"Moral Orel" is dangerously close to the current state of the Bible Belt

It's a silly adult claymation show. It's an Adult Swim late night show. It's a comedy. It's raunchy.

It's real. It is dangerously real.

I am a spiritual person. I believe in God and Jesus. I read my Bible. But I am not very well liked by most Christians in my region. While I'm not bothered by this, I do find it interesting as to why they don't like me.

I live in the American South. AKA, the Bible Belt. And I am not here to diss the South anymore than they already have been. There are good people here, and I have nothing but apologies for the good people that are being overshadowed by the bad ones. But in this Bible Belt, right-wing propaganda and Republicanism runs rampant. Trump signs, Confederate flags, hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and even tattoos are everywhere. Fox News is the most reliable news source (when news is actually sourced). Most importantly, there is only ONE TRUE GOD and all other religions are blasphemous. They should not be respected. They are not real.

I'm also not here to diss the Bible. I'm here to diss what these people turned the Bible into.

When I was a child, I turned a blind eye to this. My family (thankfully) was nothing like these Bible beaters, religious kooks, or prudes. It shocked some, as my grandfather and father are both pastors at a small church in the heart of Mississippi. They preached about God's love. That was the lesson I learned. It wasn't until I was much older that I started noticing the injustices in my county. My old high school was terribly racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc. Essentially any type of offensive -phobic. That was my high school. But don't worry, it was all fine and could be forgiven because they went to church, had popular last names, or would just plainly use the excuse of "It's okay because I believe in God and I know His Word."

As I quickly move into my adult years, I don't look back on my high school fondly. At all. And sadly, I can't escape it.

I've called it out, and I've tried to distance myself from the bad people. They're still there, and I don't think there's much I can do. I'm just making plans to get out of here one day.

So to avoid these problems, I watched a TV show that I had heard few things about in recent years. I remembered the show playing on Adult Swim at early hours of the morning when I should not have been awake. It was a short little show (only three seasons with less than 30 episodes in each season). I had heard it was funny. Why not start it?

It was Moral Orel on Max. It's in claymation, it's comedic, and it's actually a little crude in some instances. I went into the show naive. I didn't know what to expect.

If you haven't watched the show, basically the plot is as follows (spoilers below):

Young Orel Puppington lives in the town of Moralton in the fictional Bible Belt state of Statesota. Moralton is driven by Christianity, to an absolutely insane level. I think people died as a result of the religious craze of this town. The town is plagued by dangerous antics, mostly caused by Orel misinterpreting something from the town's pastor Reverend Putty's sermon, or from a lesson he learned from another trusted adult. The town has quite literally gone into flames as a result of Orel's antics before. At the end of the episode, when Orel is caught by the adults, he meets his father, Clay Puppington, "in his study" and receives a harsh lesson---by the belt. Orel's mostly unbothered by it, and learns his lesson. The next episode? He's driving the town mad with his misinterpretation once again.

The first season mostly consisted of these antics. It was an episodic pattern, and it was fairly funny. There wasn't much to research in depth yet because the show mostly revolved around the comedy. The viewer gets the opportunity to learn about the Puppington family. Clay, the patriarch. A drunk, a child beater, a religious nut, the mayor of Moralton, and quite literally hates his wife. He passes his child beating off as "love," but it's a lie. He couldn't care less about Orel. And don't get me started on his lack of care or attention for his younger son Shapey, who isn't actually his son. Which leads to Bloberta, his wife. Bloberta is the common depiction of a 1950s housewife. She talks sweetly, is constantly seen cleaning (which is actually her dangerous obsession), and knits sweaters and blankets in her free time. But she's not so innocent. Bloberta is racist and homophobic (just like everyone else in the town), and she is partly the reason why her husband is an alcoholic. Everyone else in the town is just as privately deranged.

As time went on and we made it to season two, we saw the downfall of the Puppington family. Clay's alcoholism came to a boiling point, and he ended up shooting his own son. It ruined the way Orel had viewed his once beloved father. Orel, the most positive boy in Moralton, finally looked at his father and said "I hate you." While Orel seethed with rage and winced from the pain, I cried at the sheer emotion these little puppets had just portrayed to me.

When season three rolled around (the season that was the nail in the coffin for this show), they amped up the truth. Moral Orel began to cover real topics like rape, trauma, PTSD, closeted sexuality, neglectful parents, and so many other real topics that exist not only in the Bible Belt, but everywhere. It was triggering, but oh, so real.

When I watched the series, I thought to myself, "Thank GOD this is just satire. I couldn't imagine if it was actually this bad."

I really liked the series, and I watched it again. This time, I thought to myself, "Huh. That sounds familiar."

I watched it one more time, and this time I thought, "Oh my God."

It was dangerously close in the most satirical fashion. Moral Orel played with fire, and they successfully burned down the way I had viewed my surroundings. By shedding a new light on the way Christian families treat each other, treat others, and act in private compared to church, Moral Orel came dangerously close to the current state of Christianity in the Bible Belt.

These families put on loving and happy displays in public, but the moment they're in private, they hate each other. And if someone else in the area finds out? You're the town gossip. The town embarrassment. You are their entertainment.

Moral Orel, satirically, accurately depicts racism in these small towns. Black or brown people are only accepted as a part of their community if they are useful to them (see the Figurelli family in the series). Gay people are not even there for usage. Any member of the LGBTQIA+ will not be used, but they will simply be ignored and/or ridiculed at the same time.

To them, it's all, "God loves you no matter what...but you have to be cisgender, heterosexual, white, and preferably male, but we might try to work with you if you're a female."

The biggest and most notable aspect of this, to me, is the hatred between these families. The idolization of families who are so far from perfect, who have so many skeletons in the closet, who have so many dangerous secrets. When I saw the Puppington family, I knew that this was the case for so many people from my hometown. Maybe it wasn't so extreme. I don't think anyone has been shot by their alcoholic father. Yet.

But I see the Puppington family and I see the truths. On their exterior they're a peaceful, happy family. Active in the community (Clay is the mayor, so you can't get much more active). But that means nothing when your family is falling apart on the inside. When home doesn't feel like home anymore. When the place you want to escape makes you feel like you have to escape.

That's the average experience of so many in my county. Addiction, neglect, and trauma plague these families in my county. And it's overlooked by the ones that need to notice it most of the time because they either go to church, or because they merely like the entertainment/gossip that they get from it.

I've seen families suffer. People in my generation have run away from these families, but they're never able to run away from the trauma. They'll never be able to forget what happened to them. They're told to "pray about it" and move on.

And though I've already talked about the problematic and harmful beliefs that exist with the people here, I don't think I ever actually emphasize just how bad it is. Just like in the show, there are people that are so hateful and criminal. But it's okay. They go to church. It's easily forgotten. There is a major problem with justice here in the Bible Belt.

I don't know if the creator, Dino Stamatopoulos, was trying to make this feel as real or as relatable as he did, but it felt so close. I felt called out. I felt like my world was suddenly widened, all because I decided to binge watch a silly show at 1 a.m. one night. But even then, with my eyes opened and my world forever changed, I still love this show. It's something so comforting, in so many different ways. I can put it on at night and just let it play in the background as I drift off to sleep. I'll put it on to watch while I study. Or I'll just rewatch it, for the millionth time. It's the perfect show for me.

As silly as the show might be at first, I highly recommend this life-changing show to anyone that might want to try and see it through my eyes. I will always love and treasure it.