Poor and Stupid

"Poor and Stupid"
[[File:File:CartmanDrivingWEB.jpg|250px]]
Episode no.	Season 14 Episode 8
Production no.	1408
Original airdate	October 6, 2010
Episode chronology Previous Next "Crippled Summer" "New Jersey"
List of all South Park episodes

Poor and Stupid is the 203rd episode of Comedy Central's series South Park. It aired on October 6, 2010.

Synopsis

Cartman wants to race with the pros and he's ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. He's afraid that no matter how hard he tries, he'll never reach the the level of the other NASCAR drivers. Working with Butters as his pit boss, and Vagisil to make himself stupid, Cartman pulls out all the stops to compete in the race of his life.

Plot

The episode begins with Cartman crying in front of his locker. When Stan and Kyle approach him, he explains that he is upset over the fact that Mr. Garrison assigned an essay about what the students want to be when they grow up, and he does not like to think about that subject. He then explains that it is his dream to become a NASCAR driver, and that he believes that this could never happen to people like him. Stan and Kyle, believing him to be talking about his excessive weight, try to comfort him. He reveals that he was in fact referring to the fact that he is not poor and stupid, as he believes all NASCAR fans and racers are. The other boys, now disgusted at Cartman as he yet again reveals his tendency toward prejudice, effectively convince him that he is, in fact, very poor and very stupid.

Cartman takes their "encouragement" to heart and recruits Butters to be his pit boss, and sets out to become poorer and stupider than ever. He gives Butters all his money and watches Two and a Half Men upside down, and by chance sees a Vagisil commercial. One of the side effects of Vagisil is that it may cause temporary memory loss. Seizing the opportunity, Cartman eats many tubes of Vagisil at a pharmacy, claiming that it makes him "feel stupid".

On race day, Cartman manipulates his way onto the track by having Butters convince one of the racers that his wife was raped. The resulting catastrophic accident leaves 11 people dead and Cartman reconsidering his decision to be a racer. The doctor at the hospital tells Cartman that his accident was among the stupidest he'd ever seen, and Cartman is hopeful again. He buys tons of sumptuous things in debt with no money down for two years so he would always be poor. The creator of Vagisil gives Cartman a new car because he promoted his product accidently. He races again and is dumb as before. The Vagisil creator, one of the announcers, frequently references his wife's odor. Cartman leads in the beginning but is stopped by the Vagisil creator's wife, Patty. In the end he thinks that he wasn't poor and stupid enough to be a NASCAR driver. He apologizes to Kenny before demanding Butters gives back his money.

Trivia

• After rehashing some of old South Park references in 200 and 201, Stone and Parker did this again by making Cartman exclaim "This is so tits!" when receiving the Vagsil NASCAR car. This goes back to season four (The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000) when Cartman uses 'tits' as an expression for 'cool' or 'awesome' whenever he gets money from the Tooth Fairy.
• Cartman calls Butters by the nickname or petname 'B-Butts' for the first time.
• Memory loss is not a real side effect of Vagisil
• Kenny was almost run over by two cars, but the drivers swerved at the last moment and crashed in order to avoid running over the kid. And so Kenny survives.

Goofs

• Just moments after the doctor tells Cartman he has two fractured ribs, a broken femur, torn ligaments, two broken knees, and a level two concussion, Cartman walks out of his bed, and in the next scene, seems completely unharmed. However these injuries would make anyone immobile for a long period of time.
• Cartman drives a race car on a live track. NASCAR would never allow a 9 year old to do that.

"[[Crippled Summer]]"

"Poor and Stupid"

"[[New Jersey]]"