Download - SpongeBob on the Couch
Daniel J. Pool
Senior Seminar
Dr. Weber
August 5, 2010
Abstract
The intent of this paper is to explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of
modern thought using popular culture as a medium through the television program SpongeBob.
This is important as a civilization’s ideology can often be discovered in even seemingly mundane
entertainment. Within the characters and places of Nickelodeon’s programming giant, it is
believed that certain forces; personality types, social roles, love, hate, friendship, and even belief
structures interplay unnoticed by most casual observers. These themes, common to adults, are
now being displayed to younger audiences to good ends, in a society that discusses such social
forces less.
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Daniel J. Pool
Senior Seminar
Dr. Weber
August 5, 2010
SpongeBob on the Couch; a Psychological and Philosophical Examination of the Post-
Millennium Human Condition
“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” The answer may be harder than one would
think. While seeming innocent, SpongeBob SquarePants has become a symbol of the
Millennials; nurtured, independent, and “ready to go”. In order to better understand inter and
intra socio-behavior and ideology of modern youth one must study the media which represents
and reflects them. To begin the inner journey through Bikini Bottom it would be important to
learn the history of the program, its cast of characters, and to look closely at the area of Bikini
Bottom itself.
Nickelodeon premiered SpongeBob SquarePants on July 17, 1999 (Brown 1). For over a
decade it has entertained youths with brightly colored characters and adolescent situational
comedy. The fry cook boasts over 70 million viewers monthly and was invented by marine
biologist turned cartoonists and writer Steve Hillenburg (Brown 1).
For the purposes of this paper the first three seasons will be focused on primarily. To date
eight seasons have been aired (Parker 1), six released on DVD. Though surrounded in much
confusion, it is surmised that after season three the principle creator, Steve Hillenburg, left the
show as a writer and with him much of the deeper episodes; also it would be near impossible to
cover the colossal amount of SpongeBob media that exists in the confines of this present work.
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The average episode features anywhere from six to sixty characters. Three principle
characters however will be discussed heavily; Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, and of course
SpongeBob SquarePants. These three are the cornerstone of the SpongeBob universe. It is also
arguable that they represent three important facets of modern thought, and possibly much more.
SpongeBob himself (itself) is an asexual yellow sponge. Youthful and fun-loving
(Shrinkette), his greatest life accomplishment is getting to work at a fast food dinner ("Employee
of the Month"), he lives in a humble pineapple ("Reef Blower"), and his favorite hobby is
catching and releasing jelly fish ("Jellyfishing"). He has untold amounts of optimistic energy and
is a symbol of the American Dream (Parker 2). Mr. SquarePants is the model of a simple man
with simple dreams.
Patrick Star is the best friend and local loveable pink dunce of Bikini Bottom. Patrick has
no goals, no dreams, and no aspirations. In fact the only thing that does drive him is the search
for a quarter for the local mechanized seahorse ride. While SpongeBob is a simple man, Patrick
is just plain simple.
Squidward Tentacles is the local bitter failed artist and cephalopod. Though he wants to
achieve greatness, fame, and fortune in his many hobbies and art forms, he never finds the
appreciation or recognition that he desires. Over the course of multiple rejections he has become
numb to the world’s problems and settled into a dead-end job at the Krusty Krab.
Looking at the characters we initially see silly cartoon marine life forms, however much
more is just below the surface. First it is important to note that the three live on the same street.
Squidward lives between Patrick and SpongeBob on a lone track of road. Many episodes revolve
around the fact that Squidward does not enjoy the company of his giggly neighbors.
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Throughout several episodes observers discover that SpongeBob cannot drive a boat.
That is to say that though our perky hero is our model of adulthood independence and yet has not
completed the rather universal rite of passage for modern teenagers, driving. Modern teenagers
see this as the passage into adulthood or the Formal Operations Period (Phillips 164) as Piaget
would say. Formal Operations is the fourth level of Piaget’s development model and is the point
in which an individual can use abstract thought.
Here it would be imperative to make a distinction. SpongeBob is an abstract thought
(even for Bikini Bottom), but he has trouble thinking in an abstract manner. When told by Mr.
