Spongebob is the main and leading character in the children’s tv show Spongebob Squarepants. The show takes place with the characters living on the seabed under the ocean. Spongebob looks like a sponge with eyes dressed up in “squarepants.” He typically is a happy-go-lucky person who acts sometimes with intelligence but at other times is just silly. Spongebob has a stable job as a cook at a burger joint called “The Krusty Krab,” which helps him afford a solid and decent house that looks like a pineapple and that has all the necessities for living the “good life” of the American dream.
Conversely, his best friend and counterpart, Patrick Star, is not as privileged as Spongebob. He is a pink starfish that has eyes and other human features. Patrick
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displays a much lower intelligence level than Spongebob does. Consequently, he does not have a job and therefore, does not have as nice a home as Spongebob does. The binary opposites is of Spongebob and Patrick representing the stereotypes of two groups of people: those with jobs, wealth, and possessions who are smart and people without those privileges who are dumb. I chose this tv show as my cultural artifact for the reason that I loved watching it when I was between six and eleven years old because I felt emotionally connected to the many episodes of the tv show.
For example, in one episode I cried when Spongebob and Patrick were about to die because they had no water and while watching others episodes, I laughed joyfully whenever Spongebob would fail his driving tests and crash cars. Whenever I think of Spongebob, it always reminds me of my childhood when I had time for a life that was more simple, fun and relaxed compared to my life today. Spongebob Squarepants is an ideal choice of an artifact from our culture to analyze for this assignment because it was and still is a highly popular tv show created in Hollywood that children view across …show more content…
America. I decided to watch some episodes of Spongebob Squarepants again because I really miss the show. I also wanted to find out why there are so many criticisms of Spongebob Squarepants such as a lack of positive lessons for young people to learn from the show. I am using a poststructuralist approach to show how there are two binary opposites in Spongebob and Patrick and that one (Spongebob) is privileged with wealth and intelligence over the other (Patrick). Spongebob represents the more privileged int the American culture and Patrick represents the less privileged in society. By analyzing the tv series from a post structural approach, I now can see that Spongebob’s privilege impacts Patrick, other characters in the story, as well as influencing young children to believe that those with wealth have intelligence and those who are poor are dumb. Spongebob’s privileges of wealth and superior intelligence (to Patrick) plus his awards also lead to Patrick being upset with himself and being jealous towards Spongebob. Spongebob represents the privileged and Patrick represents the less privileged in society. As portrayed in the tv series, therefore, wealthy and intelligent people cause poor and less privileged people to feel upset about themselves and jealous of those with more possessions and awards. The unbalanced power relationship between these two characters significantly impact impressionable children, by showing that those with wealth and privilege can harm those without privilege. Young viewers of the program could get the impression that those who have been born into poverty are dumb and without hope of developing their intelligence. From watching the program as a youngster, I was influenced to believe that poor people were more likely to be dumb, jealous of the privileged, and upset with themselves because of Patrick’s example. Patrick has much less wisdom and intellect compared with Spongebob.
For instance, Patrick struggles to do basic tasks such as sweeping the floor and answering the phone. Specifically, when Patrick is told to sweep the floor at the Krusty Krab, he uses the wrong side of the broom repeatedly to sweep the floor. Also, when he is asked the answer the telephone for the Krusty Krab and callers ask, “Is this the Krusty Krab?”, Patrick keeps on responding, “No, this is Patrick”, even though the callers were asking if the restaurant they were calling was the Krusty Krab. Most people would understand that the caller is calling the business instead of the worker’s name.
