A twist on the old idea of Satan is coming to your living room this month from Fox, and if that bothers you, you’ll get no sympathy from The Daily Beast.
The Daily Beast’s Matthew Paul Turner dismissed those who have criticized “Lucifer,” the new Fox primetime show premiering on January 25.
“Fox likely isn’t listening to the faith-based noise since marketing this show to Christians would be rather fruitless,” Turner wrote.
Lucifer tells the story of the Prince of Darkness as you have never heard it before.
Lucifer Morningstar, played by Tom Ellis, is bored with being the supreme ruler of Hell and decides to retire to the City of Angels, where he owns a nightclub, drives a fast car, and listens to rock-and-roll.
The sympathetic naughty boy, who doesn’t lie (rather odd for the Father of Lies), reveals that he feels abused by his Father in Heaven, and eventually ends up helping the LAPD fight crime.
“Nobody’s shocked, really,” wrote Turner about the network’s decision to put a show about Satan on prime time. “This is a network owned by a company that, for years, has enabled the public with nightly doses of Bill O’Reilly.”
Several Christian conservative groups have expressed disappointment with Fox, including One Million Moms and the American Family Association (AFA), who have spearheaded campaigns against the show.
In spite of this Turner has faith that, “In fact, most people—even those who believe in Satan—would be OK with Satan being a likable villain.”
“There’s a lot to like about ‘Lucifer,’” the article stated. “A likable Satan isn’t a bad idea.”
Turner admitted that although Fox will probably not pay attention to requests by Christians to remove the show from primetime, the network may do well to listen to their complaints as they may “unwittingly” have a point.
The show portrays Satan as essentially a good guy, a depiction that Christians would find untrue and even dangerous. But if he appears too good, the article pointed out, the show could seem bland.
In other words, we must be sure to make Satan as attractive as possible - whether that means making him a bit more compassionate or a tad more evil.
