"Sexual Harassment Panda" is the sixth episode of the
third season of the American animated television series ''
South Park
''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'', and the 37th episode overall of the series. It originally aired on
Comedy Central in the United States on July 7, 1999. In the episode, a school presentation on
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
prevention leads to
Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman, commonly referred to by his surname Cartman, is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom ''South Park'', created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is voiced by Parker, and is one of the series' four main charact ...
suing
Stan
Stan or STAN may refer to:
People
* Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name
** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy
* Stan (surname), a Romanian surname
* Stan! (born 1964), American author ...
for sexual harassment, which in turn promotes a series of sexual harassment lawsuits across South Park.
This was the first episode to air after the release of the theatrical film ''
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut''. According to the DVD commentary of the episode, Parker and Stone were so exhausted and hungover from doing the ''South Park'' film that they have no memory of making this episode.
Plot
Mr. Garrison
Herbert Garrison, formerly known as Janet Garrison, Ethan F Garrison, and the President, is a fictional character and occasional antagonist on the American animated television series ''South Park''. The character is voiced by cocreator Trey Pa ...
's class is visited by an educational
mascot, "Petey the Sexual Harassment
Panda", who attempts to teach the kids about
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
so as to prevent it in school. During the visit,
Stan
Stan or STAN may refer to:
People
* Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name
** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy
* Stan (surname), a Romanian surname
* Stan! (born 1964), American author ...
calls
Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman, commonly referred to by his surname Cartman, is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom ''South Park'', created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is voiced by Parker, and is one of the series' four main charact ...
an "ass-sucker", and Cartman, "inspired" by the panda's teaching,
sues Stan for sexual harassment, claiming that he's sexually harassed him for the last time;
Kyle's father, Gerald Broflovski, acts as his
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, and Cartman wins half of Stan's possessions. Gerald then decides to encourage Cartman (and later, others) not only to sue each other but also the teachers and the school, leading to chaos throughout the town as he gets rich. Kyle's dad quickly becomes the target of many people's wrath, while he continues to renovate his family's house into a
mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...
with his newly gained assets. Soon afterwards the whole town is suing each other and Gerald is taking advantage of this by being a lawyer for them all, getting more and more money from every case. Because everyone is scared of being sued, no one can stand up to Gerald.
Because the school board needs to cut costs, Sexual Harassment Panda is fired. He cannot get a new job as a panda
mascot, and refuses to change his costume due to an apparently genuine belief that he's a panda. Thus, he goes to the Island of Misfit Mascots Commune, for mascots whose messages simply make no sense (one mascot kills Kenny by accident). Many mascots there also seem to believe they are the animals they portray. The boys, however, seeing the negative results of the lawsuits on their school, track Sexual Harassment Panda down and persuade him to return to town with a new message. Meanwhile, Gerald is litigating the biggest sexual harassment lawsuit ever, ''Everyone vs. Everyone,'' where he represents ''everyone'' who hires him to take on everyone else (flagrantly disregarding
conflict of interest
A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...
in the process).
The panda arrives back in South Park under a new name, "Petey the Don't Sue People Panda", and delivers a sermon on how people should not sue each other constantly because it does nothing but damage the school system, taking away money from classrooms, schools and themselves, the taxpayers. The people, realizing the sagacity of this statement, angrily cry that they should sue Gerald, who quickly agrees to file no more lawsuits about sexual harassment in schools or anywhere else. In the end, all the sexual harassment suits are dropped and Kyle's dad presumably gets away with millions of dollars.
Cultural references
This episode satirizes the widely publicized lawsuits over sexual harassment in schools that occurred in the late 1990s, as well as ambulance-chasing lawyers. The ''Island of Misfit Mascots Commune'' is a parody of ''The Island of Misfit Toys'' from ''
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''. Sexual Harassment Panda is a parody of Ike the Coast Guard Panda, a mascot for the
United States Coast Guard who encourages kids to wear life vests. Parker and Stone indicated in the DVD commentary that the panda is
Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...
from "
Jesus vs. Frosty
''The Spirit of Christmas'' is the title given to two adult stop motion animated short films created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The two films were released at different periods—the first in 1992, and the second in 1995—and form the ba ...
", as they have the same voice.
References
External links
"Sexual Harassment Panda"Full Episode at South Park Studios
*
{{South Park episodes, 3
1999 American television episodes
South Park (season 3) episodes
Television episodes about sexual harassment
Giant pandas in popular culture