Whale Whores
| "Whale Whores" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 13 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Featured music | "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins |
| Production code | 1311 |
| Original air date | October 28, 2009 |
"Whale Whores" is the eleventh episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. 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 LV 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".
The Marsh family is spending Stan's ninth birthday at a public aquarium in Denver. As the Marshes enjoy interacting with the trained bottlenose dolphins, Japanese 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 (who is also too busy) 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.
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