Spongebob Squarepants: Skin Theory

Alright, let's do this. You are about to watch three short clips from the popular cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants. As you watch, try to find the theme they all have in common. I wonder what's in that secret formula. Clinics that no one would notice. Some people are. even late on Sunday forever yours is really the iron will, really this is your holding state, but even Chip knows that Patrick in the same costume he wore for Halloween last year, who is your friend, but he's supposed to that you must be in a gorilla suit. I'm in the gorilla suit I thought I was doing a pretty good job if you're Patrick so anything stands out let's take a closer look I thought I was doing a pretty good job Patrick could attack it was a little weird that not one nor another two, but all three clips have specific references to fish wearing costumes or some type of

skin

, but this must be a coincidence and these are not even a fraction of the clips you are about to see, welcome, so

skin

theory

. now before we start with a quick overview we will first explain the basics of skin

theory

and define them, then an in depth analysis of a very important moment from the show, then you will see all the skin theory examples that are currently known.

We will then discuss the various interpretations of the skin theory and try to answer some of the biggest questions about what it means and finally look at the creative minds behind SpongeBob SquarePants who might have been involved in creating the skin. The theory, as well as one man in particular who could be responsible for it all, followed by some final thoughts. Now let's get started. Skin theory can be summarized with a basic definition, and for the supporting principles, the basic definition is all of this. You can read the official definition here. but basically what this is all about is just a simple idea and the idea is that within the SpongeBob SquarePants show there are a surprisingly high number of these strange moments where some character takes off their skin or puts on someone else's skin. person or wears fake clothes. body parts or dressing up as different types of fish or revealing human traits beneath their fish-like exterior in simpler terms, that's skin theory, but the key here is that these moments are incredibly common, in fact, more common than any other children's cartoon program and which brings us to the first principle: the skin theory is based on the analog nature of human society compared to what can be observed in Bikini Bottom or, in other In other words, the inconsistency of basic social norms in Bikini Bottom is deeply disturbing, as the second skin theory is not.

Hidden from the SpongeBob SquarePants characters, it is hidden from the viewer, so essentially all of the sea creatures in Bikini Bottom are aware of the use of this skin and recognize it as normal acceptable behavior. The following major skin theory is spread by extratextual forces that mean Skin Theory is not just a strange quirk that formed naturally or accidentally, but was intentionally injected into the show by the writers, producers, and showrunners who They worked on it. They also note that the reference is that Skin Theory is densely concentrated in seasons one through four. but they rarely appear in later seasons and there's an explanation as to why, which we'll get to later anyway.

The fourth major skin theory is a multifaceted work in progress, so there is not just one official interpretation but multiple ones. subtheories that exist, this includes the ritual aspect, the mass psychosis elements, and the disguised human hypothesis and yes, those sound completely crazy, but later in the video we will go into detail about all three. Well, what's next? At this point in the video, you might be thinking that this idea is ridiculous, it's crazy. I would need to see a lot of solid examples before I would even think about believing it and that's good, skepticism is good, but you're about to see those examples after the three clips you saw in the beginning it's just the tip of the iceberg in a couple if you want arms like okay okay let's not get ahead of ourselves before we can really appreciate what's going on here we need to firmly understand the first principle here it is again now this analogy is It's not really something we think about when we watch the show, but it's always there and it is very important.

There are plenty of examples. I can illustrate this point, but one in particular stands out as especially striking, specific, and deeply disturbing. Everyone remembers dying for a cake. It's an all-time classic episode from season two. Personally, I think this is one of the best SpongeBob SquarePants episodes ever written, right up there with the band geeks and chocolate nuts. It has tons of witty dialogue in iconic moments, but you might not even realize it. It also has one of the most disturbing moments in cartoon history, but anyway the scene we're talking about occurs while Squidward is trying to help SpongeBob complete a list of financing activities.

Everyone in town wears a suit. You will wear a salmon-colored suit. So the scene may have seemed a little strange to you when you first saw it, but in reality it should seem downright horrible and here's why SpongeBob SquarePants is a show about fish and underwater creatures. No surprise, but these are not real fish. interpretations of fish and in these particular interpretations they are meant to serve as parallels to humans after all, if it were accurate as to how sea creatures looked and behaved, the show would look this fascinating, so of course Anyway for the show to work the bikini bottom has to be an almost perfect parallel to human society, for example we see things like cell phones on ships and krabby patties and our mind immediately jumps to the real world parallel to which These objects are clearly referred to.

In this case, it is a car and a cell phone. telephone and a hamburger, but the same premise applies to broader concepts about society, as well as, for example, how our society works with a monetary system where people exchange cash and work to earn money, the same goes for bikini bottom and as our society employs a criminal justice system, the same goes for bikini bottom and lastly, our society uses relatable humor as a form of entertainment and so does bikini bottom bikini, for example, if someone does something funny in their bikini bottoms, that same action should be equally funny if it were. happening in human society and from this it also follows that unacceptable behavior in bikini bottoms would be considered unacceptable behavior in human society so far all of this should just be common sense and this is where things get disturbing.