Krabs to, “Say hello to my daughter Pearl.” in his gruff seamen’s way, SpongeBob misinterprets
his meaning and, “Hell-o, Pole.” shakes hands with a ceiling beam. Thus SpongeBob is abstract
but has trouble understanding what that even means.
This means SpongeBob is caught in the third stage of Piaget’s theory of Cognitive
Development, Concrete Operational Stage (Phillips 99). In this stage the individual can use
transitive properties (if X then Y them Z), classification, and develop methods of problem
solving. SpongeBob is said to be here as he is intelligent but not fully developed.
His teacher is Ms. Puff, a somewhat tortured individual ("Doing Time"), who tries to
endlessly instruct SpongeBob (it is as if the information just goes in one pore and out another).
She uses the traditional classroom approach (Hill 2) and a “hands-on” student driver approach.
She tries to reinforce SpongeBob’s learning with complements and awards (such as getting to be
the hall monitor for a day) in a Skinnerian fashion (63) as well as build cognitions between
logical concepts with essay assignments (103) but nothing seems to sink in.
SpongeBob never masters the skill of boat driving probably for several reasons, but here
are two of the most evident. First, according to Vygotsky driving is obviously outside of Mr.
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SquarePants’ “zone of proximal development” (Walker). That is to say that SpongeBob just does
not have the ability-even with lots of help by the instructor-to be able to decontextualize the
meditational means to perform the actions it takes to drive a boat. The second factor is the state
of SpongeBob’s developmental stage, Concrete Operations Stage (Phillips 99) as discussed.
Because SpongeBob takes most commands literally, as seen whenever he is given a
command ("Pizza Delivery"); it can be summarized that the fry cook is torn between stages of
life (Phillips 114). Learning to drive a boat would be his final ascension into adulthood, as he
would be able to perform and interpret abstract tasks, such as “Put it in reverse.”—Ms. Puff
("Boating School"), as ‘put your foot on the brake, look behind you, change gears, release the
brake slowly and turn the wheel slightly…”. The later is what actually occurs while the first is
what is stated. This shows the learning principle of scaffolding (Walker). If the teacher wants
success with their learner then they will need to “build” scaffolding that the learner can use to
perform the task with help.
This follows the four steps of Vygotsky’s classroom (Walker 1). The teacher models the
wanted tasks and the student watches. Ms. Puff drives and talks about what she is doing to
SpongeBob. 2) Then the apprentice stage, where teacher asks the student for help. So Ms. Puff
would ask SpongeBob to tell her what she is doing while driving. 3) The teacher tests the
scaffolding by observing as the student performs the task. So Ms. Puff lets SpongeBob drive and
she gives occasional added insight. 4) The independent use stage, the student performs the task
while the teacher watches, or the driving test.
In Patrick one would expect to find a very shallow well of knowledge. His brain is as
hard as the rock he lives under, yet he too has layers of meaning. Patrick may struggle with
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simple tasks such as opening jars of pickles ("Big Pink Loser") but displays several emotions and
drives common to young men of every and any generation: the need to please his parents.
In the episode entitled "I'm with Stupid", Patrick is in a fury of cleaning and picking
(making) up of his home when SpongeBob comes over to visit. After calming down (to a
degree), Patrick explains that his parents are coming over. He is worried as they are critical of
him for being unintelligent. To help him, SpongeBob offers to act like an imbecile to take the
heat off of Mr. Star.
When Patrick’s parents arrive they make cutting remarks about their son’s home (a rock)
and about him ("I'm with Stupid"). SpongeBob arrives and begins to humor Patrick’s mother and
father with acts of intelligential depravity. The couple laughs at his acts and congratulates their
son on being smart in comparison. As the laughter and insults pile on, SpongeBob asks Patrick if
he could be nicer, and begins to act normal. Patrick’s parents think the sudden change in
behavior is because their son must have taught him to speak while having their heart to heart.
This adds insult to injury and tension escalates.
Finally after tension between parents, child, and sponge break, Patrick tells his parents to
be kinder, making a stand before those he wishes to have acceptance from ("I'm with Stupid").
