The dedicated fun adversaries at One Million Moms are back with a new campaign, this one aimed at making Satan less hot. They’re outraged that the new Fox show Lucifer makes the Dark Lord look like a “likable guy” who’s “cool and irresistible to women.” Kind of like how these campaigns make the TV shows they’re targeting irresistible to viewers?
One Million Moms is, of course, the genteel ladies’ auxiliary of the anti-gay American Family Association, and Lucifer is, of course, the Morning Star, described in some old book as “the tempter,” which “deceiveth the whole world.” He’s also, not to get too literary here, described as beautiful by his Creator (“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.”)
All that is unacceptable to the Moms, who demand a more unflattering portrayal of the Big Guy:
The series focuses on Lucifer portrayed as a good guy “who is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell.” He resigns his throne, abandons his kingdom, and retires to Los Angeles, where he gets his kicks helping the LAPD punish criminals.
At the same time, God’s emissary, the angel Amenadiel, has been sent to Los Angeles to convince Lucifer to return to the underworld. Lucifer questions Amenadiel, “Do you think I’m the devil because I’m inherently evil or just because dear old Dad decided I was?” The question is meant to make people rethink assumptions about good and evil, including about God and Satan.
The program included graphic acts of violence, a nightclub featuring scantily-clad women, and a demon. The message of the show is clear. Lucifer is just misunderstood. He doesn’t want to be a bad guy, it’s God who is forcing him to play that role.
Truly shocking, and unacceptably sexy. Also arguably a bit of an odd use of the Moms’ time, given that the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced Lucifer is apparently terrible, flat, and not very well-written (“the least interesting thing Beelzebub has ever done while killing time on the mortal plane,” the Hollywood Reporter noted). But once the motherly hordes are done with this important campaign, we hope they’ll turn their attentions to whichever Godless sinner wrote Paradise Lost, wherein the Devil also looks cool as—well—the place where he’d rather reign than serve.
Screengrab via Fox