Recap / South Park S16 E5 "Butterballs"

Original air date: 4/11/2012

Stan starts his own anti-bullying campaign, while Butters is being harassed by his evil grandmother.

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"Butterballs" contains examples of:

• Armor-Piercing Question: When Stan keeps insisting that his anti-bullying video is important for everyone to watch, Kyle asks why he doesn't just put it online for free. Stan falters, then just brushes the question aside.
• Bait the Dog:
  • Butters' grandma seems to be a sweet old lady at first... until she reveals herself to be Butters' tormentor.
  • Bucky Bailey appears to be fairly reasonable when we see him in Mr. Mackey's office. But when Mr. Mackey tells him he is doing an assembly on "positive thinking" instead of Bucky's topic, he cruelly insults Mr. Mackey and drives him to tears.
• Barbaric Bully: Grandma Stotch, of all people, turns out to be one towards Butters.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Butters has had so much of his grandma's abuse and Stan's pressure that he attacks Dr. Oz on national television.
  • Who knew Jesus was such a bully?
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Grandma Stotch.
• Boomerang Bigot: The members of the anti-bullying foundation have all turned out to be bullies themselves.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Both Mr. Mackey and Stan burst into tears after getting harassed by Bucky Bailey.
  • After enduring endless abuse from his grandmother and pressure from Stan, Butters finally loses it at The Doctor Oz Show.
• The Bully: A whole host of them. Bucky Bailey, Stan, Nick Jabs, Butters' Grandma and even Jesus.
• Bully Hunter:
  • Deconstructed. Stan creates an anti-bullying video but uses it to attain fame instead of helping people. The type of bullying in his movie revolves around bullying at school, not general bullying like Domestic Abuse or bullying in the workplace. Several people who claim to be against bullying have turned out to be bullies themselves, showing how anyone, not just children, can become one for whatever reason and hardly anyone is any better than a real bully.
  • Played straight with Kyle, who confronts Stan on Butters' behalf.
• Cerebus Syndrome: Despite the absurdity of Butters' grandma acting like a schoolyard bully, the abuse itself isn't all that hilarious. Especially to those who suffer bullying themselves.
• Continuity Nod: Cartman uses the term "vajayjay", which he previously used in "Reverse Cowgirl".
• Dramatically Missing the Point: At the end of the episode, everyone believes Butters is a violent psychopath due to the way he attacked Dr. Oz. None of them consider that he was merely lashing out due to the way that Stan, Dr. Oz, and everyone else had forced him to become the spokesperson of bullying.
• Evil Old Folks: Grandma Stotch is a violent, sadistic sociopath who torments her own grandson for her amusement.
• Expy: Bucky Bailey appears to visually be one of Bucky Larson. Another character specifically compares his look to Captain Kangaroo.
• Fat Bastard: Bucky Bailey promotes anti-bullying but is largely unpleasant towards the people he comes across.
• Fighting Back Is Wrong: Parodied, as there's a derogatory status in school for nearly every way you can try to repel a bully:
  Stan: That's the third day in a row. You gotta tell the teacher.
  Butters: Naw, I'm not a tattle-tale.
  Stan: Well then write the principal an anonymous letter.
  Butters: Naw, I'm not no Anonymous Andy.
  Craig: So then just get a bigger bully to beat the bully up.
  Butters: Naw, I don't want kids calling me a Cliche Conflict Resolution Kevin.
  Cartman: He has a point.
  Kyle: Well, then you gotta ride it out, Butters.
• Foreshadowing: Kyle predicts that Stan's video will fail and he'll end up "jacking it in San Diego".
• Gainax Ending: Following the failure of his video, Stan goes to San Diego and starts jacking off in the street, all to a catchy show tune about jacking it in San Diego.
• Got Volunteered: Played for Drama. Butters ends up partaking in Stan's anti-bullying campaign against his will, which stresses him to the point of lashing out at Dr. Oz.
  Kyle: Do you really think that this is good for Butters? To have his face put all over signs as the poster child for bullying?
  Stan: Butters is totally fine with it, dude.
  Kyle: Yeah? Well, Butters is ten! He doesn't exactly know what's best for him, and neither do you!
• Graceful Loser: Stan admits defeat and jacks it in San Diego.
• Gruesome Grandparent: Butter's bully is his own grandmother. Despite the absurdity of it, she is treated as a serious and malicious bully.
