This is something that I wanted to do that is new to this site for quite some time. I wanted to make some editorials, only because I do have some interesting topics that I would like to share with you. They have been some things that have loomed over my mind, and they are kind of interesting if you think about it. They are going to be more of pop culture topics, as well as a mixture of geek cultural subjects and such. But keep in mind, this is just an experimental article, so don’t get use to this as a long-lasting thing. And what better topic to start off with than….. Spongebob Squarepants?
I know that this an odd thing to start off Some Editorials, but believe me, I do have a lot to say about this. When I first saw Il Neige’s crossover review with Spazmaster on The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (which is a must watch for those of you who haven’t seen it yet), there was a part in their review that they shed light on how Spongebob Squarepants only makes children stupid and destroying how they will turn out in the future. They not only show us how the movie turned out to be one of the smartest kids movies ever made in the 2000s, but it also showed me the problem with what I think people are reading too much on something that I don’t think is there. That problem is that parents think that it made a huge crisis on that it makes kids stupid.
I would be lying if I said I can never see where they’re coming from, because I can see why. Believe it or not, I did come up more problems with this as I’m trying to write this article, so I will delve into this issue a little bit longer as I originally planned. First of all, Spongebob Squarepants was never an educational show. It’s a comedy for children first, and it only wants the kids to laugh. Its how you do comedy. Which brings me to my next problem with the whole “Spongebob is making kids stupid!” The show is a comedy! I have nothing against shows teaching children lessons, but this was just entertainment. You don’t watch comedies to learn or get smart. And don’t try to blame it on the humor style of the show either, because, as long as it’s appropriate (which I know this show wasn’t at times), then it will be passable. Yes, I do know this show wasn’t always for kids, and even I can post some moments to prove it. However, this also meant that Spongebob Squarepants was more of a show for everyone if the humor style was more all over the place on it’s maturity. Well, at least it was until the second half of the show AFTER the movie came out. I don’t know how that happened, but that is neither here or there.
So, no. It wasn’t smart, and I really don’t see a hidden agenda to make anyone dumb. but What I do see what the show did, and I think this really better answers my question on the title of this topic, is that its humor and what it was was something that just so happened to come out at the right time. In 1999, many people were going crazy about the Y2K, thinking that the world is going to blow up when we hit the 21st century. Even after we entered into the new decade without any radiation sickness, we then entered into the darkest moment in US history, which was 9/11. And then we continued on with the War on Terror, Hurricane Katrina, the rise of gas prices, 7/7 bombing, and the recession and housing crisis. But when you look into all of this tragic and controversial moments that happened to us here in America, you got to ask yourself, “was there any light moments around those times?” Don’t get me wrong, what happened in those moments in the 2000s was horrible, and I do respect those who went through it. So don’t take this as if I just trashed the people who were involved with our nation’s tragedies.
This is my reason for why I think that Spongebob Squarepants came out at the right time. It was running at a moment when we needed children to lighten up and have fun at a time when they needed. I’m not saying that they should live in denial, thinking that there’s nothing bad that can ever happen. But I am saying that children do need happiness and laughter. Spongebob Squarepants did do that for a decade, which is sort of impressive if you think about. It managed to stay relevant as long as it took, and its still relevant today!
But the one thing that I never realized until I saw Il Neige’s reveiw of the Spongebob Squarepants Movie was that there were college students at the time of the first season who were watching the show. I’m not going to explain why or how that came to be, because I do believe that’s a topic for another day. But not since Ren and Stimpy did we ever have a show that did that. This show really did have things for everyone, and most of the humor and its style did come from Ren and Stimpy. Who knew that Spongebob was able to get an even broader audience at the time, especially at a point when they knew how bad the politics and the economy was getting. They actually had something to enjoy.
So in conclusion, I can say that this show did give me something to love in a decade that I always hated. It helped many people try to find something that they can laugh at and not put kids in a panic mode most of the time. It put many in a good mood when we needed it, and we did need it. Sure, there are times when we need to take our lives serious, and I even parts in my life when I need to. I you ever get to know me well enough, I do take myself seriously at times. But sometimes we do need a good balance of both seriousness and joy in life. Spongebob Squarepants did that, and that’s why I think it came out on the right time!
Some Review Site 