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YMMV / South Park S9 E12 "Trapped in the Closet"

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  • Anvilicious: Much like their other lampooning of religions such as Mormonism in "All About Mormons", the episode is very on-the-nose about how ridiculous the creative team find the beliefs of Scientology, with the president even going into a diatribe about how obvious a scam it is and how stupid its clients would have to be. However, unlike the previous cases, where they have shown mild advocation for religious groups even when lampooning them, Stone and Parker make it clear they see nothing redeeming or of value about Scientology, with the movement pulling a full on Jerk with a Heart of Jerk in the end and threatening to sue Stan, much to his exasperation.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The scientologists gaslight Stan into joining their Scam Religion by making him think he's depressed, with Stan worrying that he'll become an alcoholic like his grandfather. 7 years later, "You're Getting Old" and "Ass Burgers" will feature Stan falling into a brief but brutal depression for real, and 9 years after that, the movie Post Covid will prove the scientologists accidentally correct by showing Stan relapsing and becoming a cynical alcoholic asshole in the future, even if he eventually grows out of it.
    • The depiction of R. Kelly as a gun-toting maniac turned out to be mild compared to the sex scandals surrounding him.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The "This is what Scientologists actually believe" segment is recreated almost shot-for-shot in the film adaptation of Going Clear including the DC-8 ships dropping frozen aliens into volcanoes, the souls wearing 3D glasses while watching films depicting other religions, and the souls entering human bodies. The difference being is while this episode's segment is animated, Going Clear depicts it through heavily edited live action footage and photographs.
  • Overshadowed by Controversy: While still a fan favorite, it's difficult to detach the episode's brutal satire of Scientology from how it cost the show one of its stars, as well as one of its most beloved characters, Chef, when Isaac Hayes, a practicing scientologist, quit in protest a couple of months after the episode aired, even though he stated he was okay with the episode earlier, burning bridges with the show's creators in the process before passing away in 2008. Then in 2016, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hayes' son would shed light on the whole thing, saying that the Church of Scientology actually quit for him, taking advantage of Isaac's then-recent debilitating stroke by essentially whispering in his ear that he should quit in protest, which, in his poor mental state, he couldn't soundly judge for himself.
  • Values Dissonance: In an age where Scientology is near-universally viewed as a Scam Religion, and its beliefs are public knowledge to anybody interested, the cultural significance of "Trapped in the Closet" has been lost a bit. This episode was legitimately the general public's introduction to Scientology doctrine, which was a heavily guarded secret before it aired, and it played a massive role in shaping the popular view of Scientology today.

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