Coincidence or Subliminal Message ”“ the Portrayal of the Devil Looking Quite Similar to President Obama
Subliminal or hidden messages come in many different forms, and the most damaging, influential and widespread of the lot are the kind that are inserted into mediums of something quite popular that draws the attention of the masses. Every once in a while, there is a movie, TV show, or in this case, a miniseries that rocks the nation. The premiere of the ‘The Bible’ miniseries on the History channel recently attracted the largest audience of the year following a long campaign to promote the show to Christian audiences”¦and it’s already drumming up controversy.
When the first of five two-hour episodes of ‘The Bible’ aired, 13.1 million viewers tuned in. Of course, the Devil would play a role in such a miniseries ”“ he is a significant part of the religious plot. However, there is something quite curious about the portrayal of the Devil that has some people in an uproar. In the eyes of some, he bears a striking resemblance to the current President of the United States ”“ Barack Obama.
One of the first people to acknowledge this ‘coincidence’ was none other than Glenn Beck (conservative media personality) known for making racist remarks), who took to Twitter to share a photo of the Devil and asked his Twitter followers: ‘Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?’ Some of the responses hinted that it was a mere coincidence. However, others are not exactly buying it since many people siding on the right wing have openly mentioned that President Obama is the anti-Christ. Whether the choice to depict the Devil in such a way was deliberate or done subconsciously, some believe the decision possesses a hidden agenda anyway you look at it.
The subconscious mind is a powerful machine, and if millions of people are exposed to an image that connects the depiction of the Devil with the President of the United States, there is no doubt that many minds will subconsciously absorb this information. It could have a detrimental effect on the way people view the President without them even knowing where such an aversion comes from. Also, there is no doubt that amongst the millions of people who watched the miniseries, many children sat down to watch with their families. What kind of impression does such imagery leave?
Background on the Bible Miniseries
The miniseries is the brainchild of Mark Burnett, the same person who created the very popular ‘Survivor’ TV show. The avowed Christian along with his wife (the very familiar actress Roma Downey of ‘Touched by an Angel’ fame) took six months to shoot the series in Morocco. It was there hope that the Bible series would not only appeal to viewers that already attended church, but to also gain the interest of people who had never been to church in their life.
Millions of people watched the series to see the stories of the Bible come to life. Burnett also reached out to Protestant and Roman Catholic church leaders ”“ promoting the series as a teaching aid for weekly study groups and sermons. The episodes will continue to air every week on the History Channel with the final episode shown on March 31 ”“ Easter Sunday. Repeats of the episodes will also air on Lifetime, which is another affiliated channel within the A&E Television Network.