Sleight of Words?

‎”Ooooooh STARING contest! I thought it was a blinking contest and I was losing.” Patrick

Yes I watch Sponge Bob!

As I have already mentioned, I have a fascination with animation. I have now come to realize it is partly because of the taoistic nature of animation. Animation is the essence of living in the moment. But it goes beyond that. Much animation of adults explores philosophy and the nature of reality itself. Anyone who has ever watched a good anime either walks out thinking “WTF!!” or “Never thought of it like that before!”

Duck or Rabbit?

But there is much to see in animation aimed at kids too. Granted some of it is just plain silly and purely meant as a way to keep a short attentions span occupied. But some of them are very cleverly written and actually have educational value, even on a moral level.

Cartoons like Sponge Bob are very deceptive. They seem goofy as hell, and often are also very annoying. At least to the average adult. Yet most kids will love it at some point. But I Have found that it and other cartoons like it are actually often deceptively clever, and what may appear goofy on the surface can have a profound meaning.

Take the phrase above. Silly as it is it hits on a key point on how we as humans view the world. How we interact with the world is solely based on how we perceive it. This is a common them throughout my blogs, partly because it is so important to our very happiness. Patrick was winning a staring contest, yet thought he was losing a blinking contest. How profound is that? With a simple shift of perspective, he went from a loser to a winner in his own eyes!

Young or old?

Maybe the writers just meant it as the silliness it appears on the surface, but I see so many instances of that kind of deceptive depth that I can’t help but wonder if there is intent behind it!

So next time you think something is just silly, maybe take a deeper look. Even if there is no intent other than silliness, there may still be lessons to learn…