The Evolving Depictions of the Devil in American Theatre, Film

The Devil We Know: The Evolving Depictions of the Devil in American Theatre, Film,

and Television, 1980-2017

By Ryan P. Johnson

a Dissertation

in

Fine Arts

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty

of Texas Tech University in

Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for

the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Approved

Dr. Mark Charney

Chair of Committee

Dr. Jonathan Marks

Dr. Andrew Gibb

Dr. Janis Elliott

Dr. Mark Webb

Dr. Mark Sheridan

Dean of the Graduate School

December, 2017

Copyright 2017, Ryan P. Johnson

Texas Tech University, Ryan P. Johnson, December 2017

ii

Acknowledgements

The successful completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the

help and guidance of a number of people. First, I would like to thank Dr. Dorothy

Chansky for helping shape this dissertation during its initial process. I would next like to

thank my committee members who have provided additional assistance. I am immensely

grateful for all of the hard work and patience of my chair, Dr. Mark Charney, without

whom this project would not have been completed. I would also like to thank my friends

and colleagues. Finally, I would like to thank my family, my parents, my children, and

especially my incredible wife Marla for their constant support and encouragement.


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Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………….…………………………….ii

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iv

I. THE HISTORY OF THE DEVIL…………………………………….……….………..1

II. THE DEVIL AS TRICKSTER……………………………………….………………33

III. THE LONELY DEVIL AND HIS NEED FOR COMPANIONSHIP………….…...68

IV. THE DEVIL IN ANIMATION…………………………….………………………..97

V. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE DEVIL………………………………….…………126

WORKS CITED………………………………………….…………………………….157


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Abstract

Depictions of the Devil have fascinated American audiences since the seventeenth

century, with the character being one of the most popular in Western culture. However,

beginning in the early 1980s, portrayals of the Devil in theatre, television, and film have

begun changing from the traditional representation of evil as the character was used less

frequently within the horror genre. Instead, the Devil is depicted as an amoral,

mischievous Trickster, or he is lonely and needs to be loved by either a human or God

(with the latter signaling redemption). This dissertation examines how the Devil has

evolved into these two modern depictions as well as how the depictions are blended in

the medium of animation, easily approachable by both children and adults. Additionally,

I research the influence of the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, C.G. Jung, and

Jacques Lacan on the development of the modern Devil. Finally, my study examines the

role that Generation X has played in informing how contemporary society perceives the

Devil as he is often represented as a sympathetic character to audiences, while,

simultaneously, belonging to a profession or class that is demonized within American

culture.


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Chapter One:

The History of the Devil

Please allow me to introduce myself / I’m a man of wealth and taste.

-Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones).

Depictions of evil personified as the Devil have fascinated audiences in the

United States interested in the supernatural since the seventeenth century, but this

attraction has grown tremendously since the early 1980s (Poole xiv). This personification

has taken on numerous aspects of the society that shapes it. From America’s Puritanical

beginnings, the Devil has traditionally been used as a method of depicting the “Other,” or

anyone outside of societal norms. For example, Native Americans were viewed as the

embodiment of the Devil and everything the Puritans feared—“the body, sexuality,

laziness, sin, and the loss of self-control” (Booker 129). As the United States has evolved

so has the United States’ depiction of the Devil. In fact, the Devil has transformed

multiple times in the past three decades to meet the fears and hatreds of American society

and the anticipated audiences of popular entertainment, especially those fears pertaining

to the supernatural. When the Devil appears in live-action theatre, film, and television, he

is usually depicted as a member of whatever profession or class is demonized at the time.

For example, in the 1984 film Oh, God! You Devil, the Devil is a talent agent, whereas in

the 1997 film The Devil’s Advocate he is a high-powered lawyer. The Devil is almost

always personified as male.1

1 This will be further explored in Chapter Two in the film Bedazzled (2000).


2

The Devil (the capitalized version is used to differentiate the character known as

Satan or Lucifer from lesser demons) is one of only a handful of characters in the

Western world who has been consistently popular with audiences for the last thousand

years. In theatre, for example, the Devil was a significant character in medieval Mystery

plays. This Devil was a buffoon routinely defeated by the Virgin Mary in an effort to

make him seem less threatening (O’Grady 54-55): “Because he was dangerous and

dreadful he compelled the defensive laughter that serves to screen terror” (Young 39).

While the Devil is dangerous, he is also an attractive and exciting force that makes

resisting him difficult.

Recent depictions of the Devil generated by the entertainment industry have

yielded two perspectives about how he is perceived by audiences; one is that the Devil is

a monstrous being intent on the destruction of humanity and the overthrow of God,

whereas the second is that he is human in his intentions, only craving forgiveness for his

betrayal of God. Regardless of the Devil’s motivations, depictions of him remain

enormously popular with American audiences. The variety of changes this character has

undergone in the last thirty-seven years is compelling as these invite an investigation of

the monster/human question in conjunction with the changing-professions phenomenon.

Society’s fears, anxieties, and hatreds are mirrored in its choice of Devil. The Devil’s

story is the story of humanity (Barker 246).

While fascination with the Devil character has been ongoing through American

history, within the early 1980s it comes from multiple places although all rooted in the

same generation: Generation X (also known as Gen X, Xers, Generation 13, 13ers, and

the MTV Generation). Generation X is best defined as people born between 1961 and


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1981 who are separated into two groups or “waves” by generational historians Neil Howe

and William Strauss (14). Those born in the first half of the generation are known as the

“Atari Wave” while those born in the second half are known as the “Nintendo Wave”

(14). This generation views the Devil as a metaphorical representation of rebellion

against authority and as the definitive figure for an anti-establishment movement (Poole

156). While they most assuredly were not the first to look towards rebellion against

authority, they were one of the first to change how the hierarchy of Heaven was viewed.

In addition, in the early 80s, Generation X began to become consumers of media and

were targeted by corporations for their money as they were the emerging new youth

market (Batchelor and Stoddart 27). As the timeframe of the dissertation is explored,

Generation X goes from just consuming media about the Devil to actively creating it and

pursuing different ways the Devil can be depicted. As children in the latter half of the

1960s and throughout the 1970s, the members of Generation X watched as their parents

enjoyed the character of the Devil in horror movies, books, and television. It only makes

sense that as they grew older, Generation X would twist their shared fascination towards

their rebellion against authority (Case).

This dissertation assesses representations of the Devil in theatre, television, and

film from 1980 to 2017 with an eye to two significant shifts in the character and a

consideration of how these shifts manifest differently in the media. These two changes

are the Devil emerging as Trickster and the Devil as lonely and needing love and/or

companionship. When the Devil appears as a Trickster he is mischievous, not truly evil.

This is examined in Chapter Two with the movies Oh, God! You Devil (1984), the

remake of the movie Bedazzled (2000), the television show Reaper (2007-2009), and the


4

play Me and the Devil Blues by Seamus Sullivan (2012). Chapter Three depicts the Devil

as lonely, exploring recent trends of the Devil needing to be loved either by a human or

God (with the latter signaling redemption). The works examined in this section are the

play History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life by Clive Barker (1980) and the

films The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and The Devil’s Advocate (1997). Chapters Two

and Three focus on one specific characterization each, but the genre that uses both

characterizations and most successfully combines them is animation, the topic of the

fourth chapter. The Devil appears both in animation targeting children (The Powerpuff

Girls [1995-2005]) and in animation for adults (South Park [1997-present]). In fact, the

animated series South Park and its movie South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)

offer excellent examples of the Devil combining the two characterizations of being a

Trickster and needing to be loved. Examples of other animated television shows using the

character of the Devil that are analyzed include: Cow and Chicken and its spin-off I Am

Weasel (1995-1999). The final chapter, Chapter Five, explores how modern

psychological theories such as the unconscious mind and the father complex influence the

modern Devil’s new characteristics. This is examined in two television series

concurrently airing: Supernatural (2005-present) and Lucifer (2016-present). In fact, in

many of the plays, films, and television series, the Devil is a character deserving of

sympathy. Not covered in this dissertation are plays, television shows, and movies that

fall under the traditional horror genre as these tend to rely on the traditional depiction of

the Devil, one in which he is a monster intent on the destruction/enslavement of

humanity.2 Also not discussed will be media that depict possession, i.e. the forcible

2 Such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist.


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taking over of another person’s body. Within the depictions dealing with horror and

possession, the Devil does not possess the characteristics of the Trickster nor is he

seeking companionship.

The present chapter seeks to familiarize readers with the historical background

from which the modern depictions of the Devil have arisen. There are four major literary

sources that have been used to create the characterization of the Devil in his familiar

guises in popular media. Each portrayal discussed in subsequent chapters takes

inspiration from a mix of these sources. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the

dynamic reasons for the outpouring of entertainment regarding the Devil beginning in the

early 1980s through 2017.

Historical Characterization

There are four primary literary sources from which depictions of the Devil are

drawn, each one adding multifaceted layers to the character: Judeo-Christian writings;

Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno; John Milton’s Paradise Lost; and

Faustian stories (primarily those of Christopher Marlowe and Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe) (C. Mitchell 1-2). These sources contribute to the portrayal of the Devil,

although some are more influential than others.3

1) Judeo-Christian Writings

Judeo-Christian writings took details about the being that would eventually

become known as the Devil from several ancient cultures, including the Babylonians

(who had a story very similar to the one found in the Book of Job) and the Greco-

3 For example, the Paradise Lost Devil and the Faustian Devil are prominently combined with hints of the

Judeo-Christian Devil in The Devil’s Advocate (1997). The South Park Devil draws heavily on the physical

characteristics of Dante’s Devil and the emotional complexity that comes from Paradise Lost.


6

Romans, whose gods Pan and Hades directly influence the creation of the Judeo-

Christian Devil (Russell, The Prince 15-17).4 These ideas would coalesce, with influence

from the Zoroastrians, into a being that stood against all that is good (19). However, the

idea of a being constantly opposing good was not the original intention behind the entity

that would eventually become what we think of as the Devil. The Jewish religion

originally attributed everything within the universe, both good and evil, to the one God –

Yahweh: “I form the light; and the darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I am

[Yahweh], that doeth all these things” (American Standard Version, Isaiah 45:7).

However, an attempt to understand how evil could exist in a world governed by a just

God led the Jewish people to develop the idea of an Evil One over time. This creation of

a supreme Evil being is traced beginning in the Old Testament to the era of Apocalyptic

Judaism through the beginning of the Christian era (Russell, The Prince 28).

Even two of the most common names for the personification of evil, Satan and the

Devil, originate from the same source. The word “devil” comes indirectly from Hebrew.

Initially, the term commonly used was the Hebrew word satan (stn), which simply meant

to oppose another. From Hebrew, satan was translated to the Greek diabolos (adversary),

from whence it passed into the Latin diabolus, then to the German Teufel, and finally to

the English word devil. The basic denotation of the term is “opponent” (Russell, The

Devil 189).

This idea of a being that was an adversary is important because, until this point in

Judeo-Christian writings, there had been no individual obstructing others. Whether the

4 Writings in the Old Testament were created between 900 B.C.E. and 100 B.C.E., but the form that

became the Hebrew canon was not finalized until roughly 150 C.E. Most of the books written for the New

Testament were not created until roughly somewhere between 50 C.E. and 100 C.E. (Russell Devil 175;

221).


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opposition was to another person, an angel, or even God was irrelevant. In fact, the term

“satan” appears several times in the Old Testament, as, for example, when an angel

blocks the road on which Balaam is trying to travel. This is the first time a supernatural

being is denoted as a satan. One of the most important developments of the being that

would become known as the Devil is in Zechariah 3.1-2, which reads, “Then he showed

me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with the Adversary

standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to the Adversary, ‘The Lord

rebuke you, Satan, the Lord rebuke you who are venting your spite on Jerusalem’”

(Russell, The Prince 33). The Devil’s purpose at this point in the Bible is to be used as a

method of God’s punishment for sinners, although the Devil took his role in delivering

punishment beyond what God wanted. The Devil failed to understand that punishment

should be constrained with mercy. This lack of mercy and an overwhelming spite towards

humanity is the beginning of a personality for the being who would eventually become

the Devil. This is a marked change for an individual whose sole purpose at this point in

the Old Testament is to obstruct and oppose others.

There are two categories of angels to which the Devil is said to belong. The first

is the bene ha-elohim, or the “sons of God,” a sort of heavenly council made of high-

ranking angels. In the Book of Genesis, these angels grew lustful for the “daughters of

men” and they were led to the Earth by the angel Semyaza, another name for the being

who eventually becomes the Devil (Stanford 42). The bene ha-elohim, or Watcher

Angels, as they would later become known, are discussed in much more depth in the


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Apocrypha and the pseudepigrapha—or false writings (Russell, The Prince 32). 5 6 In the

Apocryphal Book of Enoch, two different sections directly discuss the Devil’s fall from

Heaven. The first section of the Book of Enoch, The Book of Watchers, recounts how the

bene ha-elohim descended to Earth to mate with human women. According to Enoch, the

bene ha-elohim fell to the Earth descending as stars, which is important because this

description would eventually evolve into the name “Lucifer—the giver of light’”

(Stanford 50). The bene ha-elohim brought knowledge of both art and science to

humanity. This newfound knowledge had the unfortunate side effect of corrupting

humanity. The bene ha-elohim mated with human women resulting in monstrous

offspring: the Nephilim. Because of their actions, the bene ha-elohim were cast out of

Heaven. This is the first story/explanation of how the Devil and the Fallen Angels were

banished from Heaven and evil entered the world (O’Grady 9-10).

The second description of the Devil’s fall occurs in 2 Enoch. On the second day

of Creation, God created his armies of angels. One of the archangels, and all the angels

under his command, believed that the archangel should equal God. For this blasphemy,

God smote this archangel and his followers, casting them to the Earth. All this happened

before the third day began (Forsyth, The Old Enemy 246).

Other Apocrypha books, such as the Book of Adam, give additional reasons for

the expulsion of the Devil from Heaven. In the Book of Adam, the Devil tells Adam and

Eve after their banishment from the Garden of Eden that they are the reason for his fall:

5 The Apocrypha are scriptures that have been excluded from both the Hebrew canon of the Old Testament

and from the Christian canon of the New Testament. While they were excluded, these writings still greatly

influenced what was included (Russell, The Devil 175). 6 Pseudepigrapha, unlike the Apocrypha, were never included within any part of the Old Testament;

however, they became widely known and influenced other writings. They are typically attributed to being

written by biblical characters (Russell, The Prince 32).


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When thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and

banished from the company of angels. When God blew into thee the

breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God,

Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the sight of

God…

And I answered, “I have no need to worship Adam.” And since Michael

kept urging me to worship, I said to him, “Why dost thou urge me? I will

not worship an inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the

creation, before he was made I was already made. It is his duty to worship

me.” When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to

worship him, and Michael saith, “Worship the image of God, but if thou

wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wroth with thee.” And I said,

“If he be wroth with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and

will be like the highest” (Forsyth, The Old Enemy 238).

After the Devil makes his intentions clear and acts upon them, he is banished by God

from Heaven along with all the other angels who side with him. As the Devil and his

minions suffer in Hell, they are able to see the paradise in which Adam and Eve live. The

Devil covets Adam and Eve and their favor with God, while at the same time, hating

them for it. This drives the Devil to seduce Eve at the Tree of Knowledge, causing her

and Adam’s banishment from Eden (238).

The second group of angels to which the Devil belonged were the mal’ak

Yahweh, or Messengers of God. This is an angel that is considered the voice of God. One

example of a mal’ak Yahweh is the burning bush that addresses Moses. It is also the


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mal’ak Yahweh who slaughters the firstborn of Egypt (Russell, The Prince 36). It is

within the Book of Job that the mal’ak Yahweh takes on the role of satan, and is “the first

bearer of the name to merit a capital letter”, changing it from a title to a proper name

(Stanford 43). This Satan has more power than any of the others who have contributed to

what we think of as the Devil and yet he is still completely loyal to God. In the Book of

Job, the Devil has taken upon himself the role of the chief antagonist to humanity. He

tells God that the only reason humankind is faithful is that they have been promised a

reward and, if that reward is taken away, they will curse God. God allows him to test this

theory. The Devil takes everything away from Job and yet Job remains faithful. This

story also allotted all of humanity’s suffering onto one being: the Devil (Stanford 44).

If the Devil of the Judeo-Christian Old Testament began as a loyal member of

God’s court, the Devil found throughout the Christian New Testament is anything but.

Other than Jesus Christ, the Devil is mentioned more than any other character in the New

Testament (Stanford 8). The New Testament is, basically, the war between Jesus and the

Devil, good and evil. The characteristics of the Devil in the New Testament trace their

evolution from the Old Testament, but also importantly, from the Apocalyptic writings:

“The Devil is a fallen angel. He is the head of a demonic host. He is the principle of evil.

Evil is nonbeing. The New Testament absorbed, refined, and transformed these elements”

(8).

The scholar and early Christian theologian Origen (184-254 CE) is credited with

changing the perception of the Devil from lustful Watcher angel to overly ambitious rebel

who was banished for his attempted coup in Heaven. Origen states that the idea of the

rebellious angel was in the Christian church during the third century, but not fully


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developed (Forsyth, The Old Enemy 358). Origen refines it as a means to refute

Gnosticism.7 As a result of this refutation, the idea of the Devil as a fallen angel became

much more acknowledged and accepted by members of the church than it had previously

been when the account of his expulsion was only written about in the Apocrypha (358).

Origen disputes the literal interpretations of the Book of Genesis and argues that they

should be taken more allegorically: “Rather than slavishly follow the order of Adam and

Eve’s fall from grace in Eden and then the descent of the Watcher Angels, Origen

suggested that the angels had rebelled first and that God had created Adam and Eve as

compensation after such a great disappointment” (Stanford 84). Unfortunately, Adam and

Eve were then tempted by the fallen angels and inadvertently joined their rebellion,

causing them to be cast out of Eden. Origen concludes that the Devil fell not because of

lust for mortal women but due to excessive pride in wanting to replace God and control

the cosmos (85).

Origen felt the need to speak out against Gnostic beliefs because they were

producing new views on evil and the role of God. One of Gnosticism’s main tenets is that

“God is not responsible for evil because evil arises from a malevolent principle

independent of God” (Russell, The Prince 57). This idea is one of the first times that the

Devil had been given enough power that God could not simply overthrow him.

This Devil, the one presented in traditional Judeo-Christian writings, is the one

that the majority of people (primarily Christians) are familiar with when it comes to his

role throughout history and his conventional depiction. Without this Devil, none of the

7 Gnosticism is “a prominent heretical movement of the second century Christian Church, partly of pre-

Christian origin. Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the

demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis)

of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit” (Gnosticism).


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others would exist, at least not exist in the form they are in now, as this Devil forms the

basis for the development of the ones to follow.

2) Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy: The Inferno

While Dante’s Devil does not have an active role in The Divine Comedy: Inferno

(written c. 1308-1320), the characterization the poet created has proven to have a long

lasting impact on the popular perception of the Devil. Even though the Devil does not

make an appearance until the last canto of Inferno and his character is remote because of

the punishment he is enduring, the Devil’s “personality is revealed by the punishment

that he devises for every type of sin” (Alighieri 1). More importantly, Dante gives a

physical description of the Devil, which, as The Inferno became more widely read, gave

people an idea of what the Devil looked like: a massive, deformed giant with three faces

and six wings:

The emperor of the dolorous kingdom issued from the ice at the mid-point

of his breast; […] Oh how great a marvel did it seem to me, when I saw

three faces on his head! One was in front, and that was crimson; the others

were two, and they were joined to the first above the midpoint of each

shoulder, and came together at the crest: and the right one seemed between

white and yellow; the left was such to see as those who come from beyond

the cataracts of the Nile. Beneath each one came out two great wings, such

as befitted so great a bird: sea-going sails I never saw so large. They did

not have feathers; their mode was like a bat’s; and he was fanning them,

so that three winds went out from him: by them Cocytus was frozen. With

six eyes he was weeping, and down three chins dripped the tears and


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bloody slobber. In each of his mouths he was breaking a sinner with his

teeth in the manner of a scutch, so that he made all three suffer at once

(Alighieri 535-537).

The description of the Devil as having three faces and six wings reveals the type of angel

that the Devil had been before his Fall from Heaven. The six wings make him one of the

Seraphim (Russell, Lucifer 224).

Dante’s description turns the Devil into a “metaphor for nothingness, a void, a

cold, empty place” (Stanford 192). This metaphor is further expressed by the way the

Devil is trapped in Hell. Falling head first from Heaven completely to the center of the

Earth, the Devil remains frozen, trapped head downwards, in ice (O’Grady 133). Dante’s

description is the more traditional depiction that comes to mind for many people when

they picture the Devil: a fallen angel who has been transformed into a hideous monster.

While this portrayal is still sometimes used when the Devil’s human disguise is

discarded, the more common form in which the Devil appears in theatre, film, and

television today is unremarkably human in appearance.

