Satan, Please Stand Up!

Welcome to the 666th post here at 1428 Elm, everyone!

I noticed that we were inching closer to this unholy number yesterday, so I quickly put my mind to work: what topic could I write about that would be important enough to devote our 666th post to it?

It didn’t take long to come up with an answer: the Prince of Darkness himself, Satan.

Whether or not you believe in the Fallen Angel, Lucifer – I know Alice Cooper does! – there is no doubt that Satan is hands down the most powerful, most horrific, and most interesting character in the world of horror.

Raise your hand if you have encountered less than, oh, five stories, movies or TV shows that make reference to Satan, or actually use him as a character. I said LESS than five, dammit!

Regular viewers of Supernatural are quite familiar with the Prince of Darkness. Those of us watching NBC’s Constantine have already meet a fallen angel and have heard the story behind Satan’s banishment from the kingdom of Heaven, and the under-rated movie, Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves, even had Satan personally pay John Constantine a visit, for the sake of finally claiming is tortured soul.

If you have seen The Devil’s Advocate with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves – him, again! – you had to enjoy watching Pacino ham it up as John Milton, a Satan-in-lawyer’s clothing. Robert DeNiro got to play the role of Louis Cyphre – Lucifier – in another under-rated film, Angel Heart. And Mel Gibson had Satan himself – er, herself, as the role was played by Rosalinda Celentano – stalking Jesus in the streets of The Passion of the Christ.

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For Satan’s sake, even the TV show, Doctor Who, had an episode about him! Doctor Who!

And hell – we’re just getting started here. Lucifer is a busy dude, showing up in art, music, and literature as far back as . . . well, pretty far back! I have the pleasure of teaching Dante Alighieri’s Inferno to my senior World Literature class every year, and it is one of the few classic works of literature that I can get high school seniors to dig into. Dante’s vivid depictions of hell, the torture that sinners must endure, and finally ol’Lucifer himself, are the stuff of nightmares – and it was written in the 14th century.

What is it about Satan that captivates us so much? I would say it is the fact that he symbolizes evil in its purest form, but if you know anything about Lucifer, you would know that is not entirely true. Lucifer means “the morning star” or “light-bringing,” and according to many account, Lucifer was the most beautiful angel in Heaven, one of God’s favorites. However, Lucifer hated the fact that God created humans, and so led a rebellion against God, which resulted in him and his army being thrown out of Heaven and banished to the Lake of Fire.

If this depiction is accurate, it helps us understand why we are so enamored with the Prince of Evil – he’s human. He experienced jealousy, gave into his pride, and rebelled against authority – three things we have all done, at various points in our lives. Satan may be that evil angel on our shoulder, tempting us to do what feels good, rather than what is morally right – but in many ways, he’s one of us, just another flawed creation in the universe.

Still, there is no doubt about it: Satan is a bad-ass. He’s The Deceiver, the ultimate betrayer. Believe in him at your own peril. He hates all that is good, and will do everything in his power to either corrupt it, or destroy it. The thought of a serial killer hunting down and murdering his victims is terrifying . . . but the thought of having your soul burn in hell forever is infinitely worse.

So Raise, Satan! Continue to thrill and terrify us in new and devilish (see what I did?) ways. There’s so much evil in the world, and we need you to be the scapegoat!

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