• Hard Truth Aesop: Bullying is not something with a simple solution. You can receive bullying from outside of school, from your friends and family, you might still get bullied as an adult by other adults, people claiming to help you may exploit your trauma for their own benefit, and lashing out will only bring short-term satisfaction. Sometimes, all you can do is live your best life, remember that there's a world outside of your bullying, and ultimately you can live a happy and fulfilling life while your bully remains the same small pathetic person they always were.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Stan. It leads to an endless cycle of harassment from everyone.
• Hypocrite:
  • The anti-bullying representative bullies others to get his way.
  • Stan accuses Kyle of being a bully to him just for not agreeing with his anti-bullying video, when he himself is acting like a bully by locking Kyle in the bathroom to pressure him to join his cause, as well as forcing Butters to be a onscreen celebrity rather than treating him like an abuse victim.
• Hypocritical Humor: "Make Bullying Kill Itself," a song about how, if we want to stop bullying, we need to bully... the act of bullying.
  We can make it stop. We can stomp it out.
  We can beat its ass until it starts to cry.
  Let's gang up on it and tell it it smells
  And beat its ass worse if it ever te-lls.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Implied heavily with Grandma Stotch at the end.
• It's All About Me: Stan has this attitude when he posts a anti-bullying video and exploits Butters for fame, instead of actually helping him. Kyle calls him out on this but Stan doesn't listen, which eventually leads to him being hated by the whole school, and even Nick Jabs, who bought the video.
• Irony: Jesus "love thy enemies" Christ bullying someone, even if said recipient deserved it.
• Jerkass: Pretty much, Butters' Grandma, Bucky Bailey, Stan, Nick Jabs, and Jesus of all people are pretty unpleasant in this episode.
• Jerkass Ball: Stan starts the episode legitimately concerned for Butters' well-being and tries to help him, but once he starts directing the video, Stan becomes obsessed with fame and forces Butters' to be the face of his movement, despite the latter being clearly uncomfortable.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While he is a bully himself, Bucky Bailey had the right to chew Stan out for selling the video without his permission and it was Bucky's idea in the first place and how he's using it for fame instead of for the trademark.
• Jerkass Realization: Stan now realizes what a jerk he was being and starts jacking it in San Diego to make up for it.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Grandma Stotch gets no actual punishment for her abuse, though Butters' speech to her at the end makes it perfectly clear that she's an empty, miserable person for what she does, and when she's in a hospital dying, he'll get the last laugh. She's quite visibly aware of that too.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Most of the stuff Grandma Stotch does to Butters, particularly stabbing his leg with a fork.
  • Bucky Bailey causing both Mr. Mackey and Stan to cry.
• Knight of Cerebus: Grandma Stotch. Butters' parents are saints compared to her.
• Missing Steps Plan: Throughout the episode Kyle tells Stan he'll end up "jackin' it in San Deigo" when it all comes crashing down. When Stan's attempt to exploit Butter's bullying for fame blows up in his face, instead of undergoing a stress triggered breakdown as Kyle's statement implied, he just calmly flies to San Deigo and starts streaking.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Stan exploiting Butters for fame eventually gets him hated by the school after Butters punches Dr. Oz.
• Manchild: The adults whom Stan ends up working with turn out to be this, as they behave like typical schoolyard bullies ("What, you gonna cwy?").
• Never Mess with Granny: Grandma Stotch, who makes Butters' life a living hell.
• Nobody Likes a Tattletale: Exaggerated. Every kind of potential recourse Butters could take to deal with a bully (including telling, telling anonymously and even fighting back) all carry some kind of derogatory nickname among the students - which adults also use, as we see later.
  Stan: That's the third day in a row. You gotta tell the teacher.
  Butters: Naw, I'm not a tattle-tale.
  Stan: Well, then write the principal an anonymous letter.
  Butters: Naw, I'm not no Anonymous Andy.
  Craig: So then just get a bigger bully to beat the bully up.
  Butters: Naw, I don't want kids calling me a Cliche Conflict Resolution Kevin.
  Cartman: He has a point.
  Kyle: Well, then you gotta ride it out, Butters.
• Only Sane Man: Kyle sees through Stan's anti-bullying campaign as one giant ego trip and refuses to participate in it, leading to the other kids bullying him for not being on board. Kyle also realizes that Butters is very uncomfortable with the whole thing, but while the others force Butters to go through with it because they think it's for "his benefit," Kyle doesn't try to make Butters do anything at all.
