Research+From+Sarah+Banet-Weiser



Is Nick Appropriate for Children?

From the excerpt of Sarah Banet-Weiser's book, Kids Rule, of pages 178-182 Banet-Weiser talks about Nicks appropriateness in shows for children such as Spongebob Squarepants. She makes comments like the Spongebob merchandise is mostly appropriate in some senses, having children's lunch boxes, key chains, kids clothing, school supplies and many more age appropriate items. However they also bring non-appropriate items to the table for this so called "children's show". They have Spongebob thong underwear, mens boxers, and items like Spongebob NudiePants and Spongebob PartyPants. If Spongebob is an exclusive children's television show, which the creator claims it is, what is the need for these inappropriate items for children? Spongebob had recently had a new movie come out that included many scenes that had hidden adult humor, such as David Hasselhoff Bay-watch character. Obviously children would not understand this connection, so it can be seen that this movie is and can be intended for a more mature 18-34 year old audience. Spongebob is clearly not just for children. Spongebobs creator insists that this show is intended for children ages 2-10, however Nielsen media research has shown that the audience for the recent movie had 22% between the ages 18-49. This adult following of spongebob calls many elements of children's media into question. Not only their content, but Nick's animation style is used mostly for the use of parody and irony, that children may not understand fully. These same techniques are seen in iCarly in many instances. Many inappropriate topics are seen in iCarly in forms of stereotyping and negative representation.

Banet-Weiser, S. (2007). //Kids rule!: Nickelodeon and consumer citizenship//. Durham: Duke University Press. Back To Home