The best season of a TV show is often season 1, and as true SpongeBob fans know, there's no substitute for season 1. Before bento, before movies, before relentless intellectual property exploitation, there were simple comics, and in that simplicity, the simple yet vast wisdom of timeless fables was often found. .
Of course, in times like these, the timeless is especially timely. Technology has radically distorted our experience of given chronology, scrambling and obfuscating heritage expectations about lifespans, generations, family formation, commuting, seasons, and more.
But, as SpongeBob reminds us, we will not become gods, but strange mutants unfit for either the mortal world or the divine world. That task falls to us mere mortals. I have another idea …in a far more humble way than later human temptations would allow. Just continue living your life as a human being. However, in a way that ensures that the Spirit of Heaven can and does move within and among us.
Nostalgia, future-mindedness, and the “in-the-moment” compete for our loyalty and attention, and our imaginations are at risk of the possibility that our collective technological transformation may make us seem more or less human. I am groaning with a mixture of hope and fear.
So “SpongeBob SquarePants” Season 1, Episode 19b, affectionately known as “Neptune's Spatula.” For beginners, check out the Fandom site Encyclopedia SpongeBobia provide Background overview.
SpongeBob and his trusty starfish sidekick Patrick visit the Fry Cook Museum and discover an exhibit called Excalibur. “Many have tried to pull this spatula out of this ancient oil, but all have failed. Only a fly cook worthy of King Neptune himself can handle this spatula.” Golden Spatula. ” Naturally, SpongeBob accidentally pulls out the spatula, and soon Neptune appears and challenges the hapless hero to the ultimate burger race. Victory is sacred to SpongeBob, and his beloved fry-cooking profession is abandoned forever.
“King Neptune wins the challenge by making 1,000 Krabby Patties in the time it takes SpongeBob to make just one,” the synopsis repeats. “But when Neptune shares his patty with the audience, they say it tastes awful. Neptune is furious at this and asks why he thinks SpongeBob is better. He He tastes SpongeBob's Krabby Patty and thinks it's delicious… SpongeBob is declared the winner, but when he learns that his friends can't come with him, he tearfully decides to go to Atlantis. He refuses, and instead arranges for King Neptune to become a trainee under SpongeBob at the Krusty Krab, where he teaches SpongeBob that “Perfect patties are made with love, not magic.'' Masu.”
And as Arthur C. Clarke asserted in his book Profile of the Future: Exploring the Limits of the Possible as the third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Or, as Joseph Heller famously wrote in “Catch-22,” “The soul is gone, and man is trash.” All the technology in the world cannot replace love, whether it's making burgers, feeding others, or living life.
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But wait, that's not all. Fan site summaries leave out the most important parts: the prospect of his transformation into a god and the drama of SpongeBob's showdown.
What we can do for this is resort Go to episode transcript.
spongebob: So, uh, what do you think?
King Neptune: You are better. therefore, [bows to SpongeBob] … I admit, SpongeBob, you win.
[The crowd cheers]
SpongeBob and Patrick: Yeah! [both dancing] Let's go to Atlantis! Let's go to Atlantis!
King Neptune: [laughs]
spongebob: What's so funny?
King Neptune: You, SpongeBob. That damn thing in my palace?
spongebob: Does that mean Patrick can't come?
King Neptune: [laughs] No, of course not.
spongebob: And what about my friends?
King Neptune: Ah, the only friend you need is Royal Grill.
Patrick: [crying and wiping his tears with a tissue] Nice to meet you, buddy!
[…]
King Neptune: [luggage appears next to SpongeBob] Come on, SpongeBob, get your stuff! It's time to leave… [a two-seater bike appears] …to Atlantis! [rings bell and pats SpongeBob’s seat]
spongebob: I…I… [cries] I don't want to go!
King Neptune: It's already too late. Can't live without your burger! [grows giant] You too can become a god!
[King Neptune zaps SpongeBob and he becomes a muscular god. But being the same size, he looks a little strange]
King Neptune: Maybe there is a problem.
spongebob: [in a booming voice] Wait, Neptune! I have another idea!
Oh, there it is. It's too late…I can't live without your burger. …I'll become a god and love it!
With such economic power, few others can capture the forced divinization of a technological demon — or rather, of “Neptune.” There's no time left to escape. In 2009, legendary futurist Stewart Brand posted on the website of the agency that brought Jeffrey Epstein into the tech community, recalling: Well, be good. Photos of Earth seen from space have a god-like perspective. What I'm trying to say now is that we are gods and we should get on with it. ”
Now, 15 years later, propaganda is pressuring us to believe it's already too late do not have Becoming a posthuman god is harder than ever to escape or even ignore. But, as SpongeBob reminds us, instead of being God, let us be like: Things are a little strange — In other words, we become strange mutants unfit for either the mortal world or the divine world. we have a problem. That task falls to us mere mortals. I have another idea …in a far more humble way than later human temptations would allow. Just continue living your life as a human being. However, in a way that ensures that the Spirit of Heaven can and does move within and among us. If we lose that, we lose everything—except our responsibility for becoming the monsters we become.
Thank you, SpongeBob!
