Comically Missing the Point in South Park.
South Park
- Cartman perfectly modeled this trope once when he was caught in class mimicking certain Nazi gestures and phrases, and was made to watch an anti-Nazi film, which only fueled his fascination with the subject. Considering that the film only showed Nazis marching and never mentioned any bad things that Hitler did, only that he "was a very naughty person", and considering that Cartman's anti-semitic and a sociopath... yeah.
- In addition to this, we had the "Major Boobage" episode with the sub-plot of Cartman rescuing the cats from being put into the pound (eventually taking in around 100) - even going so far as to suggest that Mr. Kitty "Write a journal", as well as replying "They're innocent victims in this! They have to hide or they'll be put to death. Something you just can't understand." when asked why the cats are in his attic. By the end, we have this exchange between Cartman and Kyle:Cartman: But ya know, we've all learned something, you guys. We can never persecute living beings and force them into hiding. It's wrong.
Kyle: And you don't see any parallel between that and anything else in history?
Cartman: Hmmm, nope. I have no idea what you're talking about Kyle. - In the episode, "Breast Cancer Show Ever," Cartman is terrified that Wendy might actually be able to beat him, which would be terribly uncool. He manages to get her into enough trouble so that she'll be severely punished if she goes near him, effectively defusing the situation... at which point he starts taunting her again, which makes her even more determined to fight him. Repeat about three times. When they finally fight she beats the crap out of him (even declaring "I'm finished!"). When Cartman gets back onto his feet, he tells the boys that since he's been beaten by a girl, he'll be uncool. The boys tell him they never thought he was cool to begin with and always thought he was a douche. Cartman decides that since this is obviously impossible, the boys are lying to spare his feelings because they think he's so cool.
- In "Chef Goes Nanners", Chef finds the flag of South Park (depicting four white guys lynching a black guy) offensive and tries to get it changed. In an epic buck-passing motion, the Mayor decides to delay the vote until the kids have a debate on it. When Stan and Kyle say they're in favour of keeping the flag as is, Chef is naturally dismayed. The debate arrives, and the main point of Stan and Kyle's argument: Killing is natural, so changing a flag that has a guy being killed is pointless. Chef explains that this isn't why he finds the flag offensive, and explains the real reason, to which Kyle responds "Yeah, but... the color of one's skin doesn't matter."
- "Broadway Bro Down" has Randy attending a Broadway play with his wife and he learns from someone that musicals have subtext hinting about sex every 10 seconds. The subtext apparently causes all the mens' wives to give them blowjobs. Randy listens closely and hears blowjobs during the scenes which is mixed in with the normal lines. Randy takes the entire thing out of context by creating a play where the implications of blowjobs are plainly said instead of being subtle.
- One Halloween:Chef: Don't you children see? Kenny's turned into a zombie, along with everyone else in town!
Stan: Oh my God! That means..
Kyle:...if everyone has been turned into zombies...
Cartman:...then there won't be anyone to give US CANDY!!!!!!!!! - When KFC is outlawed in Colorado at the same time that medicinal marijuana is legalized, a bunch of men deliberately dose themselves with radiation to get testicular cancer, so they'll be able to legally obtain medicinal marijuana. Meanwhile, a cartel responsible for smuggling and selling black-market KFC (which is depicted as highly addictive) has brought a huge amount of crime with it. However, the crime influx is mistakenly blamed on marijuana being made available, and the town doctor decides that since cancer rates shot up when South Park's KFC was replaced with a medicinal marijuana dispensary, the KFC must have been protecting everyone from cancer somehow. Thus, against all logic, the town successfully solves its problems by once again criminalizing marijuana and legalizing KFC (renamed Medicinal Fried Chicken).
- Cartman is revealed to be Scott Tenorman's half-brother in 201. Cartman gets upset not because he killed his own father (and turned him into chili), but because this means that he's half-ginger.
- In the episode where Cartman wants to become a Nascar driver, he thinks he can't because he isn't "poor and stupid enough," and after he crashes a car and kills 11 people, he thinks it's because he's not poor enough.
- In this episode, multiple people were insulting him (Kyle telling him he's a broke and ignorant idiot, Stan calling him a retard who would be lucky to even be trashier and stupider than he already is, the doctor saying that it was the most idiotic thing he had ever seen anyone do). Cartman's response each time? Some variation of "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, it's not going to work." Even in the end, when he loses, he just simply realizes that he will never be poor or stupid enough.
- Kenny tries to sneak a sniper rifle into the track to shoot Cartman for making Nascar drivers look like poor dumbasses, and the security guy simply says "You're the type of person that makes us Nascar fans look like idiots."
