Obama Look-a-Like Cast As Satan In History Channel’s Bible Series Stirs Controversy
Do you see a resemblance between the photo above of Satan, as depicted in the History Channel’s The Bible miniseries, and current US President Barack Obama?
Executive producers of the series are calling that claim absolutely ridiculous. The shows viewers disagree. On Sunday, the most recent episode aired of the miniseries aired, and Satan made his first appearance. Twitter erupted with comments poking fun at the resemblance between the two characters.
There appeared to be a playful component to most of the comments, but the History Channel became defensive. They released following statement:
History channel has the highest respect for President Obama. 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.
Executive producer Mark Burnett insisted the actor who played Satan was chosen for his qualifications:
“This is utter nonsense. The actor who played Satan, Mehdi Ouzaani, is a highly acclaimed Moroccan actor. He has previously played parts in several Biblical epics — including Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as our President.
Downey added that “False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible (Huff Post).”
It seems the executives are highly sensitive. As far as I know, the statements following the revelation of the characters face were all mockery. There did not appear to be serious concerns over the resemblance of the two figures. Do you think the History Channel overreacted to the tweets by releasing a defensive statement, or were they right to do so quickly?
