Parental Warning: Satanic Film Starring Jack Black Will Be Marketed as Christmas Movie
Hollywood is all about representation, but perhaps it’s taking things too far with a Satanic Christmas movie.
After so many years of being allowed to pull the strings behind the scenes through people like Harvey Weinstein, the Prince of Darkness might finally be featured favorably on screen — just in time for the holiday season!
Jack Black is set to star as Satan in a new Farrelly brothers’ comedy “Dear Santa” about a boy who misspells Santa’s name when mailing his wish list, accidentally routing it to hell instead of the North Pole, according to Deadline Hollywood.
Black dropped a hint about the production in a March 11 Instagram post. The uncaptioned photo shows the comedic actor with his head framed in a light-up penguin Christmas photo prop on the film’s seasonally themed set in downtown Decatur, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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Details are still under wraps, but the project has been in the works for years after Fox acquired the speculative screenplay by Dan Ewen in 2012 for Farrelly Brothers and Conundrum Entertainment, Variety reported.
The screenwriter said he got the idea after a little girl he was babysitting accidentally transposed the letters of Santa’s name in her North Pole missive.
“There was this cute little card, covered in candy canes and glitter,” Ewen recalled.
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“I fell in love with the idea of this note mistakenly being delivered to the Prince of Darkness and the fiery wackiness that would ensue,” he said.
Known for iconic comedy hits such as “There’s Something About Mary” and “Dumb and Dumber,” Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s brand ensures a hearty welcome for the film in theaters everywhere.
Moreover, their choice to tap Black, who starred in their 2001 comedy “Shallow Hal” as well as kid-friendly fare such as “Kung Foo Panda” and “Jumanji,” provides the rest of the ingredients for a solid box office hit.
If the film follows the brothers’ usual formula of a laugh-a-minute story with a heart and a message along with some crude jokes, it could be what the left calls a “teachable moment” about the pitfalls of believing the devil’s lies and empty promises.
But this is Hollywood and it’s 2023, so unsuspecting parents looking for the newest Christmas classic might find it’s a Trojan horse attempt to glamorize evil and groom their kids when it hits theaters.
(The movie’s IMDb entry doesn’t list a release date, but it indicates the film will also feature actress Brianne Howey of TV’s “The Exorcist” and Keegan-Michael Key of “Key and Peele,” who co-stars with Black in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” set to release in April.)
If off-screen antics are any indication of the flavor of Black’s portrayal of Satan, it’s likely to be a more sympathetic character than parents would be comfortable with.
Black, in heavy metal getup, led a prayer to Satan at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, The Associated Press reported at the time. According to one account, the actor asked “dear dark lord Satan” for “continued success in the music industry.”
Prior to that stunt, Black mocked Bible-believing opponents of gay marriage in his 2008 portrayal as Jesus Christ in the “Prop 8: The Musical” comedy short ahead of California’s vote on same-sex marriage (the video is too blasphemous to post, but curious readers can find it here).
Black, who was raised Jewish and is now imparting the faith to his children, also remains an avowed atheist, according to BuzzFeed.
Even if he can pull off a nuanced approach, it’s a dangerously fine line for any actor playing the fallen angel.
Of course, it’s not that there should never be a movie featuring Satan.
In fact, Faustian favorites such as “The Devil and Max Devlin” from 1981 and “Bedazzled” from 2000 provide a useful and meaningful platform to provide a warning about buying into Satan’s lies at one’s own peril (the former was once shown to us in class at my public elementary school in the 1980s — how times have changed).
The problem is that Hollywood no longer hides its disdain for Christians and traditional values — it’s an all-out assault on all that is good, true and beautiful that surely will bleed into a film where Satan is a key character.
A film like this could be packaged and sold to parents as another feel-good holiday film even as it glamorizes the Father of Lies.
It’s important for parents to be wary of any message this film sends because of the messengers, advice from which mankind would have benefited if Adam and Eve had made the same calculation.
If nothing else, “Dear Santa” will check another intersectional box for that coveted goal of diverse representation.
The slithering serpents of Tinseltown will no doubt rejoice in seeing themselves through Satan — their spiritual father — portrayed on the silver screen.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
