Something About 'SpongeBob' Whispers 'Gay' to Many Men

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 8, 2002 | SALLY BEATTY

[gcruse]

He lives in a pineapple under the sea, in a town called Bikini Bottom. His best friend is an exuberant pink starfish named Patrick. His name is SpongeBob SquarePants, the absorbent yellow star of the most highly rated kids show on TV.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

In the couple of years I knew him he let me in on the fact that every male is actually secretly gay.

The term is "projection". This guy was into it big-time to justify to himself his own identity.

http://www.xrefer.com/entry/513425

projection (psychology)

The process of attributing one's own qualities to other people or things. In psychoanalysis this is a defence mechanism; people may cope with their own emotions by believing that other people have them. In projective tests, such as the Rorschach test, a person's character is assessed from his descriptions of ambiguous objects.

The Macmillan Encyclopedia 2001, © Market House Books Ltd 2000

BTW, from the link for "defense mechanism" is the following statement:

Defence mechanisms are a part of normal life, but if they become excessively strong they can distort the development of personality and even give rise to symptoms of neurosis.

Sounds like your friend, huh?!

[seeker41]

ROTFLMBO, thats priceless.

[ArneFufkin]

That animated guy could be Brian Bosworth, only he's a far better actor.

[dead]

If loving Spongebob is wrong, I don't want to be right.

[southern rock]

He's Johnny Bravo. The FUNNIEST cartoon on Nickelodeon!

[RckyRaCoCo]

I knew it!

LOL!

[Hildy]

Then check this out...who would've thought?

[ArneFufkin]

It sounds cute and lively. PBS should split-screen SpongeBob and a Jim Lehrer/Fred Luntz droneathon. SpongeBob would look like Michael Johnson racing Gerry Nadler.

[asneditor]

It's kinda funny how folks seem to find "gay" in so many things. Makes you wonder if the guy who wrote this might be a little fruity.
Brings an old wise saying to mind:
"Thou protesteth too much"

[clamboat]

The greatest philosopher of our times is Bugs Bunny. Next to him, the rest are but maroons!;)

And what's up with Porky Pig?? He runs around with no pants on, and nobody says ANYTHING?
Riiiiiight.

[dead]

There must be tens of thousands of names you could choose to identify yourselves with--noble names, good names, perhaps your own names. But I have noticed that a substantial subset of libertarians adopt names like "DarkLordViciousCrapNoodle" or "GreenGrinningHorkPhlegm." Why?

I always thought you could have shown a little more creativity in selecting a screen name. Considering your crusading nature, I would have suggested “Curry Nation.”

BTW, I earned my nickname as a fraternity pledge in college, in case you’re wondering, but if Spongebob were around when I signed up for FR, I would have chosen “Plankton.”

[goodieD]

If grownups can find a cartoon to make em laugh..good deal. I'm sure people find some of the stuff I watch less than enjoyable. I agree with your post.

[SGCOS]

Sponge Bob Square Pants rules!

[SunnyUsa]

"BTW, I earned my nickname as a fraternity pledge in college..."

"dead" as in the hazing brothers left you for?

PS: ROFL on your love for spongebob!

[dead]

Is Spongebob more or less gay than Mr. Rogers?

I can unequivocally say that Spongebob does not have any young boys buried under his porch.

Mr. Rogers, I don’t know about.

[dead]

Actually, I was a bit of a wiseass, and was always mocking the fraternity brothers (which the pledges aren't supposed to do.) They would repeatedly say to me "You're dead, maggot!" to the point where they finally decided that that should be my nickname. It has stuck and, 16 years after graduation, I am still called "dead" by everybody I knew in college.

[Ms. AntiFeminazi]

Excellent post.

[ArneFufkin]

Dude, I think we've all figured out that you could give a rat's patootie about any of this ;)

Actually, this interests me more than the rote "Invasion of Mexican Immigrants" whineathon playing on a thread near you.

The business of children's programming and entertainment fascinates me. "Big" took on a big chunk of the dynamic, and it's fun to ponder. Adults meeting daily to discuss the final artist's design for the "piggie" on the "Littlest Farmhand" playschool noisemaker. "We wanted a healthfully plump pig, but not a fat pig that would induce any children to revisit some negative body image ..." "What do the focus groups say about the pig ..."

[ArneFufkin]

He runs around with no pants on, and nobody says ANYTHING? Riiiiiight.

It works for Ted Kennedy.

[general_re]

I dunno - I'm as cynical as the next guy, but I don't really get the impression that it's designed by committee. Anyone who's been around kids for the last ten years or so will have noticed the explosion of "cartoons" that are basically thinly-veiled half-hour commercials for the line of toys that mysteriously showed up in stores a week or two before the first episode, but I don't think that's the case here. Anyway, see for yourself - IIRC, it's on at 10 AM ET on Saturdays ;)