Should Your Children Watch Spongebob?

Popular not only with my 6 year old daughter and 10 year old son, (the only time they don't argue over the television remote), my husband also has a secret crush on the sickly yellow sponge! SpongeBob available almost continuously on a rainy day is a must for combined family viewing of all ages.

The theme of SpongeBob is quite confused, he dwells in a pineapple at the bottom of the sea, yet his toilet flushes and he has a beach, Bikini Bottom. As a fry cook his grill never fails, and the crabby patties he's almost famous for serving are never soggy, but you're not supposed to "get" this show.

SpongeBob is true escapism, a serenade of silliness, with his best friends, Sandy the squirrel and Patrick the starfish SpongeBob skips through life with an uber positive attitude oblivious to the crankiness of his neighbour Squidward and his greedy boss Mr Crabs. His only aim in life is to be the best fry cook he possibly can, and whilst this doesn't promote ambition in a child it does encourage perseverance.

The humour of SpongeBob stems from his childlike attitude and demeanour. He is obviously a male bachelor, as he lives on his own, with his pet snail Gary, he holds down a full time job at the Krusty Krab and takes driving lessons with the ever squeaky Mrs Puff, yet his personality is that of either a very stupid adult or an extremely intelligent three year old.

There is little education in the show, in fact sometimes it may even be misleading. Sandy the Squirrel lives in a glass house at the bottom of the sea as land just seems too ordinary. Plankton is only half the size of a crab, and when SpongeBob cries, with either despair or laughter, he absorbs his tears but not the sea he's living in, yet I wouldn't write the show off for that.

Complete fantasy is often what children desire, when nothing makes sense their humour can be freed from constraints and their imaginations can run riot, the role of an idiot as the main character is not a new one, the Simpsons have been using the same format for years and their success is the same, they appeal to adults and children alike, somehow SpongeBob achieves this too.

Appealing to adults does not come without its pitfalls however, and some parents may be wary of the use of light profanities, the way SpongeBob seems at his happiest in his SquarePant boxer shorts, or how irresponsibly Patrick and SpongeBob play with anything from deadly jellyfish to unexploded bombs.

Yet when the TV listings are stacked against us, the rain is pouring down through yet another British summer and the children are hard to please, I would suggest switching on Nick, finding a squidgy spot on the sofa with an impressionable child and be seen to be a cool parent for twenty two minutes of yellow sponge silliness.

Who knows? You may just enjoy it! (Don't forget to SHOUT the theme tune).

Martina Mercer
http://www.martinamercer.com

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