My 7 year old sister borrowed this from the library at my church, the episode called, I think, "Silencing the Gossip Queen". Miles Peterson, a suspicious knockoff of Bruce Wayne, fights embodiments of human nature, while hosting an often-targeted youth group. Even my sister treated the show as a joke, laughing at the 'scripture-quoting' parts. The reasoning behind the low rating is not a matter of enjoyment, but the fact that children will watch this due to the 'Christian Values' content. There are too many problems that I could cover, but a few struck out to me.
First of all, the whitewashing. The show had an all-white cast, aside from a singular black girl. Now, I know that Bibleman gets a black sidekick later on, but this episode didn't have one. The youth group gets a segment in which they sing in front of an ALL-WHITE congregation. All shots of the congregation featured strictly white people. Even during the song, the black girl gets the least amount of screen-time, often going off-camera, or saying the least amount of lines throughout the story. What's the point of conversion if the kingdom of heaven would be predominantly filled by middle-class White America? Inconsistencies in moral structure: Bibleman and the youth group encounter all sorts of 'evils', such as gossiping, greed, wrath, etc. Even after Bibleman demolishes these embodiments, he is just as human as everyone else, and would succumb to the same evils. What does destroying these embodiments prove? Why are these embodiments then at fault, when these traits all exist in us? Bibleman can easily put the blame for his faults on the villains, instead of asking for forgiveness. The moral lessons are unclear in these series of episodes.
Poor script-writing: I swear, watching this episodes feels like as if someone is cramming a Bible down one's throat. Yes, the scripture is there for the children, but my sister can't even remember anything past the name of the book the verse is from. Most of the time, the script-writing caused the actors to say lines that seemed forced, almost unnatural. The villains had no reason behind their actions(the Gossip Queen wants to get rid of the 'meddling' youth group kids, but why?), aside from attempting to cause as much chaos as possible in a small-scale attempt. Yes, Bibleman gets a flashback at the beginning of every episode, but even he appears as a flat two-dimensional character. He is the same unconflicted man with absolute morals and inconsistent justice.
There are too many plot inconsistencies for me to actually list, even from a singular episode. Preferrably, to all parents out there, Veggie Tales is a better suggestion. Just because it has scripture and morals doesn't mean that your children should be subjected to this.
First of all, the whitewashing. The show had an all-white cast, aside from a singular black girl. Now, I know that Bibleman gets a black sidekick later on, but this episode didn't have one. The youth group gets a segment in which they sing in front of an ALL-WHITE congregation. All shots of the congregation featured strictly white people. Even during the song, the black girl gets the least amount of screen-time, often going off-camera, or saying the least amount of lines throughout the story. What's the point of conversion if the kingdom of heaven would be predominantly filled by middle-class White America? Inconsistencies in moral structure: Bibleman and the youth group encounter all sorts of 'evils', such as gossiping, greed, wrath, etc. Even after Bibleman demolishes these embodiments, he is just as human as everyone else, and would succumb to the same evils. What does destroying these embodiments prove? Why are these embodiments then at fault, when these traits all exist in us? Bibleman can easily put the blame for his faults on the villains, instead of asking for forgiveness. The moral lessons are unclear in these series of episodes.
Poor script-writing: I swear, watching this episodes feels like as if someone is cramming a Bible down one's throat. Yes, the scripture is there for the children, but my sister can't even remember anything past the name of the book the verse is from. Most of the time, the script-writing caused the actors to say lines that seemed forced, almost unnatural. The villains had no reason behind their actions(the Gossip Queen wants to get rid of the 'meddling' youth group kids, but why?), aside from attempting to cause as much chaos as possible in a small-scale attempt. Yes, Bibleman gets a flashback at the beginning of every episode, but even he appears as a flat two-dimensional character. He is the same unconflicted man with absolute morals and inconsistent justice.
There are too many plot inconsistencies for me to actually list, even from a singular episode. Preferrably, to all parents out there, Veggie Tales is a better suggestion. Just because it has scripture and morals doesn't mean that your children should be subjected to this.