A Million Little Fibers
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| “A Million Little Fibers” | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Towelie writing his Memoirs while stoned |
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| Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 144 |
| Written by | Trey Parker Vernon Chatman |
| Original airdate | April 19, 2006 |
| Season 10 episodes | |
| South Park - Season 10 March 22, 2006 – November 15, 2006 |
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| ← Season 9 | Season 11 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"A Million Little Fibers" is episode 144 of South Park and was broadcast on April 19, 2006. It is primarily a parody of the controversy surrounding James Frey's book A Million Little Pieces and focuses on Towelie and features none of the other main characters.
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[edit] Plot
In this episode, Towelie gets fired from his newest job at P.F. Chang's (for being high on the job and being rude to customers) and (while high) comes up with the idea to write his own memoirs, which he writes (while high), and submits for publishing; however, the publisher tells him no person would be interested in a towel's story, so Towelie (while high) decides to change the memoirs to be exactly the same, except that he changes the story to make himself a person and takes up the pen name Steven McTowelie. He is then invited to go on The Oprah Winfrey Show, because Oprah loves and promotes his book. Meanwhile, Oprah's vagina, Mingey — which apparently is imbued with sentience — is depressed that the overworked Oprah never pays attention to him anymore — the persona sounding completely male with a gruff East London accent. Gary, her anus (who speaks with a highly camp faux Welsh or faux Liverpudlian accent; the exact intended accent of the character being difficult to ascribe given its stereotypical nature), conspires with him to get Oprah fired, so she can pay more attention to them. As Mingey realizes that Towelie is not a person ("a minge knows a towel when they hear one"), they call Geraldo Rivera and give him the information. Subsequently, Towelie is interviewed on Larry King Live, during which Geraldo Rivera calls in from Afghanistan to reveal that the author of the book is a towel.
When the truth comes out, Oprah does not see what the big deal is because people were inspired by the book for how it was written not by whether it is a lie or the truth. But, mobs congregate to protest wildly; Oprah invites Towelie back on the show, saying that he can explain that he wanted to make the book more relevant and easily understandable. However, instead she erupts in anger and ironically calls on the audience to lynch Towelie (at the same time bringing the audience back to her side, thwarting Mingey and Gary's plan). Towelie is cornered at the First National Bank of Chicago, but Mingey — taking sudden and desperate advantage of the opportunity — tears through Oprah's pants with a revolver. Taking hostages, he kills a police officer and begins making demands in preparation for an escape to France (Gary the anus having always wanted to see Paris). Gary tries to plead with Mingey to stop, put down the gun and give himself up, but Mingey insists that he'll be fried in the electric chair for killing a cop and Gary would end up in jail forever. Towelie struggles to think of an idea to deliver himself and his fellow hostages to safety, resisting the temptation to get high. He realizes that any stoned idea will only "get him into trouble".
Towelie's solution: using his inherent flatness, Towelie slips into the bank and allows the hostages to enter through the previously locked doors. The hostages being cleared from the area, police snipers open fire on Oprah's nether region and accidentally hit Gary instead of Mingey. Mingey realizes that Gary was hit and began to talk to him a hallucanating Gary belives that he was in Paris and he finally dies. Mingey in a state of shock over the death of his best and only friend turns the gun towards himself and joins the departed Gary. Oprah is rushed to the hospital, with police informing Towelie and the hostages that Oprah will be fine — though the same cannot be said for either her anus or vagina. Towelie learns not to get high for ideas, but to use drugs as a reward after he comes up with them.
[edit] Pop culture references
- The members of Oprah Winfrey's studio audience receive torches under their seats to help them participate in the lynching of Towelie. Normally, Oprah's guests (and audience members at many other daytime talk shows) receive gifts like DVDs, CDs, and books, and are told to find said items under their seats.
- The publishers in the episodes are named Porcupine Press and Arbitrary House, plays on the publishers Penguin Books and Random House, respectively. Towelie's hotel is called the Marryot, a pun on the hotel chain Marriott.
- The characters Mingey and Gary are based on John Steinbeck's characters, George and Lennie, from his novel, Of Mice and Men. The figures parody the dynamic between the more cerebral George and his simple, but endearing companion Lennie.
- There's a "High Moments" poster in Towelie's room, with plants pictured in it. It's a parody of Tom Forcade's High Times, a magazine about drug consumption, mainly marijuana.
- The hostage scene near the end of the episode in which Mingey states his demands is based on a similar scene in the Sydney Lumet film Dog Day Afternoon.
- The book that Towelie writes is a reference James Frey's book, A Million Little Pieces, an ostensibly autobiographical memoir that drew criticism after it was learned that he may have fictionalized the more dramatic aspects of its contents. Having been featured in Oprah's Book Club, the controversy drew her ire, and she had Frey on her show to respond to the criticism.
[edit] Production
- According to the DVD commentary, this episode was originally their "bank episode". This is an episode that is partially animated before they start doing episodes the same week it is broadcast. "Banking an episode" allows the staff to have one or two days off during the run. It was intended to be a spoof of the TV show Intervention with the people of South Park trying to get Towelie into rehab. About halfway into making it, they decided it didn't work too well and it couldn't go anywhere, so they started from the beginning. They also discuss the "Hat on Top of a Hat" scenario to describe the "weirdness" of the episode, saying that when you put a hat on, and then you put a hat on top of the first hat, "you just end up looking like an idiot" (weirdness on top of weirdness replacing the hats).
[edit] Trivia
- An alien can be spotted near ambulance car door when Geraldo is reporting during the hostage crisis (at the 18th minute of episode).
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by “Cartoon Wars Part II” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “ManBearPig” |
