Veggie Tales - Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush

Reviewed by Peter Dilley

Although thousands of families enjoy the capers of the Veggie Tales characters, I'm unwilling to endorse their "Lesson in dealing with bullies" with its stories "Junior Asparagus In 'Bully Trouble'" and "Minnesota Cuke And The Search For Samson's Hairbrush". A responsible approach to bullying should stress the need for involving an appropriate adult, but in the Veggie Tales world "adult" characters are almost peripheral to the action. In the first tale, Junior is threatened with a pounding from Gordon the playground bully, and initially he puts on a brave face to his friends. His fears persist and he then takes his Dad's godly advice (but no active support), that he should face up to Gordon, showing he's not afraid, and "turn the other cheek". Remarkably, this resolves the issue, with a bit of solidarity and moral support from his diminutive peers, but in the real world, it's seldom that straightforward. The lesson from Minnesota Cuke, in the Indiana Jones parody, is that bullying can turn victims into bullies or into making unreasonable reprisals. That's true, but again it doesn't address the root causes. Without the right support for all involved, real life victims of bullying do continue to suffer in silence, driven into deepening despair, or sometimes much worse. Meanwhile the perpetrators, perhaps themselves victims of bullying or abuse, remain unchecked, often moving on to other victims. To me, this is a situation where Veggie Tales' "Sunday Morning values, Saturday Morning fun" seem misguided and potentially very dangerous.