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Eric Cartman

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Template:South Park character

"Cartman" redirects here. For the band, see Cartman (band).

Eric Theodore Cartman, commonly referred to by his family name, Cartman, is one of the four main fictional characters on the animated television series South Park, along with Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. He is voiced by the series co-creator Trey Parker. In the original "The Spirit of Christmas (Jesus vs. Frosty)" short, he is referred to as "Kenny".

Characterization

Cartman is portrayed as both the "fat kid"[1] and the "antihero" of the South Park gang,[2] and has also been called "South Park's main villain"[3] His personality has noticeably changed over the course of the series. While always self-centered and bigoted,[4] he was more of a mean-spirited characterization of adolescence in the earlier seasons, with little psychological (in logic) or ethical grounding in life. [citation needed] As the series progressed his personality became more aggressive and cunning, evolving into conduct disorder, that would likely be categorized as antisocial personality disorder were he over the age of 18, by the fifth season; in the premiere episode, Cartman masterminds the murder of a boy's parents in order to feed them to the boy.[5][6] His bigotry visibly morphs into racial hatred and theorizing.[7]

Cartman can often manipulate people into doing what he wants. His manipulations can be extremely cruel and occasionally violent. Butters Stotch, an innocent and unpopular South Park boy, is the most frequent victim of Cartman's manipulations, and is usually talked into helping Cartman execute his plans, acting as his sidekick in many episodes.[8] Cartman's descent into sociopathy was brought about in the episode "Scott Tenorman Must Die", in which he develops a fierce obsession with, and later exacts revenge upon, a 9th grader who cheated him out of $16.12. The episode was ranked by fans as the greatest of his top twenty-five moments in a range vote on Comedy Central's website.[9]

Cartman is generally portrayed as very aggressive. He "talks the talk," threatening and challenging others repeatedly, but he always proves to be incapable of following through with his threats. This can be seen in several episodes, most prominently "It's Christmas in Canada". After he didn't make it home on time for Christmas, Cartman made to fight Kyle after repeated warnings, only to be left crying after Kyle reluctantly slapped him in the nose.

Cartman has a rivalry with Kyle, whom he views as inferior because Kyle is Jewish. His lazy and rude, antisemitic behavior towards Kyle often provokes a large argument, to which in the earlier seasons Cartman replied "Screw you guys, I'm going home!"; later his comeback to Kyle's criticisms was "Shut up, jew!!" or similar invective. Though fights between the two have become a centerpiece of the show, their default relationship is "friend", however uncomfortable they may be with that. Cartman is nearly always the aggressor, but when he brings a matter to fisticuffs, he has proven incapable backing up his threats. It is also notable that both Cartman and Kyle have saved the other's life, Kyle in the episode Trapper Keeper and in "ManBearPig". Cartman has also saved Kyle's life on two occasions: once in "Smug Alert", when Kyle is incapacitated both by LSD and the titular smug and Cartman transports him and his family to safety. The other is in the Imaginationland series, when he revives Kyle after it appears Kyle has lost his heart beat.

He is generally abrasive to Stan and Kenny (Kenny for being poor and Stan for being a "pussy") though the two of them are far more tolerant of the anti-social side of his personality. It has been suggested that Kenny and Cartman are best friends,[10][11] and Kenny is often the only one to laugh at Cartman's jokes. Stan is typically tolerant of Cartman, even on occasions when he is making fun of Kyle. In an apparent show of affection, Cartman tells him that he "still hates him less than Kyle" in the episode "Trapped in the Closet".

"Hate" is often used loosely to describe others' feelings towards Cartman. Kyle, along with several more minor characters typically refuse if Cartman asks them a favor, responding with the simple line, "Because I hate you," or a similar variation when Cartman asks them why, a reason that he typically sarcastically dismisses.

