Monday, March 18, 2013

The History Channel's "The Bible" Features a White Surfer Jesus, It Only Makes Sense That Satan Would be a "Black" Guy Who Looks Like President Barack Obama


The History Channel's series The Bible has introduced its viewers to Satan: he is President Barack Obama.

In our discussions of the politics of popular culture, I continually return to two several themes. Most importantly, a creative work does not appear magically out of the ether. It is the result of decisions made by the participants in a given project. These agents have made a series of choices in the pursuit of a given goal and end product.

These choices are related to questions of intentionality, but do not necessarily override them. Because cultural workers are part of a given society, and therefore reproduce its values on a subconscious level, they may not always be fully aware of how a set of "common sense judgments" (can quite literally) color their decision making.

Moreover, intentionality does not take precedence over how audiences and individuals choose to process, receive, and interpret a work of art, film, movie, or literature. Sure, what a given cultural worker "means" by their work "matters." However, a cultural product has a life all of its own once out in circulation.

The creators of The Bible on the History Channel have made a series of predictable, albeit no less problematic choices related to how race will be represented in their story. The result of these choices is a particularly noxious type of conservative multiculturalism.

In an effort to be "historically accurate" in their translation of a mythical text, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have chosen to cast a racially and ethnically diverse range of actors and actresses in The Bible miniseries. In post Civil Rights Age of Obama America this must have just "felt right" to the director and lead writers of the show.

Efforts at inclusion and multiculturalism through "diverse" casting can be a great metaphorical sugar rush.

These same agents then chose to make a series of anachronistic choices. Jesus was cast as a white surfer dude with a tan. The historical Jesus was in all likelihood a person of color and not a white European of swarthy complexion (or not). Satan, who was introduced during the most recent episode of the TV show, is never actually described in literal terms by the actual text of the Bible. This led to a choice by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. Do they not show his face? Do they distort it somehow? Or do they perhaps make a choice, as they have in every other aspect of creating The Bible TV series, to depict Satan as a white person?

Their working through those choices is the very moment when conservative multiculturalism runs off of the rails and into the proverbial ditch of the white racial frame and colorblind racism.

In an effort to be multicultural, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey cast the background characters and a few others like Samson as black and brown. The main players in the narrative--here being Jesus, Mary, Moses, and John--are "naturally" cast as white people. These depictions are inaccurate. But, they feel somehow make sense to those invested in the normativity of Whiteness. Likewise, it followed through on The Bible's creators' judgement that the Devil would be a brown man who is a doppelganger of President Barack Obama.

If Mark Burnett and Roma Downey were consistent in their commitment to "accurately" depict the events relayed in the biblical text, they would have cast all (if not most) of the characters in the show as Middle Eastern people of color.

Ultimately, the creators of The Bible are not interested in the truth per se.

They are more compelled by an imperative to reproduce god in their own image: in this case white folks make an ahistorical anachronistic vision of their godhead who looks like a European surfer guy with long flowing hair. On a psycho historical level, Whiteness sees itself reflected back onto itself as something inherently good, just, righteous, loving, and innocent. Projection deems that Satan is something other than "white" in the West.

In The Bible, he is a "black" guy who is almost identical in appearance to Barack Obama.

I do not advocate for more racial, gender, class, and sexual diversity in the workplace and government, generally, and in Hollywood and the Arts, specifically, because of some trite belief that having different folks in a room will magically subvert institutional and social Power. I sincerely believe that having the best people doing the job is in the interest of the Common Good because it leverages our full human resource capacity as a society in a highly competitive global economy.

Diversity is a net bonus in small ways as well. For example, if there were some other folks in the room with the power to speak and be heard when The Bible TV show was being developed, maybe someone would raise a hand and say, "you know, this is sort of a problem here, we got the white guy as Jesus and all these brown people 'cause we want to be 'historically accurate.' But, then we are making the Devil a brown guy who looks damn close to Obama. None of this makes sense. Can we at least be consistent?"

The mass media in the United States, and as a global product, disseminates White ways of seeing, looking, knowing, understanding, and processing reality, history, philosophy, morality, pleasure, and truth-telling. This is not a conspiracy; it is simply business. The creators of The Bible TV show made a series of choices with the intent of making lots of money. Historical "truth" is always a victim to the reality of the market...even if this truth means a white lie of a Jesus and a Satan who looks like Barack Obama.

24 comments:

Bad Company said...

Newsflash. An offense, perceived or actual, to Barack Obama is just that. It's not an offense to the black race.. The resemblance of the History Channel's Satan was probably inspired, subconsciously or intentionally, by Obama's uncanny powers of deception. What better image could there be to represent the Father of Lies but the greatest and most powerful deceiver of our times. The most notorious lier of our times just happens to be black. It's therefore quite appropriate that Satan resembles Obama.

chauncey devega said...

Obama derangement syndrome is a hell of a drug. Are you going to your support meetings?

SBlady said...

