Towelie
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Towelie is the name of a character and an episode of South Park.
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Character
Towelie is a talking towel who was genetically engineered so he could make people as dry as necessary depending on the situation. He is usually seen giving towel advice to the citizens of South Park, or getting high. The theme song from Popeye plays whenever Towelie gets high.
He was deliberately made to be an extremely bad character. This was indicated at the very end of the first episode he appears in, when Cartman says "You're the worst character ever Towelie", to which Towelie sanguinely replies "I know".
Because the creators of South Park did so well in making Towelie a terrible character, some people regard him as a good character. Because of this, Towelie has shown up in more than one episode. However, most of Towelie's appearances have been short cameos.
Significant quotations
- Don't forget to bring a towel!
- You wanna get high?
- (when high) I have no idea what's going on.
Episodes featuring Towelie
- "Towelie"
- "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants"
- "Professor Chaos"
- "I'm A Little Bit Country"
Episode
"Towelie" is the name of the eighth episode of the fifth season of South Park, which aired August 8, 2001.
Synopsis
While at Stan's house, Cartman discovers a used tampon which he mistakes for an aborted fetus in the garbage. In an effort to get the kids to never mention the tampon again, Stan's mother buys the kids a video game system, the Okama Gamesphere. The boys are complete fascinated by the Gamesphere, and intend to play with it for the entire weekend.
One of the boys notes that they have baseball practice, which interferes with their plan to play the Gamesphere all weekend. As soon as baseball practice is mentioned, a talking towel who calls himself Towelie comes in and reminds them to bring a towel, so they can wipe off the sweat. An awkward pause follows this advice, and then Towelie asks the boys if they want to get high. When he learns the answer is no, Towelie walks off.
The boys manage to play their Gamesphere all weekend by lying about being sick. While playing the Gamesphere, Towelie shows up, gives them more towel advice, and asks them if they want to get high. Towelie walks off when they say they don't want to.
When Monday comes around, the boys are forced to go to school. Because they want to get back to playing their Gamesphere, they are worried that they day will drag on forever. At the bus stop, a car pulls up. A man in the car asks if the boys have seen a talking towel anywhere. When the boys ask if he is talking about Towelie, the man yells into a walkie-talkie, and drives off, watching the boys suspiciously.
After school, the boys run to Stan's house, but the Gamesphere isn't there. In its place is a ransom note, saying that if the boys want to get their Gamesphere, they'll have to take Towelie to a secluded gas station during the night.
Realising that talking about towel-related subjects is the only way to get Towelie to appear, the boys say they are going to go water-skiing, and Towelie shows up to give them some towel advice. The boys grab Towelie and take him to the gas station. An elderly man is there, and he thanks the boys for bringing Towelie to him. The old man works for the company that made Towelie. When the boys ask for their Okama Gamesphere, the old man realizes that it is a trap, and the United States military ambushes them. During the fight, Towelie and the boys escape. The military then orders that all towels within 100 miles of that spot will be destroyed.
Before a commercial break, a fake commercial is played. The commercial advertises Towelie T-shirts. There are T-shirts that say "I love Towelie" for people who love Towelie, and there are T-shirts that say "I hate Towelie" for people who hate Towelie. It also shows a Towelie towel which looks like Towelie and says some of his catch phrases. The commercial assures the audience that towel is not available, but will be sold soon. The commercial shows the large amount of planning that was put into the episode, and is a shot at deliberately marketable characters in television shows.
For the rest of the episode, the boys and Towelie go back and forth between a military base and the company that made Towelie in an effort to get their Gamesphere. The plot gets increasingly thick, involving aliens trying to take over earth and genetically modified Towelies. All throughout the story, the boys say they don't care, and that they just want their Gamesphere; in spite of their utter indifference, the increasingly complicated plot continues to surround them.
In the midst of a confrontation between the military and the company that made Towelie, the boys find their Gamesphere and start playing. Before they can play for long, the building is blown up in order to kill the aliens that want to rule the world. The boys end up above a pool of lava. The Gamesphere is below them; close to the lava. The boys are linked up, with each one holding onto another one's ankles, and Towelie sitting on safe ground at the top of the chain.
Kenny falls off and dies in the lava. The boys attempt to swing to the right to get the Gamesphere. Meanwhile, an evil Towel comes and tries to get Towelie to drop the boys by exploiting Towelie's love of getting high. Towelie manages to get high and save the boys at the same time. The boys and Towelie go home and play the Gamesphere.
At the end of the episode, one of the boys says that Towelie is "the worst character ever." This is used to explain the episode; the creators of South Park were trying to make the lamest character ever. Further interpretation suggests that Towelie might be the result of creating a character that specifically caters towards their primary demographic in order to sell merchandise, as many other shows have done, with products such as the "I Love Towelie" and the glaringly commercial "I Hate Towelie" T-Shirts.
Trivia
- "Okama" is Japanese slang for a male (and gay, stereotypically) crossdresser. This is reminiscent of the name "cheesy poofs" for Cartman's favourite snack food, "poof" being English slang for a homosexual.