Salmon is a type of fish now for us. Fish are just fish, you know, simple animals that are caught and eaten every day, no big deal, but to the citizens of Bikini Bottom, fish are people, fish are their friends, their neighbors, their family. , fish are literally everywhere you look, so when Squidward puts on this horrible suit. of a salmon, kids aren't just seeing a fun pink costume, they're seeing a complete stranger approach them wearing the bare skin of someone they probably know. I mean, this kid even looks like a salmon, what if he's a salmon? if his whole family is a bunch of salmon, think about how disturbing it would be for him, this costume is not right, it's beyond a disaster to think that Squidward would actually do this, let me put it another way, what would you do if you and your friends One day we were walking in a park minding your own business when suddenly a stranger appears out of nowhere and Oh, what do you know?

He literally wears the loose, severed skin of a naked human being. Are you kidding? What if he tried to talk? For you that's probably why they're throwing stones. It looks like Squidward just murdered someone for real. This is like The Silence of the Lambs, but worse, it's supposed to be a children's show. Oh, but wait, that's not even as bad as it seems because this is. It's not actually what a salmon looks like and I'm not talking about the animation style, I'm talking about the color now. I know most of you have probably eaten salmon before and yes, it's always been this kind of dull pink color, but I really think. about that for a second this is what it looks like on your plate after you've cleaned it, filleted it and cooked it, so on the inside yes, salmon meat is pink, but what about on the outside?

What does king salmon look like? Salmon that is actually alive. Grey. They actually look gray. You must cut the skin before the pink parts start to show, which means that Squidward's salmon suit is not only the naked, horribly deformed representation of a sentient member of the Bikini Bottom Society, it's also supposed to be a salmon that has had all its The outer skin cut from Holy Sh. Hopefully now you're starting to see how some of SpongeBob's most innocuous moments can completely collapse in the blink of an eye, so the salmon suit is a great moment to analyze, but it's just one case and one. .

One example isn't enough to support an entire theory, which is why I've compiled dozens of unique moments, all taken from a variety of episodes you're about to watch, but before that, first keep a few things in mind: all of the The clips you are about to see have been taken from seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 and as you may know, SpongeBob SquarePants is currently in its 12th season, this will be explored later. Second, you're about to see a ton of clips, but there's a good chance even more exist. there that have not yet been discovered. third, the criteria of what makes something, in the case of skin theory, intentionally open, each one will be different from the last and lastly, as you watch, try not to think of these as individual moments that exist on their own, but rather as connected pieces that appear in the context of each other and become more meaningful when considered as a whole, okay, here we go, I can't go anywhere anymore.

My point, so from the beginning we have SpongeBob climbing. in mr. Crab's body and this scene can be fun when seen on their own, but when you watch the episode again with the skin theory in mind, this reference is as easy as it gets, I mean, it literally uses Mr. Crab, but believe it or not, this isn't the only time mr. Mr. Krabs and SpongeBob have switched bodies, sir. Crab, a guy in a suit wants to come in before we open, what guy in a suit, has a card, ra, cheap, sells supplies, which they also do in the episode, Skill Crane, although this time the roles are reversed, a Next we have a moment. that comes from one of SpongeBob's all time classics no sausages allowed I had bull and cloves for breakfast this morning yeah fine any cloves this way sorry for making you wait welcome to the salty spittoon how tough are you ?

The Crack Goes Deeper Come on here, you'll see more examples where a character has parts of their skin ripped off and then reapplied as if nothing happened. If there were only a handful of these strange moments throughout the show, they probably wouldn't be worth mentioning. but as you'll see, there are too many to ignore, for example, SpongeBob, I got fired too. That's exactly why we have to go on strike, you can't treat us like this anymore and another and another, hello. I'm really ugly, but you should enjoy the movie anyway, so how much do you think that woman's face was real?

I wish none of that, because if she were real, then apparently we just watched SpongeBob give a complete stranger third degree burns, that's brutal, no. Monsieur Krabs poets, then SpongeBob rips off all of his skin to reveal another identical looking SpongeBob underneath, so this immediately raises two questions, first why and second, how can we know that this second version of SpongeBob is not in Really just another layer of skin, what if it is? wearing three of those costumes, what if he wears four? What if every time we see SpongeBob he's actually just wearing this costume and he doesn't actually even look like this?

I mean, there could be something underneath that, what are you talking about? about puff you can't fool me you're

spongebob

and that guy who likes chili continues the theme of ripping someone's skin off this scene is actually pretty shocking if you're not familiar with the episode you might be wondering what could have possibly caused that the peaceful lady. blow to act in such a violent manner, well if we rewind the clip a few seconds you'll see exactly why, right, that's why SpongeBob and Patrick literally walked past her moments ago wearing full-body fur suits of guards of prison and howdid SpongeBob SquarePants. and Patrick change his voices so well.

The following example is one of my favorites partly because of how much he made me laugh as a kid and also partly because of how ridiculously absurd it all seems now. I wonder what's in that secret formula from the clinics that no one would do. Look when this show went scooby-doo this is the end of the mystery if it's not our old friend bluestone the breakup seriously this moment is so abrupt and absurd it leaves me dumbfounded I mean I love it I think it's hilarious but it leaves me dumbfounded , let's consider the language he uses here in the clinics, that no one would notice the head enhancement clinic, really the head enhancement clinic, wouldn't it have been easier for him to have just said no to the costume shop or to the mask store for some reason?