Dante strives to make the Devil a pathetic being that is more repulsive than

frightening. This is a Devil in direct contrast from God. In Dante’s cosmic structure, the

Devil is at the direct center of the universe where all sin and evil are concentrated. The

most hideous and evil sins are heavier, causing them to sink further towards the center

where the Devil is kept captive which prevent him from ever moving (Russell, Lucifer

225). The Devil is confined to the ninth circle of Hell where traitors (betrayal is the most

heinous of sins) are consigned to languish for eternity.


14

Dante’s Devil, while an inactive player in the Inferno, influenced countless

depictions of the Devil in art, literature, and in the public’s perspective. Dante created a

Devil who was much more bestial and horrific than the earlier interpretations. This was a

Devil meant to inspire fear and loathing as well as a glimpse of what could befall anyone

who committed sins within Christian doctrine.

3) John Milton’s Paradise Lost

Milton is responsible for taking the idea of a Devil who is grotesque, bestial, and

absolutely contemptible, and turning him into a rebel who is seen as an anti-hero. Milton

and the illustrators of his poem are responsible for the more contemporary look of the

Devil, beginning with the work’s first publication in 1667 through the present (Labriola

and Sichi ix). This is a Devil who appears completely human in body and, more

importantly, in his face (ix). Before this, the Devil was routinely pictured as a mixture of

animal and had “fantastic bodily features” (Schoenberg 1). Milton is the first to make the

Devil beautiful, not just humanoid in shape. Some critics have claimed that Milton was a

Satanist because his Devil is sympathetic and likable, even though Milton shows the

Devil’s fall from Heaven as the result of his overwhelming pride and vanity (C. Mitchell

2).

Milton writes a heroic Devil in Paradise Lost. His Satan transitions beyond

religious ideology to become a “literary character, to reappear in some of the best-known

plays, novels or romantic poems” as well as numerous television shows and films

(Forsyth, The Old Enemy 65). Milton forever alters the way the Devil is perceived. He

moves the figure from a being of pure evil and horror to a more heroic, sympathetic, and

misunderstood character.


15

Apart from creating a beautiful Devil, Milton also creates an emotionally complex

one. In Book 1 of Paradise Lost, a still very prideful Devil boasts that “my choice to

reign is worth ambition though in hell: Better to reign in hell than serve in Heaven”

(Milton 18). However, while the prideful Devil is well known, Milton fashions another

side of the Devil that has since become equally as well accepted: that of a punished angel

who laments his decision to lead a revolution against God. Even if God were to rescind

the Devil’s punishment, the latter knows that he could never return to Heaven. For if the

Devil returned, it would not be long before he would, once again, be led by his pride and

resentment of humanity’s place before him, to lead another rebellion to overthrow God

and assume the throne of Heaven:

But say I could repent and could obtain by act of grace my former state:

how soon would height recall high thoughts, how soon unsay what feigned

submission swore; ease would recant vows made in pain as violent and

void, for never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate

have pierced so deep, which would but lead me to a worse relapse and

heavier fall. […] So farewell hope and, with hope, farewell fear; farewell

remorse. All good to me is lost. Evil be thou my good… (Milton 112).

The Devil, in Book Four, proclaims that he would have been more content had he been a

lesser angel, one without the power that he already held. If he had not been so powerful,

the Devil believes that he would not have felt the urge to claim more authority in Heaven.

However, the Devil also concludes that if he had not attempted to overthrow God,

another would have. Even if another had tried to rebel in Heaven, the Devil believes it


16

likely that he would have followed that angel and still received banishment from Heaven,

which would deny him the dominion over Hell he holds (Milton 110-111).

Milton’s Devil also takes no joy in his actions against humanity. For example,

when the Devil sees Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he recognizes the divine in

them, as they have been created by God. He laments that he could have loved them, for

he sees similarities between himself and them. Unfortunately for Adam and Eve, they are

the only way for the Devil to strike back at God, who has already defeated him once. The

Devil can also retaliate against God if he is able to annex the Garden of Eden as part of

Hell, which would expand his empire and, consequently, his power. The Devil has

become consumed with revenge, self-pity, and envy (Milton 122-123).

Milton’s Paradise Lost is epic in the traditional sense of the term and is closest in

structure to Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (Lewalski 3).8 There are

several allusions to classical Greek myths in Paradise Lost, such as when Sin is born

from the Devil’s head just as Athena was born from Zeus’s (Milton 68). Milton does alter

the traditional form in one aspect: he has made the villain the hero of the piece. The Devil

possesses the main point of view from which the reader experiences the action of the

poem. Numerous critics consider Milton’s Devil a parody of the tradition epic hero, but

he is still admired the same as conventional epic heroes:

He is a variant of Achilles, who equates honor with his own statue…and

feels slighted by his commander-in-chief, refuses his orders and believes

himself superior. Both epics turn on the connection between ‘a sense of

injur’d merit’ and the hero’s wrath. He is Odysseus or Jason on their

8 A traditional epic poem is a long, serious poem recounting heroic deeds (Yoshida).


17

heroic voyages, leader and chief warrior in battle during and after the War

in Heaven, and through it all the most powerful speaker, able to rally and

organize his troops with the eloquence of his appeals to their own heroic

values (Forsyth, The Satanic Epic 30).9

However, while Achilles is driven by his rage and grief, the Devil is driven by his

egomania: “Achilles’ triumph inspires tragic terror. Satan’s inspires reprehension, leading

us to take satisfaction in the divine punishment that turns this epic triumph into abject

humiliation…” (Lewalski 62). This is a Devil who is originally sympathetic and quite

charismatic, but his true motivations eventually appear. Lucifer’s charisma makes him a

master manipulator as his eloquence gains him the fealty of his defeated army and also

grants him passage through the gates of Hell, past the throne of Chaos, and to Earth,

where he seduces Eve: “At each one of these points Satan has to talk someone into

something, and at each one of these points he succeeds. … He exemplifies all that is

dangerous about personal charisma, and his rhetorical dominance is bound up with that

charisma” (Martin). While readers may initially cheer for him, they are inevitably turned

away because of his arrogance and intentions towards continuing his war against Heaven.

By using the epic model, Milton is not trying to “debase the epic genre nor exalt

Satan as hero,” but rather attempting to create a Devil who puts a human face on evil and

defines how this evil can cause a perversion of good (Forsyth, The Satanic Epic 71).

Many of the heroic characteristics that the Devil possesses, “contempt of danger,

fortitude of mind and body, prudence as adventurer and as leader,” are actually morally

9 Milton is measuring the Devil against a great range of heroes and their actions and finds the Devil,

obviously, wanting: “We are to recognize—by degrees, and through a process of comparison, contrast, and

judgment—just what the Satanic heroism is, as we find that it involves the perversion of all the heroic

values that we have admired in literature and throughout history” (Lewalski 56).


18

neutral qualities (Steadman 255). These qualities can be used for either good or evil

ends, as they are in Paradise Lost.

Milton’s Devil has often been compared to Shakespeare’s villains. Whereas

Shakespeare “brought the Devil into the human psyche; Milton put the diabolical in the

human psyche into the Devil” (Stanford 200). Indeed, Percy Shelley writes, “As to the

Devil, he owes everything to Milton. Dante and Tasso present us with a very gross idea

of him: Milton divested him of a sting, hoofs, and horns; clothes him with the sublime

grandeur of a graceful but tremendous spirit” (Forsyth, The Satanic Epic 3). Furthermore,

Shelley says that the Devil is not free from “the taints of ambition, envy, revenge, and a

desire for personal aggrandizement [sic]….The character of Satan engenders in the mind

a pernicious casuistry which leads us to weigh his faults with his wrongs, and to excuse

the former because the latter exceed all measure” (61). Milton has created an

understandable Devil, who, at least in his own mind, had good reason for his actions.

Milton’s Devil is capable of reasoning with others and can explain why he was forced

into his actions, which may potentially sway people to his cause.

Milton’s Devil shares several similar characteristics with Shakespeare’s villains:

self-obsession, arrogance, and ambition. He has a “willful ignorance of the reality of

other creatures and of the cosmos as a whole” (Russell, Mephistopheles 97). Lucifer in

Paradise Lost has often been compared to Macbeth. As Macbeth was a once heroic thane

whose moral ruin comes about through his desire for a kingdom of his own, the same can

be said of Lucifer. They share an ambition that leads successively to the “acquisition of

dominion by villainy, to government by tyranny, to an inability to escape the vicious

circle of his own creation, and finally to tedium vitae and disgust” (292). These ambitions


19

turn the reader from understanding, and to a certain point, sympathizing for the Devil to

realizing that regardless of his initial slighting he is still a vile creature.

Milton also provides the reason for the Devil changing from being called Lucifer

to being named Satan. In Book One of Paradise Lost, Lucifer loses the right to this name

which was forfeited during the Fall. Again, in Book Five, an angel says, “Satan, so call

him now; his former name is heard no more in Heaven…” (Milton 158). Satan is also

used by the Devil in its original sense, that of adversary, when he names himself: “Satan

(for I glory in the name, antagonist of Heaven’s almighty king)…” (Milton 321). The

Devil gladly accepts the mantle of opponent to God and distances himself from anything

that previously associated him with his former existence.

Milton, as Paradise Lost continues, begins physically transforming the Devil from

the beautiful Lucifer to the hideous Satan. Satan’s body transforms and traps him within a

form that fits the betrayal and mutiny that he instigates. C.S. Lewis says, “Milton

gradually reduces Satan from a bright angel to a peeping, prying, lying thing that ends as

a writhing snake” (Stanford 197). Milton initiates this change from magnificent angel to

suffering demon very deliberately. By making the Devil a being of wonder and beauty at

the beginning of Paradise Lost, Milton enables the audience to “feel the glamour of evil.

Only if readers are attracted by Satan can they recognize their own tendencies to evil and

grasp the ignominy and pathos of Satan’s eventual ruin” (Russell, The Prince 189).

4) Faustian stories

Since the sixteenth century there have been numerous stories about Faust and the

deal he makes with the Devil, ranging from Historia von Johann Fausten in 1587

(Wootton xi) to the twentieth century’s The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant—the


20

basis for the musical Damn Yankees—in 1954 (C. Mitchell 54). These stories are based

on a real person: Dr. Johann Georg Faust, also known as John Faustus (Goethe viii).

Publisher Johann Spies collected the stories of Faust’s life and his infamous deal with the

Devil—Historia von Johann Fausten—and had fourteen editions created in its first six

years with translations appearing in Danish, Dutch, French, Czech, and English (where it

was known as The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John

Faustus—known for short as the English Faust Book) (Wootton xi). The fascination with

Faust’s story and the details it imparts to the character of the Devil comes from the

concept of a person selling his or her soul for a multitude of reasons including wealth and

power. The two primary stories of Faust and Mephistopheles—literally “not light

loving”—are Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of the Life and Death of

Doctor Faustus (published in 1604) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (published

in 1808) (C. Mitchell 2). Elements that film, television, and theatre have taken directly

from these two works include, obviously, the deal with the Devil; the crossroads as a

place of meeting the Devil; legal pacts signed with the blood of the petitioner; and the

possibility and struggle for redemption for Heaven (2).

Another major element that both works share that is almost always used today

with the character of the Devil is his seductive nature, his swagger, and a charismatic

persona: “Faust’s influence meant that most of the literary Devils of the following two

centuries took the suave, ironic, and ambiguous shape of Goethe’s Mephistopheles”

(Russell, The Prince 216). This Devil is a trickster and liar reveling in the chaos and

suffering that he causes, while using flattery and sophistry to sow doubt and distrust

(Russell, Mephistopheles 159).


21

And yet, this Devil is also an agent of God. In Goethe’s prologue, a scene very

reminiscent of one found in the Book of Job, God does not believe that Faust can be

tempted, which Mephistopheles takes as a challenge. Once God recognizes the Devil’s

plans, he allows him to go to Faust. As the Devil is leaving, God assures him, “I have

never hated you; of all the spirits who deny me, I blame the rogue the least. The activity

of humans all too quickly slackens into laziness, so I give them a companion to push

them and work on them and act as Devil” (Russell, Mephistopheles 159). The Devil in

this story also presents the coexistence of good and evil in one being as well as showing

that good cannot exist without evil and vice versa (Janz 36).

It is in the twisting of how the Devil is seen that causes many to proclaim Faust a

work of genius. Besides giving the Devil several new psychological characteristics,

Goethe also takes away the hideousness Satan had acquired when he fell from Heaven as

Lucifer—a hideousness that even Milton granted the Devil eventually. For example, in a

scene in the Witch’s Kitchen,

Mephistopheles, far from being the sinister tempter, stands back and casts

his critical eye on himself, observing his own emasculation. His horns and

his tail have gone. All that remains of his traditional armor is his cloven

hoof, but even then disguised in shoes. Goethe appears to be charting the

Devil’s own decline in the age of Enlightenment. Satan can no longer be

picked out from a crowd: Evil is more subtle, more pernicious, and on the

part of Mephistopheles less single-minded, more complex and unsure in

its motivations (Russell, Mephistopheles 203).


22

Goethe’s Devil makes people laugh (usually at the expense of Faust), but much more

importantly, this Devil is capable of laughing at himself: “He is a self-reflexive [D]evil,

and in this respect he offers a modern version of evil. He also mischievously fraternizes

with the audience and, with a knowing wink, invites it to share his comic performance”

(Janz 36). By making the audience laugh, he brings a lightheartedness to what may be

seen as evil, and by laughing at this evil and the cause of it (the Devil), audiences find the

Devil likeable at times.

Modern Day Influences

While the Devil has been a key facet of how most Christian Americans view evil,

there was, in the decades leading up to the 1980s, much disagreement regarding the

Devil’s existence (Poole xiv). Differing opinions were the result of changes in the

religious demographic of the United States. During the 1950s, non-affiliated Christians

made up only 1% of the demographic; that number jumped to 14% during the 1980s and

is still growing (Roof and Caron 116). Members of this group think of themselves as

“spiritual but not religious,” meaning that believers in this category can downplay the

role of the Devil and the perceptions that are associated with him (116). Concurrent with

the burgeoning population of non-affiliated Christians, the United States has seen a

growth in its Catholic population since 1965 due to the arrival of immigrants from

Central and South America. This is a group that tends to be very traditional in their view

of the Devil and keeps him very much in their belief system (Roof and Caron 118). These

two groups, non-affiliated Christians and Catholics, cause belief in the Devil to grow in

two opposing directions, waning and waxing, as both groups have influence among the

American public.


23

A poll conducted across the nation in 1998 by the University of Chicago shows

that regardless of religious affiliation, younger generations’ (age 18-34) belief in a higher

power is down significantly from previous generations (34 and up).10 Absolute belief in

God for older generations ranges from 62%-71%, whereas absolute belief for the younger

generations ranges between 54%-56% (S. Mitchell 32-33). While the poll does not

specifically mention the Devil, it does describe beliefs in God, Heaven, Hell, and

miracles. The lack of belief in both God and Hell can be inferred to mean that younger

generations’ belief in the Devil is also waning. A more recent poll conducted by the Pew

Research Center in 2007 and 2014 corroborates this data. In this poll, the number of

Americans who are not affiliated with any particular religion (also known as “nones”) has

grown to 56 million, making it the second largest in total numbers behind evangelicals.

This group grew from 16.1% in 2007 to 22.8% in 2014 with Christians dropping from

78.4% to 70.6% in the same time period: “While many U.S. religious groups are aging,

the unaffiliated are comparatively young – and getting younger, on average, over time”

(“America’s Changing Religious Landscape” 2015).11 As the older generations mature,

the younger generations are turning towards alternative approaches to religion and to

possibly leaving organized religion altogether. As time passes, the idea of the Devil as the

pure manifestation of evil has retreated because of the growth of secularization across the

10 There is no official government data on statistics of the religious composition of the United States public

because the U.S. census does not ask questions about a person’s religion (“America’s Changing Religious

Landscape,” 2015). 11 Christian is used by the Pew Research Center to include Protestant, Evangelical, Catholic, Orthodox,

Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others that identify as Christian and includes a breakdown of

percentages for each group with the numbers listed above being the total for all of the denominations

combined.


24

country and as a result, the Devil has become “more of modernity’s orphans, unable to

find a home in today’s largely secular culture” (Delbanco 3).

This trend was brought to national attention as early as 1966 when Time

Magazine published a controversial cover, which for the first time ever, had no picture on

it: only the question “Is God Dead?” in large red letters. The story accompanying this

cover, “Towards a Hidden God,” reports a trend that Christians who were leaving

traditional churches while still believing in a spirituality were known as Christian

atheists: “If nothing else, the Christian atheists are waking the churches to the brutal

reality that the basic premise of faith—the existence of a personal God, who created the

world and sustains it with love—is now subject to profound attack” (Case). If the belief

in God is declining, it only makes sense that the belief in an actual Devil would as well.

Even among modern-day traditional American Evangelicals (or born-again

Christians), the number of people who believe in an actual Devil is decreasing.

According to the Barna Group, a research organization focusing on faith and culture, less

than half of traditional Evangelicals believe that the Devil is a living being. That number

jumps to 66% if only Baptists are considered (“Most American Christians”). In fact, even

the mention of the Devil has disappeared from most Evangelical churches’ doctrinal

statements in the last decade. A majority of Evangelicals now consider the Devil, at most,

a symbol of evil or an impersonal force (Elliott). Roger E. Olson, a doctor of theology at

George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University, describes a couple of

reasons for the changing beliefs among traditional Evangelicals. The first is a wish to be

given cultural respectability: “Belief in a literal Satan and demons seems, however

nuanced, guaranteed to bring scorn from sophisticated people living under the influence


25

of the Enlightenment (Olson). Another is the influence of philosophical reasoning

through theodicy. Theodicy attempts to explain how evil can exist in a universe governed

by a just God: “Theodicy rarely finds a place for Satan or demons in explaining the

existence of evil in God’s universe” (Olson).

Another influence changing public perception of the Devil in the United States is

the growth of the Christian Neo-Evangelists which began in the 1970s. This group set out

to attract new members by being much more moderate than other religions and

“selectively absorbing aspects of mainstream culture,” thereby transforming their

approach to religion in both “content and style” (Roof and Caron 119). The rise of Neo-

Evangelicalism influenced culture in the United States, which, in turn, has helped to

change the American view of the Devil: “Talk of hell, damnation, and even sin has been

replaced by a non-judgmental language of understanding and empathy” (120). The move

away from discussing damnation and sin helped contribute to a Devil that over time

became less damned and more empathetic.

One last influence on the public perception of the Devil that emerged during the

1960s is the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LeVey. While this church was based on

physical and mental gratification and strictly forbade violence and law breaking, the

general public saw it as a cult. Over the next few decades, this perception created a panic

over the influence Satanism could have on society, even though the actual Church of

Satan never had more than a few hundred active followers across the country (Bromley

401). In the public eye, the Devil had a direct hand in every action, real or imagined, that

a Satanist committed or was committed by others.


26

In fact, once the Church of Satan was formed and became better known, a broad

range of claims appeared about the dangers such a “cult” represented as well as the

criminal activities that would accompany the Church of Satan’s potential arrival in a

community (Victor 3). These activities could range from drug dealing to sexual abuse and

torture of children to ritualistic murder and cannibalism (4). In reality, it was not actually

the Church of Satan (or any of the branches that split from it) that were committing

crimes but rather small, local gangs of “juvenile delinquents, often from prosperous

suburbs, who mixed heavy drug abuse with make-shift black magic rituals” (10). These

rituals were learned from pop culture books about black magic that were easily accessible

from bookstores and libraries in the communities where these rituals were performed

(Wooden). However, regardless of who was responsible for the crimes, numerous people

across the United States felt the blame fell squarely on the Devil, who they believed was

an actual physical being, as well as on the worshippers under his influence. The majority

of the public incorrectly placed the blame here instead of where the fault should have

been actually placed: juvenile delinquency, criminality, and mental disturbance.

During the 1970s, communities’ fear of Devil worshippers only escalated due to

circumstances such as misdiagnosed mental illnesses, unexplained events, child abuse,

and brainwashing that were often falsely attributed to Satanists.12 Cattle mutilation that

occurred across the Great Plains was commonly misinterpreted by local law enforcement

as Devil worship. These officials saw previously healthy cattle that appeared to have been

killed, drained of their blood, and missing eyes, tongues, sex organs, and udders that

12 In one well documented instance, a twenty-year-old was bound by two other teenagers and then thrown

into a pond to drown, supposedly at his own request for help in committing suicide. This event was

reported by newspapers as being some sort of bizarre Satanic ritual sacrifice (Victor 10).


27

seemed to have been removed by a sharp object such as a scalpel. It was subsequently

proven through several scientific studies that most of these animals died of natural

causes, such as a snake bite, disease, or eating poisonous plants. The reason for the lack

of blood was that it had coagulated in the animals’ veins and the removal of their organs

resulted from small animals eating them, as shown by microscopic analysis of the

wounds (Ellis, Raising the Devil 240).

