SpongeBob Is Not a Sponge
“Thank gosh it’s Monday!”
You’ve probably heard of this song before whether you’re a SpongeBob fan or not. But, thank gosh it’s Monday? Is it possible for someone to love Mondays?
Well, this might be the reason why people think child animations are just fiction, but actually, SpongeBob SquarePants is different. There are surprisingly realistic issues hidden in the show as you dive deep into SpongeBob’s life.
Struggles Behind the Laughter
We can say that SpongeBob has the weirdest laughter ever. His laughter is so strange that it’s not even described by any onomatopoeias but just called “SpongeBob laughing”. The high-pitched laughter of SpongeBob brings us strange amusement; however, did you know that his laughter is actually hiding the realistic struggles of modern society?
Honestly, SpongeBob is terrible at getting a driver’s license, I mean, a “boating license”. From season 1 to 15, SpongeBob’s effort to get a boating license was constantly shown; however, in none of those episodes was he able to get one. There’s even a compilation created by the official SpongeBob YouTube channel called “1 Hour of SpongeBob Failing Boating School”. Doesn’t this struggling sponge feel familiar? Aren’t there any relatives around you struggling to get the driver’s license for years?
Another connection between the show and our world is hidden in SpongeBob’s working life. Have you ever had to listen to someone rant about their horrible boss? Well, Mr. Krabs, the horrible boss from SpongeBob SquarePants, can be the one they’ve been talking about. If you have ever watched the series, you’ll all know how much he cares about money. Yes, he IS greedy. However, being greedy is not the point we’re focusing on; the real red flag about Mr. Krabs is that he is actually abusing and exploiting SpongeBob’s mental health and labor.
In “Graveyard Shift”, Mr. Krabs decides to open Krusty Krab for 24 hours, forcing SpongeBob and Squidward’s extra night shift, without any overtime pay. Yes, Squidward’s reaction wasn’t friendly at all, “I can’t believe we’re working the graveyard shift!”, he says. On the other hand, SpongeBob seemed rather excited about the extra hours with his patties, “Wow, 24 hours! I can’t wait to get started!”
It definitely was SpongeBob’s optimistic attitude that kept Mr. Krabs from any legal responses. If something like this happened in real-world, no one would turn a blind eye to this exploitation. However, isn’t it familiar? Isn’t it familiar, a young worker choosing not to argue with his boss?
In the series, SpongeBob’s role goes far beyond simple amusement; he presents the struggles of modern workers. SpongeBob is sarcastically criticizing those problems. There’s a reason why SpongeBob is bad at getting a boating license and there’s a reason why he’s being over-optimistic to his boss. WE are SpongeBob. We often struggle to get a driver’s license and cater to the boss to get out of the conflict. SpongeBob is criticizing our world by overacting the reality of the society we belong to. The weird laughter is not a means to make children laugh, it is a satire.
In many shows or movies, the boundary between comedy and satire is blurred. Show directors often use comedy in order to present their insightful satire. In “Sailor Mouth”, for instance, SpongeBob critiqued how children get to know the “bad words” by using the dolphin sounds instead of bleeps each time they use cursing words unintentionally. The dolphin sound certainly made people laugh; however, the director was aiming for more than just a comedy. By using the comedy, SpongeBob has chosen to deliver sharp satires that expose the hidden seriousness of the REAL issues; and the weird “SpongeBob laughing” was in fact satirizing the weird land world that mutes the seriousness of those struggles.
Soak up the emotions
Have you ever wondered why SpongeBob is a “Sponge”? According to Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of SpongeBob, he has designed SpongeBob inspired by the sea sponges that actually live underwater. But still, SpongeBob’s appearance is more similar to the artificial sponges who are known for soaking up liquid-which is very useful while doing the dishes. However in the show, SpongeBob is not a cleaning tool — he’s actually soaking up the emotions.
“This was supposed to be the best day ever…”
In “Best Day Ever”, season 4, episode 20, SpongeBob plans to have the perfect day with all his favorite people. He plans to go work in Krusty Krabs, to practice karate with Sandy, to jellyfish with Patrick and even go to Squidward’s clarinet recitals! However, nothing goes as planned — Krusty Krabs was closed thanks to nematodes, there was a leak in Sandy’s house, and Patrick’s jellyfishing net and Squidward’s clarinet were broken. “This was supposed to be the best day ever…” says SpongeBob.