The writers decided that it would specifically reference something called a head enhancement clinic, which is apparently a real place that exists somewhere in bikini bottoms and it's crazy, so you're telling me that body modification on the level Surgical is very common for underwater creatures and SpongeBob SquarePants. which they actually have a separate medical clinic totally dedicated to handling it, but it's still not a full body modification clinic, it's specifically a head enhancement clinic, so they only deal with heads, what about all the other parts of the body? This implies that there must also be other clinics that treat things like hands, feet, torsos, etc., and there is evidence of that too.

Just look at this guy again. He has to have visited at least some of those other clinics too because the color of his arms are totally different from his real skin color, they're not even close, so not only the head is fake but also his entire body. How many surgeries do you think this guy has had? How many clinics do you think the bikini bottom has weight? Did you catch that look in this crappy store? Do they really sell severed human noses? I mean, these things aren't even fish noses, they clearly belong to a human being, so why does this store exist and watch how the program only stays on this image for a fraction of a second that's incredibly fast, maybe you'll They show it very quickly because if they linger on it and the public really thinks about what they are seeing, people will start asking questions talking about stores that sell body parts.

Sponge. Bob was able to find a fake tongue that not only looks and feels real, but is apparently functional enough to allow him to speak perfectly. Nice since high school. Squidward, don't be intimidated. Squidward, try to imagine the man in his underwear here. this is what squilliam looks like in his underwear he has a muscular human torso with fingers i was born with glass bones and paper skin every morning i break my legs and every afternoon i break my arms at night i stay awake in agony until I have a heart attack put me to sleep Oh quick let's help him carefully put him down gently poor poor man if there is anything we can do to help you there is one thing yes you can imagine my medical bills are extremely high but fortunately I can continue forward.

I make a living selling chocolate bars, such nice guys, it does my heart good to rip off a couple of class A fools like those two, so here's my first question: if you're going to cover your entire body for this bandage costume, why don't you just use it? real bandages and just wrapping them around your body, that would look a lot more convincing and would probably be a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to find, but no, for some reason, this guy owns a full body suit that includes, among other things. Things work like eyeballs, so there are a lot of absurd moments in SpongeBob SquarePants where the show seems to really dive into the deep end and usually those moments are hilarious, but all fans will agree that one of the most absurd moments of all time. to be the last two minutes of I Had a Accident in Season 3 Towards the end of the episode, Sandy and Patrick came up with a ridiculous and stupid plan somewhere else before luring SpongeBob out of his house by having Patrick pose as a violent gorilla that is your friend. but you're supposed to be in the gorilla suit.

I'm in the gorilla suit. I thought he was doing a good job. If you're Patrick, there are a lot more zipper suits on this show than I remember. Where is each purchase? them and how the gorilla got one that looks exactly like Patrick. I mean, I can understand Patrick's gorilla suit because, hey, even people in humans decide that you want to dress like a gorilla, sometimes there's nothing wrong with that, but Patrick is a full-body Patrick costume. Starr, why does this suit exist? Is there a store somewhere that sells exact replicas of every citizen of Bikini Bottom that anyone can rent whenever they want?

Honestly, that would explain a lot of things. Oh God, and don't even get me started on the real thing. gorilla I can't even imagine how they came up with this idea in the writers room, they convinced a real person to put on a full body gorilla suit and then they filmed him in live action with voice over, you have to be crazy to Even think about these things and the immediate logical question that arises is actually exactly what SpongeBob says next. You know what I don't understand, first of all, what does a gorilla do underwater? I mean, George, it's Aguas, let's get out of here.

Side note: the voice of the gorilla in this episode is actually renowned voice actor Frank Welker, if that name doesn't sound familiar to you, don't worry, you definitely know him, in fact, you already heard his voice in this very video, That's right, Fred, well. I'd say keep an eye on it if it were for the fact that we were warned to stay in our rooms. Frank Welker has been the voice of Fred Jones in almost every animated version of Scooby-Doo since 1969, so the guy who constantly does weird things. disguised monster masks is actually the voice of the disguised monster.

This might be the greatest stroke of irony ever written. Would it be too crazy to think that this could be the writer's way of hinting at the skin theory? Maybe I forgot the gorilla anyway, what does a horse do underwater? Don't be crazy. What if George the Horse's voice actor was also somehow related to the fur theory? That would be cool, but there's no way the writers would have added two incredibly deep ironic references, right? wrong, of course they did, of course they did. George, the horse, is voiced by none other than Dee Bradley Baker, another renowned voice actor who is known, among other things, for playing a particular role in American Dad.

Hey, I have an idea you could give me my brain back. in a human body and I could get a job and earn some money for the family Klaus the talking fish the talking fish are you kidding me first? It's Fred and now it's Klaus in the same scene. How many levels of irony did these writers have when I made this episode for real. This is the kind of thing you have to point out when people say it's just a kids show. There are no double meanings or deep messages. These meta-references are real and were light years ahead of their time.

These writers might as well have done it. They were clinically crazy, they were geniuses and what happens when you combine genius writers with metatextual references and pure madness, the skin theory, your teachings have been transformed, plus the man writes, he takes off his head and leaves, okay, I guess You might get a pass here because you're supposed to be. some kind of mutated supervillain, okay sure, but Patrick is not my crown, something about Patrick in this episode, the entire top section of his head is removed at least twice and then replaced with various non-biological pieces, there is no problem compared to other children's programs of this type.

