Raising the Bar

Season	s16
Episode	e09
Written By	Trey Parker
Production Code	1609
Original Air Date	2012-10-03

Episode Chronology

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Sarcastaball
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Insecurity

Story

Cartman finally admits he's fat and immediately gets a mobility scooter.

Description

While shopping at Walmart, Kyle and Cartman get into an argument over Cartmanâ€™s weight. Kyle says that Cartman will end up becoming so obese that he will soon have to start using a mobility scooter, as many of the other customers in the store are doing. Later, Cartman admits to Kyle that he is fat, but instead of taking measures to lose weight, he acquires a scooter of his own, infuriating Kyle. Eventually, Cartman shamelessly takes advantage of his new handicapped status as he and other scooter users file multiple lawsuits against businesses to force them to make their restrooms scooter-accessible. When the cost of these upgrades is passed on to taxpayers, some outraged individuals retaliate by knocking over scooter users. The Department of Health then orders all scooters to be fitted with mechanical uprighting devices. Cartman responds to Kyleâ€™s anger over this waste of taxpayer money by accusing Kyle of supporting scooter-tipping and causing anorexia nervosa, saying that using a scooter does not make him â€œwhite trashâ€ like Alana â€œHoney Boo Booâ€ Thompson, the star of TLCâ€™s Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

Kyle, unfamiliar with the show, watches an episode, and is shocked by the behavior of the Thompson family, such as Honey Boo Booâ€™s habits of drinking Red Bull and Mountain Dew and her relentless heart attacks. He comes to believe that the societal bar has been lowered so much that no one feels shame over their actions anymore. Eventually, Tolkien offers to help Kyle make a documentary film about Cartmanâ€™s behavior to make his action public. However, Kyle is unaware that Tolkien is using the footage to create a new reality series, Here Comes Fatty Doo Doo, in order to exploit Cartman for financial gain. Torn by guilt, Kyle informs Cartman of Tolkienâ€™s intentions, and Cartman obtains a cease and desist order to stop Tolkien from airing the program. However, when Cartman learns that the first episode has already aired and was beaten in the ratings by Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, he refuses to let Honey Boo Boo outshine him, and challenges her to a spaghetti wrestling match during a Symposium on Obesity hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House.

Meanwhile, film director James Cameron embarks on an ocean voyage to find the bar and raise it, despite his crewâ€™s attempts to explain that â€œthe barâ€ is only a metaphor. After descending to a depth of over 50,000 feet in a submersible, he is confronted by composer Randy Newman, who fears no one will hire him if the bar is raised. After besting Newman, Cameron successfully locates and raises the bar. As soon as he does, the attendees at the Symposium wrestling match begin to feel disgusted and leave. This includes Michelle Obama, who puts a stop to the wrestling and announces that from now on, she will dedicate her husbandâ€™s administration to fighting childhood obesity, which she does by beating up Cartman and destroying his scooter.

Back on his ship, Cameron, having completed his mission, announces to the crew that he will next embark on the filming of Avatar 2. When his support team tells him that the public should know that he saved them by heroically raising the bar, Cameron responds that he does not do what he does for his own interests, but because it is in his nature.

Memorable Quotes

"At least then we'd be voicing our concerns. I mean if you think about it, WE should feel some shame for just complaining about it and not DOING anything." Tolkien
"Jesus dude... What's happened? It's like... Something's lowered the bar to the point that nobody feels any shame any more. " Kyle