Barbra Streisand is a hardly-known singer and actress whose nose is large enough to land stealth bombers on. She appears as the primary antagonist of the episode "Mecha-Streisand" and returns in "200", "201", and "South ParQ Vaccination Special".
She is known to be Matt Stone and Trey Parker's most hated celebrity. They are quoted as saying, "A lot of our fans ask us 'Do you really hate the celebrities you make fun of in South Park?' And the answer is, of course not. It's all just in good fun... except when it comes to Barbra Streisand. We hate her."
Background[]
In "Mecha-Streisand", Eric Cartman steals a strange triangle-like object from Pip Pirrip while on a school field trip. Deciding it was worthless, he tossed it aside, only for Kyle Broflovski to claim ownership of it, at which point it was discovered that the triangle was in truth a rare archeological find called the Triangle of Zinthar. Then, news of the discovery goes public, drawing the attention of the musical diva, Barbra Streisand, who realizes it to be the second half to the Diamond of Pantheos. The diamond was broken into two separate triangles and hidden at different points of the Earth, but Streisand has already found the other half of the diamond: the Triangle of Krewluck during the shooting of My Fair Lady. The other piece happens to be the triangle Cartman found, and if Streisand were to get her hands on that triangle she would become the most evil and dangerous creature to ever walk the Earth — Mecha-Streisand.
Streisand rushes to South Park and makes several attempts to get the Triangle from Kyle and later Cartman (who regained ownership of the Triangle). In the end, she tortures the boys with her terrible singing, which horrifies the boys, and causes Cartman to give up his prized possession rather than listen to her tortuous voice much longer. Joining the triangles together, the triangles begin to shoot beams of energy in all directions while Streisand begins chanting in Japanese. After one of the beams of energy strikes her, she is then merged with the diamond and transforms into Mecha-Streisand, proceeding to wreak havoc in South Park. She is however defeated by Leonard Maltin, Sidney Poitier, and Robert Smith, all of whom take the forms of Japanese movie monsters.
Streisand remained a constant character of fear and loathing in South Park. In "Spookyfish", Comedy Central ran an ad campaign during the time leading up to the broadcast of the Halloween episode, stating that it would air in "Spooky Vision" - something so terrifying that it could not even be described. As the episode was introduced, it was revealed that this horror was in fact a photo of Barbra Streisand repeated in the four corners of the television frame. Streisand's face was also used for scene transitions in the episode. Each act of the episode featured a different photo.
In "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants", Cartman holds up a series of signs to show that Osama bin Laden is crazy, including "Screw Ball", "Jackass", and an image of Barbra Streisand foreshadowing Parker and Stone's hatred to her.
Streisand appears again as Mecha-Streisand in "200", but with a completely new CGI appearance. After her destruction she was somehow salvaged by Rob Reiner and Tom Cruise, who located and rebuilt the Diamond of Pantheos to revive her, with it later being activated in the episode's climax. In "201", she rampaged though South Park and destroyed a few buildings, killing Pip Pirrip and other citizens of South Park. The Super Best Friends tried to fight her but none of their tactics worked, not even removing the triangles. However, Jesus Christ came up with a plan with help from Moses, getting Krishna to morph into Neil Diamond and perform a duet with her where they were able to pacify her. What became of her after this is unknown.
Appearance[]
Barbra Streisand has a very unusual look, she has a large amount of messy dirty blond hair that goes up to her shoulders, small eyes, a little pale, a wide mouth with pink lipstick, a big and unusually large nose and a double chin. She wears a black button-down tank top with a pink collar, dark blue pants and black shoes.
In her Mecha-Streisand form, she has large thick eyebrows and is made of white and gray pieces, the shape she is drawn is reminiscent of Godzilla.
In episodes "200" and "201", Mecha-Streisand was given a more detailed redesign. Her hair was lighter and her body is made of gray, black and red pieces, her syrup was attached to her neck, her right arm had a large saw and her eyes were red while her pupils were yellow.
Personality[]
In "Mecha-Streisand", It is revealed that Streisand's "mother was a jackal, and her father was an insurance salesman" and that she is an "evil, egotistical diabolical bitch" who wants to conquer the world with the relic.