Many of the moments are unusually frequent, first of all, it's a fantastic pun. Secondly, these moments are strange on their own, but something else to note is how everyone else on the show doesn't flinch when they see things like: squid doesn't happen. They didn't even react, they just had the features removed cleanly from their faces and then reattached them to someone different. Is this something that happens to you regularly? Is this something people do to each other down here? I mean, if everyone wears fur and everyone knows it. everyone else wears fur why not, well it's all your fault, it's all my fault.

I'm a barnacle head, poor lady. Puff, I know I have to get her out, but to get her out of jail we first have to get into jail, how are we going to do that? I can't be the only one who thought those dogs were part of his body, but apparently not, maybe they were. velcro on the back and if you can do that to one of his points, doesn't that mean he will do it to all of them? You mean I'm awake, mr. Krabs splits his entire head in half and then reshapes it several times, just pause for a second and try to imagine this scene happening and almost any other children's cartoon show of the time.

Can you imagine how disgusting it would look if Timmy Turner just ripped his head off? They confront each other in the middle of an episode of Fairly OddParents. That kind of imagery doesn't work, but SpongeBob gets his way. I can explain that this is obviously not that serious an example, but it illustrates something strange that the fish here seem to be. They constantly wear full body suits under their normal clothes, even when they're skiing, that's a little strange, okay ma'am. Puff, it looks like your heat has gone to your head, if you're going to talk to stones, I guess it's time for you to head to the kitchen, oh, so there's a bikini bottom store somewhere that allows People rent various costumes that follow the model. other citizens, where else could SpongeBob and Patrick?

I've gotten these rock costumes that match their individual skin tones perfectly. This is probably also where that conman got his bandaged costume and where that gorilla got his Patrick costume, so you've seen a lot of clips by now, but if you still think these are totally normal everyday coincidences that you'd find on any old TV show , what will it take to convince you that maybe something strange is going on here, maybe these small isolated examples? they just aren't enough and you're looking for something singular and concrete, something solidly connected to the actual plot, that would be nice, but surely there aren't any examples of that, now this is a top-notch episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, it has some A one of the best one-liners and sight gags in SpongeBob SquarePants history, but it also has complicated, nuanced intellectual humor.

As a side note, this isn't the only time Pinhead Patrick appears. There's also this scene from the Doodlebop episode. I'm about to go off on a tangent, so let's get back to the topic of idiot survival. There are a couple of small examples of skin theory in this episode, like this one and this one, but there are some big ones too. The main conflict is quite simple. The unwanted Patrick is trapped inside the tree dome for the winter and they need to find a way to stay warm. Now there are many ways they could have solved this problem.

What did they end up doing? It's true, they decided to pull out all of Sandy's fur. Take off your body and wear it, skin theory, but wait, there's more. Do you remember how the episode really ends? I'm talking about the last 10 seconds or so, the last joke of the episode. True SpongeBob fans will remember this one: She wears them, she actually wears them, it's crazy, why does this show have so many references to fish wearing other fish? Oh, and that wasn't even the final example, by the way, not even close, there are many more and luckily for us, I saved some of the best ones. and the strangest moments last, some people even arrive late on Sunday.

I don't think it's my intention to say anything about this. I mean, just look at it, the more times you see it, the less sense it makes. It says absolutely nothing to do with the plot and even when you consider it on its own it's not even that funny, it's just weird, it's just there. I mean, I guess it's kind of funny mainly because of how random it is, but even then the show just hits you. it comes out of nowhere and then quickly moves on to something else, it doesn't get much weirder than that, oh but it is, it always is.

This whole episode is just weird all around. I remember seeing it sometimes as a kid, but much more rarely than In the other episodes of the first season, I imagine they had something to do with this horrible snail-shaped SpongeBob mess, yeah, that snail monster is pretty disturbing, but that doesn't come close to how disturbing this guy is. I'd be surprised if you even remember him, after all he only appeared for about 30 seconds in the middle of the episode. He's supposedly a pet doctor who comes to SpongeBob's house togive Gary a shot of snail plasma, so you might be wondering what's wrong with that, and we'll see for yourself.

Damn, this is what's wrong with his arms. Is this how the animators chose to draw him? I swear I didn't edit this. His face is clearly purple and for the most part he looks like a normal fish, but for some reason his arms are brown and he has fingers, why did they do this? There is simply no logical reason why this particular fish should be drawn with fingers, unless you consider the skin theory of course, in which case it makes a lot of sense anyway, there is also the question of whether its arms have a completely different color.

By their face I mean they are even close and I'm not a professional animator, but there is no way this can be attributed to a simple coloring error. Either it's a purple fish wearing brown arm guards or it's a brown fish wearing a purple mask, but then again, what if there was a third option? What if then listen to me? What if he's not a fish at all? We'll have to come back to this later, but in the meantime we still have one. More examples are still to come, so at this point you've seen over two dozen clips from different SpongeBob SquarePants episodes spanning four full seasons of the show.