Allegations of child sexual and physical abuse, along with possible brainwashing,

brought a newfound fear of the Devil to the American public even though most of these

fears turned out to be urban legends. Children were “remembering” being abused and

forced to hurt other children as well as being required to partake in cannibalism. This is

not to say that some of these events never occurred, because there are documented cases.

However, a vast majority of children who “remembered” were either making up events or

embellishing urban legends that they had been told by other children: “As is the case

where there is much anxiety and fear, the more outrageous the storyteller’s tale, the more

believable it appears to be. Adults who have forgotten the rich folklore of children can

easily bring themselves to believe that children couldn’t possibly fabricate such

seemingly bizarre stories on their own” (Victor 19). Several of these stories were

televised and made national news, thereby bringing these fears to an audience

nationwide. The very fact that these stories were reported nationally lent credibility to

what had started out as local rumors.

This Satanic panic escalated during the 1980s as the Devil became a topic of

conversation in everyday American society due not only to entertainment, but what

appeared to be a rise in crimes committed by so-called “Satanists” (Poole 156). However,


28

once again, it was not actual members of the Church of Satan who committed the crimes,

but rather individuals who used the Devil as a means of exonerating themselves. In fact,

while there are no accurate statistics linking crimes to Satanic practices, using the Devil

as culprit was a useful way for police to explain crimes that perplexed them (Anderson).

Although there are no useful statistics, a very real worry emerged in the 1980s that a

horde of serial killers (such as self-proclaimed Satanist Richard Ramirez—dubbed the

“Night Stalker”) would descend on the public and proceed to go on a Satanically

possessed murder spree.13 Throughout the country several “Americans were willing to

believe that tens of thousands of Ramirezes waited in the night, part of a large conspiracy

of devil worshippers seeking to kill their children” (Poole ix).

Parents worried that these same children would fall under the sway of the Devil as

the result of any number of influencing factors from role-playing games (such as

Dungeons and Dragons) to listening to heavy metal music (such as KISS) to watching

horror movies (Dyrendal 76). One of the earliest examples of the public fearing the

Devil’s influence originated from backmasking—the playing of records backwards to

listen for subliminal messages. Perhaps the most infamous of these comes from Led

Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” The original lyric is, “If there’s a bustle in your

hedgerow / Don’t be alarmed now / It’s just a spring clean for the May Queen / Yes, there

are two paths you can go by / But in the long run / There’s still time to change the road

you’re on.” The backmasked version, which is only clear with priming (priming is when

the brain is guided to see or hear something), is diabolical and yet nonsensical:

“Oh…here’s to my sweet Satan / The one whose little path will make me sad / whose

13 Once captured, Ramirez claimed to be “inspired and empowered” by the Devil to commit his crimes

(Poole ix).


29

power is Satan / He’ll give you…give you 666 / There was a little tool shed where he

made us suffer / sad Satan” (Case). Despite being nonsensical, the urban legend of this

backmasked track grew in popularity across the United States causing numerous parents

to fear that their children had unknowingly been converted to Satanism.

The children and teenagers who did practice what was considered witchcraft and

Satanic practices were not typically drawn to it by being recruited to a cult or from what

had been witnessed and reported in the media. Rather, these individuals would “find in

occult or ‘satanic’ practices a useful frame for deviant play, in which they can

temporarily redefine their activities as an ‘antiworld’ in which adult norms can be defied

and mocked in the form of supernatural ‘witches’ and other bogeymen” (Ellis, Lucifer

Ascending 223). This deviant role-playing is actually healthy psychologically allowing

these teenagers to work out emotional and psychological issues they have during an

already emotionally chaotic point in their lives (Stromberg). These adolescents are

experimenting and testing the bounds of socially taboo ideas and practices. However, to

true religious believers, any dealings with black magic, regardless of whether the

practitioner believes, is an open invitation for the Devil to gain control of the individual

partaking in the perceived occult rituals.

During the 1980s, the Devil’s stories surpassed God’s in defining culturally who

were heroes and villains for millions of young American consumers of television and

film (Poole 156). The emerging youth culture of the 1980s—Generation X—influenced

by several factors, including the political unrest of 1960s and 1970s America, reevaluated

traditional perceptions transforming the portrayal associated with the Devil. Members of

Generation X (born between 1961 and 1981) are widely characterized as being


30

“apathetic, materialistic, irresponsible, lacking purpose, etc.” (Owen 2).14 Part of this

negative image originated because several members of Generation X could not find

regular employment due to the stock market crash of 1987 known as Black Monday

(“Alternative Goes Mainstream”). Generation X is also depicted as overly cynical:

“Generation X has earned its attributes honestly. After all, what’s a cynic but an idealist

who’s been mugged by growing up in the ‘70s? And what’s a slacker but a Black

Monday byproduct? And for X, this alternative? It’s not alternative, it’s reality”

(“Alternative Goes Mainstream”).

This is the a generation that came to be known as latch-key kids—children who

would watch over themselves (usually by watching television) while their parents worked

outside the home, potentially resulting in the lack of a noticeable authority figure (Owen

5). These children had access to several television programs featuring the occult and the

Devil. While these children might not have been able to gain admittance to movie

theaters to see the popular Rosemary’s Baby or The Exorcist, they did have somewhat

unsupervised access to shows such as Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973 television

movie), The Possessed (1977 television movie), Night Gallery (1970-1973 occult

television anthology), or The Night Stalker (1972 television movie and 1974 television

series) to just name a few. Even some less serious television shows depict the mystical

and the occult, such as The Addams Family (1964-1966) and Scooby-Doo, Where Are

You! (1969-1970) (this show would have several sequels that have continued through the

2000s) (Case). Young children even had television shows geared towards them (such as

Sesame Street) that introduced them to monsters. Cartoons were soon to familiarize

14 These dates are flexible, but in most instances the dates range from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.


31

children to magic and the occult which could be a stepping stone to the Devil as a

believable character: “Whether the shows were frightening or funny, children were

absorbing the idea of alternate dimensions where magic was plausible, where strange

creatures existed alongside human beings, and where horror began at home” (Case).

Generation X children and teenagers were able to

embrace monsters, Devils, sorcerers, and other macabre figures as readily

as they had embraced stuffed animals, super-heroes, cowboys, and doll

houses. The parents and grandparents of these youngsters had never

encountered the grotesque and the sinister so often and in so many

places—from Saturday morning to summer vacation (Case).

These shows, several of which were originally intended for older audiences, also

influenced a cynicism in the children watching by eroding their belief in the competence

of the very adults and authority figures that should be taking care of them (Strauss and

Howe 321).

Adam Chase, who worked as a story editor on network television shows such as

Friends, believes that this change in attitudes is a result of a loss of belief in political

idealism as well as the lack of authority figures: “Kennedy was shot and then Nixon

happened, [sic] an era of the President as God, someone who is more than human, was

very much over” (Owen 9). This is a generation who has witnessed corruption in multiple

institutions—families, churches, the government—which has caused them to lose faith in

these organizations: “That’s why Xers laugh at them, why they appear to have so little

respect for them” (10). This lack of respect and faith in traditional authority roles can

explain how Generation X is able to reevaluate the primary portrayal of the Devil.


32

The Devil has evolved since his initial appearance in early Judeo-Christian

writings, going from an almost non-entity to a monster then morphing into a rebel and

finally transforming into a deal-maker. The Devil has undergone numerous

transformations, and at the same time, audience’s perceptions of him are still changing.

What is the perception of the Devil for modern American audiences? Is he still the

epitome of evil or has he become something different? Is he, perhaps, now a

misunderstood anti-hero? In the last several decades, across different mediums, the Devil

has taken on new characteristics and motivations. The following chapters will begin a

study into the causes as to why and how the Devil metamorphosed in American theatre,

television and film since 1980.


33

Chapter Two:

The Devil as Trickster

Every generation occupies itself with interpreting the Trickster anew. No generation

understands him fully, but no generation can do without him.

-Paul Radin (168).

La plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu’il n’existe pas. (The finest of

all the Devil’s tricks is persuading you that he doesn’t exist).

-Charles Baudelaire (61).

The Devil has been assigned a litany of labels over the centuries: evil, monster,

beast, and liar are just a few examples. However, over the last thirty-seven years, another

designation has begun to supersede those titles: Trickster.1 While the Devil is not by

definition a Trickster (as seen in the classic mythological characters of Hermes [ancient

Greece], Wakdjunkaga [Native American], or Loki [Norse]), he has begun taking on

several qualities that inherently contribute to this archetype (Russo 258).

Chapter Two focuses on how the character of the Devil has appropriated

numerous characteristics of the classic Trickster from several different world

1 The Devil is considered a Trickster in medieval plays, such as the Corpus Christi cycle; however, due to

limitations imposed by the clergy, the Devil only has one or two characteristics in common with the

traditional Trickster character as seen in other world mythologies, such as the tendency to play lighthearted

tricks (Griswold 669). The Devil found in medieval plays has more of the Trickster’s clown/fool aspects

and is there to be ridiculed and entertain the crowd through his buffoonery. This buffoonish Trickster Devil

began appearing during the twelfth century where the character was influenced by folklore and was

intended to be comic relief, which was usually achieved through lower forms of comedy such as slapstick

(Russell, The Prince 150). The Devil of modern times much more closely resembles the darker, more

mischievous Trickster found in various folklores worldwide.


34

mythologies. The Devil has become less interested in evil than in causing mischief.2

There are numerous instances within popular entertainment of this occurring; however,

the four strongest examples are the movie Oh, God! You Devil (1984); the remake of the

movie Bedazzled (2000); the television show Reaper (2007-2009); and the play Me and

the Devil Blues by Seamus Sullivan (2012).3 These examples show a Devil interested in

his own enjoyment regardless of the consequences to others. However, despite having a

likable nature, the Devils examined within this chapter all belong to a profession or class

that society has traditionally held biases against.

One of the reasons for the popularity of the Devil as a Trickster comes from the

particular audience for whom these media are primarily intended: Generation X.

Generation X’s values are not any different from those who came before or after. Instead,

they find the Devil as a character more interesting than God because he is someone to

whom they can relate, especially since they have confronted deception by authority

figures who have purposely misconstrued information. Only 31% of Generation X

believe people can remotely be trusted (Pew Research Center). Peiter Zatko, a former

member of the hacker collective L0pht who now works for the Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency, writes that Generation X members are “untrusting of

government, untrusting of society, untrusting of everything” (“Truth Be Told”).4 5 The

2 Evil, for this dissertation, consists of “acts that are horrendously wrong, that cause immense suffering, and

are done from an evil motive” in which an average person cannot possibly consider participating (Singer

193). It is clear that the Devil as Trickster does not fall within this definition. 3 There are numerous examples of the Devil as Trickster in modern entertainment. A few examples are:

Tenacious D & the Pick of Destiny, Needful Things, Stay Tuned, “The Devil, You Say” from The Drew

Carey Show, and “Damn Bundys” from Married with Children. 4 L0pht was a hacker think tank composed of members of Generation X that worked towards releasing

security advisories for business and governmental agencies. Testifying before Congress in 1998, the seven

members stated it would be possible for them shut down the entire internet in 30 minutes (C. Timburg

A01). 5 The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is more typically referred to by its acronym DARPA.


35

inability to trust is a lesson that members of this generation learn at a young age

(“Alternative Goes Mainstream”). After being exposed routinely to deception from

authority figures such as President Lyndon Johnson’s administration lying about the

United States’ full involvement in Vietnam, President Richard Nixon’s attempted cover-

up of the Watergate scandal, and President Ronald Reagan’s connection to the Iran-

Contra affair, members of Generation X have come to see the Trickster as a consistent

aspect of their lives because he is, like the historical figures around them, duplicitous by

his very nature (“Truth Be Told”).

While members of Generation X have become accustomed to Trickster figures in

their lives, it is imperative to examine Trickster characteristics and powers the Devil has

specifically adopted.6 Appropriately, it is rather difficult to define the Trickster because

he is “the most paradoxical of all characters in traditional narratives—at least as far as the

Western mind is concerned—for he combines the attributes of many other types that we

tend to distinguish clearly. At various times he is clown, fool, jokester, initiate, culture

hero, even ogre” (Abrahams 170-171).

The Trickster represents both creation and destruction. He can bring fire to

humanity but just as easily burn them with it. The Trickster is capable of helping but just

as often “will direct his actions against the others in his group, stealing food, seducing

women, satisfying all of his voracious hungers” (171). The Trickster encompasses good

and evil equally. The buffoonish, good-natured force for creation allows Tricksters to

evoke laughter but also brings into the “cultural consciousness deep insights about the

6 Just like the character of the Devil, the Trickster is almost always portrayed as male across all the

different mythologies (Hyde, Trickster Makes This World 8).


36

human condition” (Snaith 89). Their other mischievous side receives more attention from

storytellers, because it revels in destruction.

The Trickster is not immoral, a trait akin to the traditional Devil as found in

Paradise Lost when he strives to be the opposite of God by proclaiming, “Evil, be thou

my good” (Milton 112). According to philosopher Immanuel Kant, the traditional Devil

performs evil for evil’s sake alone (Wood 155). The Trickster, on the other hand, is

amoral—he lacks morals altogether (Hyde, Trickster Makes This World 10). Neither

good nor evil, he is a creature controlled by his id, constantly seeking to fulfill his wants

and desires. If he wants to act, help or hinder, he does it. The Trickster is also selfish,

typically only satisfying his own strong appetites, especially pertaining to food and sex.

By assuming the function of a Trickster, the Devil is constrained from committing truly

evil deeds (although he is still usually immoral as opposed to the Trickster’s amoral

nature) and has become more impish. The addition of the Trickster’s qualities grants the

Devil the freedom from being exclusively evil, giving him the newfound potential to do

good as well.

The Trickster represents the anti-social aspect of different cultures, the “obverse

of restrictive order” (Hynes and Doty 7). Cultural anthropologist Paul Radin writes, “As

the enemy of constraint, [Trickster] seems to function as a representative of the lawless,

indeed anarchistic, aspect of ourselves which exists in even the most social creatures”

(Abrahams 171). The Trickster embodies disorder and strives to tear down boundaries

restricting his freedoms:

We constantly distinguish—right and wrong, sacred and profane, clean

and dirty, male and female, young and old, living and dead—and in every


37

case Trickster will cross the line and confuse the distinction…. Trickster is

the mythic embodiment of ambiguity and ambivalence, doubleness and

duplicity, contradiction and paradox (Hyde, Trickster Makes This World

7).

The actions of a Trickster should not be construed as models of good behavior:

“He cannot be seen as a norm of sanity; he does not clear our vision, but rather clouds it

with hints of potential chaos. In social terms, his actions are extremely aggressive,

destructive, and forbidden” (172). Regardless of the motivations for his actions within

stories, they usually lead to a lesson, moral or ethical in nature, reaffirming the rules of

society. They also demonstrate what happens when people do not follow the suggested

behavior of that society or if they fall outside of the “norm.”

The Trickster has retained roughly the same powerful characteristics across the

cultures in which he is found: ancient Greek, Native American, Norse, and the Semitic

population, to name a few (Radin xxiii). Some of the powers and characteristics that the

Devil has adopted from the Trickster in modern entertainment range from shape-shifting,

deceiving others, and delighting in this deception. Both the Trickster and the Devil ignore

boundaries imposed upon them, such as when they transition freely between the

underworld and the earthly realm.

Within modern culture, Americans frequently hear stories of a particular type of

Trickster who appears in the guise of the confidence artist (Morgan 73). The Devil, the

Trickster, and the confidence artist use their intelligence to outwit people in an attempt to

gain an advantage over those they have fooled. All three decipher their victim’s wants,

marketing themselves as the only people who can fulfill their marks’ desires.


38

Tricksters and confidence artists also share tactics with magicians because they all

make excellent use of misdirection, encouraging victims to be distracted. Magic is about

visual perception and its manipulation. The confidence game also manipulates

perception, but unlike magic, confidence games result in the deceived individual losing

possessions, such as wealth or their soul (Konnikova 7). Confidence artists, like

Tricksters, are “suave, slick, and capable. Their depredations are very much on the

genteel side. Because of their high intelligence…they prosper through a suburb

knowledge of human nature” (Maurer and Sante 2-3). The Trickster and confidence artist

also rely on charisma to influence victims and gain their trust.

The Devil, the Trickster, and confidence artists all have the same “dark triad of

traits”: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism (Konnikova 23). These three

traits allow individuals to manipulate others because they change the mindset of how they

see people and the world. Psychopathy is the absence of empathetic feelings for other

people, meaning individuals feel no responsibility or remorse for duplicitous actions (22).

Narcissism entails a sense of “grandiosity, entitlement, self-enhancement, an overly

inflated sense of self-worth, and manipulativeness” (23). The narcissist will preserve his

image at any cost. Machiavellians believe it is perfectly acceptable to control others to

accomplish their own objectives regardless of the cost. They often employ “aggressive,

manipulative, exploiting, and devious moves in order to achieve personal and

organizational objectives,” a major characteristic of both the Trickster and the Devil

when making deals with mortals (24).

Naturally, one of the major components of Trickster lore the Devil has adopted is

playing tricks on others and taking great joy when these pranks come to fruition. One


39

way the Devil employs trickery is through taking a request literally, giving the person

exactly what is requested rather than intended. However, the Trickster does have a

weakness which is becoming tricked by his target, frequently making the Trickster appear

foolish. The following examples highlight Devils who have transitioned from traditional

depictions towards more playful Tricksters less focused on evil and more intent on their

amusement.

Oh, God! You Devil (1984)

The 1984 film Oh, God! You Devil is the final film in a trilogy in which God

(George Burns) actively becomes involved in people’s lives, such as granting interviews

or appearing in court to inspire the public’s faith in him. In Oh, God! You Devil, the Devil

(also Burns) constantly tries to obtain people’s souls, specifically a musician named

Bobby Shelton (Ted Wass). Oh, God! You Devil is unique because, not only does it

showcase the Devil as a Trickster, it demonstrates the dual natures of the Trickster (both

creation and destruction) in the relationship between God and the Devil.

The first two films in the trilogy earned middling praise from critics. However,

the first film was positively received by general audiences, and the sequel did well

enough with audiences to merit a third and final film. Roger Ebert says of the film that,

although sequels are usually unnecessary, Oh, God! You Devil is the exception to that

rule. He calls it is a charming movie with a lot of heart and a “wicked sense of humor”

(Siskel and Ebert).

The Devil as portrayed in Oh, God! You Devil is tame compared to traditional

Devils, being more interested in causing mischief and “taking pleasure in petty acts of

PG-rated malice” than in inflicting evil on the world (Smith 277). Burns performs the


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Devil as a “foxy old scoundrel, a shrewd and mischievous manipulator of human

weakness who amuses himself with his antics” (Mitchell, The Devil on Screen 216). Oh,

God! You Devil is a modern-day retelling of Faust set against the backdrop of the

previous two installments of the Oh, God! franchise. In this case, instead of a magician,

Faust is a musician and the Devil a talent agent. Just as in Faust, the Devil makes deals

for people’s souls in exchange for fulfilling their desires. This Devil, however, does not

immediately collect souls upon termination of a person’s contract. He controls people

until their “natural” death, at which point they are consigned to Hell.

The narrative concentrates on Bobby Shelton, a struggling composer/musician,

who proclaims he would sell his soul for fame and fortune. Going by the moniker Harry

O. Tophet, the Devil accepts this offer.7 Tophet is warned that God watches over Bobby,

but says, “Sorry, pal. He asked for me. That’s the rules: He asked for me; he’s mine. And

none of your tricks, either” (Oh, God! You Devil). This intimates that God is just as much

of a Trickster as the Devil.

After Bobby signs what he believes is a trial contract, he is transformed into rock

star Billy Wayne. The person previously using that persona replaces Bobby with no one

being the wiser. After realizing how much he misses his old life, Bobby wants out of his

contract. Tophet refuses, admitting that he lied about their deal being a trial, one of the

few times the Devil blatantly bends the truth. This deception is significant because, in

most portrayals of the Devil, he always keeps his word—the person who makes the deal

usually lies to escape from his or her contract.

7 Tophet is a reference to a valley in Jerusalem where worshippers of the pagan sun god Moloch burned

children alive as sacrifices: “The place was regarded as a locale of terrible evil, and it was also referred to

as Gehenna, another name for Hell” (Mitchell, The Devil on Screen 216).


41

God decides to intervene for two reasons: he hears Bobby’s heartfelt prayers, and

the Devil’s arrogance has grown out of control. God confronts Tophet with the two

agreeing to play one hand of poker with Bobby’s soul as the prize. God raises the stakes

to include all of the select souls that he watches over in addition to Bobby’s if he loses; if

he wins, however, Tophet cannot negotiate with them, even if they beg. This bet is too

much of a risk for Tophet, causing him to fold. After Tophet admits defeat, God reveals

he was bluffing. With God’s intervention, Bobby is transformed back into himself and

returns to his family. Tophet is not seen again, although it is assumed he returns to posing

as a talent agent to capture new souls.

