History YMMV / TheBookOfMormon

* FridgeBrilliance: You'll notice that there's no cursing for the first twenty minutes or so of the play until they finally arrive in Africa during "Hasa Diga Eebowai". That's to lull the viewer into forgetting that they're watching a show written by the creators of ''South Park'', and then club you over the head with as much cursing as humanly possible.
** Hatimbi mentions during the song that "80% of us have AIDS; Hasa Diga Eebowai!" He later rattles off a list of people he knows that have AIDS, including the butcher, the teacher, the doctor, and himself, except for his daughter who has 'a wonderful disposition'. If you're keeping track, that's four out of five people, or 80%.

** At one point, Elder Cunningham calls Nabulungi [[Disney/TheLionKing Nala]]; in a later Los Angeles show, Nabulungi's actress played Nala and General Butt-Fucking Naked played Mufasa.

** The shoutout to Theatre/LesMiserables becomes hilarious at the news of Nikki M. James (Nabulungi) going on to play Eponine in that very show on Broadway.

* HilariousInHindsight: The Lamanites utterly fail to take the city of Noah and the narrative describes how some of the Nephites were only wounded due to arrows striking their legs. No doubt more than one of them [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim took an arrow in the knee]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The whole show, but especially "Man Up" (which closes act one), "I Believe" (Elder Price's mid-act-2 power ballad), and "Tomorrow is a Latter Day" (which closes the show).
* EarWorm: "Hello", "Making Things Up Again", and "Hasa Diga Ebowai"
* EsotericHappyEnding: Sure, the Elders and the Ugandans are happy with their new bastardized version of Mormonism, and they've even defeated General Butt Fucking Naked, but nothing has really happened to fix the numerous other problems facing the Ugandans, such as A.I.D.S., starvation, and [[RunningGag maggots in their scrotums]]. [[BlackComedy Although the creators probably intended for people to pick up on this.]]

* FridgeBrilliance: You'll notice that there's no cursing for the first twenty minutes or so of the play until they finally arrive in Africa during "Hasa Diga Eebowai". That's to lull the viewer into forgetting that they're watching a show written by the creators of ''South Park'' and then club you over the head with as much cursing as humanly possible.
** The whole "maggots in my scrotum" bit has some rather obscure FridgeBrilliance: that kind of infestation is known as [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warble_fly warbles]], as is [[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/warbling a type of singing]]
** "Joseph Smith: American Moses" CrossesTheLineTwice in every 'act' of the play, but almost every message is something directly applicable to the Ugandans; stopping rape, preventing genital mutilation, promoting clean water. The only thing that stands out is their literal interpretation of Go Forth and Multiply, which is probably the most grotesque part of the play. Except we never see Elder Cunningham talk about that aspect of the scripture (and his own anxiety in "Baptize Me" makes it seem unlikely he'd give a sermon on orgies with Jesus). The person who does talk about that part of scripture? Elder Price, in "All-American Prophet", as a lead in to talking about himself. It seems like Arnold isn't the only one to blame for that racy number.

** At one point Elder Cunningham calls Nabulungi [[Disney/TheLionKing Nala]]; in a later Los Angeles show, Nabulungi's actress played Nala and General Butt Fucking Naked played Mufasa.

** In some later productions, after returning from the village [[spoiler:covered in the blood of a recently executed Ugandan]], Elder Price grabs Elder [=McKinley=] by the face in excitement. Elder [=McKinley=] almost tries to kiss him.

* NauseaFuel[=/=]{{Squick}}: The running gag about the doctor having maggots in his scrotum, as well as a later point where Elder Price gets [[spoiler:his copy of the title book [[AssShove shoved up his butt by General Butt Fucking Naked]]]].
* NightmareRetardant: The "Spooky Mormon Hell Dream" is deliberately made to be anything '''but''' spooky, which is part of the reason why the number is so hysterical.
* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=]'s situation rather uncomfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression. It also doesn't help that the message of the musical is that Mormonism does teach good moral lessons, implying (obviously accidentally, considering Stone and Parker's well-established acceptance of gay people) that homophobia is one of those "good moral lessons", or is otherwise just one of the silly, unimportant side-effects of the Mormon teachings like the other ridiculous factual teachings made fun of throughout the show.

** The whole "maggots in my scrotum" bit has some rather obscure FridgeBrilliance: that kind of infestation is known as warbles (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warble_fly), as is a type of singing (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/warbling).

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Elder Price's dream of going to Orlando has become this, following the deadliest mass shooting in in US history taking place in the city in June 2016. Worse yet is the fact that said shooting took place in a gay nightclub. Andrew Rannells, the original Elder Price, is gay, and Price himself could be considered AmbiguouslyGay.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The whole show, but especially "Man Up" (which closes act one) and "Tomorrow is a Latter Day" (which closes the show).

** At one point Elder Cunningham calls Nabulungi [[Disney/TheLionKing Nala]]; in the current Los Angeles show Nabulungi's actress played Nala and General Butt Fucking Naked was Mufasa.

