Rainforest Shmainforest

"Rainforest Shmainforest"
South Park episode
The Getting Gay with Kids Choir runs from rainforest natives
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 1
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker Matt Stone
Production code	301
Original air date	April 7, 1999
Guest stars
Jennifer Aniston as Miss Stevens
Episode chronology
← Previous "Gnomes" Next → "Spontaneous Combustion"
List of South Park episodes

"Rainforest Shmainforest" (also known as "Choir Tour"^{[citation needed]}) is the 32nd episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on April 7, 1999. This episode features Jennifer Aniston providing the voice for Miss Stevens.

This episode was inspired by Trey Parker's personal intense distaste towards rainforests, which he formed after a visit to Costa Rica. Parker explains on the DVD commentary that, at the suggestion of Flea, Parker and his girlfriend went to Costa Rica and hated the area, and that everything Cartman says about the rainforests during the episode is how he (Parker) personally feels.^[1]

Plot

Miss Stevens (voiced by Jennifer Aniston), the leader of the "Getting Gay With Kids" environmentalist choir tour, visits South Park Elementary, trying to recruit more kids to the group. The boys cause trouble, calling the choir names and belittling their cause. They are sent to the office, where Mr. Mackey punishes the boys by forcing them to join the choir. Kenny is the only one who is happy about it, since he has developed a crush on a girl in the choir named Kelly.

The episode is filled with famous environmentalist clichés, such as, "We must take only photos and leave only footprints", "It's more afraid of us than we are of it" and "We have to respect mother nature and she will respect us".

The choir goes to San José, Costa Rica to tour, where Miss Stevens tells Cartman that she plans on changing his views on third-world countries. Upon arriving, Cartman immediately starts to make trouble, including yelling at Costa Ricans, directing everyones attention to prostitutes and commenting that San Jose "smells like ass." The children get to meet the Costa Rican President and do a preview dance routine for some citizens of San Jose, but Miss Stevens is dismayed by Kyle's lack of coordination; Cartman offers the opinion that Kyle cannot dance because he is Jewish and "Jewish people don't have any rhythm". Kyle angrily denies this as a stereotype, but Stan wonders if it is true, making Kyle fear that it is.

The children then take a tour to see the 'wonders' of the rainforest. Cartman starts hitting the animals that live in their natural habitats, annoying Miss Stevens. Eventually their tour guide is killed and eaten by a snake, leaving Miss Stevens and the children on their own in the jungle. Cartman hits the snake on the head, which caused it to chase him away. They run into a group of guerrilla rebels and try to convince them to save the rainforest, but the leader replies, "We're not getting gay with any kids!" When government troops arrive the choir has to run away. After more time spent wandering lost, Cartman announces that he is leaving the "hippie" group. Only moments later he finds a friendly crew of construction workers tearing down trees and tells them all about the group getting lost, not before asking for food. Meanwhile, Kelly takes Kenny to one side and admits her feelings for him, but tries to stop herself from going too far, as she lives on the other side of the USA and cannot manage a long-distance relationship which annoys Kenny.

Back in San José, the concert is about an hour away from starting, and the President stalls for time by telling poorly thought out "Polak" jokes. Miss Stevens and the remaining children are captured by a tribe of natives called the Yamagapa who offer Miss Stevens, now dressed in a Stanford-looking cheerleading outfit, to a giant native. At this point, Miss Stevens changes her mind, and decides the rainforest is not such a good place after all. She screams profanities about everything rainforest-related, much to the shock of the kids (and the natives, too). Just then, Cartman and the construction workers arrive to destroy the village and save the kids. Just as Kelly is making arrangements with Kenny over maintaining a long-distance relationship, he is immediately struck and nearly killed by a bolt of lightning. Afterwards Kyle and Stan say their usual lines, but Kelly asks them who "they" are, since Kenny was killed by lightning, not people. Kyle and Stan are unable to answer her, claiming: "You know, They. They're bastards." ("They" are actually the creators of the show, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.) Frustrated, Kelly asks them to help Kenny, but the two are fulfilling their usual role on the show, outraging Kelly even more. She then desperately attempts CPR and successfully saves Kenny, to the amazement of Stan and Kyle.

When the group escapes the forest, Miss Stevens and the children are so happy to leave the jungle that they change their tune: Different lyrics are applied to the original song, which now rebukes the rainforest rather than praises it. It meets with a positive response from the audience, as if they were still singing rainforest activism. The episode ends with a message telling people about the dangers of the rainforest and to help stop it. Kenny and Kelly then set up a long-distance relationship, but it ends near the beginning of the next episode, "Spontaneous Combustion", when Kenny dies.

Controversy

Despite the episode airing in 1999 in the U.S. and a few years later in Latin America (except in Brazil; MTV Brasil aired it in 1999), the episode has caused a bit of controversy in February 2007 over the comments that Cartman made about Costa Rica saying that the town "smells like ass" and the way the creators show the country full of "prostitutes, shantytowns and trash." The Costa Rican Government was reportedly "not amused" with this episode.^[2]

References

1. ^ South Park: Season 3 DVD Boxset Episode Commentary
2. ^ Costa Rica steamed over South Park episode » VivirLatino

External links

• Rainforest Shmainforest Full Episode at South Park Studios
• Rainforest Shmainforest Episode Guide at South Park Studios
• Rainforest Shmainforest at the Internet Movie Database