Cripple Fight

Cripple Fight is episode 68 of the animated series South Park. It originally aired on June 27, 2001.

Plot
The boys (except Kyle) have joined Mountain Scouts, and are on their way to their first meeting. When they arrive, they find that their scoutmaster is Big Gay Al, and some parents take objection to this, fearing that he may exhibit pedophilia. Big Gay Al is quickly thrown out of Mountain Scouts, and is heartbroken, for he has been in the Scouts all his life. A controversy erupts as the Mountain Scouts are called a hate group by the media and prominent supporters like Steven Spielberg withdraw their support. A new scoutmaster named Mr. Grazier (also known as “Mr. Slippyfist”) is appointed, who turns out to be a real child molester and begins to take pornographic photos of his scouts, with a threat to beat them up if they let this slip.

Meanwhile, Jimmy, a new handicapped boy, comes to town and also joins Mountain Scouts. Jimmy is a stand-up comedian and immediately becomes very popular. Timmy, the other handicapped boy in town, becomes incredibly jealous of the adoration given to the new kid. Timmy tries to undermine Jimmy in any way possible, including offering him an orange parka as a gift, in order to make him resemble Kenny. However, his efforts prove futile (the parka even fails to attract Kenny’s intended usual tragic death, although several near misses occur).

In an effort to get Big Gay Al back as their scout leader, the boys, including Timmy and Jimmy, assemble their own protest march all the way to the grocery store parking lot, and attempt to use Jimmy’s stand-up comedy as a crowd-teaser. However, the performance goes sour when he tries to enlist Timmy’s participation, and Timmy refuses. Quickly, they break out into a lengthy fistfight, which Cartman dubs “cripple fight” and announces to several large gatherings of people, who come to watch the spectacle. (The fight scene mimics exactly a fight scene between Roddy Piper and Keith David in John Carpenter’s They Live, copying specific camera angles and dialogue, although the boys do not correspond to either character.)

Under pressure from gay rights groups and with help from prominent lawyer Gloria Allred, Big Gay Al sues the Mountain Scouts, while Mr. Slippyfist is revealed as a criminal and arrested. Although Big Gay Al wins in court and the court orders the Mountain Scouts to take him back, he refuses, saying that he loves scouts too much to impose his will on them, and while they should be talked into changing their mind and he begs people not to cut their funding or support for the scouts. This causes Gloria Allred to brand Big Gay Al as a homophobe.

The boys get a new Scoutmaster, and Timmy doctors some images of Jimmy, putting his head on a picture of two gay men embracing. When the Scoutmaster sees it, he expels Jimmy from the Scouts, to a victory cheer from Timmy.

Trivia

 * The Mountain Scouts’ branding as a hate group is a reference to the controversy of the BSA banning homosexual members, particularly the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case in 2000.


 * In the recent UK poll Paramount Comedy's Top 10 Episodes, this episode was ranked number 8. "Park Life", the documentary accompanying the countdown, showcased how the positive characterisation of Big Gay Al in this episode is what earned it so much respect.


 * The troop's number, "69", may be a joke on three incidents in the episode. 1. Big Gay Al being accused of being attracted to the boys. 2. His replacement actually being attracted to the boys. And 3. Timmy altering the photograph so it looks like Jimmy is embracing another man, while both are naked.

Goofs

 * Kyle's parents can be seen in the Catholic Church, when Cartman enters, announcing the Cripple Fight. Since they are Jewish, they shouldn't be there.


 * Tweek can be seen in several scenes, but his hair is black.


 * During the fight, Timmy's uniform has the number "0" on its side. However, the number of the troop is supposed to be "69".