Is the nature of Spongebob Squarepants videos harmful to children? The long-term-running cartoon has been on television for over 20 years now. Spongebob has over 250 episodes, three movies, and several spin-offs. Most kids have grown up with the lovable (but often annoying) Sponge and his wacky misadventures under the sea. However, it could be argued that the show was edgier during its first three seasons.
That brings us to Mid-Life Crustacean, which was banned from rotation in 2018 due to a standards review that deemed some of the story elements not inappropriate for kids. The episode resurfaced recently on Paramount Plus, but it was quickly removed as it’s still banned. For over ten years, Mid-Life Crustacean was playing on the airwaves on Nickelodeon (the original episode first aired in January 2003) and suddenly, the plot points were deemed inappropriate for kids. Did Mid-Life Crustacean really need to be banned?
The Culture Of Kids Shows Has Changed
Spongebob Squarepants fit the 90s/early 2000s like a glove. There were plenty of cartoons with adult themes or situations that were played for kids. Ed, Edd, and Eddy, Dexter’s Laboratory, Rocko’s Modern Life, Hey Arnold!, Courage the Cowardly Dog, and The Rugrats are some examples.
The Rugrats or Hey Arnold! is regarded as some of the best cartoons ever made because the stories were bold and original. Even for these types of shows, the lessons learned throughout were on the educational side. The other shows listed were more risque with their content because it wasn’t, particularly under an educational gist.
Spongebob is like Looney Tunes. The jokes and stories are more coherent in the former, but the comedy is scattershot and slapstick. Characters have no issues violently hitting each other left and right. Adult humor was rampant in both television and movies – Space Jam (a PG film) has a joke about a penis getting hard! This is after Lola introduces herself to Bugs and his body becomes stiff.
Great Observational Humor
When Mid-Life Crustacean was released in 2003, it wasn’t out of the norm for Spongebob’s brand of comedy. There have been multiple episodes implying death, murder, swearing, and animal cruelty. However, the key factor here is that this is a cartoon and none of these subjects are mean-spirited.
Nasty Patty is an episode where Spongebob and Mr. Krabs intentionally serve a health inspector (who they believe is an imposter) a poisoned Krabby patty. They think they’ve killed the inspector and go on to try and dispose of his corpse in order to hide the crime. The Great Snail Race is about Spongebob overtraining Gary for a special event to the point where it could be seen as animal cruelty. Sailor Mouth is an entire episode where most of the characters proudly say bad words (which are hidden under sailor talk).
The thing is that these are great episodes made for all ages. In the early seasons of the series, Spongebob was a well-written show that didn’t tell jokes for shock value or a quick gag. When out of context, the paragraph above sounds inappropriate for kids, but when you watch these episodes, it has great observational humor that often reflects real life.
The Mid-Life Crustacean Episode
That’s also the purpose of Mid-Life Crustacean. The panty-raid joke – which is the main reason the show was banned – is nothing but a harmless scene that ends hilariously. Watching Mr. Krabs going through a mid-life crisis is wholesome and fun; from the simple joke of being out-of-touch with Pearl to walking incredibly slowly indicating his age. It’s a real issue that many go through at a certain point in life. The message of the episode is about how Mr. Krabs still has value in his world, despite not being considered a young adult anymore.
This is not a controversial scene that incites violence, racism, or even much sexual innuendo. If the review board truly felt that this episode was more adult than others, then why not simply give it a TV-14 rating? Or even put a graphic that says this show contains adult humor? The episode ban is just silly because it’s not harmful to kids in any shape or form.
Have times changed so drastically that a 20-year episode of Spongebob is now considered inappropriate for the current generation? Considering that Turning Red is a film that’s literally talking about a girl’s period, the banning of Mid-Life Crustacean seems like an overreaction.
Follow Us
