Ruining Your Childhood: Let’s Discuss Spongebob Squarepants

2 0

This is the story of a yellow sea sponge named SpongeBob SquarePants, who enjoys being a cook at Krusty Krab, and lives in the Pacific Ocean. He embarks on various adventures with his friends at Bikini Bottom. Alongside his best friend Patrick, a starfish, Mr. Krabs, a crab, and his neighbour/co-worker, Squidward, a cephalopod, SpongeBob goes on daily adventures and gets stuck in many humorous situations

The show first aired on 1 May 1999 and has been around for 13 seasons. The show has become a household name as multiple generations have sat through at least one show before, or seen some of the hundreds of memes.

The show has had multiple theories arise over the years on what the truth is about Bikini Bottom and the truth about Spongebob. Why is this show a hit? Why are they all anthropomorphic in nature? What is the secret or rather… hidden, meaning behind this beloved show. Well, I am here today to share with you a few different theories about the intricate storyline that you might not have realised before…

The location of Bikini Bottom.

One of the first theories suggests that the world of Spongebob Squarepants is a by-product of nuclear testing. Even though it has never been explicitly confirmed by the show or its creators, there is heavy speculation that the world of Spongebob Squarepants is a product of nuclear testing. The city of Bikini Bottom is believed to be beneath the island of Bikini Atoll where, in actual history, the U.S. detonated 23 different nuclear bombs during the Cold War. According to the theory, the extensive testing impacted the creatures surrounding the area, and thus Spongebob Squarepants and his friends were born.

Think about the imagery in the show, you often tend to see imagery of nuclear explosions that show up on the show a lot. Plus, let’s not overlook the obvious link between the names, Bikini Bottom and Bikini Atoll.

Mr Krabs and the adoption of Pearl.

The obvious part, Mr Krabs is a crab… Pearl is NOT a crab. It is obvious that Pearl is actually adopted. Pearl is a whale and the hilarity of their father-daughter bond throughout the show has been quite an adventure to watch. Mr Krabs can be greedy but gives his daughter everything she wants, as she is his only child. This theory goes that Mr Krabs, was actually Pearl’s godfather, he had a really close relationship with Pearl’s real parents but they died due to whaling which took the lives of her mom and dad when she was just a baby. Mr Krabs then took the role of father and was awarded the custody of Pearl.

The Secret Ingredient.

Mr Krabs has access to something that in the real world, would have made him millions. Whale Vomit, because of his daughter Pearl. Yes, Whale Vomit. Historically Ambergris (whale vomit) has been adopted for several uses, including being used as incense, as an ingredient in cigars to improve their odour, in medicine to help with colds, headaches, and other medical conditions. Whale vomit is also an essential ingredient for ‘musk’ perfume fragrance. But Mr Krabs lives in bikini bottom so he would have had to adapt and use this to his advantage in a unique way since the industry doesn’t exist in his world. So what could he have possibly done? Perhaps… use it as the secret ingredient in the Krabby Patties!

or

The secret ingredient could be even more terrible… another theory suggests that Krabby Patties are made of crab meat, so Mr Krabs is making people eat his own kind. Hench the extreme secret keeping of the formula. But it might be crab meat and whale vomit together… yikes.

Drug addiction and the after-effects.

One of the most common and partially plausible of the many theories is that each character from the series is addicted to a drug and is suffering from its after-effects.

Spongebob’s immense joyfulness, pain and knowledge of the bizarre could be from the effects of “Speed”. Patrick’s laziness and drowsiness could be from the consumption of “Marijuana”, and Squidward’s mood and poor job performance could be the result of “heroin abuse”. Who might be the middleman here? Mr Krabs, he could potentially be the “dealer”. Think about it.

Seven Deadly Sins of Spongebob’s World.

The seven deadly sins are Sloth, Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Envy and Wrath. This could also be represented through the main characters in the show. Mr krabs clearly greedy. Plankton embodies Envy. Gary is a Sloth. Sandy is Pride. Squidward is Wrath. Patrick is Gluttony and Spongebob is Lust.

WWII Germany and Spongebob Squarepants.

This theory suggests that SpongeBob SquarePants represents, “Pre-WWII Germany.” With Squidward being a failed artist and an all-out jerk, like Adolf Hitler, wanting to get rid of his neighbours. Patrick represents the innocents caught up in the catastrophe, and Sandy, with her Texas heritage and admirable tenacity, represents the United States. Mr Krabs, finally, represents the rest of Europe, looking down upon Hitler for his atrocious acts and overall tyranny.

The Caretaker.

Spongebob can be a handfull. He acts in bizarre ways and this theory suggests that his parents simply said, had enough of him. They then instead assisted Squidward financially, with the expectation for him to keep an eye out on Spongebob by living next to him… working with him, and just to ensure he doesn’t destroy everything around him. This could explain why Squidward doesn’t move away and is still happy at the same house for many years despite SpongeBob giving him so much torment and many reasons to move.

The Krusty Krab

The Krusty Krab is actually a lobster trap. Or a CRAB trap, since that’s where Mr Krabs spends most of his time. This is most likely from a previous fisherman’s tools that got lost over time and Mr Krab’s decided to take them back and reclaim them for himself.

The Chum Bucket

The Chum Bucket is an unsuccessful fast food restaurant that is located right across the street from the Krusty Krab. It is owned by Sheldon J. and Karen Plankton, where they both reside. All of the residents of Bikini Bottom hate the Chum Bucket, but that is for good reason! You see Chum is made of fish guts so that would mean plankton was selling fish guts to the fish. Cannibalism basically, and that is why everyone always got so violently ill and would avoid Plankton restaurants at all costs.

Hope I didn’t ruin your childhood too much here! There are also a lot of other theories on the internet… which one stood out to you the most? Let me know on twitter!

-End-