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January 24, 2005
Spongebob: Who's Your Daddy?
Dobson is the target and there's not much he can do about that. He wants to be more people's daddy than he deserves.
First of all, let me say for the record that of all the characters I've exposed my kids to, Spongebob is one of the most benign and uplifting. If there is any danger in SpongeBob Squarepants, it's that his sunny optimism, guileless demeanor and ready trustworthiness are too disarming in a world of sharks and monsters. But darn it, he's funny and I like him. If I had the wherewithal, I'd be licensing the recipe from Nickelodeon and opening Krusty Krab Restaurants to dot the landscape. In some ways, the world cannot get enough Spongebob. He radiates innocent goodness like no other character in an American child's mediasphere. Only Steve, from Blues Clues, comes close.
For Dobson to [mis]interpret Spongebob for some perverted purpose is one of two errors. The first is the direct error, the more innocent of the two. It's just a simply misinterpretation - like foreign journalists taking a story in The Onion seriously. But it's more likely the second type of error, which is that of overreach.
There is are several reasons, I think, for Dobson's overreach. The first, which should never be disregarded, is that he's greedy. He wants more influence and he will compete with everyone to get it. He's found the answers in his own life and he's convinced that everyone should be happy just like him. Groupthink, and he's the leader of the group.
The second is the Dobson does have real enemies behind the moral decline of pop culture. There's no denying all the porno out there, and there's no evading the fact that somebody has got to fight it. There are a lot of people in the 'arts' who are simply there for the money, and I think the death of Johnny Carson gives us the kind of contrast which is necessary at times like this. There are more late night TV shows in his mold than ever, and I'm sure they make more money than ever. But none of them have the genuine decency that Carson possessed, and there is no way today's system could nurture another like Carson. Instead we have a cigar chomping insult sock pupped dog named Triumph. The triumph of what?
The third reason is the one that concerns me the most, and that is the abdication of critical reasoning by the millions who focus on Focus on the Family and all other fonts of correctness. Of all the basic things on the planet we humans do, one would think that we would need no assistance in raising our own children. This whole industry of second-guessing parents 'for the sake of the children' has infantalized our entire society. Everybody wants to be family in the narrow mold, everybody wants their lover to be a Married Spouse, even if that person is of one gender in the daytime and another at night. Everybody is looking for a new Daddy to approve of their studied indecision. Understand that Nile Rodgers and the tolerance crew are playing the same game. Why do we need institutions (that pop up out of nowhere every damned week) to tell us the right way to think about each other? Because people won't make up their own minds and be responsible for their own choices. There's a lot of blame to go around here, and the result is social confusion. Enter Dobson, and see reason number one.
Dobson's Focus on the Family is a necessary part of a complete and balanced society. But like Cheerios, you don't eat it for every meal. Just because it's good for you doesn't mean that too much isn't bad for you. This is too much.
Posted by mbowen at January 24, 2005 10:51 AM
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� COBB COMMENTARY - Spongebob: Who's Your Daddy? from Booker Rising
The moderate-conservative Republican discusses the conservative uproar over the cartoon character's 'gay' persona. He argues that James Dobson wants to be more people's daddy than he deserves: "Why do we need institutions (that pop up out of nowhere ... [Read More]
Tracked on January 24, 2005 03:30 PM
Comments
Cobb, now that will PREACH! (Ambra tm)
Posted by: EBrown at January 24, 2005 05:19 PM
I appreciate your thorough analysis of this misinterpretation by Dr. Dobson. The extra spice included in the "Married Spouse" comment assuming the reversal of gender roles seemed a bit much to me, though.
It seems that these same, particularly Christian organizations forget the lesson of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Though the tree was warned against, it was never removed from the garden. Similarly, we live in a society of choices--some we make and some made for us. Through learning the cause and effect of both types of choices, we learn that in order to fight society's "ills", we are fighting with ourselves.
I fear, however, that this mode of pronounced self-awareness would not lead to the perception of empowerment needed to make these organizations thrive. So, we target cartoon characters in lieu of political ones, as if blindfolded in a fresh game of "pin the tail on the money".
Posted by: JW Richard at January 24, 2005 10:59 PM
I always found anyone who tried to compete against Carson were pretenders and not that satisfying by comparison. It would be interesting to see how it would play out if a young Johnny Carson stepped into late night in 2005 against Leno and Letterman.
but given that I also like Triumph, maybe Carson was the man of his time, and for that reason couldn't be the man of this time.
Posted by: brad at January 26, 2005 09:31 PM