# Why is \[children's\] Christian media so cheesy most of the time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [January 28, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720 "2021-01-28T22:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CorpusNeptune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corpusneptune/32/17561_2.png) [@CorpusNeptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorpusNeptune)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/1 "2021-01-28T22:06:30Z")
Though I have converted to atheism relatively recently, I used to be Christian, so there’s a ton of Christian media that I’ve watched/seen over the years. Looking back on it, though, I’ve come to realize that a ton of them are _super_ cheesy in one way or another. Some examples from the top of my head: - [**VeggieTales**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeggieTales) - A show centred around vegetables teaching Christian-centered life lessons to the viewer. A fine enough show to watch on its own merits, but a lot of the lessons are presented with weird plotlines and can get pretty awkward to watch at some points. - [**The Holy Bible for Minecrafters**](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-unofficial-holy-bible-for-minecrafters-christopher-miko/1120900603) - Hence the name, a compressed version of the Bible in the style of the game _Minecraft_. I do (hesitantly) confess I own this book, and honestly, it feels like an awkward attempt to get the kids into Christianity. So, why do you think they’re so cheesy? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/2 "2021-01-28T22:13:58Z")
Christian arts/creativity is generally severely limited by a fear of offending and doing anything controversial (controversial by their own limitations, that is.) That’s why Christian movies will go to great lengths, generally, to avoid anything violent/sex/profane etc. You end up with terrible glurge. As such, with such constraints, directors are pretty tortured in terms of trying to come up with something interesting yet bland. It’s like they’re given nothing but potatoes and salt to cook a meal, and have to make it tasty. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/3 "2021-01-28T22:48:26Z")
Sex and violence may be part of religion, and so are spirituality, mysticism, awesome majesty, dread, loss, angst, teleology, metaphysics, you name it. I am not sure little kids are equipped to fully deal with all of these interesting topics and experiences, which may be limiting, but on the other hand if a ton of media is lame (as it is in general, not just religious) I would first scrutinize the authors and directors who may simply not grok hermeneutics, homiletics, or even Christianity that well. Note that kids do like media like the Smurfs and others in that vein. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/4 "2021-01-28T22:58:02Z")
With things like Veggie Tales, there’s a strong “Don’t offend anyone (especially parents who are buying this stuff for their kids)” vibe. Our kids remember watching it in Sunday School. They liked it, said it was better than listening to a teacher. You want cheesy, try Christian Light Rock from the 90s… so Pre-sliced American Cheesy it’ll clog your arteries. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/5 "2021-01-28T23:01:03Z")
Frankly, it’s because people of lessor talent are making the material. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/6 "2021-01-28T23:01:09Z")
Most children’s media is pretty cheesy most of the time. Don’t tell me that Paw Patrol is high art or something. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/7 "2021-01-28T23:02:33Z")
Kids these days… we had Davy and Goliath on Sunday mornings, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/8 "2021-01-28T23:13:31Z")
Anyone remember Spire Christian Comics? They are the ones that put out a slew of religious Archie Comics back in the 70’s. [Spire Christian Comics - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spire_Christian_Comics) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/9 "2021-01-28T23:20:35Z")
It’s because virtually all modern Christian media is saccharine, simplified shallow pablum. Why should the stuff for kids be any better? When my daughter was young, back in the 1990’s, I really scoured the universe for films and books that were both well-made and had what I would call “good values”, acceptable for a very intelligent sensitive child. Very thin pickings, I can tell you. And overtly Christian, an even tinier sliver. It does exist but I guess there’s not much of a market for it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/10 "2021-01-28T23:26:56Z")
More about Spire’s Callous Christian Kiddie Comics: [Spire Comics: The… Christian Adventures of Archie Andrews? — You Don’t Read Comics](https://www.youdontreadcomics.com/articles/2020/6/13/spire-comics-the-christian-adventures-of-archie-andrews) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/11 "2021-01-28T23:27:00Z")
There’s plenty of good Christian media out there. It just doesn’t get labeled “Christian”. Why not? Because it doesn’t need to be. If it’s good, you just call it “cartoons” (or “rock”, or “painting”, or whatever your medium is). It’s only when it’s not so good that it needs the “Christian” label to sell it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/12 "2021-01-28T23:58:52Z")