* HoYay: Depending on the production, Elder [=McKinley=] and Elder Price. It helps that [=McKinley=] is canonically gay and Price has no love interest in-story (plus Price's original actor, former 4Kids voice actor Andrew Rannells, is gay).
** In some later productions, after returning from the village [[spoiler: covered in the blood of a recently executed Ugandan]], Elder Price grabs Elder [=McKinley=] by the face in excitement. Elder [=McKinley=] almost tries to kiss him.

* NauseaFuel[=/=]{{Squick}}: The running gag about the doctor having maggots in his scrotum, as well as a later point where Elder Price gets [[spoiler: his copy of the title book [[AssShove shoved up his butt by General Butt Fucking Naked.]]]]

* TheWoobie: Elder Cunningham.
** JerkassWoobie: Elder Price during his Break the Haughty.

** With the horrors the Ugandans go through, their lack of faith is unsurprising.

* {{Fanon}}: While Elder [=McKinley's=] first name is never stated In-Universe, he's universally referred to as Connor by the fandom.

** In some later productions, after returning from the village [[spoiler: covered in the blood of a recently executed Ugandan]], Elder Price grabs Elder [=McKinley=] by the face in exceitment. Elder [=McKinley=] almost tries to kiss him.

* {{Fanon}}: While Elder [=McKinley's=] first name is never stated In-Universe, he's pretty much universally referred to as Connor by the fandom.

* {{Fanon}}: While Elder McKinley's first name is never stated In-Universe, he's pretty much universally referred to as Connor by the fandom.

* MagnumOpus: Some consider this to be the all-time best work from TreyParkerAndMattStone. Considering that it won ''nine'' Tony Awards, and is one of their most successful works financially, it is easy to see why.

* HoYay: Depending on the production, Elder McKinley and Elder Price. It helps that McKinley is canonically gay and Price has no love interest in-story (plus Price's original actor, former 4Kids voice actor Andrew Rannells, is gay).

* HoYay: Depending on the production, Elder McKinley and Elder Price. It helps that McKinley is canonically gay and Price has no love interest in-story.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression. It also doesn't help that the message of the musical is that Mormonism does teach good moral lessons, implying (obviously accidentally, considering Stone and Parker's well-established acceptance of gay people) that homophobia is one of those "good moral lessons", or is otherwise just one of the silly, unimportant side-effects of the Mormon teachings like the other ridiculous factual teachings made fun of throughout the show.

* NauseaFuel[=/=]{{Squick}}: The running gag about the doctor having maggots in his scrotum, as well as a later point where Elder Price gets [[spoiler: his copy of the title book [[AssShove shoved up his butt by General Butt Fucking Naked.]]]]
* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression. It also doesn't help that the message of the musical is that Mormonism does teach good moral lessons, implying (obviously accidentally, considering Stone and Parker's well-established acceptance of gay people) that homophobia is one of those "good moral lessons", or is otherwise just one of the silly, unimportant side-effects of the Mormon teachings like the other ridiculous factual teachings made fun of throughout the show.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression. It also doesn't help that the message of the musical is that Mormonism does teach good moral lessons, implying (obviously accidentally, considering Stone and Parker's well-established acceptance of gay people) that homophobia is one of those "good moral lessons", or is otherwise just one of the silly, unimportant side-effects of the Mormon teaching like the other ridiculous factual teachings made fun of throughout the show.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression. It also doesn't help that the message of the musical is that Mormonism does teach good moral lessons, implying (accidentally obviously, considering Stone and Parker's well-established acceptance of gay people) that homophobia is one of those "good moral lessons", or is otherwise just one of the silly, unimportant side-effects of the Mormon teaching like the other ridiculous factual teachings made fun of throughout the show.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression.

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Josh Gad]] originated the role of Elder Cunningham, while the role is currently being played by [[TeamStarkid A.J. Holmes]] in the national tour.
** His co-star, AndrewRannells, was featured in a multitude of anime productions when they were dubbed by ''Creator/FourKidsEntertainment'', including ''Anime/YuGiOh'', ''Anime/SonicX'', ''Anime/PokeMon'', and others, before moving to Broadway by playing Bob Gaudio in ''Theatre/JerseyBoys''.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/culture/4743/why_the_book_of_mormon_%28the_musical%29_is_awesomely_lame__/ This article brings up a few, albeit by missing the point of the show.]] Also, the Mormon's Church rather "not kind" opinion on homosexuality pretty much renders [=McKinley=] situation rather unconfortable, especially when the dialogue at times seems to support the "moral validity" of his repression.

** A good majority of the Mormon missionaries seem to be woobies, actually, is "Turn It Off" is anything to go by.

* ValuesDissonance[=/=]UnfortunateImplications: As this is the text of an active modern religion the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies here. Let's just say that the book is not really in line with certain modern moral sensibilities and leave it at that.