Faith Hilling: Difference between revisions

| series = [[South Park]]

| season_article = South Park (season 16)

"'''Faith Hilling'''" is the third episode of the [[South Park (season 16)|sixteenth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[South Park]]'', and the 226th episode overall. The episode was written by series co-creator [[Trey Parker]] and is rated [[TV-MA L]] in the United States. It premiered on [[Comedy Central]] in the [[United States]] on March 28, 2012.

In the episode, the boys must deal with the fact that "Faith Hilling", the [[Internet meme|meme]]tic trend in which they enjoy participating, is being supplanted in popularity by newer ones, including one that leads investigators to believe that cats are evolving in intelligence and have become a threat to humanity.<ref>[https://southpark.cc.com/news/411066/episode-1603-faith-hilling-press-release "Episode 1603 Faith Hilling Press Release"]{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}. South Park Studios. March 26, 2012</ref>

A new [[Internet meme|memetic]]tic trend emerges called "Faith Hilling", a derivative of [[Planking (fad)|planking]], which involves having a picture of oneself taken while pulling the front of one's shirt forward in mock resemblance of women's breasts. After the boys perform this prank on stage at a [[Colorado2012 RepublicanUnited caucuses,States 2012presidential election in Colorado|2012 Colorado]] [[2012 Republican Party presidential debates, 2012and forums|Republican Presidential Debate]], the entire fourth grade class of South Park Elementary is required to take a safety education class in which Professor Lamont teaches them the dangers of memetic trends with a [[Red Asphalt|graphic educational video]] showing people dying gruesome deaths when they are hit by [[train]]s while "[[Tim_TebowTim Tebow#"Tebowing"|Tebowing]]". Despite this, and a report by ''[[The Denver Post]]'' that Faith Hilling is considered passé and has been replaced with the newer trend of dragging one's nude buttocks across the floor or ground, or "Taylor Swifting", Stan and his friends continue Faith Hilling, even coming into conflict with Taylor Swifters.

Professor Lamont is then informed by two unidentified men of a new Internet meme being practiced by another species: photos of cats with their heads poking through slices of bread. Lamont sees this as evidence that cats are evolving to become as intelligent as humans. This is a reference to Chapter eleven of Richard Dawkins book on evolution, [[The Selfish Gene]], in which he suggests ideas, or as he calls them "memes", are the new replicators and a new kind of evolution. As this and newer memes continue to emerge among both people and cats, which in some instances results in the deaths of participants, the boys continue Faith Hilling, but after taunts and jeers by spectators, they are eventually forced, one by one, to come to terms with the fact that doing so is no longer in style.

The episode concludes with a reporter claiming that the messages behind these latest memes is unclear, but it does not matter as long as audiences are given a song, celebrity bashing, and Republican hopefuls dancing around with breasts, a practice known as "[[Pandering (politics)|pandering]]". As he goes on about the practice of "[[Journalism|reporting]]", a [[train]] appears out of nowhere and immediately kills him.

Eric Goldman of [[IGN]] gave the episode a 7/10 "Good" rating.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/03/29/south-park-faith-hilling-review|title=South Park: "Faith Hilling" Review|last=Goldman|first=Eric|date=2012-03-28|website=IGN|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> Ryan McGee of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a B"[[Academic grading in the United States#Grades A-F in United States|B−]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=httphttps://www.avclub.com/tvclub/south-park-faith-hilling-714461798172153|title=South Park: "Faith Hilling"|date=2012-03-28|access-date=20162022-03-12-20}}</ref>

{{reflist|30em}}

* [https://southparkwww.ccsouthparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s16e03g9h6mq/south-park-faith-hilling-season-16-ep-3 "Faith Hilling"] Full episode at South Park Studios.

* {{IMDb episode|2128144}}

[[Category:South Park (season 16) episodes]]