The victory is short lived as his parents finally arrive, that is his actual parents. The first couple
was just lost and not Patrick’s parents at all. They in fact comment that they forgot that they did
not have children at all.
This seems bizarre, at first glance. To the casual audience this might be just a silly way to
end conflict, but it says more for the individual need for parental acceptance. Immediately an
oblivious question is “Why doesn’t Patrick notice that those weren’t his parents?” The answer
lays in social interaction.
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Five of the major motivational theories1 all list relatedness and belonging as a major
factor of motivation. That said, Patrick’s need to be accepted and belong with his parents is so
strong that he wants that acceptance from any figure that even remotely resembles his parents to
fulfill that wish (Freud 532). To Maslow, Patrick, is displaying higher level motivational needs
(Maslow 97). Because he has progressed in Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs, need for physiological
and safety are satisfied (51) and he moves into social needs and personal esteem (98).
It would seem that Patrick has accepted his faults or is just ignorant of them. Because of
his great self confidence he may have reached and be preparing for the final level of needs in
Maslow’s Hierarchy Self-Actualization. This level is reserved for those that satisfied every need
in their life and have moved on to the betterment of the soul and individualism (Maslow 100).
For Patrick this would be a great achievement, or anyone as Maslow estimates only two percent
of people ever satisfy enough levels of needs to become self actualized. This is why he is so
quick to join his perceived parents in making fun of SpongeBob.
Not fulfilling his need for belonging creates a threat to his self (Maslow 108). This
episode uses the vehicle of stupidity to display how an individual can turn on their friends if it
aids them in need satisfaction. Within society the individual may replace their parental figures,
but still crave their satisfaction like they were their parents as they adjust to adult life.
This extreme need for parental acceptance may grow from an intense relationship with
his parents based on his birth order (Forer 3). If he is an only child (which will be assumed being
that he may have forgotten brothers or sisters anyway) he would likely have been treated with
constant and close relationships with his parents growing up. Due to anxieties that can grow in a
single child home, as the parents wonder if they have the ability to raise the child correctly, the
child may carry these anxieties into adulthood and second guess if they are acting appropriately
1 Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Vroom, Deci & Ryan
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(67). Another reason for this anxiety could be Patrick’s inexperience with interpersonal
relationships as a whole (83).
Other characters in Bikini Bottom such as Sandy Cheeks, a Texas squirrel who lives in an
underwater bio-dome, Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob’s boss and occasional friend, Plankton, evil
mastermind and half-crazed archaea, also lead important roles in the life of cartoon marine life.
The sea life of the television show is even more diverse than that of the human realm.
Sandy Cheeks is met early in the first set of episodes (“Tea at the Treedome”). She and
SpongeBob met when she is wrestling an oversized clam and soon become fast friends. Anytime
that she is outside her “Treedome” she has to wear a breathing apparatus and pressure suit to
protect against the sea from crushing her. She practices weight lifting and extreme sports. A foil
to SpongeBob’s physically weak body and grounded sense of realty, Sandy seems an odd choice
for friends, but then again she is a squirrel living a mile or more beneath the surface of the ocean.
When they first met, SpongeBob and Sandy, she invites him to her Treedome for tea
(“Tea at the Treedome). In a moment of wanting to fit in, SpongeBob tells Sandy that he loves
air, but immediately has to ask Patrick what this “air” is. Patrick tells him it means to be proper
(“airs”) and to just hold his pinky up. Of course when SpongeBob does go to meet Sandy he
cannot breathe in her environment and dries out before getting his tea. After understanding her
little “sea critters” problem she fashions them water-bowl helmets and their problem is solved.
At first it would appear that this is not such a strange series of events (considering the
context) and is rather tame, but with the lens of philosophy a very different story emerges. First it
is assumed that SpongeBob is infallible in his doing of good. At the start of the episode he comes
to Sandy’s aid though he cannot physically aid her. So though he has the right motives he is
physically unable to help. Also it is Sandy undergoes a transformation from between being out in
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the sea and going into her Treedome. Putting on a massive pressure suit that restricts some of her
movements, the water makes walking and moving more labored and dream-like, yet her
personality is the same throughout.
