SpongeBob Squarepants is one of the most beloved kid’s shows of all time. It debuted on Nickelodeon in 1999 and, after nearly two decades on the air, remains incredibly popular. Which explains how the absorbent yellow sponge could still be at the center of a heated Twitter debate, one that started recently when writer and comedian Celeste Yim asked a simple question: Is SpongeBob a sea sponge or a dish sponge?
I have only just discovered that Spongebob is a sea sponge? I thought he was maybe a regular sponge with an eclectic lifestyle, like a white man living in Southeast Asia ✌️
— Celeste Yim (@celestrogen) May 22, 2018
Apparently, Yim had “only just discovered” that SpongeBob was a sea sponge instead of a dish sponge and threw it out there for the sake of conversation. Some of Yim’s friends, however, were quick to mock her for thinking a dish sponge could breathe underwater, ignoring the fact that he can also talk and dance and sing and even eat his own arms.
my friends were mocking me like "HOW DID U THINK HE COULD BREATHE UNDERWATER"
I was like hmmmm I dunno I guess I figured he's a cartoon sponge? Fuck
— Celeste Yim (@celestrogen) May 22, 2018
But other Twitter users began speaking out in favor of SpongeBob as a dish sponge, with one person pointing out the fact that when SpongeBob is on dry land, he clearly resembles a sponge one might use to wash their dishes.
But this is Spongebob and Patrick on land… pic.twitter.com/qx79PcyIQT
— LaToya Ferguson (@lafergs) May 22, 2018
Another person on the dish sponge side of the debate offered up a pretty compelling theory about how a kitchen sponge ended up living in a pineapple under the sea.
working theory is dish spongebob and his pineapple were tossed from the same kitchen and he’s making the best of it as ocean pollution
— Jill Krajewski (@JillKrajewski) May 22, 2018
At this point, Yim began to question the validity of the sea-sponge truthers who were starting to come out in full, offering up their own compelling arguments for why Spongebob is a natural sea creature instead of a kitchen utensil.
Exhibit A: Filter Feeding
Exhibit B: Reproduction Via Budding
Exhibit C: Regeneration pic.twitter.com/lyHK0q9K83— Amar Risbud (@bummer_no_b) May 22, 2018
And pretty soon people were going deep into the DVD commentary to try and find the answer to this haunting question.
Hot takes coming out the oven!
Sea sponge apologists:
– supposedly a DVD commentary corroborates the "dish sponge > lumpy sea sponge" cartoon theoryDish sponge believers:
– his form as a dish sponge is a commentary on a "land dwellers gaze"Misc:
– is Spongebob a tampon? pic.twitter.com/slA5DrVusd— Celeste Yim (@celestrogen) May 22, 2018
Eventually, Yim decided to let the world decide by putting out a poll, where sea spongers proved no match for the dish-sponge apologists.
PLEASE VOTE. Spongebob Squarepants™️ is a …
— Celeste Yim (@celestrogen) May 22, 2018
But while Twitter may have given its final word on Spongebob’s true form, the debate will likely rage on until we get a definitive answer, ideally from Stephen Hillenburg, the show’s creator.