Throughout Oh, God! You Devil, Tophet is depicted as a talent agent, a profession

that is typically viewed as unfavorable. Agents historically are seen as profiting from

other people’s talents while possessing no real skills of their own. Agents, who are

known to “schmooze” both their clients and executives which causes the public’s

mistrust, are seen as

hustlers, flesh-peddlers, and glorified car salesmen that had persisted since

the earliest days of [the music and film industry] (and continues to this

day). Adding to the shady reputation of these backroom go-betweens was

the perception that they tended to operate ‘in the dark’ and through

invisible means. Given the agency’s penchant for keeping its business

practices a secret, the trade press would often draw unsavory conclusions

(Mann 39).

Because Lew Wasserman, the former chairman and chief executive for the agency

Music Corporation of America (MCA), recognized the public’s perception of his


42

profession, he attempted to change the unscrupulous image most people associated with

agents: “When I became a talent agent for MCA, the word ‘agent’ was synonymous with

‘pimp.’” (Herman-Cohen). Agents are perceived as caring only about profit, crushing

their competition in whatever cutthroat and draconian way they can. Agents see poaching

other agencies’ clients as a routine element of their business, and if they can hurt other

agencies to make more money for themselves, all the better (“Stealing Clients 101”).

In Oh, God! You Devil, Tophet’s evil deeds are nothing more than tricks he plays

on people. The most threatening Tophet ever appears is when his eyes glow red. Tophet

quips, “I love to scare the Hell out of people” (Oh, God! You Devil). Tophet often pulls

his pranks on unassuming people. However, he seems incapable and uninterested of

doing real evil or even causing catastrophic deeds; he neither wants to destroy humanity

nor does he appear regretful for being banished from Heaven. Tophet is content with his

role, although, from his description of God, he is concerned about an inactive,

disinterested God. This Devil privileges the company of God and their playful,

argumentative banter.

The Devil in Oh, God! You Devil is primarily a blend of two specific Devils.

Because of God and the Devil’s friendly relationship, Tophet closely resembles the Devil

found in Judeo-Christian writings. Specifically, Tophet resembles the Devil in the Book

of Job, a Devil whose power stems from God. In fact, the two seem co-dependent, neither

one having power over the other (Pizzato 189). The balance of power is reminiscent of

Zoroastrian writings, pre-dating both the Old and New Testaments. The idea of a deity in

an eternal struggle with an opposite, but an equally powerful being originates from

Zoroastrian principles and was adopted into Judeo-Christian writings (Russell, The Devil


43

99). While bargaining for Bobby’s soul with God, Tophet asks to bring back the Black

Death, or even smallpox, because he lacks the power to do so on his own. Far from

nefarious or harmful, this Devil takes simple delight in inconveniencing people when he

is not bargaining for a person’s soul, a quality found in the Faustian Devil.

Oh, God! You Devil is important to the evolution of the character of the Devil.

Unlike the horror movies of the 1970s, such as The Exorcist or The Omen, he is less

villainous and more playful. George Burns’ characterization of the Devil as an elderly

prankster amuses more than he scares.

A lighthearted and charismatic Devil represents a large shift in the public’s

opinion of the character because previously the Devil was seen as the inspiration for

numerous crimes during the late 1960s through the early 1980s. During this timeframe,

there was a rise of conservatism across the country as several religious groups (primarily

evangelicals), largely made up of Baby Boomers (the generation preceding Generation

X), began challenging both local and state government for being too liberal (Schneider

136). These groups, who believed the United States was created based on Judeo-Christian

ideology, were worried about a rise of Satanism (136).

This rise in conservatism came partially from a major dissatisfaction with

previous presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, due to what was

interpreted as liberal policies in everything from foreign relations to civil rights (Hijiya

202). A major change in American politics came at the end of the 1970s when a rise of

the conservative Moral Majority in 1979 helped strengthen religion in politics. Whereas

the Neo-Evangelicals were speaking less of damnation and more of forgiveness, Christian

Fundamentalists believed that a physical embodiment of evil (the Devil) constantly


44

threatened their souls. (Snowball 14). This particular group of Christians helped to bring

about the rise of conservatism in the United States.

Despite this rise, a vast majority of Generation X members consider themselves

independent, with the remainder split evenly between liberal and conservative (Mitchell,

Generation X 41). The rise of conservative groups, as well as evangelicals who believed

Satan embodied evil, was balanced by a generation tired of the status quo who believed

that those in authority were untrustworthy. This mix created a unique opportunity to

showcase a Devil who walks a fine line between evil and sympathetic (much more often

appearing as the latter instead of the former). In fact, from this mix emerges a Devil that

lessened the fears inspired by the Satanic Panic. While some people believed in an actual

Devil, a more mischievous than malevolent entity lessened both fear and apprehension.

Bedazzled (2000)

Bedazzled is a Faustian story about the Devil’s attempts at bargaining for a

mortal’s soul. One of the most distinctive elements of this movie is portraying the Devil

as a woman, the only female Devil depicted across all the media examined within the

given timeframe of this dissertation. While the first American performance of the play

History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life by Clive Barker cast a woman in the

role, she portrayed the Devil as asexual.8 Bedazzled is a reimagining of a 1967 film of the

same name. The original Bedazzled stars Peter Cook as the Devil, while the remake

features Elizabeth Hurley in the role.

The plot of Bedazzled (2000) concerns the Devil (Hurley) tempting a nerdy

technical support representative, Elliot (Brandon Fraser), with seven wishes in exchange

8 More on History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life in Chapter 3.


45

for his soul. The Devil offers what she knows Elliot wants most: the love of Allison

(Frances O’Conner), a coworker who does not acknowledge him. The Devil assures

Elliot his wishes will give him seven chances to be with Allison. Unbeknownst to Elliot,

each wish has at least one disastrous loophole, causing it to fail in a spectacular manner.

The Devil truly “is in the details,” or rather, the lack thereof. The Devil’s interpretation of

Elliot’s wishes reveals her Trickster nature. While her misinterpretations are somewhat

mean-spirited, with one or two exceptions they cause no lasting harm to Elliot should he

choose to live out the life given to him in his wish. Granted, by making Elliot burn

through his wishes, the Devil will gain his soul sooner than she would have otherwise.

Elliot’s wishes all involve him in a relationship with Allison; however, in each

scenario, he attempts to fix what went wrong in the previous wish. For instance, in one

wish Allison does not love him because he forgot to stipulate she did, but when he wishes

to be the kind of man she could love, he becomes so emotional that she cannot tolerate

him. Elliot accuses the Devil of purposefully ruining his wishes. The Devil responds,

How can you say that? I’m not perfect, you know. Do you think I enjoy

this? I’m stuck in this horrible job for eternity. Everybody hates me… I

can’t sleep. And when I actually try to help someone, they turn on me like

I’m supposed to be God or something. Well, for your information, my life

is a living Hell. I work hard. I try to look good for you…. I just wanted

you to like me (Bedazzled).

Buying into her rhetoric, Elliot inadvertently continues making wishes that end

disastrously for him.


46

Elliot realizes each wish must be very specific to avoid the Devil’s pitfalls.

Despite his specificity, Elliot is unable to find a reality in which he is happy with Allison.

Deciding not to make his final wish, Elliot enters a church demanding to speak with God,

but a priest has him arrested, believing Elliot is insane. While in jail, Elliot talks to a

fellow inmate who gives him very insightful advice on how to approach the Devil. When

Elliot asks his identity, he simply responds that he is a “friend.” Elliot confronts the

Devil, saying he refuses to make his last wish. The Devil transports him to Hell, where,

surrounded by flames, she grows to an enormous size and threatens Elliot with a

pitchfork.

Elliot makes his final wish for Allison to have a happy life. Suddenly Elliot is out

of Hell, his contract voided by a benevolent, unselfish wish. The Devil whispers to Elliot,

“The whole good and evil thing, you know, him [points to the sky] and me, it really

comes down to you. You don’t have to look very hard for Heaven and Hell. They’re right

here on Earth. You make the choice” (Bedazzled). The Devil confides to Elliot that she

really does like him, implying that everything was all in good fun. Elliot replies, “To tell

you the truth, you’ve been the best friend I’ve ever had” (Bedazzled). This exchange

points to the lesson that Elliot has learned through his experiences: a person must actively

change his life. At the end of the film, Elliot sees the Devil in the park playing chess with

the man who gave Elliot advice in prison, implying that the prisoner was God.

An important aspect of this particular Devil is that a woman portrays the character

explicitly intending her to be female. Hurley’s femininity is consistently brought to the

audience’s attention. Throughout the movie, Hurley dresses seductively. Her first

appearance as the Devil is in a bar where she is wearing a provocative, red mini-dress


47

that accentuates her figure. Each consecutive outfit plays off of stereotypical male

fantasy, examples include a sexy nurse ensemble, a Catholic schoolgirl uniform, and a

string bikini. Each costume has the same color scheme: either red or black—colors

typically associated with the Devil. Deena Appel, the movie’s costume designer,

believes, “The pleasure in making the devil a woman was that, unlike the original film, in

which seven separate characters played the deadly sins, here envy, lust [sic] and greed

can be embodied by one person – and Elizabeth was perfect to make the vices edgy and

sexy” (“Elizabeth Hurley A Natural Devil).

One of the most common aspects of the reviews was, regardless of Hurley’s

performance, critics focusing on her attractiveness. For instance, Roger Ebert begins his

review discussing the two female leads, Hurley and O’Conner, by saying, “Forget girl,

I’m thinking. Seduce Satan. Not that Hurley is that good a Satan—just that she’s the

ranking babe in this movie” (“Wanted: Someone Wicked” 33). Michael Wilmington,

writing for the Chicago Tribune, says Hurley has a “wicked wiggle” and then claims,

because she is simply too attractive to be the Devil, a man would have been better suited

to the role:

As for the Devil, Bedazzled might have worked just fine with Mike Myers,

Michael Keaton, Eddie Murphy or some other comic rascal in the part

(perhaps even Robin Williams in his less goody-good moments). But

watchable as she may be, Hurley is not the Devil for this movie.

Bedazzled’s Devil should be a tempter, not a temptation (“Bedazzled

Remake Devilishly Disappoints”).


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Wilmington is unable to see beyond Hurley’s sex appeal. Unfortunately, the focus on

appearance, instead of talent or ability, is a problem that numerous women face

regardless of their profession (Rice). Director Harold Ramis may have a darker purpose

beyond comedy with his film, suggesting ideas about women in positions of power.

Whether it is intended, Bedazzled claims that a woman who is attractive, sexual, and is in

charge may be the epitome of evil.

The demonization of women in power is hardly a new topic. The exact type of

career the Devil holds in Bedazzled is not specified, although she is best described as a

high-powered executive in an extremely large company, such as those belonging to the

Fortune 500. The Devil, when reviewing the contract with Elliot, refers to herself as “a

not-for-profit corporation with offices in Purgatory, Hell, and Los Angeles,” identifying

herself as the corporation itself, and not (merely) its chief officer (Bedazzled). Regardless

of her exact position, there is no one, with the possible exception of God, who has more

power.

During the 1980s and 1990s, a backlash occurred against working women, not

just from the media and men, but from other women as well. Several female opponents of

feminism, such as psychologist Toni Grant, believed women would be more fulfilled by

abandoning the equality the movement had been working towards and returning to their

roles of homemakers. Feminism, for these women, had served its purpose and was no

longer necessary (Faludi x). According to Grant, by working in “a man’s world,” women

deny themselves love and happiness and are apt to experience “stress, anxiety,

depression, compulsion, addiction, [and] exhaustion” (354). For Grant and others, women

choosing a professional career was tantamount to proclaiming a lack of femininity;


49

female workers could not have both a family life and a profession due to a perceived

inherent conflict (353).

Several assumptions and stereotypes about women in power have left the

American public with a negative image. One such notion is that for a woman to succeed,

she must take on character traits often ascribed to successful male leaders, such as:

strength, arrogance, stubbornness, self-righteousness, assertiveness, and competitiveness

(“The ‘Masculine’ and ‘Feminine’ Sides”). When women possess these traits, however,

they contend with the “backlash effect,” resulting in “social penalties for behaving in

unfeminine ways” (Khazan). Women in power have a litany of cliché titles attached to

them when they are in a position of authority, for example: “dragon lady, catwoman,

witch, [and] bitch” (Tannen 165). Taking these stereotypes, along with any resentment or

aggressiveness men (or even other women) may have towards their female boss, it is easy

to see a female boss being labeled “a devil,” figuratively speaking of course.

Casting the Devil in Bedazzled as female makes sense, as this character

incorporates all of the negative perceptions and stereotypes labeled against women in

power, or even strong women in general, for years. The reversal of the Devil’s traditional

gender brings attention to the struggle women face from negative perceptions and

stereotypes, but it also may be a passive-aggressive way of striking out at these same

women. Basically, if a woman wants to be in charge, she must be evil (or at least have

evil characteristics)—and if she is not, possessing power will cause those under her to

view her as if she were evil. The film also comments on a woman’s ability to have power

that is gained, maintained, and executed through her sexuality.


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Psychologically speaking, portraying the Devil as an attractive woman is logical;

studies conducted by both Rice University and the University of British Columbia have

shown people are more likely to trust a beautiful person instead of one who is average-

looking or unattractive (Spector; Williams; Wilson and Eckel 189). This idea relates to

the Devil as Trickster because, to fool someone, the first step is gaining trust. In his film,

Ramis asserts that beautiful is not always good, intimating a connection with Milton

making Lucifer beautiful, but showing the ugliness below the superficial surface.

Gender also can play a role in trustworthiness. Women are judged as more

trustworthy than men, even if it is not categorically true: “People perceive women to lie

less than men and…they perceive men and women to tell different kinds of lies”

(Steinmetz). Men tend to lie to self-aggrandize or assert themselves over others, whereas

women are “taught the importance of intimacy and developing connections with others”

(Steinmetz). The Devil as a woman makes sense because Elliot is psychologically

hardwired to trust her credibility more than if she were a man.

This Devil is a menacing figure only during the climax of the film when she

attempts to force Elliot to make his final wish. For a brief moment, the Devil is shown

stereotypically as a gigantic body made of rock and molten stone, with horns, bat wings,

and a trident, until a giant flame washes over her, returning her to her human form, but

she is still colossal. The Devil appears in a snakeskin bikini—perhaps an allusion to the

serpent in the Garden of Eden. After releasing Elliot from his contract, he asks about

what he just witnessed in Hell. She replies, “Oh just a few special effects. Sort of the

Universal Studios Tour of Evil. Normally it works pretty well, but evidently you weren’t

going for it” (Bedazzled). This statement implies the forms Elliot witnessed are not the


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Devil’s true nature, but rather smoke and mirrors designed to inspire fear in the general

public. The Devil’s ability to change her appearance is used as a trick to fool the

unsuspecting masses, one which makes it easier for her to collect their souls.

The Devil of Bedazzled possesses traits of all four Devil archetypes. The Faustian

Devil takes precedence since the plot is driven by a deal for Elliot’s soul. As found in

Faustian stories, Mephistopheles is cunning, ironic, and charming which are all qualities

Bedazzled’s Devil contains in copious amounts. She constantly outwits Elliot, despite his

careful wording of his wishes, justifying her Faustian arrogance. Finally, this Devil

enjoys the chaos resulting from the wishes she grants, enabling her to both help and

hinder Elliot.

Milton’s Devil is also highly evident in the physical beauty and charisma

Bedazzled’s Devil exhibits. She seduces those around her into believing she should be

trusted. Dante’s Devil is referenced when she appears in her monstrous form. Finally, the

Judeo-Christian Devil is shown within the interaction at the film’s end between God and

the Devil while they are playing chess. They have a friendly and easy-going relationship,

so much so that God accepts when the Devil cheats because he knows it is part of her

inherent nature. God could prevent her from testing the limitations placed upon her or

punish her when she does, but he chooses to do neither. This interaction is reminiscent of

their relationship in the Book of Job.

Bedazzled’s female Devil suggests, intentionally or not, being a powerful woman

is tied to sexuality and attractiveness. Despite the negative female connections, the film

depicts an entirely new Devil, breaking away from the traditional. Bedazzled’s Devil

exploits her appearance as a means of gaining victim’s trust while beneath her alluring


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façade lurks a being still interested in collecting souls and the chaos that accompanies this

task. However, her Trickster nature causes this Devil to also act for the benefit of those

she seeks to entrap, making her more impish than dangerous.

Reaper (2007-2009)

Reaper is a television show that lasted two seasons and ran for thirty-one episodes

on the CW Network from 2008-2009. This show put the character of the Devil on TV

during primetime on one of the national Big Five networks, giving the character

mainstream exposure to millions of viewers.9 Episodic television shows allow for more

character development than a film because of the length of the season and the extended

character arc.

The series centers on Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison), a 21-year-old slacker, whose

parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) before Sam was born.10 Sam is tasked by

the Devil as a bounty hunter (i.e. a reaper) to collect evil souls who have escaped from

Hell due to massive overcrowding. Each episode features Sam attempting to capture

souls who have superpowers on Earth, while, simultaneously, trying to break the contract

for his soul to gain his freedom.

When the series debuted, its pilot (directed by filmmaker Kevin Smith) received

near universal acclaim. Most critics applauded the show’s wit and energy as well as its

cast, especially Wise as the Devil. One of the most important elements in casting Wise

was the sense of humor that he effortlessly brought to the Devil (Butters). Wise believes

audiences appreciated his specific approach to the Devil:

9 The Big Five networks consist of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and The CW (Straubhaar et al. 259-260). 10 The contract for Sam’s soul is approximately three feet long by one and a half feet wide and appears to

be about one foot thick (“What About Blob?”).


53

We did it in a way that was charming and funny and witty…He was like a

cross between a really, really good used-car salesman and a talk show host

with a really good fashion sense. He was the kind of guy you would

gravitate towards in a room. You’d want to talk to him. And I think that

my Devil inspired that kind of feeling in others. That’s what a good

confidence man is, after all. He gives you confidence in yourself and in

him (Wise, Ray Wise Talks Reaper).

According to Wise, he differentiates his Devil from others because “he has a great

concern for humankind and a great affection for them,” echoing Lucifer’s lament in

Paradise Lost of how he would have felt about humanity if God had not placed them

above the angels (Wise, Has “Reaper’s” Ray Wise Sold His Soul to the Devil?).

Reaper’s Devil has an invested interest in humankind, attempting to blend in with

them to gain their trust. He enjoys the lifestyle and all of the extravagances humanity has

to offer. One of the Devil’s indulgences is that he dresses in expensive, hand-crafted suits

which his vanity forces him to change multiple times a day, although these changes give

insight into how he needs others to perceive him. While his suits are dark, they are

charcoal and not black, and instead of wearing red, he always wears a blue tie. In

American culture, blue is often depicted as being the color of goodness, trust, and

honesty, whereas red has an association with evil and sin (Bleicher 188).11

11 While the associations with these colors are culturally accepted in America, the reasoning behind them

comes from Christianity (primarily the Catholic Church). Red is associated with blood and is a reminder of

the transgression of original sin as well as fire and destruction. Blue is associated with the Virgin Mary and

her traits of honesty and truthfulness, in addition to the color of the sky and water which nourish life

(Bleicher 188).


54

Wise’s Devil is very avuncular to Sam and constantly gives him nicknames and

presents, regardless of whether Sam wants them. Wise says, “My Devil is more like your

best friend next door. One that you can trust. One that you confide in. And one that in

every way seems to be looking out for your best interests” (Wise, Reaper’s). While he

has other reapers, the Devil watches over Sam continually, often intervening in all

aspects of his life when he believes he can influence Sam, or, at least, make him more

productive.

Reaper’s Devil is not necessarily evil, but he does not care if someone is hurt. For

instance, the Devil gives Sam telekinesis but purposefully neglects telling him, resulting

in his friend Sock (Tyler Labine) being thrown across a parking lot (“Pilot” Reaper). The

powers bestowed upon Sam are intended to help him track down escaped souls, but

because they are also typically pranks, they eventually have dangerous consequences.

Examples include the Devil filling Sam with static electricity, resulting in his being

shocked every time he is touched (“Charged”); or, the Devil changing food into bugs

whenever Sam attempts to eat (“All Mine”). The Devil showcases his Trickster side as he

gifts these powers, employing both his creative and destructive nature: the abilities

remove dangerous souls from harming others while having the potential to wreak havoc

on the mortal world. Plus, as an added benefit, the powers he bestows are severely

annoying to Sam but extremely amusing to the Devil. He is not causing any injuries, but

creating chaos he can enjoy.

Reaper’s Devil does not have an actual profession because he is primarily

concerned with tricking mortals and, occasionally, returning souls to Hell. However, the

perception of how he behaves has been compared to a couple of different careers,


55

particularly used-car salesmen and politicians (Wise, Ray Wise Talks Reaper). The

Devil’s charm is usually over-the-top and can come across as pushy or, sometimes,

sleazy. He deceives people, feeding into the negative stereotype associated with used-car

salesmen (Ramsey). Anton LeVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, believes that

perceptions of used-car salesmen are applied routinely to the character as a means to

“represent and repress” the Devil because Americans see used-car salesmen negatively

(Rickels 317).