These ideas could lead one to think of the ocean like a dream, fugue-state, or mental
construction (Maggiolini 2). After defeating a creature much larger without help, possibly a stage
in development, Sandy meets SpongeBob who tried to help her, just as man meets new ideas and
theories throughout life. Then when taken out of the mental “fluid” SpongeBob dries out. He
cannot exist in the physical (dry) land. SpongeBob takes on the identity of morality or pure
reason (Kant 19). A tangible force that affects what we do, but cannot physically aid us in what
we do. Outside of the mind it quickly dries up, just as ideas cannot last in a physical realm. So
by donning a water bowl SpongeBob is able to not only survive in the physical realm but also
converse openly without the threat of drying out.
Bikini Bottom is not always peaceful, however. It is haunted by evil forces. Plankton, a
half-pint thief, constantly tries to steal the Krabby Patty formula (a clandestine recipe that makes
the Krusty Krab so popular) and use it at his restaurant the Chum Bucket (“Plankton!”). Though
it is a fairly silly problem2 it is serious to the inhabitants and represents a greater threat—the
arrival of evil to Bikini Bottom. Other villous characters do exist such as the Dirty Bubble and
Man Ray ("Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy II"), but Plankton is of greater concern—he is the
seed of evil for all of Bikini Bottom.
Everywhere Plankton goes he is hated, but he is not thrown out of town. He is not
imprisoned for his crimes (most of the time). He simply exists. He is a microscopic green bean
that convinces SpongeBob on occasion to do evil acts (“Plankton!”) but afterwards disappears
without recourse. Based on this one could conclude that Plankton is the Shadow personality of
2 He could order take out rather than try and steal a patty every day.
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the group (Jung 76), a reappearing malignant force that creates chaos only to melt back into the
background after performing his evil acts.
Eugene Krabs is the greedy owner of the Krusty Krab and boss of SpongeBob and
Squidward. Over the course of many episodes of we see Mr. Krabs display his love for money
and even resorts to extreme measures to retain his love of money ("Nasty Patty"). His place in
the show is very important as he is representative of the capitalist society and in many ways a
father figure to SpongeBob (Shrinkette).
The implications of Mr. Krabs are somewhat alarming. As par for life, the individual
replaces parents with managers. The idea that mothers’ hugs could be replaced with paychecks
seems like science fiction, but here it is in a cartoon. SpongeBob has found that moving away
from home does not always mean true freedom. In fact often the opposite, he became chained to
work and friends. In many ways this probably protects him in a Hobbes mentality from harming
himself under the protection of the fast-food leviathan. It still is an idea that does not sit well.
This does provoke a question to the nature of SpongeBob’s character as to why he would
stay at the Krusty Krab if it is a sort of social prison. The answer comes with what SpongeBob
values; his relationships, his home, and his job. A not entirely unfamiliar list than would be held
by a modern individual. It is in his routine of life however that something worth remembering
exists.
Everyday SpongeBob will do one or more of three things; goes to work, plays/visits with
friends, or helps an individual in need. Stuck in a cycle of work and play one would think that he
would grow weary with boredom. Every day, with the howling of a fog horn, he awakes and
greets the day with a cheery disposition. This can be explained with another laborer stuck in an
endless cycle, Sisyphus.
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Camus’s Myth of Sisyphus paints the picture of the Greek hero Sisyphus, the fabled king
who for his trickery to the gods is punished to rolling a boulder up a hill only to watch it fall
back to the beginning for eternity (Camus 119). SpongeBob as well forever flips krabby patties
every day for almost no material gain. SpongeBob is an absurd hero; his job has no chance for
advancement, he makes the same old burgers every day, yet he loves his job.
In "Squid on Strike", Squidward and SpongeBob go on strike. When SpongeBob learns
that means not working he is destroyed. He has no routine and his absurd meaning in life is
removed (Camus 122). Without his boulder to push, SpongeBob has to find new meaning in life
and turns to actually ripping up the Krusty Krab as an act of misguided protest. Eventually he
regained his job (to pay for the building), which not surprisingly filled him with great joy.
