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Beyond Tiki, Bilge, and Test / Beyond Tiki / Turns out, SpongeBob SquarePants is racist against Pacific Islanders

Post #798105 by creativenative on Wed, Oct 16, 2019 3:30 PM

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"SpongeBob’s presence on Bikini Bottom continues the violent and racist expulsion of Indigenous peoples from their lands (and in this case their cosmos) that enables U.S. hegemonic powers to extend their military and colonial interests in the postwar era,”

“We should be uncomfortable with a hamburger-loving American community’s occupation of Bikini’s lagoon and the ways that it erodes every aspect of sovereignty.”

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. How did this article get published? Where to begin... Yes, there were violent and racist expulsions of indigenous Pacific Islanders and yes there are still colonial and military powers acting on Pacific Islands. BUT I DON'T SEE ANY OF THAT IN "SPONGE BOB"! Does anybody see that! Like Kaiwaza said, these creature/characters are as much native to the Pacific as any human. THERE IS NO OCCUPATION! Occupation denotes an outside force BUT THESE ARE LOCALS - NATIVE BORN BEFORE WHITE MAN SO-CALLED DISCOVERED THE PACIFIC. Leave the little ocean creatures alone - should I call PETA on you. Besides the creatures of Bikini bottom had no options, they weren't moved - just nuked - dead.

Ok, there is some Western economic activity down on the bottom and labor exploitation (don't know if she covers that aspect in the full article) but the exploiting ISN'T RACE BASED! And do your research those are not hamburgers (a symbol of America) but Krabby Patties. An indigenous food (crab meat) found though out the Pacific. I know she was desperately trying to tie the two together - America and the Bikini bottom.

I have got to admit there are some misrepresentation with the Pineapple (from Southeast Asia) and Moai (from over 6,000 miles in another part of the Pacific}, but what's wrong with Aloha shirts! A fashion "export" of Hawai'i that helps it's economy. I wear them all the time, and so does Chip (or is it Dale), Woody, Shaggy, my favorite, Archer and many other real life Americans.......oh ya, this isn't real life it's just a CARTOON! As a Pacific Islander internally and eternally saddened by the occupation of my ancestor's islands by outsiders, I have a better say about this then any outsider who wants to see his or her name on print.

I figure, like many others, and the author admits this, that original intent of the writers of Sponge Bob were not out to colonized the Bikini Islands. So leave them alone. They just thought of a clever way to use the term bikini bottom as a location. I admit I had apprehension when I first turned on the TV for my kids to watch Sponge Bob of the Bikini Bottom, thinking of all the Bikini Islanders who lost their islands and where displaced. Good time to have a teaching moment with the kids. THAT'S ALL THIS AUTHOR HAD TO SAY! STOP WITH THE B.S.!

Boy, I am having fun with this. Check out the Pics below:

P.S. Look what was just announced the other day: https://wdwnt.com/2019/10/photos-new-chip-n-dale-rescue-rangers-hawaiian-shirt-surfs-into-disney-parks/

[ Edited by: creativenative 2019-10-16 16:06 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2019-10-17 00:22 ]