Geekdom Come, Reference Humor

Reference Humor: South Park Season 10 Episode 8 “Make Love, Not Warcraft”

Welcome back to Reference Humor. Yesterday, I was privileged to attend the wedding of two dear friends who just happen to work at Blizzard Entertainment. I thought what better way to celebrate that union than by breaking down South Park’s infamous World of Warcraft episode. Obviously, I’m at a hotel lobby drinking mimosas right now to get rid of a raging hangover and I wrote this ahead of time, but for you, dear reader, its like I’m with you right now! As always bold numbers represent the time at which the reference happened and Spoilers abound for a wide variety of films and television. Scroll down at your own risk. To Azeroth with you!

00:40- Instead of the usual animation the show opens with in-game animation from the online computer game World of Warcraft (2004)

1:25 Cartman is using video game slang here. MMORPG stands for massive multiplayer online role-playing game, XP stands for experience points.

2:36 The killer’s room has a statue of the Balrog from the movie version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). The killer also has a souvenir cup from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and a model of the Millennium Falcon Spaceship from Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977).

2:43 At the Blizzard HQ a Starcraft(1998) box is visible on the desk. Starcraft is another video game franchise owned by Blizzard.

3:24 On the whiteboard the words “Level decision: Cave, tunnel, dungeon?” are written. This is a joke on the lack of level variety in RPGs.

3:24 Posters for the Blizzard games Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) and Diablo II (2000)
Can be seen in the Blizzard office

5:49 “Would you go back in time and stop Hitler” Cartman use this popular and fairly cliche ethical hypothetical to advance his argument.

5:53 “when Hitler rose to power lot of people who stopped playing. They’re called the French.” This refers to the common stereotype of the French constantly surrendering. In actuality, though France did surrender in 1940 following the German invasion; the French resistance was instrumental in eventually defeating Hitler.

6:03 Cartman says “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi” it is a French phrase meaning “Do you want to sleep with me?” Most people know the phrase through the popular and frequently covered song “Lady Marmalade” (1974, Eleventh Hour). Though most Americans know the phrase, few know its actual meaning.

6:28 Hello Kitty Island Adventure is an MMORPG featuring the characters of the Hello Kitty media universe.

6:46 Cartman in rousing in-game speech “click on defensive stance, cast intellect buff, special abilities map locked to keyboard.” This is meant as a parody of fantasy pre-battle speeches.

8:13 There is an Orgazmo (1997) Poster on Cartman’s bedroom door. This is funny for two reasons. One, the creators of South Park Matt Parker and Trey Stone wrote, directed, and stared in Orgazmo. And two, Cartman’s mother is known as the most …… sexually liberated would be the best way to put it…. character on the show.

8:31 The poster in Jimmy’s room reads “The Six Billion Dollar Man” this is a parody of the hit TV show The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978)

8:53 Clive is reading a Playboy Magazine (1953) Playboy is a men’s magazine that often features nude models. Thus it is often associated with teenage males and sexual fantasies. There is also a Star Destroyer model in the background. Star Destroyers are the primary spaceships used by the Empire in the Star Wars franchise.

10:45 Killing Boars is a play on players’ tendency to grind to raise their level. To grind is to play lower level content over and over to gain the requisite levels and resources necessary to take on more challenging content.

11:35 The show cuts to a training montage of the boys, playing up the irony of them never leaving their houses and becoming fatter and more slovenly.

11:51 The Road Warrior (1981) poster in Stan’s room.

13:36 The Sword of 1000 Truths plays on two different jokes. The first is the tradition of game developers hiding secret items and messages in their games known in geek circles as Easter eggs. And the second is the common fantasy trope of a mythical weapon that can only be wielded by the one who is prophesied.

14:53 Cartman spouts more gibberish about keyboard shortcuts. For once dear reader I do not presume to have the requisite expertise to explain all of these to you.

18:01 Randy calls himself a Noob. Noob means Newbie. Someone who is still learning the game and lacks the skill and expertise of more veteran players. It is a common insult in the video game community.

18:32 Randy waves down a car then car jacks a random civilian. The interaction is just like what players do in the video game Grand Theft Auto (1997).

19:25 Rand goes into a Best Buy. For you non-U.S. readers, Best Buy is a big box chain electronics retailer in the United States.

19:29 The kid at Best Buy demo station is wearing Pokemon knock-off gear. Pokemon (1995) is a popular multi-media franchise that began as a video game RPG.

20:22 “You killed my father” This is a play on the popular fantasy/sci-fi trope of sons avenging their fathers.

20:40 The kids let the killer know he’s just been pwned. “Pwned” is a popular video game slang term meaning to own. It actually got its start in Warcraft, when a programmer misspelled the word owned.

That’s it on the South Park front. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day. I know I will!