They don’t _have_ to be bad. They just don’t _have_ to be good. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgoBnZvOYes) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/13 "2021-01-29T00:02:47Z")
Yeah I just came in to say this. A few- a very few- kids shows rise above this. True none of the overtly Christian ones have , b ut there arent a lot of examples. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/14 "2021-01-29T00:03:44Z")
> [@CorpusNeptune](#): > > [**VeggieTales**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeggieTales) - A show centred around vegetables teaching Christian-centered life lessons to the viewer. A fine enough show to watch on its own merits, but a lot of the lessons are presented with weird plotlines and can get pretty awkward to watch at some points. The one episode I ever happened to randomly watch turned out to be pro-genocide: [https://alaskanlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/veggietales-a-call-to-genocide](https://alaskanlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/veggietales-a-call-to-genocide) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/15 "2021-01-29T00:15:38Z")
Killing everyone in a city is not genocide, it’s just total war. Killing everyone in a nation is genocide. People have to learn to stop misusing that word, before it becomes useless and valuless. The Holocaust was genocide. The Firebombing of Dresden was perhaps a war crime, but not genocide. If we use " genocide" for every fucking thing, then decades from now when we say “The Holocaust was genocide!” people will just go- “meh, so a few thousand people were killed, yeah?”. Not to mention- when the Israelites took Jericho it was no longer a major city or anything. Not to mention- this is hardly in line with the Op about “cheesy”. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/16 "2021-01-29T00:34:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Killing everyone in a nation is genocide. That nation was called Canaan. > **[Book of Joshua | The enemy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Joshua#The_enemy)** > > Joshua "carries out a systematic campaign against the civilians of Canaan – men, women and children – that amounts to genocide." This practice was known as herem, as described in Deuteronomy 20:17, which entailed no treaties with the enemy, no mercy, and no intermarriage.: 175  "The extermination of the nations glorifies Yahweh as a warrior and promotes Israel's claim to the land," while their continued survival "explores the themes of disobedience and penalty and looks forward to the stor ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/17 "2021-01-29T00:54:53Z")
You are mixing up the Battle of Jericho with the campaign for Canaan. Mind you both are both mostly mythological. Certainly the Israelites moved into the lands occupied by the Canaanites and took over, displacing them. It is very doubtful that they slayed them all. But this goes beyond the Op here. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/18 "2021-01-29T01:00:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You are mixing up the Battle of Jericho with the campaign for Canaan. No, I am not. > **[Battle of Jericho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jericho)** > > The Battle of Jericho, as described in the Biblical Book of Joshua, was the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to Joshua 6:1–27, the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls once a day for six days, seven times on the seventh day, with the priests blowing their horns daily and the people shouting on the last day. Excavations at Tell es-Sultan, the biblical Jericho, have failed to find any traces of a city at the... ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/20 "2021-01-29T01:37:09Z")
Back to the subject matter – yep, part of the problem is that the “hey we’re Christian” branding usually binds the producer’s hands to a requirement to include nothing that will potentially upset the buying parents, as with any other commercial kids’ media, but then adding to that not disturbing the parent’s theologically, which considering the less than homogeneous nature of American Christianity is really a vain pursuit. As **Chronos** stated, good media that promotes Christian (or any sort of moral) Values would not _need_ to make a big deal about how “Christian” it is. There are many Christian critics of “Christian Media” whose position can be summed as: “could you guys bother making a GOOD movie/album/novel/show, that happens to have a Christian message, rather than dramatize/set to music/novelize a sermon?” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720/21 "2021-01-29T01:46:23Z")
Veggie Tales may be cheesy, I don’t know, didn’t really watch it. But I did see a clip from their take on the story of Daniel and stole a line from it when I wrote a Sunday School play for the kids in my class. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-childrens-christian-media-so-cheesy-most-of-the-time/931720.md?page=2)