Not that I believe in that nonsense but, the DEVIL is a BLACK MAN, not just Barack Obama. What the hell are you talking about? And "the most notorious lier (sp) of our times..." Surely, you jest. President Obama is a lot of things, including a liar, but this is going a bit too far. You point out which president hasn't been a liar? Then point out how many of them were white? I have no frame of reference on which you placed your sliding scale but I can certainly think of worse that presidents have lied about. Bush:Iraq, Kennedy:Cuban Missile and Bay of Pigs, Reagan:Iran-Contra, Roosevelt/Truman:Nuclear bombs. No sir. Surely, you can see where your comment sounds completely deranged.

Miles_Ellison said...

It must have taken a Tony Montana sized mound of uncut cocaine to come up with that.

Cavoyo said...

Finally, DeShawn Williams has made a historically accurate potrayal of the Devil: http://i.imgur.com/NRQMBwU.jpg

Bad Company said...

I know you think that all of his capitulations to the Right are accidents (still, that doesn't explain his drive to cut the social safety net) but look at what I heard someone say the other day: 'An epic fail like this (series of epic fails) cannot be accidental.' And always remember what our president sez. War is peace. And every child's life is precious. Have a Satan sandwich.

Bad Company said...

Greatest liar (thx) of OUR time. Eight years ago it would have been quite appropriate for History Channel's Satan to resemble Bush.

Bad Company said...

"the DEVIL is a BLACK MAN"

LOL! This is crazier than anything I've said. I think it's crazier than anything I've heard in a long long time. That's in a whole nother dimension of crazy. At least the rest of us are talking about actors playing characters on effing TV. But you, apparently, have seen the actual Devil and verified that he is a man!!! and not only that. he's a BLACK man! Can you tell me where I can find him. I'd like to have aword or two?

chauncey devega said...

Satan Sandwich? does that come with mayo and hummus and some crumpets?

SBlady said...

According to your post he is Obama and Obama is he. You've obviously missed the first part of that post so I'm going to ignore the connection you are trying to make, because it's as silly as you trying to infer that blacks shouldn't be offended that the devil, that many of them believe in btw, is depicted as a black man. And they should do this simply because he looks like President Obama who is a black man. A premise, I might add, that you came to falsely because both the History channel and the producers of the show deny that this was their motivation. However they did not nor could not deny that the devil they cast is black. It simply, emphasizes the mental acrobatics that you have to adopt to justify your dislike of all things Obama.

SBlady said...

Some consider modern times to have begun with the industrial age or @ 1914, others consider them to be @ WWII or 1945. "Our" times, I would argue. would be the time period where there are people that are still alive. That being considered every one that I have mentioned is of "our" time and are considerably worse than Obama. And you are the one who made the standard a comparison. Unless you'd like to go to the senior homes and tell them that because they were born in 1932 they are not of "our" time.

La Toya said...

Amen! I couldn't have said it better myself. Its almost as if my people went dumb and blind when Obama took office.

chauncey devega said...

classic

Bad Company said...

Comprehension problems, have we? I didn't say he was the Devil. But now that YOU'VE said it, that would explain a lot about why he has governed the way he has. Obama is actually the Devil. Who knew?

Bad Company said...

I'd stack our liar up against theirs anytime. I don't think any president has lied so blatantly to get into office as Obama and then done a complete 180.

ahunt said...

The History Channel should be ashamed of depicting the devil in the image of Obama. That's why America is so divided. Some Whites just have to be superior even when it comes to our creator. Blacks will never be treated equal. We as Black folk just need to understand and accept reality. Stay Black and WIN!!

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Bad Company said...

So, it's outright censorship now? Gotcha. Say hello to your boss for me.

Bad Company said...

It is odd that you can't find any pictures of the actor who plays Satan, except for the one of him in that role. It would be interesting to see how much of his resemblance to Obama is a product of makeup. The producers claim that the resemblance is accidental (or incidental) if it exists at all. I'm skeptical. And even more skeptical now, since the face of the actor playing this role is kept out of the coverage of this story. Effectively hidden.

chauncey devega said...

There are pics online. He does not look like Obama.

Bad Company said...

Got links?

Bad Company said...

What the hell, man? Why are my comments being swallowed? I have lost several that I've tried to post? Wasted some precious moments of my time. Are they actually being censored? Am I unofficially banned or something? If so let me know. Not much am I on exercises in futility.

Piqt said...

Yet I don't hear you complaining about the Blackness of Samson's character or the whiteness of Delilah. Or the fact that Samson's mother was cast as a single mother, an insulting stereotype, which is a joke as she was the wife of Manoah. Black men and white America are so f*cking stupid.

colinjames71 said...

My personal favorite was Jackie Chan Angel kicking ass in Sodom. or was it Gomorrah? Whatever. I'm just SO glad i now know that Asians with Karate skills were part of the Heavenly Brigade. Makes me feel safer from Barack Beelzebub Obama already! AND i don't have to actually READ the Bible. Halleluja!