Patrick also tries to get another character, Squidward, to hold a net even though his hand is broken and wrapped. Patrick lacks the common sense to know how hard it is to hold something with a broken, wrapped hand. Furthermore, Patrick cannot tell the difference between sarcasm and reality. Consequently, Patrick cries when Spongebob sarcastically calls Patrick his “worst enemy”. This shows that Patrick cannot figure out, like other people can, that Spongebob is just joking with him because Spongebob is speaking
sarcastically. In contrast, Spongebob has much more wisdom and intellect than Patrick. Spongebob can actually do simple tasks without difficulty and shows signs of intelligence. For example, when Spongebob is asked if he has change for a dollar, he responds, “Would you like four quarters, 10 dimes, or 20 nickels? Or you could get one quarter, three dimes, seven nickels and 10 pennies.” This shows he has much more intellect and some pretty decent math skills by being able to calculate different combinations of change quickly, something Patrick would never be able to do because his intellect is so limited. Furthermore, Spongebob says, “So uh, you like delivering mail? So do you deliver your own mail, or do you have your own mail person? But then who delivers his mail? Is there a never ending chain of mailmen delivering mail to other mailmen? Well I guess a P.O. BOX could in theory break the chain.” He shows he has the intelligence to think outside the box, which Patrick would never be able to do. Since Spongebob is portrayed as much smarter than Patrick, he also is much more successful and privileged in life than Patrick. In fact, Spongebob owns many more awards with a closet full of trophies compared to Patrick having none. In addition, Spongebob has a steady job as a cook at the Krusty Krab because he’s able to cook burgers while Patrick has been unemployed most of his life because he is very unskillful in most areas. As a result, Spongebob lives in two story home that is stable and has all the features of good house like a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room, and laundry room. On the other hand, Patrick lives in a sand pit under a rock and only has a bedroom to live in with no tv. Additionally, citizens of Bikini Bottom, the town in which Spongebob and Patrick live in, are really friendly towards Spongebob while Patrick is either an unknown or made fun of by those in Bikini Bottom. Spongebob’s privileges make Patrick pretty jealous of him because of the pet and the awards that Spongebob have. For example, when Patrick accidentally opens Spongebob’s award closet, hundreds of awards spill onto Patrick and then he cries, “I want an award!” Spongebob later tells Patrick that if he wants an award he needs to do “exactly what [Spongebob does] and [he will] have an award in no time.” He then starts a job at the same place Spongebob works in. He is so desperate to earn an award that he dresses exactly like Spongebob and then does exactly what Spongebob does at work including speaking the same words. Spongebob then asks him, “Patrick, how long are you going to keep this up?” Patrick responds, “Until I have as many awards as you.” because he wants to have as many awards as Spongebob so he can quit being jealous of Spongebob’s accomplishments and actually feel proud of himself for his own achievements rather than being upset with his lack of accomplishment. The portrayal in the tv series of Patrick literally copying Spongebob’s dress, speech and actions fail to show young viewers that the journey to positive self esteem can be attained by following your own path toward self discovery, not simply copying someone else’s life. Copying everything exactly about Spongebob’s life deprives Patrick of the opportunity for his own self discovery and of young children seeing that positive example in the tv series. Patrick is so jealous of Spongebob’s possessions that he steals Spongebob’s pet snail named Gary. Patrick secretly takes Gary with him to his house. He seems exuberant having Gary at his house and is very happy when Gary eventually chooses to live there. Patrick feels better about himself because he now owns Gary and because Gary likes Patrick in return. Patrick’s theft of Gary is just another of the many examples of Patrick wanting to copy Spongebob throughout the tv series rather than developing his own intelligence and talents. What is missing from Spongebob Squarepants for young viewers is a role model character of someone poor who uses his smarts to overcome adversity in life. Personal characteristics like intelligence and perseverance are so unimportant, undervalued, and marginalized among the underprivileged characters shown in the tv series that they are not just portrayed in Patrick or others like him. Overall, the tv series, Spongebob Squarepants, communicates an important viewpoint held by many in our culture: the more privileged are more intelligent than the less privileged. Therefore, underprivileged kids could view themselves as Patrick and not believe in themselves, nor believe that they can work to develop their own intelligence, talents and abilities. I care, and so should all Americans, that we don’t want the poor like Patrick to view themselves as dumb and to completely give up on their lives when they are young and have their whole future ahead of them to make a positive contribution to our country. The successful future of United States is at stake! I have gained a new perspective from this assignment by using the literary criticism tool of post structuralism to understand the significant impact of tv shows like Spongebob Squarepants on young people in a way I never could have understood when I first watched the show many years ago. I want the tv series changed to help the next generation of young children by including smart underprivileged role models with high self esteem who don’t get jealous of others.
