Roy Exum
Imagine my surprise on Monday morning as I awakened to the world’s newest firestorm – the guy who is playing the role of Satan on the highly-acclaimed mini-series, “The Bible” has an uncanny resemblance to the President of the United States! And wouldn’t you know that conservative entertainer Glenn Beck was among those who brought it to everyone’s attention.
As I laughed over our latest melee, the part of me that is like the devil immediately started scrolling through reams of America’s comments to news articles and I delighted myself at how truly funny and witty the American public can be.
“Let me be clear” and say up front I think it is sheer happenstance and officials of The History Channel quickly and furiously denied that the similarity was at all intentional.
But our social media had a heyday – one Tweet read appropriately, “You gonna’ believe The History Channel or your lying eyes!”
“History channel has the highest respect for President Obama," read a statement that was hurriedly circulated to the media. "The series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It's unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History's 'The Bible' is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history."
The guy who is portraying the role of the fallen angel Satan in the highly-successful series is actually an acclaimed actor from Morocco named Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni. He has been in several films about the Bible – some made before Obama was elected -- and Executive Producers Mark Burnett and his wife Rona Downey were livid the resemblance to Present Barack Obama was even questioned.
“Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love our President, who is a fellow Christian," Downey added. "False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible.”
The mini-series has been seen by more than 10 million people in the first three weeks it has been shown on The History Channel. This past Sunday was the first time the actor Ouazanni had appeared as Satan and the gasp you heard was from those whose “lying eyes” saw the similarity.
So please allow me to blame it on Satan as I quickly twirled through the Internet to pick a delightful bouquet of those who Tweet from around the country:
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“Satan on the History Channel’s Bible looks so much like President Obama (that) Paul Ryan is called for cuts to the movies budget.”
“Sooo … Jesus was a white dude but Satan looks like PBO?”
“Weird, Before every temptation, Satan says, 'Let me be clear.'"
“I know Barry Obama plays a key role in the Book of Revelations. Stay tuned !”
“Wow… seriously… doesn't the Satan character look a lot like Obama? Did he agree to play the part… or maybe he's not playing.”
“Looks more like Morgan Freeman”
“Jeez (as they say) ... They just took a photo of Barack and uglied it up, warts and all. Any reasonable channel would have started with a photo of Dick Cheney.”
“A black hoodie? How Freudian!”
“It wasn’t lost on me that while Satan looks like Obama, he sounded like George Soros.”
“Dude looks at least 20 years older than Obama. But yeah, this is definitely proof that Obama is either Muslim or Anti-Christ for sure. Finally, we have irrefutable evidence and should be able to impeach Obama. For a dictator, he sure lets too many freedoms remain available to folks.”
“That's ridiculous...just because the actor happens to look like Obama doesn't mean it wasn’t intentional....what...are light skinned black actors not allowed to play the devil anymore?”
“Why does the devil have to be black? Why not Jesus black and the Devil white for a change?”
“It's good to see the American Idiots out in force for this one.”
“Glenn Beck's psychiatrist needs to adjust his medication. Hallucinations in public can get embarrassing.”
“It's not like they're casting black people in evil roles and whites in good roles. They had a black angel as well. And a black man played Samson. The show is very diverse. If they were trying to ignore skin color and be more realistic, Jesus would be Asian. But I think he's being played by a Portuguese.”
“Did anyone else notice that Satan spoke like Nacho Libre and looked just like Obama?
“ … Both men, the president and the actor are handsome and extremely attractive...get over it...In Italy I have a cousin who looks a lot like the primavera of Botticelli...and so what? Get a life....”
“Who is Obama and who is Santa?”
… and my personal favorite …
“After much smoking of the holy ganja and imbibing of copious amounts of wine, comedic fantasies seemingly spring to life. And lo the Lord sayeth to thee: “Hark, these psychotic hallucinatory fabrications diseasing your mind are but an illusion. Cast them out, and be free from yourself.” Amen.
royexum@aol.com
Bible actor