Line #12 Recap/SouthParkS6E9FreeHat


1	'''Original air date:''' 7/10/2002
2
3	Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Tweek form a club to prevent Creator/StevenSpielberg and Creator/GeorgeLucas from releasing edited versions of their classic films, offering a free hat to those who join, but the townsfolk mistake it as a call to free a child murderer named Hat [=McCullough=] from prison.
4	----
5	!!"Free Hat" contains examples of:
6	* AccentuateTheNegative: A meta-instance with Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, who appears late in the episode off the back of his having recently re-edited ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Trey Parker and Matt Stone later revealed that they didn't actually have any major issues with the longer ''Redux'' cut of the film, since it was more akin to a DirectorsCut than a GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion. However, they ''did'' take issue with Coppola choosing to only release the ''Redux'' cut on DVD rather than releasing it alongside the theatrical cut and allowing the viewer to decide which one they preferred, and this, combined with them needing someone to fill Colonel Dietrich's role in the finale, resulted in them adding Coppola to the episode.
7	* AdultsAreUseless: None of the adults want to help the boys out with their cause against Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, instead wanting to free ''a child serial killer'' from prison.
8	* ArtEvolution: The ParodyCommercial starring series' creators Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone lampoons this, promoting a fake remastered version of the PilotEpisode "[[Recap/SouthParkS1E1CartmanGetsAnAnalProbe Cartman Gets an Anal Probe]]" with CGI, spaceships, Imperial Walkers, and overall things they wouldn't have been able to do in the past, due to a low animation budget.
9	* BaitAndSwitch: The boys attend a celebration in their honor, but they learn partway through it's not about their actions against Spielberg and Lucas but about Hat being freed.
10	* BrickJoke:
11	** Spielberg's mooks carrying walkie-talkies in place of guns.
12	** Warming a person's cold heart with a cool island song ''actually frees Hat from prison''.
13	* CharacterisationClickMoment: Stan and Kyle's role as the sympathetic [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Men]] of the four-boy group is set around here. It is established here that only Cartman is particularly cruel and manipulative towards Tweek, while Stan and Kyle are relatively nice to him and are largely dealing with the obstacle that AdultsAreUseless. This carries over into their handling of Kenny and Butters within the dynamic in later episodes, both characters they were generally as antipathetic towards as Cartman beforehand.
14	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: The protestors believed that "Free Hat" in the advertisement poster meant that the boys wanted to free a convicted murderer from jail and not that the boys were offering ''free paper hats'' to attendees.
15	* ContinuityNod: Cartman's suggestion to add a free hat because "more people will come" is similar to how he suggests offering punch and pie to those who join the LaResistance organization in TheMovie.
16	* DarkestHour: Parodied. The boys refer to Spielberg and Lucas wanting to alter ''Raiders'' as this.
17	* DevilInPlainSight: Hat makes no attempt to hide what a psychopath he is, but the LethallyStupid townspeople believe otherwise.
18	* DirtyCoward: After Cartman badgered the boys into letting him be the spokesman for their movement, he names Tweek as the spokesman the second he gets a question that he can't answer.
19	* TheDogBitesBack: After dealing with Cartman's abuse throughout the episode, Tweek attempts to leave him with the directors while trying to bargain for Stan and Kyle's release.
20	* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: Parodied. The referenced variations made to ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' were based on real life, but the ones for ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', and the show's own first episode are deliberately silly. The boys hope to prevent a similar fate befalling ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. At George's house, the boys find digitally enhanced versions of his own home movies.
21	* HopeSpot: George Lucas is just about to hand over the ''Raiders'' print to the boys when Spielberg arrives.
22	* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: The protesters who want Hat freed from prison, even though he murdered over twenty babies (which he claimed was in "self-defense"). After he's released, the crowd sees nothing wrong with giving the clearly homicidal and unrepentant Hat a baby to hold.
23	* {{Hypocrite}}: Kyle points out that George Lucas led the campaign against colorizing old movies. Lucas, in turn, responds: "But these are ''my'' movies." Of course, Lucas was criticizing ''other'' people messing with other people’s movies while Lucas is only altering movies that are ''his'' in the first place. On the other hand, Stan and Kyle remind him that the work of an artist belongs to society, which nearly gets Lucas to reconsider his actions.