Another occupation fits Reaper’s portrayal of the Devil, that of the politician.

When Reaper initially aired, it was right before a presidential election, putting political

matters in the forefront of American audience’s attention. Reaper’s Devil comes across

as overly smooth and slick in his dealings with people: “In politics, there are many

underhanded ways of turning the tables, getting an advantage, and using political sleight

of hand to divide and conquer…” (Jackson and Thuesen). Some members of Generation

X believe that committing to politics, at best, wastes their time and, at worst, encourages

candidates to dupe them (Strauss and Howe 333). In the span of just over thirty years,

Generation X saw two major presidential scandals, one involving Nixon (“Tricky Dick”)

and the other including Bill Clinton (“Slick Willy”) (Jackson and Thuesen; Wilentz 33).12

The rampant duplicitousness that Generation X has witnessed with several high-profile

politicians parallels the Devil’s willingness to make deals; he superficially helps others

while simultaneously working towards his own benefit.

While Reaper’s Devil may not have a traditional career path, he does have several

qualities of the archetypical Devils. Similar to how Milton depicts him, this Devil is a

12 Nixon was involved in the Watergate cover-up (1972-1974) and Clinton was caught having an affair with

an intern (1995-1998).


56

psychologically complex and multifaceted character, jovial one moment and threatening

the next. He is also egotistical and concerned with his public perception. The reason he

wants to capture escaped and dangerous souls has nothing to do with protecting

humanity, but his own perceived slight. According to Wise, it is an affront to his

character when a soul breaks out of Hell:

It’s rather like a warden in a prison. If someone breaks out of your prison,

you’re offended by it. Your own ego is bruised. And my ego has been

bruised by these escaping souls. It doesn’t matter what havoc they wreak

on Earth. That’s immaterial. The fact that they broke out of my Hell is

what’s material to me (Wise, Reaper’s).

Reaper’s Devil also incorporates the character’s vanity from Paradise Lost. In the final

episode of the series, Sam finds a way out of his contract: he must defeat the Devil in a

contest of skill. After their first round ends in a draw, Sam exploits the Devil’s weakness:

a fascination with his reflection similar to that of Narcissus.13 The Devil’s concentration

on the game is broken because he cannot stop staring at himself in the mirror (“The Devil

and Sam Oliver”).

Besides Milton’s Devil, aspects of the Faustian Devil inform Reaper’s as both

make contracts for people’s souls and bargain for them with fame, power, and wealth.

The series also alludes to Dante’s Devil. Reaper’s Devil gives Sam a pair of sunglasses

allowing him to see demons disguised as humans but warns against using them to see his

own true likeness. This warning hints that the Devil’s human appearance is an illusion

harboring a monstrous form.

13 The Greek myth of Narcissus involves him falling in love with his own reflection in a pond. Because he

cannot force himself to leave, Narcissus stares at his image until he dies (Daly and Rengel 99).


57

Like the other two Devils discussed in this chapter so far, Reaper’s Devil is not at

odds with God but works with him to contain the evils of the world. In the pilot, the Devil

tells Sam, “I’ve seen how this all ends. Don’t worry. God wins.” (“Pilot” Reaper).

Perhaps because he knows he will lose, he does not take his responsibilities as a keeper of

damned souls seriously. If the Devil were truly interested in imprisoning the damned in

Hell, he would find a way to keep them incarcerated. The Devil only wants to recapture

them because he sees the escapees as a personal affront to his pride, not that he cares that

they are causing havoc on Earth (Wise, Reaper’s).

Reaper’s Devil prefers sending others to solve his problems, which is why he

delegates reapers to capture escaped souls. Instead of actively controlling his domain, he

would rather seek pleasure in the moment, knowing it is only a matter of time until God

will eventually defeat him. This carefree attitude means the Devil can do whatever he

wants with little fear of repercussion because he knows that, in essence, he has already

lost. This belief allows him to manipulate and trick humans for his amusement and gain,

because his actions will, ultimately, be invalidated.

While the Devil in Reaper is a Trickster whose motivations may be sinister, on

the surface he appears likable. The audience is never quite sure if he is up to good

(capturing escaped souls for their justified punishment) or evil (acquiring new souls who

might not deserve to be in Hell). Reaper’s Devil has no compunction against using

mortals for his own ends. However, even with a malicious streak, this Devil has a

jovialness implying that he is less threatening than the traditional Devil. While this

occasionally seems contrived (harkening back to his having elements of a used-car

salesman or politician), he also shows genuine concern for specific people, making him


58

sympathetic at times. However, regardless of his concern for others, he never lets

anything stand in his way of tricking people for his benefit and enjoyment. And yet, even

at his most evil, this Devil only causes lasting harm to those who deserve it (such as

escaped souls) with his pranks involving humans more humorous than deadly.

Me and the Devil Blues (2012)

One of the more recent occurrences of the Trickster Devil is in Seamus Sullivan’s

play, Me and the Devil Blues, premiering at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington,

D.C. in 2012. The play was produced by the Flying V Theatre Company of which

Sullivan is a company member. The Flying V Theatre Company produced Me and the

Devil Blues a second time during the 2013 season pairing it with the one-act play

Unplugged.14 Me and the Devil Blues incorporates a Trickster Devil who is more

concerned with the charges already in his care than he is in damning mortals to Hell.

Me and the Devil Blues is about legendary blues musician Robert Johnson.

Johnson (1911-1938), known as the “King of the Delta Blues,” influenced countless

musicians including Eric Clapton, the Charlie Daniels Band, and the Rolling Stones

(Wald 6). He has been called the “grandfather of rock and roll” (Buncombe). Johnson

was born in Mississippi in 1911 and, while still in his teens, was an itinerant blues

musician. Folk stories about him say, at the age of seventeen, Johnson was jeered off of

the stage because he lacked talent. Afterwards, Johnson disappeared for months, and

when he reappeared, he captivated his audience with his music: “To this day, experts are

mystified by some sounds Robert Johnson was able to produce with his guitar, for there

appears to be no manner in which one being could play such music by himself”

14 Unplugged can be seen as a companion piece to Me and the Devil Blues because while the latter concerns

a musician and the Devil, the former is about Kurt Cobain looking for God in Heaven (“Unplugged”).


59

(Copeland and Goering 438). Keith Richards (guitarist for the Rolling Stones) says, when

he first heard Johnson’s recordings, he believed it was multiple musicians playing: “I was

hearing two guitars, and it took a long time to actually realise [sic] he was doing it all by

himself” (Buncombe). This newfound musical ability led to stories (which Johnson

himself frequently told) that he had sold his soul to the Devil at a dark crossroads at the

junction of US Highways 49 and 61 in Clarksdale, Mississippi in exchange for ten years

of being a brilliant musician. However, in blues culture, Johnson supposedly met a Devil

more akin to a Trickster than a malevolent entity: “He is not the force of unequivocal evil

and destruction…, but rather a spirit with the ability to make things happen and instill

people with creative powers” (Moore 90). In the singer’s most famous song, “Me and the

Devil Blues,” he explains his relationship with the Devil and the end of his 10-year

bargain: “Early this morning / When you knocked upon my door / And I said hello Satan

/ I believe it’s time to go,” while in another, he describes fleeing from a hellhound that

has come to drag him to Hell (R. Johnson; “Hellhound on my Tail”).

In 1938, at the age of 27, Johnson died, lending credence to the myth surrounding

him; the Devil had finally come to collect his due (Copeland and Goering 438). Some

stories mention Johnson died on his hands and knees convulsing as well as barking and

howling like a dog, signifying possession (Schroder 45). Currently the common belief is

Johnson consumed a deadly batch of moonshine (Graves 43). Regardless of how he died,

the rumors of Johnson’s deal with the Devil have cemented his place in this country’s

folklore as the American version of the Faustian legend.

The plot of Me and the Devil Blues revolves around Johnson’s afterlife in Hell:

Satan hosts a talk show and interviews Johnson as his never-ending guest, but he traps


60

Johnson in a time-loop, reverting to an earlier time in the show whenever Johnson makes

a breakthrough on a new song. Johnson initially has no recollection of any progress

because he does not know time has been altered. Johnson is unable to play his guitar,

however, because as one of his punishments in Hell, he is slowly losing the dexterity and

control of his fingers.

Each time the show resets, an added element appears changing the scenario. For

example, the Devil’s daughter, Tamara the Anti-Christ, appears as one of his guests. She

is at odds with her father for performing charitable deeds, which she sees as a way to

rebel against him. Satan explains this away as a phase. During one of the time

progressions, Tamara and Johnson reveal they had a romantic relationship but eventually

ended it.

Tamara is trying to free Johnson, but he must first abandon his music, which

means everything to him. Johnson giving up music is Satan’s plan all along; he wants to

break Johnson’s spirit by forcing him to surrender his dream of being a musician.

However, when he succeeds, Satan realizes that he does not like the broken version of

Johnson, forcing him to cheer Johnson up. The play ends with Satan and Johnson playing

music together on the set of the Devil’s talk show.

The Devil’s main trick in Me and the Devil Blues is the resetting of time each

instance Johnson has a breakthrough on his next song. This trick does, however, have

multiple levels, the most obvious being how the reset affects Johnson. He constantly feels

like he has lost an important piece of himself, while, at the same time, suffering intense

déjà vu. The deeper level to the trick is how Satan uses the time reset to fool his daughter

into breaking Johnson’s spirit to make him abandon his music.


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Satan’s other major trick is how he manages to fool both his daughter and

Johnson into believing he has an Achilles’ heel. Part of Tamara’s plan is to challenge her

father to a musical contest believing he feels compelled to accept, regardless of the

stakes. In fact, when Johnson asks Tamara how she knows a musical duel will be

successful in defeating the Devil, she answers, “Have you ever known him to turn down a

musical duel? … It’s like a disorder with him” (Sullivan 21). However, when Tamara

tells him it is his turn to play, he gloats,

Ha! There will be no duel! I’m on the patch now! I’ve been clean since the

eighties! I financed both the movie Crossroads and the Charlie Daniels

Band specifically so people would think I still had a musical duel

problem! No one’s coming to save you, RJ. And you just gave up the only

thing that kept you sane. For nothing (36).

However, this trick falls apart when Tamara forces Satan to realize that he prefers a

healthy, non-depressed Johnson.

Talk show hosts, while still popular with American audiences, have in the late

1990s through the 2000s taken on a negative perception due to public relations blunders

as well as dealing with adverse topics. Just prior to Me and the Devil Blues being written,

a famous talk show host, Jay Leno, was being demonized by both the public and the

media, serving as potential inspiration for the play’s incarnation of evil incarnate because

he was no longer perceived as trustworthy. Leno’s new show (The Jay Leno Show) was

rescheduled from 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM causing The Tonight Show, hosted by Conan

O’Brien, to air after midnight because both had low ratings. While it was not Leno’s idea

to move his failing show to the later slot (or eventually resume hosting responsibilities of


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The Tonight Show), he was considered a liar by the public. The public saw this move as

the second time Leno was taking a show promised to someone else.15 The perception was

he was not honoring the promise and contract he made in 2004 to hand The Tonight Show

over to O’Brien in 2009 (Carter 310). This perception caused one of America’s favorite

Late Night personalities to become vilified for several months.

Leno is not the only talk show host perceived negatively by the public; there are

several other instances of these individuals receiving negative criticism from society.

These examples come from what is collectively known as “trash television” beginning at

the end of the 1980s and continuing through to present day as “daytime talk shows

become less tame and more wild” (Rall 9A; “Raised on Television”). While not all talk

show hosts fall into this category, examples of the ones that do are Jerry Springer,

Geraldo Rivera, and Maury Povich.16 In an attempt to garner ratings, several of these

hosts discuss sensational topics with shows titled “I am Pregnant by a Transsexual,”

“Prostitutes vs. Pimps,” and “Paternity Test: I Slept with Two Brothers” (Braxton). One

of Rivera most famous specials was a controversial episode on Satanism in America

where he drew on his audience’s fears inspired by the Satanic Panic of the 1980s to bring

in high ratings: “The more tension there is, the more conflict there is and more violence

there is, the more the ratings go up. The American people love to complain about it, but

they also love to watch (“Raised on Television”). The formula to attract audiences to

programming such as Rivera’s special on Satanism is simple: “Anything goes as long as

it gets an audience. Shock ‘em to attention. Hammer their ideological hot buttons.

15 The first time Leno took over a show that was originally intended for someone else was when he was

chosen instead of David Letterman to succeed Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show. Leno’s hiring

precipitated a feud between him and Letterman that lasted over 20 years (Carter 350). 16 Examples of popular daytime talk show hosts are Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres


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Inflame their libidos. Deliver a visceral rush by playing to their most primitive

fascinations” (Waters et al. 72).

Guests on these shows are depicted as “denizens of trailer parks and ghettos, the

products of broken homes and a lousy education—they’re all here, shouting at each other,

crying, spewing invective and malapropisms in all of their tacky glory” (Rall 9A).

Ratings for these types of shows often depend on negative guest interaction, showing

humanity at its worst. One producer for The Charles Perez Show, explaining his job,

proclaimed, “My reality is that I either hurt somebody’s feelings or I don’t have a good

show” (Bianco). Daytime television hosts, particularly Springer, have been accused of

making money from dysfunction, exploiting their guests, and giving a forum to “sexually

confused and promiscuous porn stars, adulterers, criminals, Ku Klux Klan members and

various other ne’er-do-wells” (Braxton). The chaos that these hosts allow, and sometimes

incite, is reminiscent of the destructive nature of both the Trickster and the Devil because

it is self-serving, allowing them to maximize both their profits and their viewing

audiences.

Similar to celebrities, such as talk show hosts, Satan in Me and the Devil Blues

revels in the attention he garners from his audience which speaks to his ego and vanity,

aspects of the character which are key components of two of the archetypical Devils:

Milton’s Lucifer and the Faustian. The Devil of Me and the Devil Blues also resembles

Milton’s Devil because he is psychologically complex. His feelings change quite often

(and like the Trickster, are very mercurial), especially when he realizes the truth about his

friendship with Johnson. The Faustian elements of his personality are exemplified by his

charisma as well in the chaos he sows. He enjoys his work in Hell, seemingly


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disinterested in the Earthly realm rather than waiting for his daughter to begin her work

as the Anti-Christ. While he enjoys tormenting the souls in his care, he also forms

relationships with them, warring against the traditional perceptions of the Devil.

While Satan has a penchant for torturing the souls in his care, nothing he does is

permanent. He is content to stay in his own little circle of Hell and enjoy Johnson’s

company, even though he pretends otherwise. One of the key attributes of the Trickster is

his propensity for being tricked himself (Radin xxiii). This weakness appears when

Satan’s daughter is able to dupe him into the realization that he needs Johnson and his

“torturing” of him is not solely a means of torment. Satan is likable and thrives when he

is with others. This ramification shows he is lonely enough to trick those he is punishing

by causing time to revert so they will always remain with him, creating a sympathetic

depiction of the Devil lacking the threat generally associated with Christian portrayals of

him.

Final Thoughts: The Devil as Trickster

While the Devil traditionally has not been thought of as a Trickster, over the past

few decades, his portrayal in numerous media has shifted to less of a monster hell-bent on

the enslavement/destruction of humanity to a being looking to have a good time (albeit

usually at the expense of mortals). This new incarnation of the Devil has forgone being

evil incarnate and has become an immoral version of humanity’s collective id. The

Devil’s good times frequently occur by causing mischief for all caught in his wake. The

modern Devil displays extreme cunning which he incorporates into his tricks commonly

involving loopholes he has devised. The tricks the Devil plays are sometimes mean-


65

spirited, but almost never cause lasting harm to those unfortunate enough to cross his

path.

When the Devil is in the guise of a Trickster, he is no longer wholly evil because

several of his actions are perceived as good, or at the very least, morally gray. The

Trickster’s ethical ambiguity is a result of his straddling the line between creation and

destruction, favoring neither. Each Trickster Devil in this chapter utilizes the ability to

both create and destroy; however, specific examples can be found in both Oh, God! You

Devil and Bedazzled. In each film, the Devil remakes the main character, “destroying”

whom they used to be and “creating” a new individual with new personality

characteristics. For instance, the Devil in Bedazzled (through her tricks) gives Elliot the

confidence to pursue the girl with whom he wants a relationship. Regardless of the

Devil’s moral stance, all who encounter him learn he cannot be trusted at face value.

While there are those who claim that the Devil, regardless of the changes he has

undergone since 1980, cannot be a Trickster because his motivations are customarily evil,

one of the most famous Tricksters in Western culture, Loki from Norse mythology, is

steeped in deeds almost as malevolent as the traditional Devil. Loki is an abandoned

jotunn (frost giant) adopted by the Norse gods (Russo 256). While initially a companion

to the god Odin, and later, Thor and Baldr, Loki eventually betrays his adopted family

(Lindow 217). Loki is a liar, a murderer (he is directly responsible for Baldr’s death), the

“father of monsters,” and a traitor (he sides with the jotunn against Asgard to bring about

Ragnarok [the apocalypse]) (Russo 256, 258). The Asgardian gods initially love and trust

Loki, much as the Devil was by loved and trusted by God, and yet, “Loki is the source of

the greatest threats to the stability of the gods’ world” (256). While Loki does have a


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playful and clever side, his malevolence far outweighs it. Moreover, if Loki is still

considered a Trickster despite his evil deeds, then the modern Devil, who is much more

amoral than evil, should also be deemed a Trickster as he allows his tricks to cause both

amusement and suffering equally.

Besides the ability to play tricks, one of the key attributes of a Trickster is the

capacity to cross and destroy boundaries. Bringing attention to boundaries is also part of

a Trickster’s responsibilities. As seen in Bedazzled, the Devil breaks past the gender-

specific limitations traditionally inherent within high-ranking business positions.17

Tricksters appeal to the young because they break the status quo and personify change,

similar to how Goethe’s Devil inspires “experimentation and annihilation…irrevocably

bound together in modernity’s spirit of creative destruction” (Moore 91). Tricksters are

the heralds of transformation and are frequently encountered in the stories and

entertainment of societies undergoing a cultural shift (Gormley 187). Generation X has

faced numerous changes as they were born into the latter half of the Civil Rights

Movement (1954-1968), grew up during the sexual revolution (1960s-1980s), and were

the first generation to begin school in an analog format but finish it/start work in a digital

format using computers and the internet (Owen 2; Hanson 9; Chamberlain 7). The

Trickster Devil’s ability to traverse, reshape, or even destroy boundaries is

a clear parallel to life in the twenty-first century: airplanes that quickly

cross borders, the World Wide Web that recognizes no borders, media that

easily travel around the world, and so on. Contemporary technology can

create and destroy virtual worlds with a few clicks of a keyboard. Our

17 In April 2015, there were only 23 female CEOs working at a S&P 500 company, whereas in September

2016 only 6.9% of Fortune 1000 chief executives were women (Egan; Darrow).


67

increasingly single world community may be the ideal playground for the

trickster (Gormley 190).

After decades of their faith and trust being abused by authority figures, members

of Generation X have found someone to whom they can relate: the Devil as a modern

Trickster. While they sympathize, within him they still see the duplicity of those they

once trusted. By incorporating Trickster characteristics into the Devil, Generation X

exhibits the cynicism for which they are known. The Trickster Devil as a form of

entertainment allows this generation to make a statement about the disillusionment they

have found with authority figures both past and present. By moving away from an entity

that espouses pure evil, audiences can enjoy this character without feeling guilty, and can

also develop a positive emotional connection to these new portrayals that would not have

been possible otherwise.


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Chapter Three:

The Lonely Devil and His Need for Companionship

But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to

pray for the one sinner that needed it most, our one fellow and brother who most needed

a friend yet had not a single one…?

-Mark Twain (34)

Fire is the Devil’s only friend.

-American Pie (McLean).

The Devil’s motivations, according to Paradise Lost author John Milton, can be

traced primarily to a single incident: feeling unloved by God. His growing jealousy and

outrage over being supplanted by Adam and Eve wounded his pride, causing his

rebellion. If he had not felt betrayed by God for being replaced by “inferior” beings, then

it is possible that none of the Devil’s evil deeds would have transpired afterward.

Chapter Three focuses on how the Devil possesses the intrinsic human need for

love and companionship. The Devil seeks either the love/forgiveness of God signaled by

his redemption or the love/companionship of another individual to end his loneliness.

While some form of a lonely Devil has appeared across various media, particularly

television and film, this chapter analyzes three examples: the play History of the Devil or

Scenes from a Pretended Life by Clive Barker; the film The Witches of Eastwick; and the


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film The Devil’s Advocate.1 Each example depicts a Devil craving not just attention, but

actual love and understanding from others. These particular portrayals are also

sympathetic, because rooted within human nature is the need for companionship, and,

therefore, anyone (except psychopaths and sociopaths) can identify with the Devil’s

plight (Baumeister and Leary 497). However, the sympathy the Devil receives is

challenged by the negative implications of the profession or class to which he belongs.

