Dead Celebrities - Cultural References

Cultural References

"Dead Celebrities" makes frequent mention of the Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant chain, describing the food as extremely tasty, but claiming it resulted in bloody stool. Shortly after the episode first aired, a Chipotle spokesperson said via a Twitter message that the claim was false. In the episode's commentary, Trey Parker and Matt Stone admitted that they loved Chipotle, but found it funnier to use a restaurant with a healthy reputation rather than a place like McDonald's or Taco Bell. Ike's ability to see the spirits of dead celebrities serves as a parody of the 1999 thriller film The Sixth Sense, which stars Haley Joel Osment as a young boy who can see ghosts. Ike's line, "I see dead celebrities", is a reference to that film's most famous line, "I see dead people." The old lady psychic with a very high-pitched voice is a reference to the character played by Zelda Rubinstein in the 1982 horror film, Poltergeist. "Dead Celebrities" also mocks the Syfy reality television series Ghost Hunters by featuring the show's stars attempting to contact the celebrity spirits, only to be frightened and run away. The episode also mocks "The Exorcist" when the medium is flung from the window. The episode also parodies children's beauty pageants and the tendency of stage mothers to become unhealthily obsessed with their children winning such contests.