The Doughnut Man

I was reliving some childhood memories with a friend today, and in lieu of it being National Doughnut Day, I was reminded of a show we watched prolifically as kids. If you have never heard of "The Doughnut Man," then you'll want to watch the clip below.

The overarching concept is that we are like doughnuts. We have holes in our hearts which can only be filled with God's love. The Doughnut Man communicates this concept to children by having them help him fill the holes in the doughnuts with those little doughnut holes while singing cute little songs. The show is complete with songs, dancing, engaging stories, and a talking doughnut. But as I watched this clip, I was struck with how weird it was. Here is a grown man dressing up in pink overalls, dancing around with children, and having them join his 'club' to fix doughnuts....all in the name of Jesus.

Needless to say, this show isn't culturally relevant any longer, and I now realize that I really should haven any issues with shows like Barney or Spongebob-Squarepants considering what I watched (and loved) as a kid. In fact, if "The Doughnut Man" aired today, it would probably be promoting Gay Christianity. The times certainly have changed in the past 20 years!

Upon further consideration, I figured that if I watched shows like this growing up and turned out ok, then my kids stand a good chance of turning out ok too, despite what videos I have them watch. :)