• Rage Breaking Point: After being assaulted by his grandmother and being dragged into unwanted publicity by Stan, Butters ultimately snaps when he gets interviewed by Dr. Oz.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Butters gives an epic one to his grandma concerning how empty bullying must make her feel, and how when she's withering and dying he'll come see her and show how he's alive and strong despite what she's done. Her expressions throughout show how effective this speech is on her.
    Butters: (walks into Grandma Stotch's bedroom, she wakes up) Grandma? I did it grandma, I finally stood up for myself, I got real mean and I beat the snot out of Dr. Oz. (her expression hardens, silently trying to ignore Butters) I can't lie, it felt kind of good. At first... but since then, all I have is this kind of dark empty feeling, and then I realized, that's how you must feel, all the time. Poor old grandma. You know, I've been getting lots of advice on how to deal with you. Stand up to you, tell on you... but I kind of realize that there's just people like you out there, all over the place. When you're a kid, things seem like they're going to last forever, but they're not. Life changes, you won't always be around. Someday, you're going to die, someday pretty soon. (Grandma Stotch blinks, shocked by the realisation) And when you're laying in that hospital bed, with tubes up your nose, and that little pan under your butt to pee in, I'll come visit you. I'll come just to show you that I'm still alive and I'm still happy, and you'll die, being nothing but you. (walks to the door, nonchalantly) 'Night, grandma! (leaves, shutting the door behind him and leaving her to ponder her fate alone in the darkness)
  • Earlier on, Bucky Bailey gives a really nasty one to Mr. Mackey when the latter politely turns down his idea in favor of "positive thinking" for the school assembly.
    Bucky: No, shut up! What kind of counselor says no to an anti-bullying campaign?! Bullying needs to be stopped! Now! This afternoon!
    (Mr. Mackey stutters and Bucky rudely mimics him)
    Bucky: You may only have an Internet degree, but why don't you start acting like you're a school counselor and not an uninformed, backwards little dork?! M'kay!
• Refuge in Audacity: Who would expect that Butters' own grandma is making his life a living hell?
• Running Gag:
  • People showing up in the bathroom to bully others, including Grandma Stotch, an anti-bullying representative, the president of the studio who bought the video Nick Jabs, Stan and Jesus.
  • Also, Kyle's constant warning to Stan that his anti-bullying campaign will screw up and end with him "naked and jacking it in San Diego".
• Self-Deprecation: This might as well be one to the show's World of Jerkass nature.
• Shout-Out:
  • Stan's video is a parody of an anti-bullying video made by Cypress Ranch High School.
  • The ending reflects Jason Russell's breakdown as a result of the criticism from his Kony 2012 video.
• Sophisticated as Hell: It does sound weird to hear Grandma Stotch use current slang like "narc".
• Stylistic Suck: When Mayor Jerry Sanders appears in the Jackin' it in San Diego bit, he does so with a very obvious chromo key outline, even though he's just as animated as the rest of the episode.
• Sudden Musical Ending: "Jackin' It In San Diego".
• Take That!:
  • This episode satirizes the ever-controversial anti-bullying films and movements, including a nod to the controversy surrounding the release of the documentary film Bully.
  • It's also a huge one to Jason Russell, the creator of the Kony 2012 video. You could tell Parker and Stone truly loathe his guts.
  • This also calls out episodes of other shows (even this one) where certain types of characters claim to be against bullying, even though they are no better themselves.
• A Taste of Their Own Medicine: The anti-bullying representative harasses Stan in the bathroom for "stealing" his idea. He is then bullied himself by Nick Jabs and even reduced to tears. Nick Jabs in turn is then harassed by Jesus in another bathroom.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: After Butter's "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Butter's Grandma just gives an empty broken look at the screen.
• Truth in Television: Yes, bullying can happen anywhere, not just school. In fact, parental bullying (one Butters suffers from his family) and business bullying (one Bucky suffers from the movie studio president) are arguably just as common as classic school bullying. And believe it or not, people are willing to stoop low enough to exploit the news of bullying for their own gain, because almost no one is that selfless and altruistic.
• A Very Special Episode: This episode is this to bullying, as well as the exploitation of bullying. Despite having its satire per usual, this trope is still mostly played straight.
• Wham Line: Bucky Bailey shows his true colors when Mr. Mackey tells him he is already doing an assembly on "positive thinking".
  Bucky: You believe positive thinking is really what's critical in schools right now? What's wrong with you?!
• Wham Shot: Grandma Stotch slapping Butters, painting herself as the latter's aggressor.
• What the Hell, Hero?: What Nick Jabs says to Stan after Butters just beaten up Dr. Oz.