Spongebob Not-So-SquarePants

[Torque Junkie]

SpongeBob not too square

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65225,00.html

 

NEW YORK — SpongeBob SquarePants, one of Nickelodeon's most popular characters, has been outed as a gay icon.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that, while the underwater-dwelling cartoon sponge was never created to be a homosexual character, SpongeBob can now be found far from his hometown of Bikini Bottom in tchotchke-selling, gay-themed stores across the country and on the television sets of gay hipsters who tune into him regularly.

 

"There is this innocence," New York clothing designer Alex Fung told the newspaper. "He's not very masculine for a male character. He's soft."

 

When SpongeBob's creator, Stephen Hillenburg, and voice actor, Tom Kenny, are interviewed for television talk shows or newspaper stories, they're regularly asked to weigh in on their character's sexuality. Hillenburg adamantly denies that SpongeBob was intended to be gay.

 

But fans point to SpongeBob's characteristics as a telltale sign of his homosexuality: Flamboyant, defiantly cheery, emotional, gregarious and sometimes breaking out in song with his male companion Patrick and muscular female friend Sandy Squirrel.

 

"I've had to reorder this more times than I can count," Manhattan novelty-store owner Roger Roth said of a SpongeBob doll that sings out, "Go self!"

 

SpongeBob SquarePants also features relationships that seem to strike a chord with gays. Jot McCloud, a retail consultant, compared the attitude of SpongeBob's boss toward the little yellow sponge, as similar to that of some straight people with obviously gay men.

 

"(Mr. Krabs has this attitude) around SpongeBob because SpongeBob's so flamboyant and outgoing," McCloud told the newspaper. "Like a straight person who for whatever reason is thrown into a situation where they are around a gay person and they don't have that comfort level."

 

And if being unapologetically square is a sure ticket to being a gay icon, SpongeBob -- he is called SquarePants, after all -- may continue to become the biggest gay icon since Barbra Streisand.

 

SpongeBob is only the latest of a series of children's characters who some have read as homosexual or have been adopted by the gay community including Velma from Scooby-Doo, Peanuts' Peppermint Patty, the Powerpuff Girls, the Teletubbies, Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie.

 

But SpongeBob is at the height of his popularity, easily Nickelodeon's most-watched show. The program was designed to appeal to kids between 2 and 11 years old, yet 22 percent of the show's regular audience is between 18 and 49, according to Nielsen Media Research.

 

And some of the $500 million of SpongeBob merchandise is clearly intended for an adult audience; besides the usual plush dolls, key chains and lunchboxes, items include Bikini Bottom thongs.

 

Questions about SpongeBob's sexuality may soon fade. The expiration of Hillenburg's contract means no more new shows will appear after this year. A film version, however, is scheduled to appear in 2004.

 

 

[chevy4x4trucks]

*all eyes point to Tom*

 

Hey, wasn't tom sporting the sponge bob square pants for his "buddy" icon before

 

Just messing w/ ya tom  

[bowtie_pasta]

That's so lame.  My daughter watches that show and so do I.  So what if the gays like it, I don't care.

[MountaineerTom]

#### yeah, I watch it all the time.  :thumb:   I've never thought of anything being gay about it though.  It's just a cartoon.  Funny as #### too.  

 

[nonstop]

Hey Tom, Me too.

my daughter watches it, and I didn't think it was gay.

like you said it is funny.

D@## f#gs. (not that theres anything wrong with that) are everywhere.

[ekonk]

I don't see why someone has to make this into a "gay" thing.  It's a cartoon.  There's no sexuality involved whatsoever.  It's just a good show.  I hate stupid people.

[Guest Friz]

I really wish that my life was so full of boredom and nothingness that I spent my time trying to figure out if a friggin' cartoon about a sponge was aimed at gay people. What losers.

[Elwood]

 

Spongebob rules!!   :thumb:

[General Lee 01]

Boy, am I glad I'm not Jerry Falwell's kid.  

 

 

It's a wonder nobody ever said anything about CatDog (another poppular Nickelodeon cartoon), or Ren and Stimpy (that one used to be my favorite).

 

 

Uh-Oh! Sessame Street called, Bert & Ernie are coming out of the closet!  

[hogger999]

:angry:

Give me a F'n break !

[RyanbabZ71]

:angry:

 

Next itll be Bob the builder.  

 

This is getting ridiiculous!!!

[melbertbloosfan]

Spongebob is the best (along with Dexter and Courage the Cowardly dog) !!!  I have a 2 yr old ( actually will be two on Sunday) and a 3 and a half year old and we watch a looooooot of toons.  I could care less if SBSP is gay - it sure as #### beats watching that tubbies crap.    

   Maybe SpongeBob could have a fling with Mrs Puff, his driving instructor.  We all know Bob the Builder and Wendy are a hot item, so why not give SpongeBob some luvin?

[CMNTMXR81]

I was gonna post this after I read it in the journal on Wednesday but I knew Tom had it in his Avatar so I didn't want to have any unneccesary correlations invoked.  

 

I knew he was gay from the start!  When he first came out I was scrolling through the dial and I see this show "Spongebob, Squarepants" and I'm thinking....WTF!!  So I watched it.  Within two minutes I concluded  GAY CENTRAL!!  

[silverado man]

I was gonna post this after I read it in the journal on Wednesday but I knew Tom had it in his Avatar so I didn't want to have any unneccesary correlations invoked.  

 

I knew he was gay from the start!  When he first came out I was scrolling through the dial and I see this show "Spongebob, Squarepants" and I'm thinking....WTF!!  So I watched it.  Within two minutes I concluded  GAY CENTRAL!!  

So that mean Tom and everyone else that likes him is gay right.      

[CMNTMXR81]

Go re-read my first paragraph.

 

I stated I didn't post it because I DIDN'T want to link the fact that Tom used it in his Avatar and the potential gay issue of this cartoon charactor.

 

I'm well aware that Tom isn't!

 

To sum it up;

Is Tom gay = NO

Is Spongebob Squarepants gay = YES!