Trivia[]
- In "Pre-School", Trent Boyett is upset that he did not get to have fun adventures like the boys like fighting "a huge mechanized Barbra Streisand".
- In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Eric Cartman uses "Barbra Streisand" as an extremely strong swear word to invoke the electricity from his V-Chip to defeat Saddam Hussein.
- A poster for the fictional film, Mecha-Streisand Takes New York appears in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
- According to the DVD commentary of "Mecha-Streisand", the main reason why Parker and Stone hate her so much is that after Colorado passed the Amendment 2, an amendment to the Colorado state constitution forbidding homosexuals from being recognized as a protected class, Streisand spoke out against the state and all its citizens, calling them a "bunch of hicks" and promising she would never visit Colorado again.
- After her appearance in "Mecha-Streisand", Streisand publicly came out against South Park. She attacked it not for her portrayal as a monster, but for promoting cynicism among children, despite the fact that the show not being intended for children.[2]
- As Mecha-Streisand, she is based on the robot monster, Mechagodzilla from the Godzilla franchise. In the first episode, she is based on the original version of the monster from the 1974 film Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla and its immediate sequel Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1975. When she reappears in "200", however, her appearance is based on the third Mechagodzilla, Kiryu, from Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla in 2002 and its 2003 sequel, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S..
- Out of all of the celebrities portrayed in South Park, she is the only one the creators truly despise. Their insults were to the point where pictures of her were used in Spookyvision; as well as making her name count as a swear word in certain episodes and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Also in an interview after Streisand came out against South Park, the creators said the fact they were able to get under her skin made them feel awesome.[citation needed]
- Barbra Streisand and her mecha form has been dubbed as other celebrities or fictional characters in the following dubs:
- Cantonese: Paula Tsui, Hong Kong singer
- Italian (2nd): Her mecha form is dubbed as "Mazinga Barbra Streisand", named after a similar super robot manga series titled Mazinger Z.
- Mandarin Chinese: Chang Hsiao-yen, Taiwanese actress
- In the Brazilian Portuguese dub of "Clubhouses", Barbra Streisand is namedropped by Stan, in place of The Love Boat story which he has to explain to Mr. Garrison during class.
Prominence[]
- "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" - Cited by Bill.
- "Mecha-Streisand"
- "Spookyfish" - Seen in the corners of the screen as part of the "spooky-vision".
- "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" - Seen in a picture.
- "Pre-School" - Mentioned by Trent Boyett.
- "200"
- "201"
- "South ParQ Vaccination Special" - Seen at the end celebrating the end of the pandemic.
Movies[]
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut - Mentioned by Eric Cartman and seen on a poster.
References[]
- ↑ "South Park" Mecha-Streisand (TV episode 1998). IMDb.com.
- ↑ South Park Libertarians. reason.com (December 2006).
Minor Characters from Season One | |
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Anthropologist | Barbra Streisand | Bill Denkins | Bob Johnson | Bob Saget | Chief Running Water | Clone Stan Marsh | Damien Thorn | Death | Denver Broncos | Doctor Tom | Don King | Elton John | Enrique | Ethiopian Tribe | Fluffy | Frank Hammond and Phil | Geraldo Rivera | Great-Great-Grandpa Marsh | Hakeem Korashki | Halfy | John Warsog | Kathie Lee Gifford | Kyle's Elephant | Leonard Maltin | Michael Buffer | Midget Wearing a Bikini | Milo | Mr. Allen | Mr. Kitty | Mr. McDonald | Ms. Ellen | Mutant Turkeys | Patrick Duffy | Photographer | Quadriplegic Swiss Man on a Pony | Rex | Richard Stamos | Robert Smith | Sally Struthers | Scuzzlebutt | Sidney Poitier | Sparky | Starvin' Marvin | Stevens Family | Suzanne Somers | Sylvester | Ted | Tom Pusslicker | Unnamed Couple | Visitors | Weight Gain 4000 Ad Actor More information: List of Minor Characters from Season One | Season One |