This happens four hours before the body is found, Patrick finds the restaurant closed and knocks on the door. When Mr. Krabs came to the door he was very upset and told Patrick they were closed and that he might never sell another Krabby Patty again. Two hours later, SpongeBob admits to entering the restaurant and having a heated discussion with Mr. Krabs. SpongeBob asked for a raise and when Krabs denies him, he became angry and
For example, a person usually has a negative point of view about the people who treat him or her unjustly when he or she works for them. Consequently, this person would feel dissatisfied with his or her work or even hate it. Maggie Holmes reveals that when she worked at her host’s house, her host says she does not have a mop. But the true is that she hides the mop in the clothes closet. This is the reason “why many black women here got rheumatism in their legs, knees” when they use their knee to mop the cold floor many times (Terkel 113). Holmes’s host not only lie to her but also try to call Holmes “nigger”. As a result, Holmes indicates that “most time I don’t call her” (Terkel 115). Through a series of unjust treatments on Holmes, she begins to feel unfair about being a domestic, especially when she talks about her kids. She illustrates “I don’t want my kids to come up and do domestic work… You can’t see no tomorrow there” (Terkel 116). From Holmes’s description about her work experience, audiences can feel that Holmes’s depression, but she needs this job in order to survive. On the other hand, Dave Bender would like to be called Dave instead of Mr. Bender. “When they called me Mr. Bender, I think they’re being sarcastic. I don’t feel like a boss to them. I feel like a chum-buddy” (Terkel 396). Perhaps some people might say the Bender is phony because he doesn’t
...omedian, he used Sandy as the main topic often finishing the joke with Squirrels being ‘stupid’. This leads to Sandy often been looked at with wary and even the removal of her scientific awards. Apparently the scientific board of Bikini Bottom thought she had stolen them. Of course this lead to Spongebob taking back all what he said but the damage was done. Even in later episodes, the other fishes see Sandy as a savage stupid squirrel that their children should not get close to.
Squidward Tentacles is an employee at the Krusty Krab. He is a 34 year old male. He resides in Bikini Bottom. His hobbies include playing his clarinet and painting multiple pictures which he has false hope will one day be published in some museum. He has hatred for going to work, and is horrible with customer service. He exhibits a strong desire to fit in with a higher caste than himself. There have been many episodes though where when given the chance to prove himself worthy of a higher caste he will retreat to a safer place like his house. His esteem level seems very low. He never leaves his house other than for work either. He hates being social and that’s very obvious in every action Squidward carries out. He rarely dates and when he does there is never a second date. He is a healthy man of his age. He really doesn’t have many friends. There is his two neighbors Spongebob Squarepants and Patrick Star, they want to be friends with him but Squidward can barely tolerate either of them. When he is sad he usually turns to his music, painting, or bubble baths which he takes very often. His life goal or aspiration is to be a famous artist and musician. He’s a very smart individual but has absolutely horrible social skills.
Television provides an avenue for which we can analyze people, cultures, and more. My favorite show is Family Guy. The show often pokes fun at either social norms or popular trends occurring in current society. Its humor is supported by the relationship of a talking baby named Stewie, and a talking dog named Brian who live in Rhode Island. Through out the many seasons of Family Guy, the viewer can see through a sociological perspective how all three common theories in sociology are used on Stewie and Brian.
Children across the world enjoy the television show Spongebob for its loveable characters and humor. The most prominent of these characters is Spongebob Squarepants, a personified sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, in a town called Bikini Bottom. He spends the majority of his time working as a chef at the Krusty Krab, a fast food restaurant run by a greedy crab named Mr. Krabs. Spongebob’s neighbor and co-worker, Squidward Tentacles, has a very cynical view of life, constantly complaining about Spongebob and praising the clarinet and other arts. Across from Spongebob lives his best friend, Patrick Star, a starfish known for little intelligence and extensive sleeping. Most episodes, he and Spongebob act on a new idea which leads to various consequences. Sandy Cheeks, a squirrel from Texas, sometimes joins Spongebob and Patrick in their adventures. While the show is marketed to children, it has many qualities suitable for teenagers and adults including occasional sophisticated humor and philosophical references. Two philosophies referenced in the show are Epicureanism and Existentialism. Epicurean beliefs are shown through Sandy and Mr. Krabs, while Squidward and Patrick showcase Existentialism.
