208.190.210.4 (talk) |
→Trivia: +ban |
||
Line 51: | Line 51: | ||
* [http://www.factnet.org/ FACTNet] named South Park TV Show Staff [http://www.factnet.org/letters/FACTNewsNovember2005SouthPark.html FACTNet Person(s) of the Year ] for 2005 for the "Trapped in the Closet" episode. |
* [http://www.factnet.org/ FACTNet] named South Park TV Show Staff [http://www.factnet.org/letters/FACTNewsNovember2005SouthPark.html FACTNet Person(s) of the Year ] for 2005 for the "Trapped in the Closet" episode. |
||
*Cartman, Kyle and Kenny only appear in two scenes in this episode. |
*Cartman, Kyle and Kenny only appear in two scenes in this episode. |
||
*This episode was banned from re-airing after Cruise threatened legal action [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006020708,,00.html] |
|||
==External links== |
==External links== |
Revision as of 17:10, 18 January 2006
Template:Infobox South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" is episode 912 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired November 16, 2005. The name of this episode comes from the song "Trapped in the Closet" by R. Kelly. The episode satirizes the beliefs and practices of the Church of Scientology.
Plot Synopsis
Template:Spoilers Stan is saving his money for a new bike, so he can't join Kyle, Cartman and Kenny when they go off to play lasertag. Opting for something that is "fun and free", Stan takes a personality test that is being offered by the Scientologists. After answering a long questionaire, Stan is informed that he is "one messed up kid" who is "completely miserable and totally depressed". Fortunately, this makes him a perfect candidate for Scientology - they offer to help him out for $240. Back at home, Stan asks his parents for the money to help him with his depression. His father suggests that he use the money he has been saving for a new bike. After he pays, Stan is taken into an auditing room with Michelle, who gives him a brief history of Scientology and reads his thetan levels using a device called an "E-meter". Michelle is shocked by the high reading, and tries several different meters before pointing these readings out to a higher-up, who faxes the results to the Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles. There, Scientology’s president reviews the results and determines that, because his reading are so high, Stan must be a reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder and "prophet".
Back in South Park, Stan is taking out the garbage when he notices a large group of people outside. A large group of Scientologists, including John Travolta, have gathered there to celebrate Stan's "second coming". The President of Scientology arrives in a helicopter and goes inside to talk with Stan’s parents. Stan's parents oppose his being in the group, but the president informs Randy Marsh that "We're not asking him to join us; we're asking him to lead us." Randy sends his son to his room, Stan confused and exhausted, and it is then that Stan finds Tom Cruise in his room waiting for him, thinking he is genuinely L. Ron Hubbard's reincarnation. Cruise asks his prophet whether he enjoyed his acting and what film he liked best. When Stan tells Cruise that his acting is not as good as Leonardo DiCaprio, Gene Hackman or "that that guy from Napoleon Dynamite," but that he is "okay," Tom yells in agony, runs, and locks himself into Stan's bedroom closet, believing he is "a failure in the eyes of the prophet".
Stan calls for his father’s help, and Randy knocks on the door and says, "Mr. Cruise, you can't just stay in the closet, all right; you need to come out." Four hours later, Tom is still in the closet and a large crowd has gathered, with the South Park police chief on a megaphone urging him to “come out of the closet”. R. Kelly is on the scene and sings a brief song about Tom Cruise being in the closet, that nobody knows why, and then pulls out his gun and threatens to shoot someone if he is not informed of why Tom Cruise is in the closet(a play of R. Kelly's Urban opera "Trapped in the Closet").
Downstairs, the Scientology President tries to convince Stan’s parents to let their son join them. They want to reveal the great secret of life behind their church to Stan. Randy asks his son if he would like to know this information and Stan responds with a “sure.” Usually it takes several years before a member can hear this information, but Stan is on the fast track. The president tells him the story of Xenu; this segment is based directly on the actual Scientology OT III document and is accompanied by an onscreen caption reading "THIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE". After explaining these beliefs, he tells Stan to continue writing where "El-Ron" (L. Ron Hubbard) left off.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Nicole Kidman is trying to get Tom to “come out of the closet”, but Tom repeatedly denies that he is in the closet.
Stan begins writing and, when Kyle, Cartman and Kenny come over to invite him to the movies, he doesn’t have time for them. Kyle is concerned about the "cult" that Stan has joined, but Stan assures him that Scientology is based on fact. If they can’t accept that he has found meaning (instead of the depression he didn’t know he had) then they are no longer friends. John Travolta also tries to get Tom to “come out of the closet,” but instead he finds himself joining him. Out on the street, R. Kelly sings a short song about this latest development, then again pulls out his gun, this time grabbing a hostage, and threatens to "cap this bitch."
Stan shows his writings to the Scientology President, who approves of most of his work, but, when Stan says that "to really be a church, [they] can't charge money to help", the President reveals to Stan that the church is a money-making scam.
Upstairs, R. Kelly has now been brought in to try to get both Tom and John to “come out of the closet.” R. Kelly gets angry, pulls out his gun, and, when the closet door opens, finds himself going inside. Outside, the president introduces Stan to his followers, to whom he will read his new doctrine. However, instead of presenting it to them, Stan reveals that he is actually not the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard, and that "Scientology is just a big fat global scam." His followers grow angry, and threaten to sue him. Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and R. Kelly all leave his closet and appear, threatening to sue him (except for R. Kelly, who just walks off-screen). Stan dares them to do so, and the episode ends.
Quotes
- Cartman: "Stan, I just want you to know that I still hate Kyle more than you."
- Stan: "Dad! Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet!"
- R. Kelly: "...AND I PULL OUT MY GUN!" (grabs a hostage)
- Newscaster: "Oh Jesus, here we go with the gun again!"
- R. Kelly (singing): "If Tom Cruise and John Travolta don't come out of the closet I'm gonna cap this bitch!"
- Scientologist leader: "You are so sued."
- John Travolta, after closing the closet door: "Whoa, it's really nice in here."
- John Travolta, after saying mostly anything: "...Omahgaad!"
- Reporter: It's been four hours now, and Tom Cruise still will not come out of the closet. Hundreds of onlookers here have gathered here in hopes that the celebrity will finally give in.
- Police Officer: [to Tom Cruise] Tom Cruise, this is Park County police! Please come out of the closet. Everybody here just wants you to come out of the closet, Tom. Nobody's gonna be mad, everything's gonna be all right. Just come out of the closet.
- Tom Cruise I'll sue you, I'll sue you in England!
- Stan Sue me
Trivia
- During the credits, each contributor's name is replaced by "John Smith" or "Jane Smith", a reference to the possibility of lawsuits from the Church of Scientology.
- The character of Chef was absent in the episode, perhaps because Isaac Hayes, the voice actor of that character, is a Scientologist. But in a recent interview, Hayes shrugged off any reported problems with the episode, saying simply that "Matt and Trey lampoon everything." Over the show's recent seasons, Chef has not appeared nearly as often as he did in the first years.
- Stan mentions the Denver Broncos' 7-2 record. When this episode first aired the Broncos were, in fact, 7-2, with the last game being played three days before the episode's premiere.
- Despite the title of the episode, no one is literally 'trapped' in a closet. (The title is a reference to R. Kelly's magnum opus "Trapped in the Closet.")
- A Marklar can be seen in the freezing machine and being dropped into the volcano.
- FACTNet named South Park TV Show Staff FACTNet Person(s) of the Year for 2005 for the "Trapped in the Closet" episode.
- Cartman, Kyle and Kenny only appear in two scenes in this episode.
- This episode was banned from re-airing after Cruise threatened legal action [1]