no one:— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
literally no one:
Perfect Number: Let's watch VeggieTales "Moe and the Big Exit" (2007) https://t.co/EvrpXZ5abW
I have never seen this one— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Very curious abt how the total-destruction-of-Egypt's-economy-which-would-cause-death-&-devastation-for-generations is handled in a cute "kid-friendly" way
Bob & Larry on the counter— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Larry says he got a letter that's interested in a sequel to "The Ballad of Little Joe"
Bob says no we answer letters abt ethical dilemmas
Bob got a letter from someone who fights w her brother a lot & wants help being nicer— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
uhhhhhhhh
HOW ON EARTH does this relate to the exodus
story starts w a recap of "The Ballad of Little Joe"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
ten bucks says they skip over the part where joseph took advantage of the famine situation to exploit & enslave all the egyptians
generations later, the new mayor is concerned abt the population growth of Little Joe's descendants (who are all French peas)— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
He forces them to work pic.twitter.com/Gvvkt5cryN
LOLOLOLOL they are building the grand canyon & all those rock formations in the American southwest— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Mr Nezzar says there are still too many. He tells Mr Lunt "thin the herd" (take the baby boys & "send them up the river")— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
wait umm there are a whole bunch of Moses baskets— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
one of them gets picked up by a woman panning for gold
she is Mayor Nezzar's daughter
Moe grows up & gets really good at throwing dodgeballs— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
he gets a job supervising the construction of the grand canyon pic.twitter.com/HvZYzW2lSP
one of the slaves says Moe is a traitor. everyone knows he is really a descendant of little joe— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
oh no, Bill the slavemaster is about to push the slave off the cliff— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Moe hits Bill w a dodgeball & Bill falls off the cliff.
Lands safely in the river & floats "up the river"
umm okay
Moe runs away to the Rockies— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
There is a bear, so Moe hides in a well. Now he is stuck.
Oh here comes a girl with a buffalo pic.twitter.com/Wki3QDl5ld
Moe & Sally (who seems to be part of an indian tribe) got married & had a baby— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
oooh I can't wait to see the scene where god tries to kill him for not circumcising his child
LOLOLOLOLOL he calls his walking stick/ bear-fighting stick "sliver"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
so we can have "high ho sliver away"
omg a burning tumbleweed— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
GOD IS SPEAKING THROUGH THE TUMBLEWEED
God is sending Moe to go to the mayor & say "let my people go"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Moe says no, bc people won't believe god really sent him
omg sliver turns into a snake
update: well they completely skipped the circumcision scene, I am shocked— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
(note: I am not shocked)
Moe meets Aaron (Archibald Asparagus) who is his brother & is good at public speaking pic.twitter.com/cmGHVfJZrp— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Archibald seems to be running some kind of tomahawk souvenir cart— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
they go to Mayor Nezzar— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Moe ("the lone stranger") is too scared to say anything
Archibald tells the mayor God said to let them all go
well it didn't go well. Mayor Nezzar doubles everyone's workload— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
the French peas are all mad at the Lone Stranger
Moe is ready to give up.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Archibald says they need to rely on god! (bc Moe was about to throw a dodgeball in the mayor's office- he took things into his own hands & look what happened)
So the big lesson here is that we need to stick to God's plan. because God called Moe to do this, God is going to make it work— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
time for silly songs with larry— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS YOU GUYS pic.twitter.com/G9jV50hU4a
look look look look look— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
it's from when silly songs with larry got replaced by love songs with mr lunt
ah but we are not going to hear the bear trap song. we are going to hear the "boyz in the sink" rap about the exodus pic.twitter.com/oYiwnFyCNb— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
ohhhhhhhhhh dear— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Mayor Nezzar is making noises at his great-grandbaby
this baby definitely gonna die in the 10th plague
Moe's stick turns into a snake.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Mr Lunt makes his own snake- it's just a crappy spiral-shaped thing
now Moe says "high ho sliver away!" & the river turns into tomato juice!— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
in a veggie universe this is quite gruesome
oh I think we're gonna have a montage of all the plagues— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& the mayor "still wouldn't listen"
hmm interesting how we're supposed to expect that threats should change someone's mind
OH SHIT— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
wow
the 10th plague- all the firstborn boys float away in baskets "up the river"
narrator says it was terrible but the mayor had "brought it on himself"
THAT IS FUCKED UP
like what abt the children- why are they being punished for what the mayor did?