Television is very popular in our society. But, what makes television so beloved? Is it the actors and actresses, the suspense, the quality, the humor, or the romance? While many of these aspects connect to why television is popular, the main reason is that watching television helps avoid problems, and gives a momentary happiness. These aspects are present in the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451, where in their society books are banned and television is overpowering. The author Ray Bradbury uses characterization and figurative language to demonstrate when happiness is forced, people become ignorant with their emotions. People believe they’re happy, but are pretending and shows that their fake happiness is a disguise to unhappiness.
Although animated cartoons have long been associated with children’s entertainment, the content of many cartoons suggest they are for adults as well. From character portrayal to perceived gender roles, cartoons such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and Scooby Doo both reflect societal values from their time periods as well as perpetuate the developed stereotypes. Cartoons produced more recently such as The Simpsons start to challenge these stereotypes instead of following blindly. Comparing the earliest popular cartoons to more recent productions, shows progress towards a less stereotypical character portrayal in regards to gender.
Socialization plays in important part in the passing on of culture from generation to generation. It is defined as the lifelong process of social interaction through which we acquire a self-identity and the skills needed for survival. The agents of socialization provide the necessary social interactions to teach culture to individuals in a society. The four primary agents of socialization include parents, education, peers, and media. The most pervasive one, media, has a major role in teaching messages about the norms in culture. The purpose of this project was to observe the subtle messages that a TV series, like The Simpsons, send about gender, class, disability/ability, and age.
In the TV show Spongebob SquarePants, Spongebob is a sea sponge that lives in the ocean in a town called Bikini Bottom. Spongebob works at a restaurant called the Krusty Krab as a fry cook and his coworker is named Squidward. His best friend is a sea star, Patrick, and they are both neighbors. Spongebob has the mind of a little kid, and he also displays quite a few atypical behaviors. Spongebob exhibits classifications of abnormal psychology because he displays unusual behaviors, dangerous behaviors, socially unacceptable behaviors, and a faulty perception of reality.
The debate over the good and bad aspects of Disney movies has been going on for years. It has become a part of pop culture in a way never expected through things such as YouTube videos and meme’s. While looking at multiple Disney movies may give a wider range of example of both the good and the bad in Disney movies, to help depict the effects the movies actually have on kids it is most beneficial to study just one movie. Zia’s essay argues that Disney movies have a good influence on children by teaching them good life morals. However, one of her examples, Mulan, is not an example of achievement through hard work like Zia explains, but rather a change made through magic, and example of the horrible historical inaccuracies made in Disney movies and the lack of parental respect that they teach children.
The “disneyfication” of The Little Mermaid perpetuates negative aspects of American cultural ideals, losing the moral integrity and lessons intended to be taught from the original fairytale. Works Cited Mortensen, Finn. A.H. Hauberg. The Little Mermaid: Icon and Disneyfication." Scandinavian Studies.
In today’s modern age, young children are being raised by their TV screen. Reining from the original tales of Perrault and the Grim Brothers, the Disney princess line has been a staple on the screens since the 1930s (Do Rozario 1). However, these princesses have gone through dramatic changes to remain relevant to todays youth. The effects that can be influenced by the roles expressed in these types of films send mixed messages to the audience, causing them to ask themselves whether or not they should believe what the princess is expressing on the screen.
Considering that, by viewing a Walt Disney film, they will alter their perspective as a result of identifying themselves as being similar to a princess. The unrealistic tale of Walt Disney films motivates children to act in a different way. In these issues we tend to investigate the perception of children towards viewing the films. As well as identifying themselves with specific fictional characters shown in Walt Disney films. Furthermore, we can discern the different emotions of female children within viewing it.
“But then,' thought Alice. 'shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way--never to be an old woman--but then--always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn’t like that!” (Carroll, 1993 p 21). Did Alice want to grow up? No, but she was not willing to go through the struggles during the concrete and formal operation stages of emotional maturity. Authors and movie directors have long used children characters and actors to portray these inevitable childhood developmental stages of emotional maturity, one of which is the disobedience stage. This paper will discuss several evidence of disobedience by children characters. Sometimes the child's behavior in the story is obviously a disobedient behavior but sometimes you will need to analyze the story to identify points of disobedience displayed by a child character.