Blogpost # 2: Spongebob Squarepants: Seven Deadly Sins

Who lives a pineapple under the sea? Absorbent and yellow and porous is he, nautical and nonsense. Yes, you're right it's Spongebob Squarepants. I bet you've heard about this TV Show about a sponge who goes for adventure with his best friend Patrick and Squidward, the unlucky one. There's also Mr. Krabs who loves money and Sandy the scientist at the same time a karate squirrel. Even I enjoy watching this nonsense show, but I found out that each character represents the 7 Deadly Sins also known as the Cardinal Sins.

According to  the article Spongebob Squarepants and the Seven Deadly Sins, written by Duncan Stewart, in the website Modern Mom as he quote, "After months of research and tedious scientific analysis(also, he of the writers from the show mentioned it in the audio commentary on the DVDs from the first season), we've discovered they're actually representative of the seven deadly sins." The writer actually did a very long research about the subject matter and found out that each character means each of the seven deadly sins.

Mr. Krabs. When I think about Mr Krabs, I think that he loves money very much that he puts himself and other people(well "creatures") in danger and sometimes it gets to the point where it is a life to death situation. Mrs. Krabs, who I never heard from the episodes, most likely I would think that she divorced the old man because of he strain greed put on the relationship. And in that, commits the sin of Greed.

Patrick Star. When I think about Patrick, lazy is the word I've got for him. He lays under a rock almost all the time but he's not doing anything all day and he is doing everything he wants to do if bored he go to Spongebob. So for that, he commits the sin of Sloth. There was actually an episode entitled, "Big Pink Loser" wherein he was awarded for absolutely doing nothing for the longest time.

With hopes that one day he'll get the recipe of the Krabby Patty, a no brainer guy, here goes Sheldon Plankton. Plankton owns restaurant called "The Chum Bucket" and is consumed with the desire to achieve the success of his adversary(Mr. Krabs). His ultimate goal in life is to steal the Krabby Patty formula so that he would beat Krabs in the food business. Having that attitude, he commits the sin of Envy.

Squidward Tentacles, who I think is eighty three percent angry all the time. I know he hates his life, he hates Spongebob and anything dealing with anyone except him. He is plays a role as a general failure who refuses to acknowledge his own personal flaws. His attitude of constant self-denial opens itself in a sarcastic sense of humor and resentment toward the society that doesn’t ‘appreciate’ his creativity and clarinet ”skills”. So being angry at everyone, he commits the sin of Wrath.

Next is Gary. The pet snail of Spongebob. Spongebob most of the time have jokes in having to remember to feed his pet snail. Gary is doing nothing at else besides meow-ing and eating everything he likes. There was an episode when Gary runs away from home because Spongebob forgot to feed him for a while.  This proves beyond a doubt that when left to his own devices, Gary would rather do nothing but to eat. So for Gary, he represents the sin of Gluttony.

Sandy Cheeks the karate, astronaut-looking squirrel. She is a squirrel that is very proud of her heritage. Sandy also takes a great deal for being the only land critter living in Bikini Bottom. Though generally a good-natured individual, Sandy is quick to spout off about the greatness of the Lone Star state or to show off her athleticism in a karate match or a weightlifting contest. Being showy in everything, Sandy is representing the sin of Pride.

Finally, Spongebob Squarepants. We all know that Spongebob loves everyone. To define lust, it can be identified as "excessive love of others". In this sense of the word, it cannot be denied that our absorbent yellow friend is an extremely lustful creature. Spongebob has a lust for life that is incomparable to most other cartoon characters - he longs for the affections of both friend and foe alike, is eager to please, and will often stop at nothing to complete a task. In this, he represents the sin of Lust.

Although, according to another article I have read entitled, "7 deadly sins of Sponge Bob Squarepants" by Stewes Lackey in the adultswim.com that Spongebob can also be the sin of envy because "While nothing is wrong with who he is, or his position in life, he constantly wishes to be something else, but never obtains it.  All the while endangering his personal relationships, and causing harm to those around him." Never knew Spongebob was so dramatic and deep like that. 

So this is what I came up with. Having all that said, my question is: Should children really be learning these habits from these characters? I say that the parents out there should be warned and be boggled about this matter because it will ruin their children's childhood. So is SpongeBob a masochist?  Actually I don't think SpongeBob can feel anything except love. And maybe that's the point. Maybe, just maybe, this yellow blob of unconditional, purely platonic love exists to show us what it means to truly love someone. Or maybe he's just a cartoon character who lives in a pineapple under the sea?