While most think of the TV show South Park as only edgy comedy and toilet humor, as an avid fan for most of my life, I appreciate the humor as well as the hidden gems found throughout its 26 seasons and movies. Among the many memorable moments, there’s one moment that has always stuck with me through the hard times.
In season 7 episode 14, “Raisins,” one of the characters, Butters, essentially falls in lust with a young waitress at his local Raisins restaurant, a parody of Hooters. After leading himself to believe he was in a relationship with the girl, she eventually unequivocally ends their “relationship.” Butters is left solemn and dejected in a scene as he cries in the rain, drowning in his sorrows while he sits on the curb of the street. The other side of the coin (episode) shows Stan suffering with the end of his relationship with his girlfriend, Wendy. Stan joins the Goth Kids and adopts the view that the world is filled with only suffering and despair. It shows both characters dealing with the same problem: heartache and loss.
When this scene with Butters in the rain unfolds and we watch him crying, Stan and the Goth Kids show up and ask Butters why he’s so sad. When they find out why, Henrietta asks if his girlfriend “Stepped on his heart with stiletto shoes.” Butters replies in the affirmative. Assuming Butters now feels the same way they do: that the world is a messed up place filled with death and despair, they ask if he would like to join them in the graveyard where they will be writing poems about “Death and how pointless life is.” Butters’ response surprises them when he replies saying that he loves life. They’re taken aback, especially Stan who is new to the Goth Kids group following his breakup. Butters goes on to explain how even though he’s sad, he’s happy to know that something can make him feel that sad, because the only way he can feel that sad was if something made him feel really good before. He explains that he must take the bad with the good, and what he’s feeling is a “Beautiful sadness.”
Butters acknowledges that maybe that sounds stupid to them, which one member of the group agrees, but Stan says that doesn’t sound stupid at all. Stan has a quick epiphany as he realizes there is more than one way to respond to and deal with sadness and heartache. Butters ends the scene by saying, “Besides, I’d rather be a crying little pussy than a faggy goth kid,” which adds striking humor to the otherwise downhearted scene at its conclusion.
That scene has always struck me as it deals with a universal feeling of sadness, despair, and emotional heartache that everyone will inevitably experience during their lifetime. It shows two reactions to experiencing that heartache: one that only focuses on the tragic while the other chooses to feel the heartache in perspective in comparison to happiness. Butters articulating the view of utter sadness in relation to sheer joy, that he’s happy to experience something so good that the loss of it could make him feel so sad, makes him grateful to have had something so profoundly happy in his life.
Butters’ ability to experience two opposite ends of related emotion in perspective opened up my eyes to ways of viewing heartache and happiness. I came to accept that view and understand that despite our lowest lows, we should keep in mind how happy we should be, in the grand scheme of life, to have had something that brought us so much joy even if we’ve lost it. This could apply to the death of a loved one wherein we shouldn’t focus on the loss of them but remind ourselves to be happy that such a person existed, or to a relationship that made us feel needed, cared for, and loved even if it ends up not working out in the end.
Now, I’m not so naive as to not acknowledge that this is a cartoon and the immediate blinding pain of such an open wound will feel so fresh that it’s all we can see and experience in the time following its occurrence. I’m also well aware that most of these types of events will have lasting pain that may never heal. But I’ve loved this scene as it’s a reminder to keep things in perspective and to be grateful for the good things that bring us happiness in life. Since I first saw this episode, this scene has stuck with me because it changed my outlook on tragedy. It’s terrible that such things can happen and awful how much they can deeply wound us, but we need to take the good with the bad and accept that depression and elation are two sides of the same coin.
We are bound to experience both to great degrees and that’s life. We just need to remind ourselves of what’s important and ensure that we’re grateful for the things that make us so happy that also have the ability to make us so sad following their loss. I love South Park because it’s a cartoon filled with toilet humor and satire that’s also filled with gems such as this one that put life into perspective, remind us of what’s important, and has critical life lessons sprinkled into its episodes. You just need to be open to accepting them when they’re presented to you.
Drew Schroeder 