Dr Toni Johnson-Woods, writer of Blame Canada: 'South Park' and Contemporary Culture, characterized Cartman as "a hybrid of Archie Bunker, Jackie Gleason of The Honeymooners and the animated Fred Flintstone." [3]

Concept and creation

Early incarnations of Cartman appeared in the early Trey Parker and Matt Stone The Spirit of Christmas cartoons, while the character first appeared on South Park in its first episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe". While the four main boys originally did not have very distinctive personalities, Cartman developed his character through the first season. Parker and Stone have said that they based Cartman on Archie Bunker, commenting that they thought it might be impossible to put a character like Archie Bunker on late-20th century television, after the introduction of political correctness, unless they "made him a little eight-year-old fat kid."[12][3]

Catchphrases

Aside from Cartman's recurring antisemitic comments, one of his favorite catch phrases is "Screw you guys, I'm going home!". Upon winning or beating somebody in a challenge Cartman will give his signature laugh, "nah nah nah nah naah nah, heh heh heh heh hehh heh!" One of Cartman's most famous phrases [13], when he is attempting to exert his will upon others, is to say, "respect my authority!", pronounced "mah authoritah", in his southern accent. When called fat, he often replies by stating, "I'm not fat, I'm big boned!"[14] Additionally, whenever he asks his mom to do something for him, in many cases an outrageous request such as signing him up for the Special Olympics despite his lack of a disability, he will try to put a thin sugar-coat on the request, and after being denied, say, "But, Mooooom!". He also constantly repeats the expletive "God dammit!".

In the earlier episodes of South Park, when Cartman's cat was near and started to meow (usually because it was hungry), Cartman would shout, "No kitty, that's a bad god damn kitty!"

In other media

  • Cartman was placed tenth on TV Guide's 2002 list of the "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters".[15] In 2003, he was chosen as one of "VH1's 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons", at number 198.[2]
  • In 2005, Cartman was ranked number nineteen on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters.[16]
  • In the Powerpuff Girls episode "Imaginary Fiend", when Blossom was tripped and landed in the coat rack, she ended up dressed like Cartman. She also said "Uh he tripped me, seriously".
  • Cartman's head can be seen in the Head Museum in Futurama: Bender's Big Score and on a T-shirt worn by Bart Simpson in The Bart Book.

References

  1. ^ Basile, Nancy. "Eric Cartman Profile from "South Park"". About.com. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  2. ^ a b Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC. ISBN 0740751182. OCLC 57316726.
  3. ^ a b c Rovner, Julie (2008-04-05). "Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*%". NPR. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  4. ^ M. Keith Booker (2006). Drawn to television : Prime-time Animation from the Flintstones to Family Guy. Westport: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0275990192. OCLC 69734569.
  5. ^ Scott Tenorman Must Die Transcript. Accessed 15 June 08.
  6. ^ A Feminist South Park: Spears and Subjection, Henry M. Bowles, Parole. Accessed 15 June 08.
  7. ^ "Eric Cartman (character) Biography". IMDB. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  8. ^ Fickett, Travis. "IGN: The China Probrem Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
  9. ^ "Comedy Central voting page for Cartman's 25 Greatest South Park Moments". Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  10. ^ Trey Parker and Matt Stone (2005-03-30). "Best Friends Forever". South Park. Season 9. Episode 129. Comedy Central.
  11. ^ Trey Parker and Matt Stone (2001-12-05). "Kenny Dies". South Park. Season 5. Episode 78. Comedy Central.
  12. ^ Trey Parker; Matt Stone (2002-03-01). "Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Larry Divney 'Speaking Freely' transcript" (Interview). Retrieved 2007-02-08.
  13. ^ Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*% (April 5, 2008).
  14. ^ Eric Cartman: America's Favorite Little $@#&*% (April 5, 2008).
  15. ^ "TV Guide's [[50 greatest cartoon characters of all time]]". CNN. 2002-07-30. Retrieved 2007-08-25. {{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  16. ^ "The 100 Greatest TV Characters". Bravo. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  17. ^ "John Tenta". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  18. ^ "Oddities". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
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