Other ideas are expressed within SpongeBob. Social dynamics are examined when the
community is endangered. Existential psychodynamic issues arise between neighbors, mental
disorders and neurosis are treated, and postmodernism spills into the sea. The underwater world
of SpongeBob grows to be more than just splatters of color and childhood angst.
In "Texas"; SpongeBob, Patrick, and even Squidward show that they do care for the
overall welfare of the community. The episode revolves around Sandy Cheeks feeling home sick
for dry land. So resolved to leave she packs her things and says her farewell. Wanting her to stay
the inhabitants put together a party for her.
Thus SpongeBob and Patrick go to catch her at the bus station. She has however
determined to not stay. Only by insulting Texas do they get her to chase them back to the party
being held at the Krusty Krab. After beating the aquatic pair she sees that they were trying to
make her feel at home. Even Squidward attends the party to convince her to stay and in doing so
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shows that the Social Interest of the community is to keep all of its members together (Ansbacher
& Ansbacher 45).
Reflecting the transcendental nature of thought after the turn of the millennium,
SpongeBob holds some ideas that are more out there than an ordinary cartoon can claim. One
such “transcendental” thought that runs through the program is the postmodern ideology that is at
the core of SpongeBob. Using a mixture of Existentialism and Psychoanalytic philosophical
theory it could be proposed from this that SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick are in actuality a
single person.
Patrick lives by and for pleasure. No thoughts of repercussions or danger ever enter his
mind when he decides to act. Thusly he embodies Freud’s Id (702); a mindless pleasure seeking
being. For Jung this would be the childish or “unbearable age” (99) as it is a time of no
responsibility and is governed by impulse.
SpongeBob is the opposite. He wants nothing more than to do right and uphold good,
working tirelessly for almost nothing in return. He is then a perfect example of Super Ego (Freud
703) in current society.
Then there is Squidward. He is the middle ground between the two principles. He does
what is best for himself, but not if it would hurt another. He strives for more out of life and
craves to be better. At times however he can do erroneous acts, but he can also do what is right.
He is the everyman. Squidward reflects the tired generation X, a culture that hurried into life
rejecting that he would be anything less than the best, only to give up hope and work at a fast
food restaurant; and thusly is our Ego (Freud 702). Striving to put aside his feelings of
inferiority, which cause him constant neurosis (Jung 101), Squidward exemplifies an individual
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who “clings to illusions that contradict reality” which then correlates to his mental problems
(Jung 100).
This is a rather extensive jump to make from funny situational cartoon to existential
homologous creature. To illustrate this point then the episode “Naughty Nautical Neighbors” will
show this dynamic of a conflicted individual. The episode starts with Squidward tucked away in
his castle like stone house. From outside he hears the giggling of Patrick and SpongeBob.
Looking outside Squidward witnesses the pair blowing bubbles to each other across his
backyard (“Naughty Nautical Neighbors”). As the bubbles reach the other side of the fence they
pop releasing whatever secrete another whispered into the bubble. Deciding to have some fun
Squidward begins intercepting and soliciting false bubbles insulting each of his neighbors.
Before long the two begin yelling at each other and storm off to their homes, leaving Squidward
alone outside to eat.
He begins to laugh about the pair’s fight so hard he swallows his fork (“Naughty Nautical
Neighbors”). Without much thought Patrick helps the choking squid, which leads to Squidward
thanking him profusely. Wanting to spurn SpongeBob, Patrick invites himself to be Squid’s new
best friend, but eventually ends up hurting Squidward by accident. This formula is repeated with
the sponge and ends up driving Squidward half mad (a fairly common plot element). So
Squidward forces the two to sit down and talk out their problems, so that they will be friends
again and stop bothering him.
Many underlying principles are at work here in “Naughty Nautical Neighbors”. Firstly
harmony is reached when SpongeBob and Patrick are separated and only able to communicate
via “bubbles” of insight across Squidward’s yard. This is an excellent allegory for how the
higher and lower thought principles are filtered through Freud’s the Ego and expressed through a
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group (Freud 667). The signals were passed using a fluid, which could not directly processed by
the Ego. This would make the water of the cartoon universe a stream of consciousness, which is
then passed in smaller condensed pockets of consciousness, like the unconsciousness (669).
