Work Title: SpongeBob Squarepants
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: Enemy In-Law
Year: 2005
Writer(s): Stephen Hillenburg
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s): Paul Tibbit
"Original" Writer: No Own work?: No
Summary:

Sheldon Plankton, the villain of the program, is married to a computer with human characteristics named "Karen." After getting into an argument with Karen, Plankton decides to end his marriage by turning the computer off. He then falls in love with Mr. Krabs's, his nemesis, mother and tries to marry her in order to get Mr. Krabs's secret formula to the famous Krabby Patty.

  • Self-Written?: 1
  • Source Name:
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: present_day
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Takes place under water, character are anthropomorphic sea creatures

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Waterproof Supercomputer
  • Description of the technology: The waterproof supercomputer in this episode of SpongeBob Squarepants is a computer which mimics human speech. The computer is a character in the show named Karen and she is the wife of Sheldon Plankton. Karen is portrayed in this episode as a desktop monitor but she often appears in other episodes as a computer monitor on wheels with the ability to control where she moves. This is another human characteristic she possesses in addition to speech.
  • Nature of task or activity: Plankton uses Karen the computer to replace the role of a human wife. He speaks to her and treats her as if she were a human companion.
  • Performance of the Technology: Karen performs as she was intended and successfully fulfills the role of the wife.
  • Description of creator(s): The creator is Plankton, a small sea organism. He is a middle-aged owner of a failing business. He is generally unpleasant and does not seem to have any friends or companions other than his computer wife.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): The goal of the creator was to create a piece of technology to fill the role of his wife.
  • Description of users of technology: The only user of the computer is the creator, Plankton.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: The user has conversations with the computer. In this specific episode the conversation involves emotion, which is uncharacteristic of a computer, and the user has a verbal argument with the computer. This is a display of verbal communication that may occur between two married human individuals.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: At first the user seems to forget the awareness of technology as he talks to the computer as if it were human. Later, when the user gets in an argument with his computer wife he remembers she has an off button because she is a piece of technology, not a human.
  • Valence of experience: The experience was unpleasant as the user and his computer wife were in an argument.
  • Specific responses: A parasocial relationship is apparent as Plankton converses with the computer as if she were human.
Long-term consequences:

It is never addressed in the episode whether Plankton turns the computer back on. In later episodes, Karen appears and is still Plankton's wife so there were no negative consequences. The stories ending is neutral.

Other:

Coder name: Alexandra Hall
Coder email: tuk11679@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple University