The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs
The plot centers upon a prank book manuscript anonymously written by fourth grade classmates Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and Cartman, whose vulgar content nauseates all who read it, but who also laud it as a masterpiece.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States.
It serves as a satire of pop culture criticism, and mocks people who find hidden messages in works which are not intended to be analysed.
"The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" received generally positive reviews, with many commentators praising the episode's themes of the over-analysis of works of culture.
The fourth-grade students of South Park Elementary are assigned to read The Catcher in the Rye, and are excited when Mr. Garrison tells of its controversial history: with Kyle remarking that the novel inspired the killing of John Lennon to Cartman's delight.
Butters believes them, because after reading The Catcher in the Rye he feels as though he has been entering into altered states of consciousness that makes him want to kill others, only to find that his intended targets have long been deceased.
"The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA in the United States.
[1][2][3] Although the South Park boys wrote The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs simply to shock and offend people, readers delve too deeply into the meaning behind the book, finding hidden allegories and symbolism that the actual authors insist are not present.
[4] People with conflicting philosophies, including liberals and conservatives, and pro-choice and pro-life advocates, attempt to claim that the same work conveys and validates their own ideology.
[2][5] The episode suggests people are so desperate for inspiration, they are willing to impose their hopes and dreams into works of art, even if they completely lack those qualities.
The South Park boys exhibit excitement for their reading assignment only based on the promise of offensive and controversial material in the book.
[1] The episode also lampoons the notion that a book can be identified as the sole reason for a reader to kill somebody, particularly through Butters' reaction to The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs.
Salinger, plays a central role in the episode, which references the controversy that the book had generated in the years since its publication, owing to its risqué elements and use of foul language.
Television hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira are featured in the scene, during which both vomit for a particularly long time in response to some of the more vulgar passages in The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs.
[9] As a result of the episode, the phrase "Scrotie McBoogerballs" was the top trending topic for March 25 on the social networking and microblogging website Twitter.
Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine called the episode a potential classic and a "phenomenal follow up showing" to the season premiere "Sexual Healing", which he did not enjoy.
The site praised the emphasis on Butters and the pop culture references to The Catcher in the Rye, John Lennon, Sarah Jessica Parker and "the useless Kardashian Klan".
However, O'Neal praised the satire of people looking too deeply into the meaning of meaningless art, and how easily that theme can be applied to South Park itself.
Ramsey Isler of IGN said Butters was "awesome, as usual", and thought the jokes about the Kardashians were funny, but that the positive elements of the episode were "not enough to balance out the failures".
[2] The day after "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" aired, members of the Kardashian family responded positively to their portrayal and on-screen deaths.
