Starvin' Marvin

Did You Know?

• Psychologists Gilbert Reyes and Gerard Jacobs have cited the episode as an example of popular culture criticizing humanitarianism as an overblown industry.
• The episode's moral, explained by Stan, encourages viewers to see suffering citizens of impoverished countries as real people rather than images on television.

Plot

After seeing a commercial about starving children in Africa, Cartman, Stan, Kenny and Kyle send money to Sally Struthers' charity organization, the Christian Children's Fund, hoping to receive a free sports watch. Due to a miscommunication, an Ethiopian boy is delivered to the boys instead. They befriend him, and Cartman names him Starvin' Marvin. Meanwhile, genetically engineered turkeys bred by Dr. Mephesto to feed the poor go crazy and attack South Park residents; Mephesto's warnings to Mayor McDaniels are ignored. The boys take Marvin to an all-you-can-eat buffet, where he is shocked by the amount of food consumed and wasted. At school, Mr. Garrison announces the food drive has failed, and the boys present Marvin during show and tell. Mr. Garrison and Principal Victoria decide to send Marvin home via the Red Cross. Dr. Mephesto shows Chef that the turkey DNA is growing rapidly and could lead to a global takeover. The FBI arrives to take Marvin back to Ethiopia, but Marvin tricks them into taking Cartman instead. In Ethiopia, Cartman struggles with the lack of food and poor conditions. He finds a Red Cross shack where Sally Struthers is hoarding all the charity food. After an argument, Cartman exposes the hoarded food to the Ethiopians, who take control of the supply.

Production

The episode was written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady, and directed by Parker. Parker and Stone found holiday episodes difficult because they felt pressure to top previous holiday shows. Stone provided the voice of Marvin. According to the official South Park website, the character was not named after the Starvin' Marvin's brand of gas stations; the similarity is coincidental. Jerry Seinfeld, a fan of the show, asked to record a guest voice performance; Parker and Stone offered him the background part of a turkey, but Seinfeld's agent was put off and declined. The episode was partly inspired by Christian Children's Fund commercials featuring Sally Struthers. Parker did not believe Struthers hoarded food but found it funny that an obese woman would plead for food for others. He also wondered how a starving African child would react to an American buffet. Parker and Stone originally planned for Struthers to die and be eaten by African children, but Comedy Central executives forbade killing her.

Cultural references and impact

Starvin' Marvin became a popular minor character, appearing in only one more episode, "Starvin' Marvin in Space". He was later featured in the video game South Park Rally as a racer in a motorized wheat sack, and in South Park 10: The Game. Cartman's line "That's a bad Starvin' Marvin!" became one of the most popular from the first season. Marvin is from Ethiopia, which experienced two famines in the mid-1980s. The American authorities identify his family's surname as "Click Click Derk". The scenes of Chef and the lead turkey in blue and white war paint giving inspirational speeches parody the film Braveheart. Parker said this was the first of many film spoofs in South Park, despite he and Stone enjoying Braveheart. In class, Mr. Garrison incorrectly states Engelbert Humperdinck was the first man on the Moon. Cartman's line about decreasing the surplus population is lifted from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Kyle incorrectly says Sally Struthers appeared on Full House; she actually starred in All in the Family. Chef says he sees "an extreme close-up of Vanessa Redgrave's private parts" in a microscope. Stan's closing moral about real people on TV is countered by Kyle's reference to MacGyver.

Release and reception

The episode first aired on Comedy Central on November 19, 1997, receiving a Nielsen rating of 4.8, seen by about 2.2 million households. Television journalists described the rating as astonishing by Comedy Central standards, as the network averaged a 0.6 rating during prime time and its previous highest was a 2.7 for Absolutely Fabulous. Several reviewers have called it a classic South Park episode. Parker said the emotional moment when Marvin returned home with the turkeys made his mother cry, the first emotional reaction they heard to the show. After airing, Parker and Stone learned that Struthers was a fan of the show until this episode, after which she was very upset over her portrayal, particularly the implication that she steals food from starving children. Parker and Stone were slightly remorseful but said they had nothing against her personally. Struthers was portrayed even less flatteringly in the third season episode "Starvin' Marvin in Space" as a Jabba the Hutt-like creature. In a DVD commentary, Parker remarked that being that fat and speaking about starving children sets oneself up for criticism.