- In "Cartman's Incredible Gift", the police believe Cartman is psychic and can help find a serial killer. After arresting the person Cartman has fingered, another person is murdered in an identical fashion. The police conclude that a copycat killer is on the loose and need Cartman's help. This continues...
- Sgt. Lou: They just found another body! That means a fifth copycat killer is on the loose! Where's my psychic?!
- In "Fishsticks" Jimmy comes up with a joke while Cartman sits on the couch. Cartman then believes he came up with the joke, which Kyle deduces based on Cartman's humblebragging, leading the former to angrily tell Jimmy that some fat turd taking credit for something he didn't do is silly because the only chance of Cartman not capitalizing on the joke is Jimmy just outright telling him that he didn't have anything to do with it and presumably, while he's at it, just selling the joke without Cartman knowing. Eventually, Kyle explains to Cartman, who by this point is begging his worst enemy for help because Jimmy just had to have stolen his joke, that Cartman and people like him have such big egos that it makes them think they are awesome when they're purely douchebags. He simply thinks that Kyle was siding with him and trying to warn him about how Jimmy is one of those douchebags, which becomes a Brick Joke toward the end of the episode after Kanye West captures the two and Cartman is trying to ease the conflict by invoking his idea of what Kyle said, which itself is because...
- Kanye West has such an inflated ego that he thinks the fishsticks joke is specifically about him (because he thinks EVERYTHING is specifically about him). He also doesn't get the joke, and thinks everyone is insulting him by calling him a gay fish for no reason. At the end of the episode it finally gets through to him that people aren't trying to insult him, except he still thinks the joke is about him. He comes to the only logical conclusion in his mind: He must really be a gay fish, who has been in denial about it his whole life, and everyone was just trying to help him realize it. He then "returns" to the sea to be with other gay fish. A deleted scene shows that he drowned.
- Most of the world (or at least, most Americans) miss the point of Chipotle products causing anal bleeding, with a small subplot of "Dead Celebrities" explaining that when it comes to food either from the Chipotle restaurant or made with chipotle peppers (they're just vague enough to get away with the accusations), their only hope is Chipotlaway, a Billy Mays-produced substance that cleans bloodstains out of underwear. Cue Kyle being the only one to suggest that the problems of anal bleeding might go beyond blood-stained underwear, which eventually devolves into a pretty one-sided Seinfeldian Conversation about why crapping blood can't possibly be a good thing (this is all happening when the boys are trying to rescue Ike from the titular dead celebrities, by the way).
- In "Coon vs Coon and Friends", despite teaming up with Cthulhu and leaving a bloody wake across the country, Cartman still continues to see himself as The Hero and Kyle and the others as villains for trying to stop him from "saving" the world. When the others point out that all he's doing is making the world better for himself, he states his belief that that's what superheroes do?! Doubles as a comedic case of Evil Cannot Comprehend Good.
- In "Death," the earlier airings feature the following exchange:Liane: "Eric, dear? I just got a call from your friend Kyle's mother. She said that this show is naughty, and might make you a potty mouth."Cartman: "That's a bunch of crap! Kyle's mom is a dirty Jew!"Liane: "Ohhh, okay, hon."
- Later airings censor the word "dirty," making the joke seem less like Cartman's mother is ignorant of her son's racism, and more like she's just plain stupid.
- In "Death Camp of Tolerance", Principal Victoria is so obsessed with being tolerant that she ignores all the horrible things Mr. Garrison does to try and get fired, up to and including shoving the class' gerbil up Mr. Slave's ass and doesn't do anything until Mr. Garrison calls her out on stage.
- And even then, she responds by sending Garrison and Mr. Slave to tolerance camp, as they obviously don't tolerate themselves!
- In "Raisins" Wendy has Bebe tell Stan that she's broken up with him. Stan is confused.Stan: Wait, what did I do wrong? I haven't even talked to Wendy in weeks!
- Red Catholic Love: When Father Maxi informs the children about the Young Men's Catholic Retreat many adults in "South Park" don't want their kids to join this organisation, because of all the paedophilia scandals in the Catholic Church. As a result many convert to atheism. Meanwhile the children have no idea why they are being asked whether "Father Maxi, at any time, ever tried to put something in your butt" and while pondering why they would be asked this question, Cartman theorizes that it's possible to put food into one's rectum and then defecate out the mouth. And then wins a bet with Kyle by accomplishing it.
- When Ms. Choksondik was briefly the boys' teacher (and alive), none of the boys noticed her already Punny Name. The closest they got was calling her "Ms. Chokes-on-crap".
- In "Butt Out", the boys try smoking, tossing their cigarettes into the dumpster when confronted by Mr. Mackey. The dumpster catches fire, the fire spreads to the school, and the school burns down. When Principal Victoria calls the boys' parents into her office, she tells them that the boys were caught smoking — not a word was said about them also burning down the school.