Mayor says fine they can go— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
omg Mr Lunt realizes that all along, the "lone stranger" was Moe
God wants them to go through Death Valley— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
oh no, also the mayor & his posse are chasing them
Moe reminds them all to trust God's plan— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
wow suddenly it's snowing!
they are gonna walk through Death Valley on this path of snow pic.twitter.com/QgCx6ckzIa
okay I am impressed w veggietales for how they've adapted this story for the western setting— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
after Moe & his people cross, the cloud goes away and the snow melts. Mayor and his people are left alone in the middle of Death Valley— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Moe says he just followed God's plan, all credit goes to God— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
The end :)
WHAT ON EARTH— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
we are back w bob & larry on the counter. Bob says wow such a perfect story for teaching the letter writer to rely on God's strength & follow God's plan (so she should be nice to her brother)
WHAT ON EARTHHHH— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
bob says it was the perfect story bc it's about relying on god. When Moe did things his own way it didn't work. God's way did work
Bob tells letter writer "you're right, you aren't strong enough to do everything god asks." need to rely on god, & god will give you the strength— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
all right that is the end of VeggieTales "Moe and the Big Exit". let's discuss.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
OH MY GOD at the end of the credits they have the 10 commandments, translated into cowboy dialect pic.twitter.com/z8ZbJL2Wim— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
okay let's start by talking about the biblical story of the exodus— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
so, obviously, slavery is evil. the Israelites getting free from slavery is a good thing, a big victory.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
however, the 10 plagues killed Egypt's crops & livestock, which would cause famine long-term. a lot of Egyptians would die. plus, all the firstborn boys died— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
so I think when we read the story of the exodus, we have to grapple a bit with that- the fact that a lot of innocent Egyptians suffered & died— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& you could argue "well they aren't innocent, they lived in a society that allowed slavery & they did nothing to stop it"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& you could argue "pharaoh had absolute power, it's not like they could stop him anyway"
& you could argue "well they benefited from the Israelites' slavery"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& so on. that's what I mean by "grappling with it"
like, the story of the exodus is not a straightforward "here are the good guys & here are the bad guys, good guys win & everyone who suffered & died is a bad guy who deserved it"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
the exodus is very important for jewish people, and i'm aware that my evangelical Christian background taught me nothing abt what jewish ppl *actually* believe. so probably i'm not in a position to be like "hey everyone, let's talk abt how the exodus is kinda effed up"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
I bet there are thousands of years of jewish people talking about this. I bet they have much more nuanced takes than the way I heard the story told in sunday school (& in this veggietales video)— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
ANYWAY, so that's some background information on where i'm coming from in terms of the story of the exodus. if it really happened as the bible describes (which, it didn't) then that means Egypt's economy would be destroyed & ppl would die & it would take generations to recover— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& in my 20+ years of experience being an evangelical Christian, I have never heard anyone point that out. even though everyone ADAMANTLY believed that yes it did happen just as the bible said— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Okay anyway let's talk about veggietales.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
umm.
they changed all the "murder" parts of the story to "send them up the river"
pharaoh doesn't kill the baby boys, he sends them up the river— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
moses didn't kill the guard, he sent him up the river
god didn't kill the firstborn sons, he sent them up the river
this is quite weird. realistically, if you're "sent up the river" & land in the middle of some desert somewhere, you will probably die anyway. especially if you are a baby.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
so veggietales isn't really removing the "murder" aspect of the story. just hiding it offscreen.
but the whole "send them up the river" thing isn't treated as "this person DIED & that's very serious & a very sad thing"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
like, the baskets with baby boys are floating away & nobody in the story really comments on it, you don't see parents grieving, none of that.
