There’s been a bit of an uproar on the Internet lately after watchers of the History Channel’s wildly successful “The Bible” noticed an uncanny resemblance between the actor portraying Satan and … President Obama.
Naturally, the History Channel has denied this heartily and repeatedly, including at one point the assertion that This Guy Was Playing Satanic Figures Long Before Obama Was Elected.
Still, I thought it was a little unsubtle — not any mere physical resemblance, but the whole presentation of the character seemed pretty fishy and heavy-handed. Especially:
• The passage when Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness with “forty days of sequester”
• The passage, also in the wilderness, when Satan tempts Jesus with “fully socialized health care, something I know you would approve of, given your attitude towards the sharing of wealth, assuming I’m reading that passage correctly.”
• The passage when Satan suggested that Biblical kids should eat healthier foods and referred them to “my wife’s Let’s Move initiative.”
• Satan harasses Job with government regulations, lengthy speeches and Death Panels, forgoes boils and oxen plagues entirely
• The part when Satan seemed bored and distracted during his first of three debates with Jesus and fell asleep entirely for several minutes.
• One awkward moment when “Satan” mixed up Star Trek and Star Wars
• Moment when Satan looked into the camera and said, “You see, Voters of America? I couldn’t possibly be a native-born citizen! I was alive two thousand years ago!” and it was weird and didn’t seem to have any relation to what anyone else had just said.
• Moment when Jesus and various figures kept shouting “Satan! Satan!” and Satan didn’t turn around, and then one guy whispered “Mr. President” and Satan did.
• Weird portion where Jesus talked about Mitt Romney in the first person.
• That part in the middle of the episode when Satan had to step aside from the plot to do damage control for some ill-advised statements by the Vice-Satan, a guy who Definitely Did Not Look Like Joe Biden
It’s always dangerous to cast anyone as Satan. Really they should have just gone with a Hitler lookalike.