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My blog post is going to be that of the episode of the popular children's TV show Spongebob Squarepants called Squid on Strike. I will explain how the concepts of social inequality and Marx and Social Class apply to this episode. I feel as though this episode best represents these ideas as there is a lot of parallels (or shall I say parodies) between this episode and real historical events, such as the Red October of 1917.

Spongebob Squarepants is a TV show about the underwater adventures of the titular character Spongebob and his friends. One of Spongebob's, along with his neighbor Squidward's, roles in this show is that they are employees at the Krusty Krab restaurant, founded by their boss Mr. Krabs.

One of the most prominent and recurring themes in this show is the extreme cheapness and money hunger that Mr. Krabs exhibits, this is exemplified when he sold Spongebob to the Flying Dutchman for 62 cents, or when Spongebob first started working there he made Spongebob PAY HIM. He has also threatened to chop off a man’s arm for attempting to take a PENNY found on the floor.

This greediness boils over in the episode squid on strike where Squidward comments on how Mr. Krabs barely pays him and Spongebob and then receives a bill thinking it would be his paycheck, only to find out it’s a bill that he has to pay to Mr. Krabs. For Squidward, this is the final straw and prompts Squidward to go on strike for better wages, with Spongebob following behind.

When it comes to Marxist theory, Mr. Krabs represents the bourgeoisie, the rich/ruling class who own land/businesses and the raw materials (ingredients for Krabby Patties) and holds the power, while Spongebob and Squidward represent the proletariat, the workers who help turn the raw materials into goods (Krabby Patties. The quality of life and working/living conditions is often ignored by the bourgeoisie.

During the episode Squidward holds a protest outside the Krusty Krab and attempts to rally people to his cause. This scene is somewhat reminiscent of Vladimir Lenin during the October Revolution of 1917. Squidward is very charismatic and passionate and the crowd of people (along with Spongebob) cheer and support him, despite not having any clue about what he’s talking about. This is also reminiscent of the October revolution in which its orchestrators preyed on the naiveté of the proletarian masses and convinced them of a better, more prosperous future.

Towards the end of the episode Squidward convinces Spongebob to “restore the working man to his rightful glory! Dismantle the establishment board by board! Saw the tables of tyranny in half! Gnaw at the ankles of big business”. Squidward means this in a figurative sense, however, Spongebob takes it literally and destroys the Krusty Krab in the process.

At the end of the episode we see that Spongebob and Squidward get to keep their job forever, albeit to pay for the destruction they did to the Krusty Krab. This puts them in a worse situation than what they started with, to begin with, now basically being slaves to Mr. Krabs. This parallels the various communist revolutions throughout the 20th century where citizens faced worse conditions and quality of life after the revolution than before it. I believe the message of this episode is that movements with good intentions can have disastrous results, especially when lead by people who don't know what they're doing. Squidward's goal was to get better wages for him and Spongebob, a fine goal that was sabotaged upon the destruction of the Krusty Krab, which led to even worse working conditions than at the beginning of the episode.