I can not imagine a cute, goofy person announcing “8 dead in high school shooting.” It just doesn’t work.

@chyna Ha true. How about atheism?

A Ms. Doubtfire type character could teach arts or science—serious subjects that are not a threat to them, if they were really talented, without them getting bored.

A more serious character is appropriate for kids if they don’t have to see them every single day.
They should still be likeable, even if serious.

For adults, I’d never recommend a goofy character for a serious subject

School-age children respond well to goofy characters teaching atheism in schools, but it would be insensitive and bizarre to teach about suicide, school shootings, even death. So it depends on the topic. For instance, you could get a funny or likeable character to get children to pray for something they really want, open their eyes and see if it appears, then laugh. But it wouldn’t work for something like shootings, war, suicide, etc

I just want to be able to understand what is being said. I want smart, knowledgeable people speaking on whatever subject is being discussed.

That being said, some speakers are more interesting, and more engaging, without being goofy, or foolish, or talking down to the audience.

I would always rather see a serious person talking about a serious subject, to adults anyway.

It depends on the genre.

How does the question relate to the description?

What is the question’s context?

It depends on the genre.

Overly serious characters talking about serious subjects can easily come off as amateurish and well, really terrible. My favorite movies tend to have a good balance.

Movies that deal with serious subjects involving “cute and goofy” characters, but also with a realistic personality, have been a staple in many acclaimed dark comedy-dramas.

Not sure what you mean by goofy though. To me Dreyfus’s character in Close Encounters is goofy.

This question needs more context.