24	* HypocriticalHumor: The entire episode centers around the boys' distaste for remakes of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas classics, yet midway through the episode, a fake commercial promoting a remade version of the show's pilot episode plays.
25	* InsaneTrollLogic: Everyone believes Hat deserves to be freed from prison because "he killed those ''babies'' in ''self-defense''."
26	* KarmaHoudini: Hat [=McCullough=] is released from prison and immediately goes back to killing babies.
27	* LethallyStupid: Despite Hat confessing to killing twenty-three babies, the adults still have no problem ''giving him a baby when he asks for one to hold''.
28	* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The updated alien visitors featured in the fake promo for the fake series premiere remake use full 3D models rather than the show's usual paper cutout style, as does their new mother ship.
29	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During the news interview, Kyle accidentally gives Spielberg and Lucas the idea to alter ''Raiders''.
30	* ObviouslyEvil: Hat [=McCullough=]. He even starts spouting about wanting to harm innocents and immediately asks to hold a baby. [[EvilDetectingBaby Said baby desperately trying to keep away from him.]]
31	* PoliticalOvercorrectness: Kyle says they changed the word "terrorist" to "hippie" in ''E.T.'' to be more politically correct. The trailer for the altered of ''Saving Private Ryan'' then notes that "Nazi" has been changed to "Person with political differences," while the altered ''Empire'' changed "Wookie" to "Hair-challenged animal." Also, both had the guns replaced with walkie-talkies.
32	* ThePowerOfFriendship: Tweek is prepared to let the version of ''Raiders'' go if Spielberg releases Stan and Kyle go, [[TheFriendNoOneLikes but he pointedly is okay with Cartman remaining a prisoner]].
33	* PrecisionFStrike:
34	-->'''Spielberg''': You troublemakers shall be my guests of honor at the premiere of my new ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''. Your gay little club is over.\
35	'''Stan''': Fuck you, Steven Spielberg!
36	* PrisonRape:
37	-->'''George''': Soon, you'll be in jail getting rammed!\
38	''[Tweek screams]''\
39	'''Stan''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Those rams can do to us what they will, Mr. Lucas.]]
40	* RunningGag: The use of walkie-talkies as actual firearms, serving as an extended TakeThat towards the edited version of ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial.''
41	* ShoutOut: The boys appear on ''Series/{{Nightline}}'' to tell the world why George Lucas and Steven Spielberg must be stopped.
42	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: The adults had the same idea as the boys: warm a person's cold heart with a cool island song.
43	* SuckinessIsPainful: The re-edited version of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is so bad that it kills the entire audience in a manner similar to said movie's climax, the boys only surviving by keeping their eyes shut.
44	* SustainedMisunderstanding: The protesters misunderstood the advertising saying "Free hat" as wanting to free Hat [=McCullough=] from prison, not that free hats would be given to those attending the rally. The boys decide not to correct them because of how much support they can get to stop classic films from being digitally edited, but the Hat supporters aren't that useful for the boys' original goal and only care about Hat's release.
45	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: In-universe: the boys feel this way about updates to classic films. So does the premiere audience when they see the updated ''Raiders''.
46	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Cartman's simple idea of offering free hats to entice people into joining the film preservation group eventually resulted in a convicted child-murderer being released from prison.
47	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Hat [= McCullough=], who has a lot of supporters who want him freed from prison.
48	* WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong: Cartman says exactly this about the gang's planned TV appearance. [[TemptingFate It goes very wrong]].
49	* WholePlotReference: The final act turns into a straight up parody of the final act of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''.
50	-->'''Spielberg''': [[LampshadeHanging It's beautiful!]]
51	* WouldHurtAChild: Hat, obviously, and Ted Koppel who interviews the boys seems to agree with Hat too. When Tweek is asked to name a positive of toddler murder Tweek answers:
52	-->'''Tweek''' (''hesitantly''): It's... it's easy?
53	-->'''Ted Koppel''': Yes... ''it is easy''...

Context Recap / SouthParkS6E9FreeHat