If a person’s basic need for companionship is left unsatisfied, there are lasting

ramifications to both mental and emotional development and health. Psychologist

Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs emphasizing companionship as

universal for the motivation of (almost) all people. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs starts

with physiological and then proceeds to psychological: “The appearance of one need

usually rests on the prior satisfaction of another, more pre-potent need” (370). The first

level fulfills hunger and thirst drives, while the second satisfies safety (both physical and

psychological). Once these two needs are met, the third need—love, belongingness, and

affection—can be resolved.2 This third need is the one the Devil struggles to fulfill.

The need for companionship requires two elements: the first is stable positive

social contact with others, and the second is that all people involved in a relationship care

equally for one another (DeWall and Bushman 257). A person without love and

companionship feels the absence sharply (Maslow 381). This need becomes the primary

focus of a person’s life and will remain so until this need is resolved, or, for whatever

1 Several examples of the character of the Devil appear as lonely throughout various media such as: Little

Nicky (2000) and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009). Two other examples, the television shows

Supernatural and Lucifer, are discussed in Chapter Five. 2 There are two other levels after the third need (esteem and self-actualization), but since the Devil cannot

begin to fulfill them without meeting the need for love, they will not be discussed.


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reason, a person regresses to one of the lower levels of the hierarchy. Individuals on their

own would be unable to survive (or, at the very least, they would face incredible

hardships towards survival) because, besides the social ramifications of belonging, an

individual must have help from others to help satisfy the first two physical needs

(Baumeister and Leary 499).

Not meeting what Maslow calls “love needs” can endanger individuals: “In our

society the thwarting of these needs is the most commonly found core in cases of

maladjustment and more severe psychopathy. … Practically all theorists of psychopathy

have stressed thwarting of the love needs as basic in the picture of maladjustments”

(Maslow 381). Individuals suffer numerous negative effects as a result of extreme

solitude. Psychologists Roy Baumeister’s and Mark Leary’s research shows that socially

deprived people “exhibit a variety of ill effects, such as signs of maladjustment or stress,

behavioral or psychological pathology, and possibly health problems. They should also

show an increase in goal-directed activity aimed at forming relationships” (500). The

concern people have creating and maintaining relationships is also one of the most

influential factors shaping how human beings think and function (505). The processing of

emotional pain occurs in the same brain receptors as physical: “As far as your brain in

concerned, a broken heart is not so different from a broken arm” (K. Weir 51). Anxiety is

one of the first negative responses occurring when an individual suffers either from not

having a relationship or recently losing one: “People feel anxious at the prospect of losing

important relationships, feel depressed or grief stricken when their connections with

certain other people are severed, and feel lonely when they lack important relationships”

(Baumeister and Leary 506).


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Loneliness cannot be alleviated simply by social contact. Instead, the formation of

intimate connections exceeding the superficial must occur, and these cannot happen with

common acquaintances (Wheeler et al. 952). The emotional consequences of a broken

relationship may result in, “[For the individual]: love, hate, bitterness, guilt, anger, envy,

concern, and attachment; [feelings for the relationship itself]: such as regret,

disappointment, bitterness, sadness, and failure; and more general feelings, such as

failure, depression, euphoria, relief, guilt, lowered self-esteem, and lowered self-

confidence” (Spanier and Castro 213). Particularly in Paradise Lost, the Devil

experiences all of these emotions in his relationship with God both before and after his

banishment to Hell.

One of the most emotionally painful relational devaluations, moreso than outright

rejection, is betrayal (Leary and Springer 161).3 The power to cause hurt to another is

“usually reserved to those few important individuals, family and friends, who are linked

to us by attachment and love ties. … Thus, we are not only vulnerable to being hurt by

those we love, but we are also fallible in hurting them…” (163). The Devil is both the

betrayed and the betrayer because God loved humanity more than the angels, causing the

Devil to rebel. Treachery as the ultimate cause of relationship pain is even depicted in

Dante’s Inferno. Reserved for the worst betrayers, the ninth and final circle of Hell

contains Judas Iscariot, Brutus, Cassius, and the Devil (Alighieri 537).

Social rejection (from an individual or group) can cause an increase in violence,

aggressive behavior, and a loss of impulse control. In numerous depictions, both

traditional and modern, the Devil possesses several, if not all, of these attributes. Rejected

3 Relational devaluation is the perception an individual has of how “close, important, or valuable” his or her

partner views the couple’s relationship (Leary and Springer 156)


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individuals can be hostile to everyone, not just the original source of the hurt (Leary and

Springer 152). The Devil’s aggression has only grown since his banishment; his

resentment now encompasses most everyone in creation. While yearning for help to

relieve his loneliness, his bitterness and anger make it very difficult for others to show the

Devil compassion.

Feelings of rejection and betrayal from parental figures encourage numerous

members of Generation X to draw parallels between themselves and the Devil,

specifically the abandonment he feels after having been expelled from Heaven. The

number of divorces rose to over one million for the first time in 1975, causing children to

feel they did not belong in their family (“Alternative Goes Mainstream”). Within this new

family dynamic, several members of Generation X did not receive support from the

noncustodial parent, often exacerbating the sense of no longer being loved or wanted

(“Alternative Goes Mainstream”).

Members of Generation X grew up within a society hostile towards children.

Regarding cinema, children were depicted as demons and murderers (The Exorcist,

Exorcist II, Damien, Omen, Omen II, Omen III, It’s Alive!, It Lives Again, Demon Seed,

and Children of the Corn to just name a few):

Even when the film children of the 1970s were not slashing and hexing

parents, they were pictured as hucksters (Paper Moon), prostitutes (Taxi

Driver), molls and racketeers (Bugsy Malone), arsonists (Carrie), spoiled

brats (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), or abandoned articles

(Kramer vs. Kramer). Never in the age of cinema have producers and


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audiences obsessed over such a thoroughly distressing image of childhood

(Strauss and Howe 97).

Media intimates that the younger generation was not wanted throughout the 1960s and

into the 1980s. The English language has no single word to describe this phenomenon;

however, there is one in German: Kinderfeindlichkeit (98).4 5 Lacking love,

companionship, and support from the authority figures in their lives, Generation X

suffered the adverse effects of feeling abandoned and alone. These negative feelings

contribute to some members of this generation finding parallels with the Devil as well as

being sympathetic towards him.

There is another way to fill the void caused by the loneliness that often motivates

the Devil: seizing power. If the Devil cannot find companionship, then power may be

sought as a substitute. Power fails long-term to dissipate loneliness, and this is why the

“most powerful individuals end up feeling isolated and lonely (hence, the tendency for

rulers to demand that their subjects love them too)” (Baumeister and Leary 522). This

eventual isolation continues to grow because, the more power a person holds, the more

aware he or she is of their loneliness (Morgenthau 250). While the Devil depicted in the

Christian New Testament seeks dominion over the world as a means to satiate his

loneliness, he most desires someone to love him. If he can achieve this goal, then he will

pay any price to achieve it.

History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life (1980/1996)

4 This is not the first time that this phenomenon has occurred in the United States; this particular hostility

was recognized in the early 1900s as well (Strauss and Howe 98). 5 Kinderfeindlichkeit literally translates to “hostility against children” (Strauss and Howe 98)


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History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life by Clive Barker was initially

produced in 1980 by The Dog Company at The York and Albany Theatre, London. The

United States premiere did not occur until November 1996, when The Next Theatre

Company produced the play in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago (Barker 244).

This play is one of the few works in which the Devil is the protagonist, not the antagonist

or a supporting character.

Perhaps best known to American audiences for his horror novels and their

subsequent films, Barker has long held a fascination of evil and how it affects humanity.

History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life displays several of the

characteristics for which he is recognized, including “his love for the grotesque, the

demonic and his dark sense of humour” (Mayra 192). Barker’s plays, novels, and

screenplays all share similar elements in that they are “vicious, farcical and metaphysical

by turns and, at their best moments, all three simultaneously” (Newman 13). Barker’s

History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life “takes a look at history through the

wrong end of the telescope” and ends up investigating humanity’s inhumanity

(Provenzano).

A primary influence on the play is Marlowe’s version of Faust’s deal with the

Devil, which Barker often embraces (Mayra 200). The story of Faust is human-centric,

but key changes to the Devil from Marlowe’s version have influenced the character’s

portrayal for centuries.6 Some of the particular influences that Barker emphasizes are the

Devil’s being sympathetic, having an introspective nature, and regretting his rebellion

against God (Russell 64).

6 For more on the influence of the Faust story on the Devil, see Chapter One, page 18.


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One of the factors making Barker’s Devil unique is his desperation to regain

admittance to Heaven, which renders him willing to stand trial for all of his sins, both real

and imagined. The Devil’s mix of despair and weariness shows that he cannot survive on

his own any longer. His need for love and forgiveness (specifically from God) is so

intense that he is willing to risk what freedom he has for eternal banishment to Hell with

no hope of parole.

Within the play, Barker questions exactly what it means to be human. Just as a

person needs companionship and love, the Devil hopes for Heaven. He believes that,

regardless of his past or future actions, he will regain God’s love. Without this hope and

despite the façade the Devil might show, violence and rage are not far behind:

The Devil’s tale is the tale of our own confusion, ego, and inability to life

without hope for Heaven. His wings removed, Satan is dropped into the

world wounded, and though he conceals his frailty well enough, putting on

a fine show of dispassion, he’s never far from throwing back his head and

raging like an abused child (Barker 246).

The psychological profile of a child who has either received inadequate attention or has

had abusive parental figures includes being prone to rage and lashing out at others

(Baumeister and Leary 509). The Devil believes he was neglected and later abandoned

(since he was cast aside for humanity) as well as being abused (because he was stripped

of his angelic nature and exiled from Heaven).

The Devil’s inability to accept his divine punishment forms the basis of the plot of

History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life. The Devil attempts to gain re-

admittance into Heaven so he can earn God’s forgiveness and love, believing he has more


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than served his sentence in both Hell and on Earth. A trial is held determining whether

the Devil is guilty for all of the evils in the world past, present, and future. If guilty, he

will have no chance of returning to Heaven; however, if found not guilty, he will be

allowed to ascend. The Devil believes that, since he did not force anyone to commit evil

deeds, he should not be accountable for the sins of humanity. The Devil agrees to respect

the court’s ruling, because if he refuses, his existence will be forfeited.

Throughout the trial, the Devil constantly attempts to prove to the jury his

innocence: “Let me tell you…I’m not your enemy. I’m not harm or depravity. I’m not

more unnatural than a fish, nor as mysterious. My loins aren’t iron, my teeth are thirty-

two, my blood’s temperate. I’m not Old Nick, not the Bogeyman, not the Lord of the

Abyss… [I’m] innocent” (Barker 270). The Devil’s desperation and loneliness become

overwhelmingly apparent as time passes.

The prosecution calls numerous witnesses who re-enact their history with the

Devil, such as Pia Shim who is present as the Devil falls from Heaven and appears on

Earth. She falls in love with the Devil and seduces him; however, during their

lovemaking, the Devil remembers he is a banished angel and, grieving, “unwittingly”

strangles Pia by grasping the rope she wears around her neck (Barker 279). While trying

to find comfort and companionship in the only person to show him any affection, the

Devil accidently destroys its source.

The other witnesses called to the stand reveal that, while the Devil is at the scene

of historical crimes, he never actually commits the deed; rather, he is a spectator who

does not intervene on either side of a conflict. Several testimonies show the Devil has

been deceived, especially by Jesus Christ, who begs the Devil to make sure he receives a


77

public execution knowing it will lead to his apotheosis. The Devil proclaims history has

made him out to be a villain. He sees Jesus as a competitor for humanity and believes

giving Jesus what he wants may eliminate his rival: “I was tricked—tricked!—and you

called me the Father of Lies. You put me on trial while he goes free. He gets a cult to

himself, but my synagogue is blasphemy” (Barker 298). The witness who most

demonstrates the Devil’s loneliness is Jack Easter, an automaton the Devil builds to serve

as his companion. However, even Jack abandons the Devil revealing he prefers humanity

and dreams of Heaven. This revelation forces the Devil to dismantle Jack, which causes

the Devil great emotional pain.

Upon the discovery that Heaven is empty, the prosecution realizes that, by

allowing the Devil to win, they can lock him away from humanity for all eternity. During

closing arguments, the Devil claims that even if he committed an offense, no crime

deserves a ten-thousand-year punishment. The prosecution, purposefully losing their case

to imprison the Devil in Heaven, demonstrates how lonely he has been:

This creature came to us with a reputation so foul, that his name stood for

depravity. But what have we found, when we look a little closer? That

time and time again he is cheated by those he trusts, rejected by those he

loves, and far from being the Great Manipulator, he’s limped from one

mincing failure to the next, crippled, loveless and defeated (Barker 359).

The jury finds the Devil not guilty, allowing him admittance into Heaven. Moved by the

Devil’s misery as they hear him scream upon arriving at the empty Heaven, prosecutor

Jane Beck joins him so he will not have to suffer alone. This extremely compassionate act

demonstrates the longing and need humanity has for companionship.


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While the Devil in History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life does not

have a mortal job, his protean nature has both historical and modern similarities to one

profession: actors.7 Barker says, “The Devil is an actor: a man of masks, [sic] never the

same tempter twice” (245). The Devil has “the best collection of personae of any

character in Western culture” (xii).

The ability to change how society perceives them through what is essentially

deception has led to actors being often viewed negatively world and culture-wide; they

are believed to represent “the other” and do not follow the rules set forth by an orderly

civilization.8 The first actor, Thespis, was called a liar by Solon because he imitated

personages other than who he was (Plutarch 488-489).9 Plato writes of the negatives of

imitation in his Republic and how acting is formative: “Those who imitate will tend to

become what they imitate…they must be prohibited from miming illiberal or base

characters, lest they receive taint from them” (Barish 2; 21). This bias centers on “the

immorality of public display, of arousing the audience, and, most importantly, of those

who professionally practice the art of deception” (Puchner 1).

Plato further expands on his dislike of imitation and theatre in Laws, where he

makes theatre responsible for corruption. Theatre and actors inflame passions in normally

law-abiding citizens so that “an evil sort of theatrocracy has grown up” which influences

them towards “disobedience to rulers; and then the attempt to escape the control and

exhortation of father, mother, and elders, and when near the end, the control of laws also;

7 A person with a protean nature is able to easily change his or her personality or form. The term originates

from Greek mythology with the god Proteus who could change his shape at will (Daly and Rengal 109). 8 This is not to say that all actors and theatre were viewed negatively, but this perception has reoccurred

numerous times since the Ancient Greeks (Barish 1-2). 9 Solon was an Athenian politician, lawmaker, and poet (Plutarch 457).


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and at the very end there is the contempt of oaths and pledges, and no regard for the

Gods…and thus they return again to the old, and lead an evil life, and there is no

cessation of ills” (Plato 223). In a pre-Christian civilization, theatre and acting generate

the same kind of threats to society for which the Devil is held culpable centuries later.

The worry stems from the idea that imitation fosters free will.

The advent of Christianity did not make life any easier for actors, who were

forbidden to associate with Christian women; could not appear in public with slaves

(several of whom were members of acting troupes); were forbidden to bury in

consecrated ground; and were threatened with excommunication if they did not renounce

their profession—which civil law forbade them to do (Barish 43). Christianity, especially

the Catholic Church, has proclaimed actors to be instruments of the Devil for centuries

because theatre, and all who participate, lures good Christians away from God and

towards the Devil (Barish 45). For Christian theologian Augustine (354-430 CE), theatre

is a temple devoted to the Devil and actors are his priests attempting to bring about the

overthrow of humanity (64). A theologian and provost of Reichersberg Abbey during the

11th century, Gerhoh von Reichersberg, sought to ban actors from performing as villains.

Reichersberg believes actors would be guilty of the same sins as the people they portray:

The players’ intent is always to lie, that they succeed in doing so whenever

they attempt to depict good deeds or saintly doings, but that when they

portray wickedness they fail. In this case they are not lying at all, but

‘exhibiting the truth,’ the truth of their own foulness, an unequivocal and

criminal, as in those who perpetrated the crimes being reenacted. So every


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petty subdeacon who happens to play Herod in a Christmas trope is guilty

of the sins of the Tetrarch himself (67).

The Puritans believed acting was an incredible evil that corrupted actors and audience

alike, analogous to the Devil’s rebellion in Heaven. Anyone who participated became

damned to Hell (81).

Nearly 700 years after Reichersberg’s writing, philosopher Jean-Jacques

Rousseau echoes the same sentiment in his 1758 Letter to d’Alembert Concerning

Spectacles—that passion would overwhelm reason and the actor would be eternally

corrupted:

What is the talent of the actor? It is the art of counterfeiting himself, or

putting on another character than his own, of appearing different than he

is, of becoming passionate in cold blood, of saying what he does not think

as naturally as if he really did think it, and finally, of forgetting his own

place by dint of taking another’s? What is the profession of the actor? It is

a trade in which he performs for money, submits himself to the disgrace

and the affronts that others buy the right to give him, and puts his person

publicly for sale. … What, then is the spirit that the Actor receives from

his estate? A mixture of abjectness, duplicity, ridiculous conceit, and

disgraceful abasement which renders him fit for all sorts of roles except

for the most noble of all, that of man, which he abandons (Barber 84-85;

Rousseau 309).

Historians credit Rousseau’s letter as being responsible for blocking the creation of a

theatre in Geneva, Switzerland as well as preventing the official stigma against actors in


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France from being lifted for over a generation (Barish 295). Whether there is truth to the

stereotypes attached to actors, these stigmas still negatively color society’s view of this

profession

As the actor has a protean nature, so too does Lucifer in Paradise Lost, the Devil

most closely related to the one in History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life. In

Paradise Lost, Lucifer foments discord by attempting to persuade the angels to reject

God’s authority. Simultaneously, he covets that same authority for himself (Loewenstein

94-95). Both of these Devils adapt their personality to achieve their desires. Barker’s

Devil has other Miltonesque characteristics such as being emotionally and

psychologically complex. He is philosophical in his reminiscences; his emotions range

across the spectrum from love to rage to depression. Barker’s Devil also manipulates

those he sees as weaker than himself, which in his view, is everybody. Just as in Paradise

Lost, this Devil’s vanity and ego are unsurpassed. He acts as though he is the center of

the universe, believing it is his God-given right to be allowed back into Heaven. The

Faustian Devil shares this ego and arrogance. Both he and the Miltonesque Devil have a

seductive swagger resulting from believing that they are superior. However, his ego is the

reason the Devil becomes locked into Heaven alone. He cannot stand the idea of any

inferior being, especially his fellow fallen angels/demons being allowed to transcend their

eternal prison in Hell. It is a reward only he has earned because he believes that he is the

only one to have truly suffered in the absence of God and Heaven. He is lonely, but still

self-centered and egotistical.

The Devil’s need to be forgiven and allowed back into Heaven overshadows

every aspect of his universe. If he were allowed to return, he would first need to accept


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his new place within Heaven’s hierarchy, not as God’s second-in-command but instead as

one of the lower classes of angels. Second, he would have to submit to God’s absolute

authority, understanding that the failure to comply caused his expulsion in the first place.

After ruling Hell, the Devil very well might find himself unable to accept God’s

authority. In Paradise Lost, the Devil confronts this very conundrum, knowing

submission can never be a long-term option:

But say I could repent and could obtain by act of grace my formal state:

how soon would height recall high thoughts, how soon unsay what feigned

submission swore, ease would recant vows made in pain as violent and

void, for never can true reconcilement grow where wounds of deadly hate

have pierced so deep, which would but lead me to a worse relapse and

heavier fall (Milton 112).

The primary difference between Barker’s and Milton’s Devil is that Barker’s, at the time

of the trial, just wants to be re-admitted into God’s love and acceptance with no

forethought as to what may potentially occur afterward. Because he cannot forgo his ego,

he may regret his submission to regain God’s love and forgiveness.

Just as the Devil is compelled to return to his former life, this need to repair a

broken family is all too recognizable for members of Generation X. Because so many of

this generation either came from families of divorce or felt abandoned because they were

latch-key children, there is a subconscious yearning for their families to be reunited and

reconfigured to its status prior to the separation. The attempt to fix a separated family

resembles the Devil’s desire to be reunited with his father and make what was once

asunder whole again.


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The depiction of the Devil in History of the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life

is multifaceted in his emotions and is not the one-note villain that people associate with

the character. This Devil throws temper tantrums and is petulant. He has mood swings

regardless of whether he gets his way. He can turn from charming and affable to sinister

and dangerous. This Devil rages against the world around him, and he is all too human

and relatable.