No matter how skeptical you may be, you can't deny that these references are unusually frequent far above the threshold for any other children's cartoon at this point, there's just one more episode I want to watch before we get into the explanations behind the theory. skin and this one is dedicated to the toughest skeptics out there. You might be thinking these examples are strange, but at the end of the day, they're just individual moments and I still need something bigger to convince me, so what would it take? Maybe a full episode where the whole plot revolves or fish in skins, maybe, but then again, there's no episode like it. that there's no way the writers of such a beloved children's cartoon would allow something so devious and subversive to appear on television. in your head you probably know what I'm going to say two words anchor arms are giant inflatable skin like appendages that anyone can wear seriously there's nothing more black and white than that the entire episode literally revolves around

spongebob

wearing skin and pretending to be something it's not and the funny thing is that his trick actually works.

The fish totally believe it, as if these ridiculously huge, colorless arms are somehow realistic. Are they really that stupid? But what if they are actually aware that SpongeBob is using fake arms and they don't say anything because it is very normal for people in this society? See other people dressed in fur and also how their arms grow hair and become veiny. Notice how he never mentions the actual material these things are made of. So what are they made of? What if these things are made of real fur? At this point I wouldn't even be surprised, but wait, let's go back to that TV commercial.

There's something about him that might be stranger than anything you've seen so far. I'll play it all over again so watch it carefully and see if you can find what I'm talking about are you too much of a whip to exercise? to look like this how there are so many things wrong with this transformation I could make a detailed list in fact I think I'm going to be number one his skin color inexplicably changed from dark green to light gray how would Hank make his arms in that second his height and size They are completely different are you telling me the anchor arms straightened his bad posture and added 50 pounds where did those pecs come from and those abs are fake?

If they are, why aren't they the same fleshy color as the anchor's arms in their third third? His eyes seemed to have mysteriously shifted to both sides of his face and his vision is perfect. He now doesn't need glasses. Why do his teeth look like they've been filed? fifth points and this one really scares me, it has fingers Suddenly, where did these hands come from? How many body modifications did this guy have? He forgot about the head enhancement clinic. He must have visited hundreds of different clinics to get all this surgery done. Maybe his whole body is some kind of anchor arms type suit.

Well, I'm almost done, I promise there's only one more instance left on the list and it comes from the same episode. I don't want to disappoint you SpongeBob, but you won't see any progress with the nose, oh seriously, that's what you want arms. Sandy has an incredibly muscular human arm, there's no way you can tell me where he came from. an unshot squirrel that actually looks like it belongs to a bodybuilder, so how did it get there? If we consider the skin theory, the explanation is quite simple. Sandy didn't just lift the sleeve of her wetsuit, she actually rolled up the sleeve. from his squirrel costume Sandy the squirrel is not a squirrel at all After seeing everything you just saw you probably have even more questions than when we started why are there so many cases of fish using the skin of other fish what are these skins? really made costumes of why all bikini bottoms look perfectly fine with these strange moments how many fish are involved in this conspiracy and what the fish really looked like under their hidden layers if fish exist and what kind of a madman would write a children's television show with so many disturbing nuances.

What does this all mean? Well, skin theory is a work in progress, so many of these questions are still being debated right now, but let's talk about three different subtheories that can explain each one. skin theory in a different way, you might find that some of these ideas actually answer more questions than you think, so why do fish in bikini bottoms constantly wear costumes and pretend to be things they are not? Maybe we can answer this question by looking inward and thinking about the various reasons why people wear masks and dress well in human society, the most common reason today is for entertainment purposes, such as putting on plays or for Christmas traditions such as trick-or-treating on Halloween, but for most of human history this was not the case in ancient times and among native tribal communities masks and costumes have traditionally been worn for religious reasons.

Now the exact reasons behind this are wildly diverse and culture-specific, but there are some common themes, one of the most popular being representation. powerful gods or local deities whose spirits are channeled to a physical location and communicate with them in an attempt to gain favor. Note that these rituals are usually dedicated to specific spirits within a localized pantheon, not just generalized deities like Buddha or Jesus, and again there is a lot of variation between many human civilizations, but generally these worship deities are supernatural entities. with specific geographic ties to a place that have specific days on the calendar dedicated to their worship and that possess significant powers to do great good or great evil depending on what happens.

They are supposed to represent masks that have also been used to symbolize deceased relatives, allowing attendees to communicate with loved ones from the afterlife and one more reason why early human culture used ritual costumes was to teach lessons and record the story through choreographed recreations there. There are countless examples of people in ancient Greek or Roman society who would completely change their appearance for these purposes, sometimes transforming into a different gender, a different race, or even a non-human animal, so is it possible that the inhabitants of the Bikini bottoms are actually involved in a lot of complex social rituals.

It's certainly possible, but, again, what kind of rituals are they performing? This sub-theory suggests that it is not the approach of deceased relatives or teaching through the route of history, but rather the practice of worshiping God and you must be thinking that is crazy, there are no Gods at the bottom of the bikini, there is not a single mention of religion or speed anywhere throughout the entire show and you would almost be right, you almost enter the Flying Dutchman, so what exactly is the Flying Dutchman? Let's listen to Mr. Krabs explain it in the season 1 episode, scared pants is the deep end, okay maybe just one little kid every year, the Flying Dutchman descends and bikini bottoms on a pirate ship, he just says that The Flying Dutchman swoops in and starts stealing, says the word you'll never be able to. understand them, so what I'm putting together here is that the Flying Dutchman is a supernatural entity specifically linked to Bikini Bottom who descends upon the city on a spiritually significant night and uses immense otherworldly power to steal the souls of innocent sea creatures. , very interesting.

Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that the Flying Dutchman really is a localized demonic spirit. Our next question would be how human societies have addressed this problem in the past. There are definitely many civilizations to take advantage of, but one example can be found. In Japanese culture, where there are special ceremonies dating back centuries called oneö Shiki, the purpose of which is to expel evil demons, notice how the participants in this ceremony wear complex ritual costumes and masks intended to resemble demonic spirits. Rituals like this were extremely common in many early civilizations throughout prehistory, so why couldn't that be the case in bikini bottoms and notice how several characters, including SpongeBob and Squidward, specifically choose to model their costumes after The Flying Dutchman himself?

The Real Dutchman even says at one point that the reason showed up that night because SpongeBob's Dutch costume was so terrible that he was offended. It makes perfect sense that a supreme spiritual figure like him would be upset by the poor worship services of his followers. In Greek mythology, just as in many other cultures, people would work tirelessly to worship their gods the right way for fear of reprisals. terrible if their worship is considered inadequate. The Dutchman's Wrath could be a perfect example of that. So how credible the ritual aspect is in general, it certainly adds an interesting new dimension to the mix and its anthropological comparisons are fascinating, but considered in the context of all those other examples, it only seems to explain certain cases in very isolated moments, for example. which, all in all, this is not my favorite sub 3, but it is also not the last mass psychogenic illness which is defined as the rapid spread of signs and symptoms of illnesses affecting members of a cohesive group, caused by an alteration of the system nervous, by which the physical complaints that manifest themselves unconsciously do not have a corresponding organic etiology;

In simpler terms, this just means that a large group of people go completely crazy at the same time in the same way and without an actual physical explanation to the letter, this idea is quite attractive because it recognizes the fact that the Examples of skin theory are wildly diverse and instead of trying to find a single common thread that logically connects them and explains why fish use each other's skin, this provides this simple answer that they are just completely crazy. Real-world examples of mass psychosis are fairly rare throughout history, but there have been some documented cases, such as a case in 15th century France, where a convent filled with nuns.

They reportedly began meowing like cats and did not say a word for several days. There was also the Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1969, where more than 1,000 schoolchildren began laughing uncontrollably, which lasted for months; In both cases, no physical cause or logical reason was ever presented. itself, mass psychosis was used to explain the behavior. Is it possible that SpongeBob and his underwater friends have been victims of this strange and dangerous phenomenon? Well, unexplained bouts of complete insanity have been a recurring theme throughout the show's history since the beginning. chocolate chocolate If the fish are so prone to psychotic breaks with reality, why couldn't they have one that prompts them to wear costumes on each other, but for the disease to spread to all the other residents of Bikini Bottom probably would it have been a seriously traumatic event? that acted as a catalyst, so what could have happened that would cause this?

Maybe there was some kind of mutation that spread throughout the population. A neurological disease that affects the mind could have come from any number of things, perhaps an unknown parasite or a failed experiment. terriblywrong, on the other hand, they could also have been affected by severe contamination. Think about how destructive industrial oil spills or radioactive waste can be to local marine life. Finally, there is one more sub-theory that needs to be discussed and it is probably the boldest of all. It is also the most complete explanation of skin theory, meaning it can be used to explain almost every case of skin theory we have discussed so far, and what's more, it can even be used to make sense of other background inconsistencies. that have nothing to do with each other.

It has to do with the skin theory, but it's still plagued this show since episode 1. This is the disguised humans hypothesis. What if Bikini Bottom's sea creatures aren't actually sea creatures? What if they are just humans disguised as fish? I know it sounds. It's crazy, but don't worry because it gets even crazier, you might wonder if all the characters are actually human beings and their costumes, how can they breathe well underwater? Here comes the last piece of the puzzle. They are not underwater. Everything you see is a lie. Now, if this is true, it would completely revolutionize the way we view SpongeBob SquarePants forever, so let's review some evidence.

These are the specific moments that most strongly indicate that some kind of human in a bikini exists, but all the other clips we saw before are also supported, especially considering that we have already observed fish wearing multiple layers at the same time, it is absolutely It's possible that any of them could be doing this, so let's look at the costumed human hypothesis which proposes that all of the SpongeBob characters are big and the little ones are actually just humans and costumes who refer to each other with made-up names and who They act out rehearsed situations for the viewer to observe, so they are not actually encountering real problems, they are simply acting out situations identical to how human actors do. in a scenario they are not actually dealing with the problems of the script, it is their characters that are and that is why there are so many references to fish in costumes and skins, but what about the claim that they are not actually underwater?

It probably seems ridiculous on He's the first to imagine all this action happening on dry land, but when you think about it carefully, that actually answers a lot of questions that have been plaguing viewers for years, like how can there be fire? underwater? This is a funny joke that the show likes. They do and are sometimes quite self-aware, usually they make it a fourth wall for comedic effect but at least it's warm around the fire and that's definitely fun, but isn't it easier to just consider that the fire exists because they? We're on dry land and here's a good one if your bikini bottoms are underwater, why are they all stuck to the ground?

