Go God Go
- Episode aired Nov 1, 2006
- TV-MA
- 22m
Cartman tries to cryogenically freeze himself so he doesn't have to wait for the new Nintendo Wii; Ms. Garrison falls for the new Evolution teacher.Cartman tries to cryogenically freeze himself so he doesn't have to wait for the new Nintendo Wii; Ms. Garrison falls for the new Evolution teacher.Cartman tries to cryogenically freeze himself so he doesn't have to wait for the new Nintendo Wii; Ms. Garrison falls for the new Evolution teacher.
- Stan Marsh
- (voice)
- …
- Kyle Broflovski
- (voice)
- …
- United Atheist League Members
- (voice)
- (as Juan Kimmelini)
- Linda Stotch
- (voice)
- Richard Dawkins
- (voice)
- …
- Liane Cartman
- (voice)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDue to the plot element of Cartman's impatience for the release of the Wii, Nintendo gave Matt Stone and Trey Parker free Wii consoles as thanks for the episode.
- GoofsWhen Mrs Butters opens the patio doors to ask her son if he has seen Eric, she closes the door after he says no but in the next shot the patio door is open again.
- Quotes
[the kids in class, including a new girl, see Ms. Garrison arriving, not too happy to teach them evolution]
Ms. Garrison: All right, kids, it is now my job to teach you the theory of evolution.
Butters: Oh boy!
Ms. Garrison: Now I, for one, think evolution is a bunch of *bullcrap*! But I've been told I have to teach it to you anyway. It was thought up by Charles Darwin and it goes something like this...
[she goes up to a large poster of evolution and begins pointing things out with her pointer]
Ms. Garrison: In the beginning, we were all fish. Okay? Swimming around in the water. And then one day a couple of fish had a retard baby, and the retard baby was different, so it got to live. So Retard Fish goes on to make more retard babies, and then one day, a retard baby fish crawled out of the ocean with its...
[she waves her left hand limply]
Ms. Garrison: ...mutant fish hands... and it had butt sex with a squirrel or something and made this.
[she points to a prehistoric mammal rodent]
Ms. Garrison: Retard frog-sqirrel, and then *that* had a retard baby which was a... monkey-fish-frog... And then this monkey-fish-frog had butt sex with that monkey, and that monkey had a mutant retard baby that screwed another monkey... and that made you!
[she faces the class, with the new girl among them looking around]
Ms. Garrison: So there you go! You're the retarded offspring of five monkeys having butt sex with a fish-squirrel! Congratulations!
Cartman: [impatient for a Nintendo Wii, hops out of his chair and leaves the room, shouting] Haahhh! I can't take it anymore! Haaaaah!
Ms. Garrison: [thinking Cartman understands evolution] Yeah? You see? I *knew* that would happen.
- ConnectionsFeatured in South Park: Go God Go XII (2006)
- SoundtracksSouth Park (theme song)
Music by Primus
Lyrics by Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Performed by Les Claypool, Trey Parker and Matt Stone
It's fair to say as a dedicated fan of South Park I've always been fond of their work as satirists which has been pretty much their raison d'être over the years. It's rare that when it comes to their social and political commentary they haven't hit the bullseye with their surreal and off the wall style of comedy, which while not necessarily being known for it's subtlety has been sharp, honest and when it has to be, brutally not taking any prisoners.
Unfortunately though with Go God Go which was a transparent critique on the nature of Atheism, and a certain Richard Dawkins. A man who has become something of the poster child for "militant atheism", and therefore made for the obvious target for their satirical onslaught, they just missed the mark completely. The result is that I found them to be at their most disingenuous. While it's fair to say that both have lampooned fundamentalist religion in general over the years, Matt and Trey as secular humanist theists (well that's how I'd describe them) have had a misguided agenda in dismantling what some people might miscategorize as hard nosed anti-theism.
For starters there's the whole sub-plot revolving around Mr. Garrison's rapid change in philosophy when Dawkins presents his well known allegorical argument regarding, The Flying Spaghetti Monster. Here they outright distort Atheism as the complete denial in the possibility of God existing rather than the actual claim itself. Indeed, while there could be something said in Mr. Garrison's transformation from a belligerent, hard-nosed theist to then hard-nosed Atheist when shining a light on how arrogance and intolerance exists on both sides of the intellectual and philosophical divide. Never the less I still found myself only being able to damn Matt and Trey with faint praise.
There are some chuckles to have been had at the expense of the whole love affair, Mr. Garrison and Dawkins embark on. However, even though I did laugh in spite of myself it just struck me as all a bit cheap and frivolous.
Most rewarding, if not altogether successful yet having it's smidge's of inspired comedic brilliance is the main plot line. Cartman being accidentally unfrozen five centures into the future wonderfully parodies Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. An affectionate appeal to fans of the late-seventies TV series, it's executed with sublime panache. As are the scenes of an increasingly impatient Cartman who grows unremittingly restless as he bemoans not yet being able to purchase his beloved Nintendo Wii. Not helped further when thrust in to the future, his quest to obtain one proves fruitless and did tickle the funny bone. However in a futuristic world now dominated by Atheism which has split in to three opposing, hostile denominations. A clear attempt to try to say that even without Atheism mankind by it's very nature would find reasons to commit evils towards one another. It strikes me to be the equivalent of saying, there will always be people who are killed in car accidents so anyway we shouldn't ban drink driving. It's that kind of irrational reasoning which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
While not awful, Go God Go is something of an unfortunate disappointment on purely satirical grounds, and therefore one I have mixed feelings over. While it does still manages to contain glimmers of their sublimely off-kilter wit, and leaves off on a supposed pearl of wisdom that there isn't one truth which I half heatedly agree with. It's rather myopic when it comes to the very basic principal of theism in comparison to the nature of organized religion, and therefore proves to be all too rose tinted and overly simplistic an observation on it.
- The-Last-Prydonian
- Jun 9, 2020
Details
- Runtime22 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3