it's just the background for the plot point about moses being found by pharaoh's daughter— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
it's like, to make it kid-friendly, veggietales removed the "death" aspects of the story, but actually they didn't really remove them, just moved them to offscreen & all the characters completely ignored the deaths— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
I guess when the Egyptian firstborn sons "went up the river" the narrator said it was a very sad thing, & you see the mayor being so sad, all he can do is mumble "you can go" to Moe— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
but it felt like they moved on from there very fast
Here's another opinion I have abt the biblical story of the exodus:— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
Notice how in the story, pharaoh is supposed to let the ppl go bc the Israelites' god is stronger than the Egyptian gods. & the Israelites' god sends all sorts of punishments
there isn't an argument made abt "let my people go, because slavery is evil"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
the closest thing is when god tells moses "I've heard my people's cries as they're suffering in Egypt & I have compassion for them"
mainly it's a story abt which god is stronger. not about the immorality of slavery— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
which tells us some things abt the biblical writers' understanding of god & morality. tells us abt how their culture viewed god, slavery, etc— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
very "us vs them", "might makes right"
(of course, in the evangelical church you're not allowed to wonder abt the way the writer chose to tell the story & what that says abt the writer's/reader's own biases. bc they were "inspired by god", so however they told the story is The Right Way to view those events)— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
in the veggietales story, there was a song about the plagues, that repeatedly told us what plague god sent & then "he still wouldn't listen"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
ie, the narrator's opinion is "threats/sabotage are supposed to make the mayor change his mind"
and, okay yes, in terms of activism/protests/ fighting for justice, those can be valid tactics. you don't win against Nazis by having a nice discussion of morality.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
but the STARTING POINT of activism should be morality/compassion.— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& I think that's what should be emphasized when you tell the story to kids
yeah eventually kids learn "the real world doesn't work that way, in the real world societal changes don't come bc 'it's the right thing to do', they come bc you've made life inconvenient for ppl in power"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
okay, let's talk abt the message that veggietales told us they are teaching with this story. Rely on god's strength rather than yourself, & follow god's plan— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
well i'll just put my cards on the table & tell y'all I don't agree with either part of that— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
"rely on god's strength rather than yourself" what does that even mean?— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
in the story, they said when Moses killed the Egyptian ("sent him up the river" sorry) & when moses said "let my ppl go" & almost threw a dodgeball in the mayor's office, that was "not relying on god"
it seems to me like the *actual* reason those were bad is they were impulsive decisions that Moe didn't think through, & so they ended up making the situation worse— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
also the whole violence thing
reading the situation as "he is relying on his own strength rather than god's" adds a layer of weird confusion— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
like, why don't you just say "don't do things that are immoral/ a bad idea"?— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
when you instead say "only do things that god said to do, not things you decided on your own" then that very easily leads to "god told me to do this thing that makes no sense. okay I have to do it though, bc it's god's plan"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
and at the most extreme, that can lead to killing ppl in the name of god— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
hey remember VeggieTales "Josh & the Big Wall" where veggietales COMPLETELY, UNRESERVEDLY accepted the idea of "drive ppl off their land in the name of god" & called it "following god's directions"?
Here's a link to that: Perfect Number Watches VeggieTales "Josh and the Big Wall" (1997)
my point is, this stuff about "don't rely on your own strength/mind/ideas/abilities- rely on god instead, & follow god's plan" is just BAD ADVICE— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& also doesn't really even make sense
& also is a weird lesson to pull out of the story of the exodus— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
like, might I suggest "slavery is bad" or "god is on the side of oppressed ppl" or something along those lines?
also, remember how the letter writer asked bob & larry for help abt getting along w her brother?— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
& bob claims the lesson abt "don't rely on your strength, rely on god" is an answer to her question
like... what?
in other words, veggietales is just reiterating the rule that you should be nice to your brother. & telling LW (letter writer) to just rely on god more in order to obey it— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
I think it would be much more helpful to talk abt how to have healthy relationships w siblings. talk abt things like communication, boundaries, etc— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
---------------------all right everyone, those are my thoughts abt VeggieTales "Moe & the Big Exit"— Perfect Number (@pnumber628) 2019年7月13日
don't forget to be like the midwives & lie to pharaoh
To see all my VeggieTales reviews: Perfect Number Watches VeggieTales (Master Post)
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