Have you ever noticed that no one swims up? The ocean is a three-dimensional space and in the real world life exists at all levels. Not just limited to the bottom of the sea, this is actually a very troubling question to consider, like why the SpongeBob characters act as if gravity is a factor. Characters should be able to swim up and down whenever they want, so why is everyone inexplicably confined? to the ground again this is easily solved considering it's just people and costumes walking on dry land let's move on and we've probably all wondered about this how can there be a beach underwater this completely defies logic and although there are some semi-official explanations floating around out there , these answers are problematic at best, the most common explanation is that the water in Goo Lagoon has a different density than the water in Bikini Bottom, which is why they separate well in the first place, this does absolutely nothing. to address the hundreds of other cases in SpongeBob SquarePants where liquid can be seen in glasses coming out of hoses and even in swimming pools, and even if Goo Lagoon has a different density, the two bodies of water are too separate and clearly defined to exist in contact with each other there is just no good reason to explain why this beach or any other liquid in Bikini Bottom can exist and look at this, where did this river come from and wait, what is that guy doing?

What are you fishing for? It's a fish. How do you understand this? Well, consider this, what if the sticky lagoon and all the rest of the water you see in the show were made of real water and everything else was just air once again? This makes perfect sense, one more thing to consider, okay, so the program. is based on the idea of ​​sentient sea creatures that understand language, wear clothes and have created a functional society, obviously none of this exists in real life, so viewers are asked to suspend our disbelief for a moment and That's final, there's nothing wrong with following an unusual premise if it means you'll enjoy the show more, but if we apply the disguised human hypothesis, this suspension of disbelief already It's not necessary, there's no need to move on because the show is.

The t sign is generally inaccurate. Fish have human characteristics because they are human beings and it is that simple. Their underwater environment does not obey the natural laws of the ocean because they are not underwater. Honestly, we could go on for hours about all the little inconsistencies. that appear in this show, everyone has noticed them, they just know that almost every logical problem you can find in SpongeBob SquarePants can be solved by applying some facet of skin theory anyway, if the show is made up entirely of human beings disguised as fish, they sure do a good job. job of hiding it right, aside from those few cases we discussed above, you never actually see humans or anything else that positively indicates that humans exist in this world, right wrong, there are actually two characters who have been sitting right underneath under your nose all the time and the fact that they exist is a great argument to support the disguised humans hypothesis.

You have to know who I'm talking about, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, how could we forget about these two? They are literally human beings in disguise. Does it seem like a bit of a coincidence that the only real people we see on this show are wearing costumes? I mean, forget about all the subtle implications and deep medieval insinuations, the show is practically throwing the answer in your face. and challenge you to connect the dots, just think about it, none of the other sea creatures question what two elderly human beings are doing down here and the bikini bottoms just move with it, also consider this, you never see them without their costumes, So. how you never see any of the other characters without their fish costumes in Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy they are constantly playing their roles, they act like something else, they pretend to be something else, they are doing exactly what everyone else is doing and that's it. why no one in the bikini bottom tree has a different origin honestly mermaidman and barnacle might as well be the poster boys for the skin theory.

You couldn't find better evidence if you tried, in conclusion, mermaidman and barnacle aren't actually superheroes, they're just normal people. in costumes pretending to be superheroes, SpongeBob, Patrick Squidward, and literally everyone else in Bikini Bottom aren't actually fish, they're just normal people in costumes pretending to be fish, and finally, SpongeBob's entire underwater setting It's an elaborate illusion and all you see. is actually happening on dry land, everything you know is a lie, so those are the current competing sub-theories, the show could also be using a combination of all three, so you don't need to pick a favorite, but After seeing this you will probably be left with nothing. with a very strange feeling of confusion and a deep longing for the answer to a simple question: why does this exist if the skin theory is true? why would the writers of a children's cartoon voluntarily choose to do this on their own show?

Well, I didn't. I think SpongeBob, so I can't personally answer that we can only interpret what we observe, but we can always speculate and there's a lot to speculate about, so let's take a step back from the show itself and talk about the real world setting where it was born. If you watch the show as a kid, you'll probably agree that the original four seasons of SpongeBob SquarePants were the best; It would take a long time and probably a whole new video to explain why those first seasons were so good, but most people agree that the humor and dialogue undergo a significant tonal shift sometime around season four. .

Some would say the changes had already begun when the fourth season came out, but for the most part these episodes are still pretty solid, perhaps not up to the series' incredible standards. first three seasons, but still not bad, so what is so special about the first four seasons of Spongebob Squarepants and why almost all of the skin theory cases are found during the same four seasons when the show was on your critical point? I can only turn to one man, him, no, not the pirate. I'm talking about him, this mouth and the man to whom this mouth belongs.

Stephen Hillenburg Stephen Hillenburg was the man who created SpongeBob, he was an animator and cartoonist for a long time and before creating SpongeBob at some point. circa 1997 he previously worked with Nickelodeon as creative director of Rocko's Modern Life from 1993 to 1996, another show known for its absurd and risqué humor, but in addition to being a celebrated cartoonist, Hillenburg was also a professor and marine biologist who genuinely loved the ocean. So after coming up with the idea for SpongeBob SquarePants and pitching it to Nickelodeon, he acted as head writer and executive producer on all sixty episodes of seasons 1, 2, and 3.

