is an American Captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern. Since 2006, Hansen has been featured in all seasons of the documentary television series Deadliest Catch, for which he also serves as technical advisor for the production.-Early life:Sigurd Jonny Hansen was born...
and his crew from the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
reality series, Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch
Deadliest Catch is a documentary/reality television series produced by Original Productions for the Discovery Channel. It portrays the real life events aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and C. opilio crab fishing seasons.The Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor,...
. The scene with Paul Watson's crew throwing "stinky butter" at the whalers refers to Watson and his crew's practice of throwing stink bombs containing butyric acid
Butyric acid
Butyric acid , also known under the systematic name butanoic acid, is a carboxylic acid with the structural formula CH3CH2CH2-COOH. Salts and esters of butyric acid are known as butyrates or butanoates...
, an acid found in rancid butter and cheese, at Japanese whaling vessels, including the factory vessel, the Nisshin Maru
Nisshin Maru
The 23-year-old, 8,030-ton vessel is the primary research vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet. It is a converted stern trawler and is the world's only whale factory ship. It is also the largest member, and flagship of the seven-member whaling fleet, headed by research leader Shigetoshi Nishiwaki,...
.
An Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
magazine cover is shown with the headline, "We’re STILL Remembering Michael Jackson", a reference to the extremely large amount of media coverage surrounding the then-recent death
Death of Michael Jackson
On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication after he suffered a respiratory arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said he found Jackson in his room, not breathing, but with a faint pulse,...
of pop singer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. During one scene, Stan frightens off a group of Japanese whalers by uncovering a large statue of Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
, the famous Japanese movie monster. During the episode Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are shown performing Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's song "Poker Face
Poker Face (Lady Gaga song)
"Poker Face" is a song by American recording artist Lady Gaga from her debut album, The Fame. Produced by RedOne, it was released as the album's second single in late 2008 for some markets and in early 2009 for the rest of the world...
" on the video game Rock Band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
. On March 16, 2010, Rock Band developer Harmonix released this version of the song (along with the original version) as downloadable content for the game.
Reception
"Whale Whores" received generally mixed reviews. Ken Tucker of Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
described the criticism of the save-the-whales conservationists as a "delightfully savage ridicule". Brian Jacks of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
complimented the show's focus on whale conservation, writing, "Leave it to the hard-hitting folks at South Park to do more for conservationism than fifteen cable reality shows put together." Josh Modell of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
said the episode was unfunny and mocked a television series that was "culturally insignificant" and not particularly well-known. Modell wrote, "The show's star, Paul Watson, seems to have really pissed off 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...
's creators Parker and Stone [...] Fine, but could you make me laugh a few times while you beat me over the head with information about a guy that I couldn't care less about?"
Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
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...
called "Whale Whores" an entertaining episode, but said the episode could have provided more meaningful satire and did not explain the whaling issue very well, especially considering the show's target audience was probably unfamiliar with it. Isler praised some of the individual jokes revolving around the Japanese attacks, and called Cartman's "Poker Face" rendition a classic South Park moment, but dismissed the Enola Gay twist as "stupid". Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said "South Park swung and missed" with "Whale Whores". Delgado said many of the jokes were random and "weird", particularly the Enola Gay twist and the Japanese kamikaze attacks.
Paul Watson said he was not offended by his portrayal in the episode, and was glad "Whale Whores" brought the issue of dolphin and whale slaughter to a large audience, as well as the role of the Japanese in the deaths. Watson said, "It's a tough situation we are in. We can't hurt the whalers and we have to stay within the boundaries of the law in opposing illegal whaling operations. If that makes us pussies, so be it. It's better than being portrayed as killers." Watson said the episode failed to portray that his actions have hurt Japanese profits from whaling, but that the episode demonstrated how successful Whale Wars and the Sea Shepherd has been. In February 2010, "Whale Whores" was nominated for a Genesis Award
Genesis Awards
The Genesis Awards are awarded annually to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by The Humane Society of the United States, the awards show takes place every March in California...
in the television comedy. The Genesis Awards pay tribute to news and entertainment media for outstanding work that raise public understanding of animal issues. "Whale Whores" ultimately lost to the Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
episode "Dog Gone
Dog Gone (Family Guy)
"Dog Gone" is the eighth episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 29, 2009. The episode features Brian, the family pet, attempting to prove that a dog's life is just as important as that of a human's, after he...
".
Home release
"Whale Whores", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Parks thirteenth 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 March 16, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and a special mini-feature Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios, which discussed the process behind animating the show Inside xBox.
External links
- "Whale Whores" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Whale Whores" Episode guide at South Park Studios