The characters in 'The Bible' look a lot like Obama & U.S. President Obama
According to reports from Da Gong News, the popular U.S. mini-series 'The Bible' recently became embroiled in controversy because some viewers believe that the actor playing Satan looks very much like President Obama. The production team of 'The Bible' explained on the 18th that any resemblance is purely coincidental.
The History Channel in the U.S. aired the latest episode of 'The Bible' on the evening of the 17th, with Moroccan actor Oussama Ouajani playing the devil, Satan. Conservative TV personality Glenn Beck was the first to post on Twitter: 'Has anyone else noticed that the devil in "The Bible" looks a lot like that guy (Obama)?' Previously, some conservative religious groups had attacked Obama, comparing him to the Antichrist.
Producer Denounces the Claims as 'Nonsense'
Thousands of people commented on Twitter about the resemblance between Oussama Ouajani, who plays Satan, and Obama. Most people agreed that the two look very similar. Some said: 'Satan looks like Obama? How is that possible!' 'The actor playing Satan looks like Obama; it's really creepy.'
The producers of 'The Bible,' Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, issued a statement saying: 'This is complete nonsense.' They stated that the actor playing Satan 'is a highly praised Moroccan actor. He has previously appeared in several biblical epics. Long before Obama was elected president of the United States, he had already played the role of Satan multiple times.'
Burnett once donated to support Obama's campaign, however, he has also produced Trump's reality show 'The Celebrity Apprentice' (Trump had expressed in 2010 his intention to run for the Republican presidential nomination but later withdrew), and also produced 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' (Palin was a Republican vice-presidential candidate). Burnett said it is ridiculous to link the Satan character in the series to Obama. He also denied speculation that the producers intended to shape Satan as a black person.
Burnett's wife, Downey, said: 'We only have respect and love for the president; the president himself is a Christian. This false claim is a foolish distraction attempting to undermine this wonderful series.' Downey, a deeply devout Christian, has produced the Christmas children's series 'Little Angel'.Villains are mostly played by Black actors. The History Channel stated that the series "The Bible" features "international and diverse" characters, and "it is regrettable that some people make such incorrect associations." The production team did not intentionally cast an actor resembling Obama as Satan, and any similarity is purely coincidental.
"The Bible" has also faced criticism in other areas. Many biblical scholars pointed out that the series seems to "Europeanize" its characters, with positive characters portrayed as white and villains played by Black actors.
"The Bible" is one of the most successful cable series this year, drawing over 13 million viewers for its premiere. Two episodes remain unaired, and the finale will air on Easter evening, depicting Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. Burnett expects the finale will attract even more viewers than the premiere.
In the first season of "Game of Thrones," a "head" resembling former U.S. President George W. Bush appeared.
In the first season of HBO's "Game of Thrones," a scene showing a "head" resembling former U.S. President George W. Bush hanging on a castle wall quickly drew widespread attention. The network and the production team apologized and promised to remove this scene from the DVD release. In the 10th episode of the first season, someone noticed that a "head" hanging on the castle wall looked very much like the 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush, raising questions online. Subsequently, the producers David Benioff and Weiss explained: "Bush's head appears in two beheading scenes; it was not intentionally chosen and has nothing to do with politics. We were just trying to make the most of the resources we had on hand."
Benioff and Weiss later issued a statement apologizing to Bush for any offense. The statement said: "We couldn't afford to produce all the props, so we had to rent many of them. After filming, someone noticed that one of the head models looked very much like Bush. We did not intend any disrespect toward the former president, and there is no implication; we apologize for this."
An HBO spokesperson said: "We were deeply surprised when we discovered these scenes. It was an unacceptable act of impropriety. We immediately required the production team to apologize for this careless mistake. We apologize for this, and the scenes will be removed from the DVD."