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

The 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick (directed by George Miller) is based on of

the 1984 John Updike novel of the same name. This movie reached a widespread

audience with a sympathetic and humorous Devil. This particular depiction of the Devil

needs companionship but eschews destruction and damnation in his search for love.

Several critics disagree on how the film diverges from the source material,

believing it potentially changes the message Updike originally intended. One of the

largest complaints about the modifications from the novel is the loss of the female

protagonists’ empowerment and knowledge of their powers:

The chief thing that has been lost…is the sense of witchiness itself. Mr.

Updike’s witches knew their own powers, and their shrewdness was a

large part of the fun. But in the film, it’s never clear what Alexandra

(Cher), Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Jane (Susan Sarandon) know about

the supernatural, or even about one another. These three characters are

conceived here only in the sketchiest way (Maslin 3).

Updike’s novel is “about female power, a power that patriarchal societies have denied,”

while the movie comes across as misogynistic (S. Timberg). Instead of further developing


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the witches as fully fleshed out characters, the film devotes more time to the Devil’s

antics.

Jack Nicholson’s performance as the Devil garnered the most attention for The

Witches of Eastwick. Several prominent critics from across the country, such as Roger

Ebert, point to Nicholson’s performance as the film’s saving grace, the Devil being a role

he was born to play. Despite the title of the film clearly indicating that it should be about

the eponymous witches, for Ebert, it is “Nicholson’s show” (“Witches Raises Eyebrows

to an Art” 31).

Nicholson’s Devil is a “supernatural cutup, equal parts blasphemy, brimstone and

catnip,” a “comic yet creepy embodiment of diabolical decadence, which in this instance

can be defined as the practice of sin without guilt. The three women are similarly

wonderful…but it makes eminent sense that it would take three of them to control one of

him” (Kempley D1; Scott). This review once again diminishes the performances of the

three lead actresses by claiming it takes all three of them to equal the singular Nicholson.

The Witches of Eastwick is about three women who learn they have supernatural

abilities. The women are “sexually repressed, divorced, or widowed, and they are

frustrated by the lack of suitable male companionship in Eastwick” (C. Mitchell 301).

While wishing for the perfect man, the three inadvertently summon the Devil.

The qualities the witches seek in an ideal man are kindness, intelligence, and

loyalty. They also want him to be a stranger from out of town who is “a tall, dark prince

traveling under a curse” (The Witches of Eastwick). Assuming the name Daryl Van

Horne, the Devil arrives to seduce each of the witches with vastly different approaches.

Van Horne shows Alexandra his art collection; he woos Jane with his mastery of the


85

violin; and he tells Sukie he appreciates the fact that women can have babies, wishing

men possessed the same capacity. Eventually, the witches discover their burgeoning

powers due to their proximity to the Devil. This discovery has a euphoric effect resulting

in their falling in love with Van Horne, thus sating his need for companionship.

Upon discovery that they are pregnant, the witches avoid Van Horne entirely

because they are afraid of the effect their powers may have on their unborn children,

especially after a spell they cast results in the death of a local busybody. He feels

betrayed by their actions. In a fit of anger, Van Horne manipulates the witches by using

their fears against them, playing on their sympathies and doubts. Van Horne accuses

them of abandoning him:

You deserted me! We had a deal! You pissed me off! What was I

supposed to do, take it like a man? Christ, I gave you everything I got. I

gave you more than anybody’s ever given you, and what do I get in

exchange? A little thank you? A little gratitude? I’ll tell you what I get…I

get screwed! I want someone to pay a little attention to me. I want a little

respect. I want somebody to take care of me for a change. How ‘bout that?

What do I want? Christ! What does any man want? A little affection. A

little trust. God damn it! Everything I did, I did for you! (Witches of

Eastwick).

Van Horne claims the witches’ betrayal and subsequent abandonment make him the

victim, and his emotional and psychological abuse is in response to their treatment of

him, making it (in his mind) their fault.


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Fashioning a voodoo doll of Van Horne, the witches attempt to banish him from

Eastwick. As the doll is damaged and misshapen, he begins to change physically into a

more bestial form, appearing as a monstrous giant reminiscent of the Devil’s depiction in

Dante’s Inferno. He finally disappears as the doll pieces melt when thrown into the

fireplace.

After the witches each give birth to a son, Van Horne appears on a large

television causing the boys to gravitate towards the screen. Rather than a sinister

manipulator with an ultimate goal of Earthly destruction, the Devil’s reaction to being

able to see his children is more akin to that of a doting father. Van Horne seems almost

ecstatic that he finally has the family/companionship for which he has always longed.

Furthermore, if he cannot physically be with them he will employ his supernatural

powers in conjunction with his wealth to find a way to reach them.

While Van Horne does not have a specific profession, he does belong to a

particular socioeconomic class: the extremely wealthy.10 Whereas the number of

billionaires grew 77% from what it had been in the 1970s, the typical middle-class

American family only grew 4% with the bottom 40% of American families having

declining incomes, causing resentment among the lower classes (Nasar 1).11 The massive

growth of the wealthy was at its peak just before The Witches of Eastwick was released in

1987, making this group an understandable target. Just a few months after the film

10 This is not the first time the Devil has been equated with the affluent. William Shakespeare alludes to it

in King Lear: “The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman” (653), while Generation X would have been more

familiar with several of the Devil’s portrayals in film and television as a member of this class, as well as in

two popular songs mentioning his riches (Eastman 195; Furek 153; Heller). For example, in the Rolling

Stones’ song “Sympathy for the Devil,” he introduces himself as a “man of wealth and taste”, and in the

Charlie Daniels Band’s song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” he makes a wager with a fiddle of solid

gold. 11 The number of billionaires on the initial Forbes richest Americans list in 1982 was twelve, but that

number doubled in both 1985 and 1987 (Samuel 206; 211).


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opened, the stock market crashed, creating a recession costing American taxpayers over

$500 billion (Samuel 211; 214).12

Even though older American generations became disillusioned with the wealthy,

Generation X (specifically members of the first wave) aspired to join the ranks of the

upper-class. Growing up with significantly less net worth than prior generations, a

portion of Generation X born before the mid-1970s idolized the wealthy and their

extravagant lifestyle (S. Mitchell 324). Their lack of assets encouraged several in this

generation to embrace the stock market, enabling them to make vast amounts of money

quickly: “Fortunes were conjured out of thin air by fresh-faced traders who created

nothing more than paper-gilded castles in the sky” (Samuel 181; Isaacson 20). However,

the stock market crash of 1987 and the recession that followed impacted this group

tremendously as the crash caused a loss of over $500 billion (Church et al. 22). The

second wave of Generation X grew up in the shadow of the recession, and they watched

as the rich received punishment for criminal transgressions. The unlawful actions of the

wealthy, such as insider trading, only fueled the second wave’s resentment towards this

social class (Samuel 214).

The privilege asserted by the wealthy and their disdain for others is demonstrated

by the Devil in The Witches of Eastwick as well as traditionally within Paradise Lost.

Van Horne most closely resembles Milton’s Lucifer because he is overly emotional with

a complex personality. He has a natural charisma drawing all but the most devout

towards him, despite his despicable actions. Van Horne’s inability to recognize his own

flaws reveals magnitudes about his arrogance and vanity; these are the traits most

12 Sam Walton, the owner of Walmart, alone lost $2.6 billon (Samuel 211).


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commonly seen with Milton’s Devil. The Judeo-Christian Devil is practically nonexistent

in The Witches of Eastwick; Van Horne has no relationship with God besides

contemptuously asking if he had made a mistake creating women. While the

characteristics Milton assigns to the Devil are prevalent, elements of both Dante’s Inferno

and the Faustian Devil are also apparent. When the Devil becomes the misshapen giant,

he is reminiscent of Dante’s Devil’s monstrous frame. Finally, the Faustian Devil is

evident because, while there is no contract for their souls, there is an unspoken

arrangement: Van Horne will give the witches their hearts’ desires as long as they

continue to love him. Van Horne accomplishes his seduction by manipulating the witches

to see him as their ideal man; however, due to his extreme loneliness, Van Horne exhibits

false bravado and not the swagger associated with the traditional archetypes. Beneath his

arrogance lies a massive insecurity harkening back to the fact that he feels unloved by

everyone which is why he will do anything to make all three women love him and bear

his children—simply so he will no longer be alone.

The Devil in The Witches of Eastwick requires three women, and then three

children, to begin to fill the void created by his tremendous loneliness. Several of his

unseemly qualities coincide with the negative attributes associated with not meeting

Maslow’s companionship requirements. He is, at times, very sympathetic, charismatic,

and relatable in his loneliness despite also being self-absorbed and misogynistic.

The Devil’s Advocate (1997)

The Devil in The Devil’s Advocate (directed by Taylor Hackford) is named after

the author of Paradise Lost, John Milton and is unique in that he is clearly depicted as a


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villain, unlike most of the other Devils discussed within this dissertation.13 As opposed to

either working with God or ignoring him completely, Milton is actively attempting to

overthrow him and re-order the hierarchy of Heaven with himself controlling the

universe. Despite being evil, he is still incredibly charismatic. However, Milton’s

likability is negated because he is a member of one of the most unpopular professions in

history: lawyers. His motivations can be traced back to two factors: revenge against God

for abandoning/exiling him and his lack of companionship and family—exacerbated by

abandonment issues.

Milton in The Devil’s Advocate is a member of a profession disliked for centuries:

lawyers. Complaints against lawyers go back historically at least 2500 years when Aesop

writes about two clients each receiving half of an oyster shell while the lawyer kept the

pearl (Fleming 9).14 William Shakespeare famously writes in Henry VI, Part 2, “The first

thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” now a recognizable cliché (121; Kornstein 22).

The public views lawyers as dishonest, unethical, manipulative, and egotistical which are

qualities the traditional Devil possesses.

The public mindset that lawyers work toward their own greedy purposes persists

despite their being an integral aspect of society. Records reporting the public’s contempt

of lawyers within the United States date back as far back as the founding of the country.

During the mid-1700s, lawyers were “denounced as banditti, as blood-suckers, as pick-

pockets, as wind-bags, [and] as smooth-tongued rogues” (Galanter 4).

13 The Devil’s Advocate is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Andrew Neiderman. 14 Aesop was a Greek fabulist known primarily for the morals his stories teach c. 620-564 BCE

(Worthington 15).


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Accusations against lawyers for creating frivolous cases using tactics known as

“champerty (stirring up and creating litigation) and maintenance (supporting, promoting,

and financing litigation)” have been reported in the United States since the late-1700s

(Fleming 56). Champerty is more common today than it was 100 years ago because

several laws forbid lawyers from committing it; however, these laws are rarely enforced.

Whereas it was once criminal, champerty is now no more than an indiscretion pointed out

only when committed in poor taste. Champerty is typically committed more by smaller

law firms, while maintenance is more common among larger, more prestigious law firms.

Over the last 50 years, the public has become aware of these activities, leading to respect

for the profession diminishing to the point where lawyers are distrusted.

Due to their deceptive practices becoming public knowledge, a vast number of the

American public believe lawyers to be intrinsically dishonest. The Washington Post

conducted a poll in 1989 in which over 21% of the public find lawyers to be dishonest

and unethical, while only 3% believe them to be entirely truthful (Galanter 3). In 1991,

the National Law Journal reported that of the least trustworthy professions, lawyers rank

the highest at 23% which was almost as high as the next two least trustworthy professions

combined (car salesman: 13%, politicians: 11%) (Haltom 134). The American Bar

Association revealed the number of people not trusting lawyers rose from 17% in 1986 to

31% in 1993 (134). When The Devil’s Advocate was released theatrically in 1997, the

percentage of people believing the law to be a prestigious career dropped to only 19%,

steadily falling from a high of 36% just twenty years prior. The public’s decrease in both

trust and prestige make it easier to believe that audiences would accept that the Devil

would work at a law firm (H. Taylor).


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Reasons beyond greed and unethical practices cause lawyers to be viewed

negatively by the public. They work in an adversary system where they must “champion

one part to a controversy and enable him to prevail over his opponent” (Fleming 55). This

type of system relates directly to the Devil’s original role in the Old Testament:

adversarial. Lawyers are also perceived with a veil of secrecy around legal practices.

Most of the law is conducted using either Latin or French phrases which, by their very

nature, confuse those not well-versed in their meanings. This system has obfuscated the

law for the layperson in the United States for centuries. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French

observer of the American law system in the early 1800s, writes:

[French laws] are often difficult to understand, but everyone can read

them; in contrast, there is nothing more obscure to the common people and

less accessible to them than legislation founded on precedents. This need

for the jurist in England and in the United States, this high idea of his

knowledge, separate him more and more from the people, and end by

putting him in a class apart. The French jurist is only a learned man, but

the English or American man of law in a way resembles the priests of

Egypt; like them, he is the sole interpreter of an occult science (438).

Tocqueville’s observations critique what has colloquially become known as legalese: the

formal and technical language used by lawyers in their documents.

Combining both legalese and asset protection, lawyers create complex contracts

to protect themselves. Just like lawyers, the Devil also readily works with contracts; he

offers worldly goods or knowledge in exchange for the signee’s soul with equally harsh

consequences (such as immediate surrendering of a soul) if any part of the contract


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becomes broken. Contracts and their strict stipulations are both a major aspect of the

Faustian Devil lore.

The plot of The Devil’s Advocate focuses on Milton (Al Pacino) bringing defense

attorney Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves) into his New York firm. Milton constantly tempts

Lomax with every imaginable comfort and excess, including a fancy office, celebrity

parties, and multiple women. Milton plies Lomax with life lessons intending to help him

succeed within the world of high-pressure law. Milton firmly believes Lomax should

control his arrogance: “Don’t get cocky, my boy. No matter how good you are, don’t ever

let them see you coming. That’s the gaffe, my friend. You gotta keep yourself

small...Look at me. Underestimated from day one” (The Devil’s Advocate). Milton’s

comments subtly hint at who he truly is, alluding to his once being God’s second-in-

command. These remarks also warn Lomax that vanity and pride can cause a literal

decline.

Revealing his true identity as both the Devil and Lomax’s father, Milton explains

his time has come to rule the world. God is not to be trusted because only the Devil

watches over humanity:

[God’s] a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts…he sets the

rules in opposition…. Look—but don’t touch. Touch—but don’t taste.

Taste—but don’t swallow [laughs].… He’s laughing his sick fucking ass

off! … Worship that? Never! … I’ve nurtured every sensation man has

been inspired to have! I cared about what he wanted, and I never judged

him! Why? Because I never rejected him, in spite of all of his

imperfections! (The Devil’s Advocate).


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Furthermore, Milton explains to Lomax that he deserves his vanity because his progeny

will be the anti-Christ finally allowing Milton to overthrow Heaven, giving him a family,

and (just as importantly) revenge against God whom he feels abandoned him.

Rather than succumbing to Milton’s plans, Lomax kills himself and suddenly

finds he is back in the same courthouse as the beginning of the film. Uncertain if the

previous events were a dream or if God gave a second chance, Lomax quits the high-

profile case that led him to Milton. A charismatic reporter approaches him, offering to

write an article that will make him a celebrity, explaining a lawyer with a conscience is

unprecedented. Tempted by the idea of fame, Lomax agrees. The reporter later

transforms into Milton who cunningly admits, “Vanity, definitely my favorite sin” (The

Devil’s Advocate). The Devil prepares for all eventualities and will not stop until he

finally wins.

While lawyers have been unpopular in the United States since the 1700s, during

the 1970s and 1980s one reason the American public became dissatisfied with lawyers is

that the sheer number of people in the profession grew to astronomical proportions. The

number of law students enrolled in law school rose from 29,128 in 1970 to 42,296 in

1980, leading the public to view the occupation as oversaturated (“Statistics: First-Year-

Enrollment”). In The Devil’s Advocate, Milton works with lawyers specifically because

of their vast numbers, saying, “The law, my boy, puts us into everything. It’s the ultimate

backstage pass. It’s the new priesthood, baby. Did you know there are more students in

law school now than there are lawyers walking the Earth? We’re coming out guns

blazing!” (The Devil’s Advocate). The number of lawyers at his disposal gives the Devil

an Earthly army ready to do his bidding whenever he needs it.


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Finally, because lawyers belong to a profession making it difficult to form lasting

relationships with others not in the same field, having the modern Devil as a member of

this occupation makes sense. Lawyers are required to work extremely long hours (often

over weekends and holidays) due to the reliance on billable hours. Also, the

argumentative nature of the profession can make it difficult to maintain relationships with

others. The personality type for lawyers usually involves skepticism, perfectionism,

aggression, and ambition (Kroub). Between the years 2008-2013, data from the U.S.

Census Bureau reveals almost one-third (27.7%) of people who self-identified as lawyers

have been divorced at least once (Ly et al.). This number is significantly higher than for

similar time-intensive, highly-educated professions such as doctors and nurses (Ly et al.).

While Milton in The Devil’s Advocate has no lasting relationships, considering the

personality type for lawyers, as well as their penchant for long hours and being

argumentative, it is easy to see why the Devil would desire a family and companionship.

The compulsion Milton feels to have a family, as well as seeking revenge against

God, resembles Lucifer’s motivations in Paradise Lost. The Devil’s Advocate contains

references throughout to Milton’s epic poem with numerous allusions to his war with

God leading to his exile from Heaven. Lomax even asks Milton if it is better to reign in

Hell than serve in Heaven, one of the most well-known lines from Paradise Lost. Besides

the references, this Devil shares other elements with Milton’s Devil, such as his

charismatic nature and emotional depths. Similar to Paradise Lost’s Lucifer, Milton’s

ability to charm is a product of his inherent charisma allowing him to manipulate those

around him, a skill very beneficial for a defense attorney. However, his loneliness has

driven him to great lengths not only to build a family but also to seek revenge against a


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God who has abandoned him. The Devil’s appearance towards the end of the film also

has Miltonesque qualities. While his face transforms briefly into a demon visage, his final

transformation is an angelic amalgamation of Pacino’s and Reeves’s faces, revealing that

the Devil’s true form is beautiful. There are also Faustian qualities found in this portrayal

of the Devil. Most noticeably are the use of contracts and negotiations to obtain whatever

Milton desires from other people, giving them what they want in return. This Devil takes

great pleasure in bargaining with others, believing himself to be the most intelligent being

in the room, regardless if that is true.

Milton in The Devil’s Advocate has been driven to create a family of his own, not

only to fight his inherent solitude but also as a way to seek revenge against God. The

Devil’s profession as a lawyer corresponds to an underlying stereotype continuing the

negative response Americans have traditionally held towards this occupation. However,

Milton’s charismatic (and somewhat sympathetic) personality, while not negating his evil

nature, allows the audience to relate to the character, making him appear more human in

his desires.

Final Thoughts: The Lonely Devil

While traditional depictions of the Devil have him acting alone for his own selfish

purposes, several recent portrayals showcase a Devil who has a severe need for

companionship. The need to be loved is ingrained deeply in human behavior. The type of

Devil discussed within this chapter brings to light certain biases and stereotypes people

continually hold against actors, the wealthy, and lawyers. This willingness of society to

perpetuate negative stereotypes allows these Devils to feature some of the worst elements

of humanity including gluttony, sloth, and vanity; however, regardless of how vile


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characters and their sins, they still crave for love. By possessing intrinsic human

motivations, the Devil is more interesting than if he were committing the evil deeds

traditionally attributed to him. The three examples in this chapter all highlight those very

complexities in a Devil searching for companionship.

The Devils within this chapter exhibit how the lack of companionship and love

can have tremendous disadvantages affecting not only the Devil but those around him as

well. All of the Devils examined have psychological and sociological pathologies

preventing them from being well-adjusted individuals. These Devils exhibit

maladjustment, stress, anxiety, anger, dysphoria, and extreme bitterness, to name just a

few of the negative side-effects associated with extreme loneliness. By having the Devil

exhibit these characteristics, it is possible that his evil is not intrinsic, but, instead,

originates from a lack of compassion and love from others.


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Chapter Four:

The Devil in Animation

The kids like the Devil.

-Don Draper (Jon Hamm)—Mad Men (“Dark Shadows”)

Hello! It’s me. The Devil!

-Red Guy (Charlie Adler)—Cow and Chicken (“No Smoking”)

Portrayals of the Devil as both playfully deceitful and lonely have become

common in American animation intended for both children and adults. Chapter Four

focuses on the Devil’s Trickster nature and increasing loneliness in animation. Blending

these two qualities makes sense because the Trickster traditionally alienates himself from

society (Bassil-Morozow 47). However, the Devil, unlike the Trickster, realizes he is

alone and craves companionship. Whereas animation intended for children emphasizes

his Trickster nature, animation for adults, heightens the Devil’s loneliness.

Animation is an important medium for the depiction of the Devil because it

allows for increased fantastical elements, such as the traditional Devil’s monstrous

appearance. This chapter discusses both animated film and television; however, television

is the primary medium examined. While the Devil’s new characteristics as a Trickster

seeking companionship occur in live-action media during the 1980s, these modern traits

do not truly appear in animation until the 1990s.

