Moral Orel: Vol. 1 (2005)

TV. I'd caught promos on Adult Swim (showing Orel giving his team a sports drink made of his own urine) but I had to see this show because of the subject matter: A postmodern Babbitt and son. Moral Orel is Davey and Goliath meets Family Guy or The Oblongs, not South Park as some say (no swearing). Its satire hits dead-on more often than it misses or goes flat. Orel is an 11-year-old who sincerely loves God but is so sheltered by the religion-based denial mechanisms of his family, pastor and co-inhabitants of Moralton, Statesota that in his zeal, he mistakes or simply takes their advice too far. (No one wants to see innocent Orel getting drunk, smoking crack, bludgeoning gay boys or passing out his urine to drink, but satire shows unpleasant things to prove that the rationales which led to such outcomes are what are truly heinous.) In the process, and in the inevitable ensuing encounter with his dad and his belt in the den, Orel learns valuable life lessons -- or does he? Read the Wikipedia entry on Moral Orel for a breakdown of the characters but the potential is rife for the exposure of the sin and folly of Moralton's adults as Orel, in his trusting nature, follows their advice. Everyone in town is smug about their church attendance and spiritual superiority (esp. to Catholics) but of course it doesn't do their lives any good. Orel's dad, Clay Puppington, is so bitter about his dead-end job and sexless marriage that his religion-based pronouncements to Orel about the purpose of marriage and life are naked in their error and resentment; similarly for their burned-out and embittered Protestant minister, who remains a virgin at what appears to be age 50 and has a coffee mug that reads "I hate my boss." The librarian burns books and organizes protests of movies, even The Ten Commandments. Also, in every episode we learn of a "lost commandment," which is often the basis for Orel's erroneous adventures, such as the 18th, "Thou shalt be loyal to all thy friends at the same time." Moral Orel skewers self-important fundamentalist priggishness far more effectively than most people know, because most people don't know self-important fundamentalist prigs. (The truth is out there.) Moral Orel is often tasteless but its satire and message is rarely baseless. One last thing: See the official Web site to play the Crucifolks song "Reason (Is the Enemy of Faith)"! 5 stars.