Despite the obstacles, he completes all his plans at the end. He plays flute with his nose to get rid of nematodes, he gives Patrick his new net and pulls out his own tooth to replace it with Squidward’s clarinet reed with no complaint.
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In fact, SpongeBob needed to hide his emotions in order to carry on his plans. Every time the “bad things” happened, SpongeBob tried his best to stay positive. When Nematodes annoyed him, when he needed to give Patrick his net and even when he sacrificed his own tooth for Squidward… He couldn’t complain — he needed to help others, solve problems, and most importantly, he needed to smile.
This kind of self-emotion control, or even repression, is something many people experience in their everyday lives. Whether it’s at school, at work, or among friends, we are often expected to show only our best selves, polished and disguised. We’re taught early on, often starting from elementary school, to “fit in”. We were taught that being part of a group means managing our feelings, hiding anger, sadness, or frustration, when it might disrupt the harmony.
SpongeBob’s over-sacrificing behavior may seem frustrating, but in fact, he’s exactly reflecting our own behaviors. We are constantly controlling our own emotions to fit in the society we belong to. And SpongeBob, as a form of animation, is just reminding us that we are being too dishonest to ourselves.
Grow up.
“Grow up!”
I can confidently say that every child living on this planet has heard of this phrase. Ever since we entered the age of middle school or even elementary school, the adults around us have been forcing us to grow up and act maturely.
“Stop being so immature!” “Act like your age!”
These expectations became the standard of how we need to live and behave; however, SpongeBob challenges the standards thoroughly. SpongeBob, in the show, is about 19 years old, who is officially an adult. But, have you ever seen any adult who catches jellyfish with his friends? Have you ever seen any adult who decorates his house only for Santa?
Of course SpongeBob’s age-inappropriate behavior is always the point of giggles for children, but the real point of his behaviors is that the director of SpongeBob, Stephen Hillenburg, is actually making the satire about how we are forced to act “like an adult” in our society.
In “Grandma’s Kisses”, SpongeBob’s childish behavior became the main talking point. In the episode, SpongeBob visits his grandmother and enjoys his time as a little boy; he eats cookies with milk, listens to grandma’s stories, and receives a lot of kisses. Later that day, he goes back to work with the kiss mark still on his forehead, which became the catalyst of Squidward and Mr. Krabs’s teasing.
“Well, look at you! All pink and rosy! What is that, a kissy mark from your grandma?”
“Aw, did baby SpongeBob get a whittle kissy-wissy from his grandma?”
This made SpongeBob decide to act like a “real adult”. SpongeBob puts on a fake beard, changes his voice and even rejects grandma’s sweet kisses.“He is right, Grandmother. Kisses are for babies, which I am no longer. I have grown up. It is nature’s way,” he says. So, did SpongeBob really become an adult?
I would say no. After a while, SpongeBob goes back to his grandma, crying.
“I don’t wanna grow up! I want cookies! And milky! … And I want a kissy-kissy on my boo-boo!”
Sometimes in our lives, we realize how young our inner selves are compared to our real age. Actually, we aren’t born to become an adult or disguise into an adult, we are born to be ourselves. People in our society are forced and forcing us to “grow up”. We are forced to become adults as soon as possible. Being an adult is not a bad thing, but being forced to be is the real problem. The pressure given to us as our young selves ends up being an adult on the outside but still a child inside.
The episode “Grandma’s Kisses” reminds us of this. Even though we try our best to act like an adult, we can’t hide the child inside ourselves. SpongeBob’s cry might sound funny and weird, but in fact, he is yelling at us not to hide or fake ourselves but to find the real me inside us.
Conclusion
You might think why would people satirize the problems through childish animations, but those childish shows are actually a way for the directors to express their distinctive perspectives to the older audiences secretly.
Have you ever wondered why SpongeBob SquarePants’ background is underwater? Perhaps it’s because the problems that are shown and satirized in the show are mostly unnoticed. Yes, some of us may have already noticed them, but most of them are not publicized or solved yet. Stephen Hillenburg’s strategy was clever–by hiding traces of problems behind the comedy, he allowed those problems to be stuck in our head once we discover them. The message Stephen Hillenburg was constantly throwing to us is that there are a lot of problems, issues and struggles in this society that are not yet noticed–but are underwater.
The struggles of the real world still remain submerged.
