9.16.2006

Is It Lonely at the Bottom of the Sea?


SpongeBob: A Contemporary American Icon

SpongeBob lives in a pineapple under the sea.

In his world, underwater worms bark like dogs and are kept on chains. Jellyfish act like bees; buzzing, stinging, and producing jelly. Aside from the many undersea puns, some common products from the surface world have somehow found their way into Bikini Bottom, such as "canned bread", roast beef, and even pizza. SpongeBob works at the Krusty Krab, a fast-food restaurant and he happens to be the only cartoon to consistently make the Top 10 list in the Nielsen ratings. His cartoon is apparently the first low budget Nickelodeon cartoon to become extremely popular. [1]

What is going on here?

We don’t really think of him as a Sponge, despite that this is clearly expressed in his name. He lives at the bottom of the ocean. Is he supposed to be oppressed or something? The latter half of his name, “Square Pants” reflects that his pants are square. It also allows his name to have a nice melody to it.“SpongeBob Square Pants!”

But it’s hard to ascertain much else about the guy.

Unlike other great American cartoon heroes, SpongeBob does not purport to teach us anything. Now that even 5 year olds are becoming scathing cynics, SpongeBob fills an entertainment void without being veiled in morals and meaning. He teaches us nothing and we breathe a sigh of relief because that’s about all we can commit to.

From an educational standpoint he enriches children as much as any other 99 cent bag of Funions and Kool-Aid. It is one example of how we can acclimate youth into a culture of the absurd-a reality wherein people inject plastic into their bodies, vacation in outer space, live on the internet and build nuclear weapons in order to take over the world.


We can’t argue with SpongeBob because he’s not making any arguments. He symbolizes nothing for just about everyone. From a marketing standpoint, this puts SpongeBob at a strategic advantage. He was born from a cleverly designed logic model conceived to create a being that could be mass produced to the widest audience at the lowest possible cost for the longest time. Congratulations Nickelodeon.

Weird but palatable, SpongeBob is easily pimped across ethic and socio-economic segments. Our adoption of him is safe, because everything about him, from his status as a sponge- to cheap digital watches and backpacks-is completely disposable. He is the king of Post-post modernity.
His profoundly meaningless world might even make him “timeless.” No 70’s mustache. No skinny tie. No bulky palm-pilot to laugh at in 2 years. Unfortunately, you can’t kill him either. He’s a sponge.

In an interview with Oprah last week, Oprah asked, “How has it been living at the bottom of the ocean? Do you feel you’ve been oppressed?” After a long pause, SpongeBob blinked and made a squeaky noise.


And what of our old cartoon favorites? Captain Planet? The Ninja Turtles? Looney Tunes?

I’m afraid that Captain Planet and the Planeteers; Heart, Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth, have been ousted from the entertainment business for good. They can be spotted on any weekday afternoon around 17th and Walnut in their bright “Save the Children” shirts and three-ring binders, hustling strangers for contributions. “Hey! Hi There! Excuse me! How are you today, Sir?”

The social implications of Sponge Bob’s rise to prominence are simple. We love SpongeBob. His rise to fame reminds of our own Godless existence, devoid of logic and safety, celebrating the unpredictable and absurd.
[1] From Wikipedia. Sept 16th 2006. See Title Link.