Caleb (left) and Sophia (right)
Become Jehovah's Friend (otherwise known as Caleb and Sophia) is a series of web-based animations created by the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses through the Watchtower Tract Society designed to teach children life lessons relating to biblical study. They began being produced in the early 2010s.As the secondary title suggests, the primary characters are two siblings, Caleb and Sophia, who go through daily life learning lessons.
Has a site
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Tropes:
- All of the Other Reindeer: One episode centers around Caleb feeling this way because his goals as a Jehovah's Witness get in the way of his school fun.
- Alpha Bitch: Angela fits this to a tee, even having her own little Girl Posse who follow her every move.
- Ambiguously Brown: Everyone in the family has tan skin and dark brown hair. No one's been able to figure out what accent the father has, but it may be from somewhere in South America. The mother is shown to have had a blonde mother in a flashback. Adopted? Visits tanning salons? This is never explained either.
- Based on YouTube comments, the general consensus seems to be that it’s a Brazilian accent.
- Ambiguous Situation: Sophia sees Sister Elsa, an elderly member of the congregation she’d befriended who passed away in a two-parter, cheerfully painting at her easel. Whether this is Sophia’s imagination after hearing the story of Lazarus, or if she’s genuinely seeing Elsa’s spirit enjoying her paradise, is up to interpretation.
- Ambition Is Evil: In one episode, Sophia's desire to succeed in school tempts her to cheat on a math test. However, she decides against this, and leaves the question blank.
- Artistic License – Religion: The series takes some artistic liberties with Bible stories, making up details that aren't mentioned in the Bible.
- When telling the story of Martha, Dad continues on from after the resurrection of Lazarus, even though Martha is never mentioned in the Bible again after that.
- Author Tract: For the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses; episodes focus on saying that homosexuality is bad, birthday celebrations cheapen gifts, and that children must only be friends with those who either are fellow Witnesses or who are open to becoming one.
- Big Eater: At a classmate’s birthday party, Chuck lifts an entire tower of cupcakes and runs to eat them by himself. He is also shown eating junk food in several of his appearances.
- Boyish Short Hair: Zig-zagged with Mom, as she is always shown to have quite short hair, but is in many ways a traditional and feminine housewife.
- The Bully: Both kids have a designated bully; for Caleb, it's Chuck, and for Sophia, it's Angela.
- Death Is a Sad Thing: In a two-part special, Sophia's elderly friend, Sister Elsa, passes away from an unspecified illness, and the associated videos are about Sophia coming to terms with it.
- The Ghost: Carrie, the girl with two mothers, is never seen on screen, only spoken about.
- Girlish Pigtails: Sophia always wears pigtails.
- Girl Posse: In "Does Jehovah Answer Prayers", Angela is followed by two other girls, who laugh and jeer alongside her. Oddly, the redheaded girl in this posse is shown to be more neutral/friendly to Sophia in other videos.
- Gonk: Because of the low quality animation, some characters look like this combined with Off-Model.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Sophia, who is a Girly Girl, often wears a purple shirt.
- Iconic Item: Sophia's butterfly charm.
- Name and Name: "Caleb and Sophia".
- No Full Name Given: Most named characters only have a first name (Caleb, Sophia, Zoey, Priya, Chuck, Angela, Carrie, etc.).
- No Name Given: Caleb and Sophia's parents are never given names, they're simply known as Mom and Dad. One episode lampshades this by having Mom begin to say "My name is", only for the episode to end before she can say her name.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The kids' church outfits: Caleb wears a blue shirt, and Sophia's dress has pink accents.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Sophia. She tells her mom that a girl in her class Has Two Mommies, and her mother responds by saying it's sinful and explaining what Jehovah would recommend. The episode ends with Sophia deciding to preach Jehovah's teachings to her, hoping that she'll be convinced that her mommies have to "leave behind their baggage".
- Pretty Butterflies: Sophia loves butterflies for their pretty colours; she even has a butterfly charm on her pencil.
- Token Trio: Sophia is Ambiguously Brown and she has a Black Best Friend and another one who's Indian, but attends a mostly white school.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Chuck is often seen with a bag of cheese puffs.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Dad has an undiscernible accent, possibly from a European country (though it's also speculated he's Brazilian).
