South Park Cartman respect my authority T-shirt

Description

Tshirt Cartman Respect My Authority from South Park

Who is Eric Cartman?

Eric Theodore Cartman, usually referred to simply as Cartman, is one of the main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick. Cartman is sometimes the main antagonist in an episode, for example “Trapper Keeper”. None of the other three main kids really consider Cartman their friend and don’t know why they started hanging out with him in the first place, but some sort of unstable friendship eventually develops between them. However, he is usually Kyle’s first choice when he breaks off his friendship with Stan. In earlier episodes, Kenny was his best friend, but in later seasons, Butters Stotch is usually introduced as his best friend.

Cartman was the first of the boys to be shown without his hat, as seen in “Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!”. He also weighs 40 kilos, as revealed in “Weight Gain 4000”.

Concept and creation

According to the creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, they thought it would be impossible to put a character like Archie Bunker on television in the late 20th century. But then they had the idea that it might be allowed if the character was a nine (formerly eight) year old animated boy living in the mountain town of South Park, Colorado. Thus, Cartman was born.

Contrary to the popular belief that Cartman’s name was derived from the German war pilot Erich Hartmann (which would reflect his love for Hitler and the Nazis), Cartman’s name and personality are based on Matt Karpman, a friend of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Karpman was known to be slightly overweight, short, very obnoxious and skilled in his verbal retorts. According to their mutual friend Jonathan Korty, Trey got the idea for the name Cartman at a Super Bowl party on January 29, 1995. The Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Frosty had been completed in 1992 and “The Fat Kid” needed a name. Trey was sitting in the corner quietly watching Karpman and his other friends bicker during the game when someone said, “Shut up Karpman.” Trey then shouted out, “Cartman! That’s the perfect name for the fat kid.” Karpman’s lines about this convinced Trey that “The Fat Kid” should be called Cartman.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have repeatedly stated that Cartman is their favorite character out of everyone on the show. Although Cartman is initially modeled after Archie Bunker, Toni Johnson-Woods, author of Blame Canada: South Park and Contemporary Culture, says she thinks Cartman also draws parallels to Jackie Gleason from The Honeymooners, and Fred Flintstone.