Freud is however not exactly as academic psychologically. Also terms such as
unconsciousness and Ids are hard to define and test in real world situations. Thusly what other
concepts can be found within a pair of SquarePants?
Looking around the cartoon-ocean blue the observer immediately notices several strange
properties of SpongeBob’s world, and then quickly dismisses them. Watching any episode of
SpongeBob will show that the external world is a boundless green-blue with colored flower-
shaped petals throughout (Parker). The ocean has no boundaries, just as the mind has no
boundaries. Though pain exists, nothing short of erasing3 ("Artist Unknown") one from realty
can destroy psychic force (as its shape may change or be completely dismantled) that is each and
every character.
Taking another look around Bikini Bottom an observer is bombarded by the total
emersion into a fantastical world of postmodernism (Brown 1). Floating blue and green flower
pedals are suspended in blue paint. Though surrounded by water, sinks and facets are emplaced
throughout every home and business. There is a beach, underwater.
At first this seems absurd, but over time the viewer comes to just accept it. It is a
disjunctive open world were only sand and seaweed exists outside the murky blue backgrounds.
The world is minimally filled; all qualities of postmodern art (Sandler 11). Bright vibrant colors
ooze from the television when the show airs, just as Robert Colescott’s Les Desmoiselles
d’Alabama (323). Both the painting and the show are fuzzy boarders between reality and dreams.
Darks and lights form a narrative of a fugue.
3 Literal erasing; using a pencil.
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This style of unrealistic cartoon grew out of the American “folk” tradition and the
postmodern movement (Sandler 329). The SpongeBob SquarePants show seems like a Richard
Prince panel come to life. Just like the humorist, the show deals with topics greater than expected
and follow simplicity as a rule.
What does this all mean? How can a children’s show being used to explain modern
thought be of any use? Is there any meaning in all this?
The simple answer is that it is all a mistake. They are just random accidents that just
happen to explain modern ideas of the world. The very fact however that a children’s show can
display this much perceived truth by a casual viewer does mean something: that society believes
and demonstrates its culture passively. No matter the real reason for a joke or gag on SpongeBob
it can be concluded that some level of meaning is built into that reason, even by accident.
Art is the vehicle of the soul to express itself. Thus it only makes sense that even a yellow
sponge can mean something in a modern society. Just as any work from any age betrayals some
level of truth from its culture. For example the works of Ancient Greek thinkers told the reader
about their life, or fictitious works about poets going on a road trip through Hell’s circles tells the
modern reader about the religious and moral structure its creation.
Though its principle characters SpongeBob displayed elements of existential
psychoanalysis, its teachers taught the viewer about learning theory and motivation, in its
families the viewer discovered the truths of love and acceptance, and even Hobbesian theories
can be ascertained from this simple children’s television program.
In regards to the youth of Generation Y; what conclusions can be draw from this work if
it is a reflection of their culture? In more ways than one it means nothing radical has changed or
will. If this many nuances of reality and theory from hundreds of years ago can be found in a
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children’s program, and it is assumed this program is representational of their beliefs then
nothing should change. In fact in many ways their beliefs, based on the show, would offer a
much less rebellious and calm philosophy than that of the last sixty years of children.
Though examining the world of SpongeBob and Bikini Bottom it has become apparent
that a lovably energetic fry cook can much more than simply a distraction from life. It is the
intention that reading this paper has shown that a simple children’s cartoon can contain vast
amounts of wisdom, reflecting the inner beliefs and ideals of modern society. By comparing
SpongeBob and his world to layers of psychology, philosophy, sociology, psychodynamics,
existentialism, and morality it becomes obvious that life—fictional, imagined, created, or in
reality—is more than just one theory, one explanation. It takes several schools of thought and
several voices and several minds (as absurd as they may be) to produce a work of reality and
truth. So, “who lives in a pineapple under the sea?” We do, we do.
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