He also worked on the SpongeBob SquarePants movie, but then decided to leave the show. shortly after. In 2002, after this departure, Hillenburg remained somewhat distant from the show, allowing it to change and grow in different ways under the creative control of his friend Paul Tibbitt, but then in 2014, it was reported that Hillenburg would return to SpongeBob SquarePants in a creative role. for almost a decade. After quitting, this ended up coming true and he worked directly into the production of the second Spongebob Squarepants feature film, Sponge Out of Water, the film was very well received by critics and ultimately made many fans hopeful about what was coming. could SpongeBob's future hold in the meantime if we look.

In the timelines, Hillenburg's tenure in charge of SpongeBob aligns perfectly with the show's golden era from seasons one to three and it follows that his unique creative input could have been the secret ingredient in making SpongeBob SquarePants. So good during those first seasons, coincidentally his departure from the show also marked a sharp decline in the kind of strange cases we've been discussing that almost stopped appearing after the fourth season; There may be occasional references to costumes and masks found throughout seasons 5 to 12, but they are generally much less complex and harder to find, as Stephen Hillenburg is actually responsible for the creation of Skin Theory. and SpongeBob before we can answer that we have to know if he was able to come up with such an elaborate and strange message.

Just look at some of the traits that define SpongeBob's unique style. of humor during those early seasons, the show obviously used a lot of very simple sight gags, but there's also a lot of nuanced humor, as he calls it, and really well-written dialogue, homemade cake, Sherlock guard, oh, these aren't homemade, They were made in a factory, a bomb factory, they are bombs, another delight that defined the show during those first seasons was radical absurdity, sometimes the humor was quite absurd, but other times the show veered wildly off into these incredible tangents of the Kafka-style experimental cinema. and lastly, we all know the adult themes hidden in SpongeBob SquarePants.

Examples of this can be seen through some fairly simple double meanings and casual comments. Why else would we run around in colored underwear? Three good reasons come to mind, but it can also be seen through highly complex extended metaphors that can transform the entire plot of an episode. One of the best examples of this can be seen in the season 1 episode, Karate Choppers, which on the surface appears to be a fairly innocent story of two friends who enjoy practicing martial arts, but when you look at this episode a little closer , actually becomes a very provocative and explicit parable of lust and abstinence.

All thisby simply substituting a few words and recognizing that every reference to karate is actually a clear reference to sex, yeah, leave it. sink for a second, but despite all this, at the end of the day Spongebob Squarepants was a children's show, but the difference was that Hillenburg did not treat his audience as if they were children, he made them complex jokes, he gave them surreal humor truly absurd and constantly pushed the envelope, this man was never afraid to take risks and if his jokes went over the heads of the audience, that makes it even funnier, could it be possible that Hillenburg and his team of writers intentionally created the complex hidden messages ? and references behind the skin theory I can't think of a better candidate in the world, but unfortunately there will never be concrete answers to these questions.

In 2017, Hillenburg was diagnosed with ALS, a neurological disease that affects motor function and muscle control. The news was a shock. and passed away shortly after, in November 2018, Stephen Hillenburg's loss was felt by millions of people around the world who had grown up with his work, for many this show played a more important role than anything else in the development of their sense of humor into what it is today that gave us funny stories, heartfelt moments and genuine happiness, much more than just cable entertainment we could have expected. Stephen Hillenburg was the man to thank for all of this and immediately there was great support and praise for the life of this wonderful man. how momentous and positive an impact it really had, no matter how you judge a program.

SpongeBob SquarePants will always be remembered as one of the best television experiences ever broadcast. It's hilarious, it's quotable, it's relatable, it's emotional, it's profound, it's not a caricature. has ever been able to bridge the gap between youth and adulthood like SpongeBob SquarePants has, and no show is likely to do it again. It's one of the only shows that is just as funny, if not even more so, when you go back and rewatch it as you get older. no, Patrick's mayonnaise is not an instrument, even on the 10th, 20th, and 100th day of watching these episodes, it's still as good as when we tuned in and watched the premiere on Saturday morning, but now the jokes that never We understood why we were too many. youth suddenly becomes one of the greatest moments of all time, small details we've never noticed before can change our perception of an entire episode, and certain characters we looked down on or laughed at as kids They suddenly become identifiable and endearing just like the place. from Bikini Bottom somewhere beneath the waves off the Pacific coast the care and attention that went into this show is incredibly profound a truly great show should never be limited to an official interpretation it should always be questioned reinvented and redefined skin theory is just one of the fantastic ways we can watch spongebob, so if you think this whole theory is ridiculous or maybe if you find it too disturbing, that's fine, you can watch the show however you want, as long as When this video starts conversation or maybe even inspires some older fans to sit down and rewatch their favorite episodes, then I consider it a huge success, so what do you think could really be possible?

And if Pandora's box has finally been opened in the critical analysis of SpongeBob SquarePants, what an incredible theory. could be next, but no matter what new evidence is discovered, SpongeBob SquarePants will always be the best TV show of our generation and nothing will change what