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Cash For Gold "Cash For Gold" "Faith Hilling" "Jewpacabra" Jewpacabra
"Faith Hilling"
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FaithHillingPromo
Episode no. Season 16
Episode 3
Production no. 1603
Original airdate March 28, 2012
Episode chronology
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"Cash For Gold" "Jewpacabra"
List of all South Park episodes

"Faith Hilling" is the third episode of Season Sixteen, and the 226th overall episode of South Park. It aired on March 28, 2012.[1]

Synopsis[]

The kids are in danger when new trends start to evolve and shift at a rapid pace.[1]

Plot[]

SPW pic -- Spoiler Spoiler warning!
Plot details follow.

The boys and Butters are seen attending the Colorado Republican Debate. They seem to be performing some kind of co-operative "mission". After a brief discussion, the Secret Service get word that someone may try to "Faith Hill" the event. However, despite locking down the area, they are unsuccessful, allowing Cartman to perform a successful "faith hilling".

Afterwards, a news reporter is seen reporting on "faith hilling". He states that everyone is wondering when the first person will die from performing the meme. Later, the fourth grade class is lectured by Professor Lamont, who shows them a video detailing the dangers of performing memes, particularly from tebowing.

After the end of the school day, the boys are shown wondering where they should "faith hill" next. However, Butters, traumatized by the aforementioned video, refuses to "faith hill". Shortly afterwards, Craig Tucker reveals that the boys made the front page of the newspaper due to their "faith hilling" the presidential candidate debate. After purchasing a newspaper, to their horror, they read that "faith hilling" has already become outdated, being replaced by "Taylor Swifting".

After coming to the mutual opinion that "faith hilling" is much better than "Taylor Swifting", the boys go to Café Monet, to film Cartman "faith hilling" in front of it. However, another group of children are already there "Taylor Swifting". Cartman interrupts them, standing in front of the camera. Later, after a brief disagreement about the merits of "Taylor Swifting" in comparison to "faith hilling", the situation devolves into a fight, resulting in the other group of children being put into the hospital.

Professor Lamont is seen once again telling the fourth grade class about the dangers of "memeing", however, this time, he uses a loaded revolver as an example. He places the revolver on Butters' desk, asking the class if they think that doing such is safe. After the class agrees that it is not safe, he demonstrates even further, forcing Butters to place the barrel of the gun in his mouth. Two men interrupt his demonstration, pulling him out of the classroom and asking for his help. They explain that cats are starting to meme by "cat breading". Professor Lamont is not surprised, explaining to them that humans have been "memeing" since the Egyptians. He says that, by memeing, cats are evolving and proving themselves to be nearly as intelligent as humans.

The boys, after briefly confronting Mr. Kitty for "cat breading", decided that they should go "faith hilling" at the Alcoholics Anonymous building. Kenny objects to this, saying that it is pointless, as "faith hilling is "out of style".

A news reporter is seen reporting on two deaths cause by a new meme called "Oh Long Johnsoning". The reporter reveals that a human did not start the meme, but a cat, who has been arrested for its part in the aforementioned deaths.

Stan is caught performing a combination of "Taylor Swifting" and "Oh Long Johnsoning" by the rest of the boys, who angrily criticize him. However, Kenny takes his side, resulting in Cartman having to prevent Kyle from attacking him.

Professor Lamont and the two agents are seen interrogating the arrested cat, who responds by repeatedly saying "Oh Long Johnson". Professor Lamont threatens the cats with war, but the cat refuses to respond.

Cartman and Kyle are seen "faith hilling" outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic, however, after various insults from others, they realize that "faith hilling" truly is out of style. Afterwards, a combined group of the boys and the other children are seen watching Cartman perform a combination of "Taylor Swifting", "Cat Breading", and "Reporting".

The boys are once again seen at a debate, attempting to perform the aforementioned combination of memes. However, Cartman stops, realizing conforming is not the correct thing to do, he begins to "faith hill" and sing about how it is the only meme he will ever do. The audience and Presidential candidates are amazed at the "quality" of his "faith hilling", resulting in them all "faith hilling" themselves. Another reporter is seen reporting on Cartman reminding everyone what "being human" means, however he says the message is unclear, but as long as the message has a celebrity bashing song with Republican "hopefuls" dancing around "faith hilling", it doesn't matter. He names this new meme "Pandering" shortly before he is hit by a train.

Critical Reception[]

AV Club gave "Faith Hilling" a "B-" rating saying: "Faith Hilling definitely had some laughs, but they were sporadically deployed throughout the half-hour. The idea of a world full of people trying to increasingly out-meme each other has potential, and it was amusing to see the “outdated” film strip at school warning of the dangers of memeing dating all the way back to… 2010. Let’s put aside the fact that Tebowing didn’t exist even then and focus on the real point: We’re living in a world that has more cultural turnover than ever, thanks to an increasingly diminished attention span. Future generations will know us as the assholes that mocked each other for having cellphones that delivered information that was “so 23 seconds ago. There’s an actual interesting story buried in tonight’s episode about the fear of being left behind, but it gets the short shrift. Time spent continually returning to news updates (or “reporting”) about the shift from Faith Hilling to Taylor Swifting to Oh Lord Johnsoning could have been better served to further detail the desperation of Kyle and Cartman to keep hold of their beloved tradition. As amusing as it was to hear Nazi salutes categorized as “ass wedging,” I wouldn’t have minded more of the episode’s Ionesco-esque look at the way people blindly conform to the newest trends in culture and politics. I’m as big as fan as any of cats with bread stuck around their face, but I was really interested in the way one person’s passion serves as fuel for another person’s derision."[2]

IGN gave "Faith Hilling" a "7.0" rating saying: "Overall, this was an episode that had a lot of different ideas in play, but felt like it could have used more focus. Pointing out how it's impossible to keep up with trends and how ridiculously quickly people move on is a good starting point, but then Matt and Trey briefly got reflective (again) on South Park itself – That guy yelling, "Go back to the 90s, f***ots!" at Cartman and Kyle (on the heels of the "how can we be passe?" line earlier) were obviously nods to the idea that some feel South Park itself is no longer in or cool. But this element of the story was just sort of thrown in and not really explored as much as winked at."[3]

References[]


  1603: "Faith Hilling" edit
Story Elements

Ambassador of HumansRon PaulMitt RomneyNewt GingrichRick SantorumTalking CatColorado Republican Debate (2012)‎‎Planned Parenthood ClinicCafé MonetProfessor Lamont"Faith Hilling""Taylor Swifting""Oh Long Johnsoning"Bloody Sunday: The Dangers of Memeing • "The Only Memeing I'll Ever Do" • 7-11

Media

ImagesScriptWatch Episode

Release

South Park: The Complete Sixteenth Season

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