Theme
Writing for Newsday, television critic Tom Carson stated he felt the episode was "a really plaintive story about craving something, anything, to hold onto", as Cartman tries to adapt the culture of each man he believes to be his father. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, author of the book Taking South Park Seriously, also felt the episode was a good example of a "kind of equivalency between ethnic, racial and sexual identities", but felt "the humor lies partly in Cartman's parody of mass culture's stereotypes of Native Americans and African Americans". In his book American politics and society today, Robert Singh noted that the episode gives the most prominent example of how Cartman's rude behaviour is the result of being raised without a father. This correlated with a theory by Paul Cantor, author of the book The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family, regarding Homer Simpson, of FOX's The Simpsons, "that merely by being present, a dutiful and attached father can provide a meaningful influence, despite his dysfunctional behaviour and errant educational ways."
Read more about this topic: Cartman's Mom Is A Dirty Slut
Famous quotes containing the word theme:
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