YMMV / South Park S16 E5 "Butterballs"

• Awesome Music: "Jackin' It in San Diego" is a fun upbeat showtune about public masturbation.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Despite the foreshadowing, the ending comes right out of nowhere and there's no real resolution to Stan's story.
• Crosses the Line Twice: "Make Bullying Kill Itself." A cheerful pop song about bullying the concept of bullying to suicide.
• Genius Bonus: The whole "naked and jacking it in San Diego" thing isn't just a random joke; Jason Russell, the director of Kony 2012, suffered a breakdown that resulted in him being found wandering aimlessly in San Diego, naked and allegedly masturbating (the latter was an exaggeration according to Internet Historian but the naked part is true). Since Stan's arc in the episode is a satiric Ripped from the Headlines reference to this, his otherwise inexplicable fate is just the culmination, albeit with some steps missing.
• Paranoia Fuel: Those who claim they want to "help" you may not make your situation better. Instead, they may make it even worse.
• Realism-Induced Horror: This episode represents an accurate portrayal of bullying. While Grandma Stotch's treatment of Butters is unnerving enough (i.e. physically abusing him and threatening him if he doesn't keep quiet about it), the media that wants to exploit Butters' situation (including Stan, of all people) is not too uncommon either. This can bring Paranoia Fuel to those who experience bullying themselves.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Making one of Butter's grandparents abusive was surprisingly not utilized as a Freudian Excuse for either of Butter's parents, with them both being oblivious to her true nature. Fractured But Whole does seem to delve back into this a little however, making Stephen a Troubled Abuser scarred from her groundings.
• Unintentional Period Piece: As Stan is being led around San Diego, he passes by a mascot for the Chargers. Come 2017, and they would relocate to Los Angeles.
• The Woobie:
  • Poor Butters has to suffer his grandmother's torment. If that wasn't bad enough, he also receives unwanted attention by the public in Stan's misguided attempt to "help" him.
  • To a lesser degree, Mr. Mackey when Bucky Bailey drives him to tears.

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