The difference between entertainment created for children and adults is in the age-

appropriateness of the content. Children’s programming, particularly within television,


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serves both the “educational and informational needs” of children up to the age of 16, as

well as protects from the “overcommercialization” of programming intended for adults

(“Children’s Educational Television”; Wizorek 154). For children, entertainment often

furthers developmental growth in areas such as cognitive skills, academic achievement,

and social behavior (Kirkorian et al. 41). While television and film intended for adults

can be educational, this programming largely serves commercial and enjoyment purposes

(Depp et al. 175). Programming intended for adult audiences often contains content

unsuitable for children, such as suggestive dialogue, sexual situations, and violence

(“Understanding the TV Ratings”).

However, entertainment meant for children does not preclude adults from

enjoying it. Even in the animated shows created for children, humor specifically targets

adults with innuendo and heightened cynicism that younger viewers cannot understand, a

tendancy all of the shows in this chapter include. Examples discussed in this chapter are:

Cow and Chicken/I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, South Park, and its feature film

South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.1 Besides incorporating elements of a Devil who

plays tricks and seeks companionship, these examples also depict Devils who are

homosexual, transgender, or both. While the demonization of homosexual and

transgender lifestyles do not appear to be the intention of the shows’ creators, audiences

can misinterpret the depictions of these lifestyles as evil or, at the very least, unnatural

simply because of their association with the Devil.

1 Other examples of the Devil in animation from the 1990s through the 2010s include The Simpsons;

Futurama; Pinky and the Brain; Courage the Cowardly Dog; Lucy, Daughter of the Devil; God, the Devil

and Bob; and Rick and Morty.


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The Devil in animation is not a new phenomenon; the character has been present

since the 1930s within cartoons. Traditionally, the intent of children’s programming is

education even when it comes to the Devil: “Children’s entertainment often focuses on

evil, not to encourage it but to convey morality tales and teach the consequences of evil”

(Packer and Pennington xxii). In these instances, the Devil is both menacing and

comedic, depending on his usage. However, since the late 1980s and throughout the

1990s, the Devil has become increasingly prevalent within animation. Because members

of Generation X grew up watching cartoons featuring the Devil and eventually created

the animated Devils discussed within this chapter, it is important to note the forerunners

that inspired them.

The animated Devils with which Generation X would have been most familiar

were created during the 1930s throughout the 1960s primarily by two studios: Walt

Disney and Warner Brothers. Within Disney animated films and shorts, the most frequent

use is when a devil [note the lower case usage] version of a character, for example,

Donald Duck in Donald’s Better Self (1938), appears, offering advice opposite an angel.2

This particular devil usually represents temptation but is almost always defeated by the

angel representing the character’s conscience. The only time Walt Disney Studios created

a character meant independently to be the Devil occurs in the 1940 film Fantasia in the

sequence featuring Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” (Pinsky 38). While

members of Generation X were unable to see the initial run of Fantasia, it was re-

released into theatres several times over the years as they grew up: 1963, 1969, 1977,

1982, 1985, and 1990 (“Re-Release Schedule”). Fantasia’s Devil, named Chernabog,

2 There are several instances of Disney using this technique through the decades from the Oscar winning

short Lend a Paw (1941) featuring Pluto through the feature film The Emperor’s New Groove (2000).


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originates in Slavic folklore (McCall 102).3 As depicted in Fantasia, Chernabog is

reminiscent of the Devil found in Dante’s Inferno as both are large, fearsome, and bestial.

Rolling Stone magazine ranks the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence as “the scariest

(and most fiendishly sustained) tangent in any kids [sic] movie…. [It] is like being

dropped straight to the bottom of Dante’s Inferno” (Ehrlich).

Whereas the Devil in Fantasia is frightening, the Devil created by Warner

Brothers’ Looney Tunes franchise is humorous. The most famous use of this Devil is in

the 1963 animated short Devil’s Feud Cake which was in syndication regularly during the

late 1960s throughout the 1980s (Mittell 61). The 1981 film, The Looney Looney Looney

Bugs Bunny Movie, reuses footage from Devil’s Feud Cake, introducing more members

of Generation X to this Devil. Warner Brothers’ interpretation, more human looking than

the monstrous Devil in Fantasia, is typically depicted as a man with small horns, a

goatee, and completely red in his clothing and skin.

Because of the frequent use of the Devil across various children’s cartoons, watch

groups and parents have often worried about the adverse effects animation and

television/film could have on children (Kirsh 3). The general public believe that

television has the power subtlety to shape people’s behavior (Dubin 238). During the

1990s, children averaged at least 28 hours of television a week, more time than any other

activity besides sleep (“FYI: Young Children’s Television Viewing” 17). While this

number is high, the number of hours spent watching television is even greater for some

members of Generation X (as high as 8 hours a night) because parents often used

television as a babysitter (Owen 5; Lamorey et al. 77). One of the adverse effects

3 Chernabog translates as “black god” from the Slavic language (Dixon-Kennedy 52).


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concerning medical doctors involves television’s impact on the development of children’s

bodies and minds because studies correlate extended television viewing and “obesity,

inactivity, attentional problems, aggression, and sleep patterns, in young children”

(Zimmerman and Christakis 620).

Additionally, parents and watch groups grew concerned that television’s influence

would corrupt the morals of children and young adults who may then potentially model

their behavior based on television viewing (Janis 178). Developing children are

“vulnerable to those fictitious representations of the social world that repeatedly give the

same messages about the police or any other group in entertainment programs and

commercials. The more they watch television, the more likely they are to regard lying

and deceitful practices as acceptable behavior” (178). Due to the number of unsupervised

hours of television Generation X watched while growing up, there was a fear during the

late 1970s and early 1980s that watching television may affect them emotionally, as they

could become empathetic with fictional, and potentially villainous, characters (Winn 18;

B. Wilson 87). Furthermore, people were worried that watching significant amounts (over

four hours a day) of television and film might desensitize children and young adults

towards violence and, in turn, encourage them to commit aggressive behaviors (Lemish

69).

While studies conducted on the effects of extended television viewing on children

and adolescents since the medium first became widely available to American households

are extensive, Generation X has received more attention than other generations on their

viewing habits for several reasons (Minow 25; Condry 263).4 For the first wave of

4 Between 1956 and 1994 there were over 30,000 studies conducted on the effects of television on children

(Minow 25).


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Generation X born in the early 1960s, television became much more prevalent in

America with 87% of families owning at least one TV set (Livingstone 155). Members of

this generation also grew up with substantially less adult supervision of their viewing

habits resulting from two factors: multiple television sets in the home and working

parents (156; Owen 5). This lack of parental guidance granted some members of

Generation X unfettered access to programming, including entertainment dealing with the

Devil, the occult, and the supernatural.

Realizing there was a newfound interest in the occult by America’s youth,

television producers created animated programs specifically targeting this demographic

(Case). The fascination with the supernatural inspired by animation would eventually

lead some members of Generation X to take an interest in the Devil beyond just the

traditional villain stereotype (Poole 181). Another reason supernatural/occult animation

resonated with Generation X beginning in the early 1970s is that it popularized the notion

that they should “do their own thing” and break away from the constraints and ideals of

previous generations (Hanna 143).5

Generation X children who often watched animated shows with supernatural

elements frequently sympathized with the characters because they related to their age

group, something that was relatively new to animation (Silver).6 Generation X was also

aware of the adult fascination with the occult, particularly the Devil, happening

5 For more information on Generation X and their difficulties with authority, see Chapter Two, pages 31-

32. 6 Examples of animated supernatural shows that Generation X grew up with include: Scooby-Doo, Where

Are You!, Funky Phantom, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Buford and the Galloping Ghost, Clue Club,

Drak Pak, The Addams Family, Dungeons & Dragons, the characters of the “Frankenstones” on The

Flintstone Comedy Show, The Ghost Busters, The Real Ghostbusters, and Disney’s Gargoyles (Case;

Perlmutter 182; 201; 210; 217; 276).


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simultaneously (Poole 181). Knowing adults also were interested in the Devil only

increased adolescent attention (Case). As parents eventually became mindful of their

children’s viewing habits, they grew concerned their children would fall under the sway

of the Devil or Devil-worshipping cults (Poole 167). In essence, Generation X grew up

under their parents’ constant worry that, if television did not corrupt them, they would be

corrupted by the Devil during the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s.7

Generation X almost “admired” the Devil figure because he rebelled against

authority. Even if facing alienation, evident in numerous supernatural animated series in

the late 1990s and early 2000s, “The new political tone of television animation was

underscored…by the number of series that stressed the incompetence or ignorance of

authority figures” (Perlmutter 304). Generation X saw in the Devil the kindred “spirit of

creative rebellion against predestined fate and all the powers of boundary and limitation”

(Poole 181).

Cow and Chicken (1995/1997-1999) and I Am Weasel (1999-2000)

Intended for both children and adults, Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel depict a

Devil who is greedy and mischievous, but not evil. He is a reoccurring character who

became very popular with both children and adults because of his Trickster nature

coupled with his human need for attention. He is also the first of three Devils in a two-

year period who are either homosexual, transgender, or both.8

Cow and Chicken’s pilot (“No Smoking”) initially aired as part of the Cartoon

Network’s 1995 animation showcase What a Cartoon! (Lenberg 80). The popularity of

7 For more information on the “Satanic Panic” see Chapter One, pages 23-27. 8 All three of these examples belonging to this specific class are examined together in the section discussing

South Park.


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the characters created by David Feiss led to Cow and Chicken becoming a full series in

1997 (80). The show was one of Cartoon Network’s first specifically to target both

children and adults. I Am Weasel was part of Cow and Chicken, often airing as the third

segment of the show before becoming a stand-alone series in 1999 (81).

The Devil (Charlie Adler) frequently appears in both Cow and Chicken and I Am

Weasel as an antagonist to Cow and Chicken or I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon. He only

actually identifies himself once, during the pilot episode of Cow and Chicken. He faces

the audience and introduces himself as the Devil (“No Smoking”). Physically, he is

overly cartoonish in appearance; he is short with small horns and a little tail. He is also

bright red which is where his name in later episodes derives: Red Guy. He is frequently

depicted as an authority figure (for example, a drill sergeant, police officer, and a doctor),

but he often ridicules people in positions of power, including himself (“The Great

Pantzini”). The character of the Devil was so popular with both children and adults on

Cow and Chicken that he was eventually moved to I Am Weasel.

The concept for Cow and Chicken is about an unlikely brother and sister: an 11-

year-old, four-pound chicken and a 7-year-old, 460-pound cow who have human parents.

The eponymous characters, constantly involved in ridiculous adventures, are forced to

rely on one another to escape trouble. I Am Weasel is about the highly intelligent I. M.

Weasel as he attempts to make the world a better place while running afoul of his

counterpart, the idiotic I. R. Baboon (Perlmutter 266).

Red Guy is an absurd and surreal depiction of the Devil. He refuses to wear pants,

calling attention to his large, red buttocks which he hops on, or as he refers to it, “butt

walking” (“The Great Pantzini”). He often relies on double entendres. For example,


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disguised as a member of the “man-navy,” Cow and Chicken’s mother tells them to listen

to him because he is a “rear-admiral,” causing Red Guy to sarcastically laugh and say,

“clearly” (in reference to his homosexuality) (“Perpetual Energy”). Red Guy is also self-

reflexive as he alludes to wanting his own show as well as frequently breaking the fourth

wall to speak directly to both the audience and his creators. In the episode “101 Uses for

Cow and Chicken,” he is taken to an old woman’s home and forced to clean her dentures,

while begging the show’s creators, “Please, cut to commercial!” Several of Red Guy’s

asides are ironic and glib with his attitude “as jaded as the aging yuppies on Seinfeld”

(Marks 28).

In both Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel, Red Guy attempts to trick the main

characters for several reasons: personal enjoyment, financial profit, and, specifically in

the case of Cow and Chicken, he desires to learn the identity of Supercow—his arch-

nemesis. In his first appearance, Red Guy believes it would be humorous to trap Chicken

in Hell but must first make him commit an “evil” deed. He tricks Chicken into smoking

by convincing him it is “grown up” (“No Smoking”). Red Guy deceives the characters on

both shows by constantly appearing in disguise. For instance, he becomes a lunch lady

who serves cheap meals made from ketchup, allowing him to make a profit at the expense

of the students who believe they are receiving real food (“Happy Meat”). He later appears

as a fairy godfather in a retelling of Cinderella. While pretending to help, Red Guy uses

his abilities to dress I.M. Weasel in a ball gown and, when I.M. Weasel complains, Red

Guy disintegrates him (which he later undoes) (“The Fairy Godfather”). However, Red

Guy’s tricks typically backfire (a common trait with Tricksters) resulting in his either

being humiliated or attacked humorously, albeit with no lasting harm. Most of the


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damage inflicted on Red Guy is performed by Supercow, such as when she crushes him

into a ball and hits him into the air with a baseball bat. While he sails away, he laughs

and says, “Someone is finally playing with me. Oh Glory. Someone finally played with

the Red Guy. Now I can die happy” (“Can Cow Come Out and Play?”).

The violent incident between Supercow and Red Guy exemplifies how desperate

he is for attention and interaction with others: he would rather be with someone and

physically hurt, than be alone. In fact, Red Guy often laments that no one will spend time

with him. In the episode “Can Cow Come Out and Play?” he notices Cow possesses a

doll belonging to a dollhouse he owns. He longs for them to play together, hopefully

negating his loneliness; however, Cow’s mother will not let them play together, stating

that it could only happen if he were the last man on Earth. In desperation, he concocts a

convoluted scheme to remove all of the world’s adults. Cow refuses to play with Red

Guy because he is a stranger, but he keeps trying even as he grows frustrated: “Wanna

play trucks? Cops and Robbers? Baseball? Wanna play dentist? Play dress up? That’s it! I

went to a lot of trouble locking the whole world up in that trailer, the least you could do is

play with me!” (“Can Cow Come Out and Play?”). His confession causes Cow to

transform into Supercow, who then proceeds to attack Red Guy until he frees the adults.

Furthermore, in the episode “The Legend of Big Butt,” he explains to I.M. Weasel that he

is desperate for attention and is incredibly lonely because he was abandoned as a child—

reminiscent of God’s banishment of the Devil: “I did it all to get a little attention. Is that a

crime? My papa…got lots of attention. One day he went out for milk when I was nine

and he never came back.”


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Red Guy closely resembles two of the archetypical Devils: the physical

appearance of Dante’s Devil along with the arrogance of the Faustian. While humanoid in

appearance, Red Guy does have bestial qualities such as his horns and tail. His coloring

also suggests Dante’s depiction; one of the Devil’s three faces in Inferno is a bright

crimson (Alighieri 537). The primary Faustian element incorporated into this character is

his natural assumption that he is smarter, more talented, and simply superior to everyone

around him. The Judeo-Christian Devil is not evident, nor is the emotional/psychological

depth or physical beauty associated with Milton’s Lucifer.

Red Guy is the most frequently used of the animated Devils, appearing in nearly

every episode of Cow and Chicken (51 of 53) and most episodes of I Am Weasel (22 of

27). Red Guy’s popularity stems from his use of absurd and surreal humor. His humor is

often directed at the authority of those around him, the show’s creators, and even himself

when he is in a position of power. This negative view of role models is a central concept

of several members of Generation X, who appreciate and share the character’s

irreverence and lack of respect for authority.

The Powerpuff Girls (1995; 1996; 1998-2005)

The Devil’s depiction on The Powerpuff Girls is one of the most sinister of the

Devils found in recent animation. However, his reliance on trickery and his loneliness

temper his villainy because destruction could hurt the very people from whom he craves

attention. Similar to Cow and Chicken, Craig McCracken’s The Powerpuff Girls initially

appeared on the What a Cartoon! show on the Cartoon Network in 1995 before being

made a series in 1998 (Lenberg 281). Unlike the other examples in this chapter, The

Powerpuff Girls is an action show, not a comedy.


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The Powerpuff Girls are a trio of super-powered five-year-olds (Blossom,

Bubbles, and Buttercup) who were created in a lab when Professor Utonium mixed

“sugar, spice, and everything nice” and accidently added “Chemical X” (“Octi Evil”).

The Powerpuff Girls have all the powers traditionally associated with superheroes such as

Superman: flight, super strength, super speed, heat vision, and freeze breath.

McCracken’s impetus for creating The Powerpuff Girls was “to do a superhero show

where you really felt these characters being strong and tough and heroes and kicking

ass—and what better contrast than to have them be three cute little innocent-looking

things?” (Lloyd). While the concept of superheroes fighting evil and saving the day is not

new, the Powerpuff Girls also fight gender stereotypes frequently (for example, the Devil

is transgender): “[McCracken’s] heroic trio…was often forced to confront the sexism of

the wider world regarding how girls and young women are ‘supposed’ to act in manner,

dress, and speech. The conflict between their gender’s and their ‘profession’s’

stereotypical intentions and ideas made for both impish comedy and drama” (Perlmutter

268). The show teaches audiences (both female and male) that heroism is not just a male

quality. Judging the Powerpuff Girls by their sex and childish appearance is often the

cause of the Devil’s eventual downfall and a “lesson that should not be lost on the

viewer, either” (271).

The Devil on The Powerpuff Girls is never identified explicitly, although it is

evident this is his true identity. During his first appearance, the narrator warns the

audience, “This is a villain so evil, so sinister, so horribly vile that even the utterance of

his name strikes fear into the hearts of men! The only safe way to refer to this King of

Darkness is simply Him” (“Octi Evil”). McCracken explains in interviews that he wanted


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to call Him the Devil, but because the show was not permitted to have any religious

references, his name had to be vague (McCracken). The show’s other villains, including

the Powerpuff Girls’ archenemy Mojo Jojo (a hyper-intelligent, psychotic monkey),

typically pay deference to Him and follow his lead because he could destroy them all.

Him’s depiction is sinister, but upon first glance, he appears far from threatening.

He wears a red dress that comes to mid-thigh with pink frills at the neckline and the

bottom of the dress. He also wears knee-high, black, leather boots with stiletto heels.

Him’s voice (Tom Kane) is falsetto except when he becomes angry, and then it changes

to a low, growling baritone. He moves sinuously, giving his limbs a snake-like

appearance, which is both graceful and deadly. Him’s skin is completely red, his eyes are

yellow lined with black mascara, and he has black hair which he has slicked back.

Perhaps his most menacing feature is his hands, which appear to be lobster claws.

Him, like most Tricksters, is capable of changing his shape, taking on multiple

forms throughout the series. The effeminate façade he prefers is not his true shape; when

he wields his power to its maximum effect, Him changes drastically. Twice in the series

he has transformed revealing his true physical nature: a more dangerous, masculine

version of himself. In this more threatening appearance, Him is still red, but is now

hundreds of feet tall with his ears as horns, his teeth razor-like, and his claws jet black.

His clothing also undergoes changes; his dress disappears showing a muscular chest with

the only remaining aspect being the pink frills which cover his neck and groin, and his

boots now encompass the entirety of his legs (“Speed Demon”).

While Him is extremely powerful and could take over the world with relative

ease, he spends most of his time attempting to defeat the Powerpuff Girls using tricks and


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deceptions. His motivation for fighting the Powerpuff Girls is never revealed, and most

of Him’s tricks are psychological, not physical because Tricksters privilege intelligence

over force. Him often preys on Bubbles because she is the most innocent and trusting of

the Powerpuff Girls. For example, in “Octi Evil,” he speaks to Bubbles through her

stuffed, toy octopus convincing her to sow dissent among her sisters and fight among

themselves. Another example is when Bubbles is tricked by Him (disguised as a

butterfly) to use magic sidewalk chalk to draw her hurt feelings, resulting in giant

monsters attacking the town (“All Chalked Up”). Him’s machinations are typically

defeated when the girls realize they have been manipulated and stop him as a team.

Him also tricks other villains, such as Mojo Jojo, Princess Morbucks, and the

Amoeba Boys. For the Powerpuff Girls’ birthday, each villain sends a gift intended to

cause the girls harm but each is defeated. Him’s gift turns out to be a giant piñata

overflowing with candy. His goal is to give the Powerpuff Girls a long-term, painful

affliction, telling the villains, “Oh simple-minded mortals. You must plan for the future.

What is candy today becomes cavities tomorrow. … Why destroy when I can torture with

tooth decay?” (“Birthday Bash”). Him enjoys his deception because it allows him to

subvert their expectations. A Trickster does not care who he manipulates because he

enjoys creating chaos for his friends and his foes with equal impunity (Abrahams 171).

While the majority of Him’s time is spent attempting to manipulate the Powerpuff

Girls and their allies, such as the Professor, he reveals his loneliness several times during

the course of the series. The greatest example of how much Him needs others is in his last

episode. On Fathers’ Day, Him resurrects the Rowdyruff Boys (gender-swapped, evil

versions of the Powerpuff Girls). He claims to be their father, angering their original


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creator: Mojo Jojo. To win the Rowdyruff Boys’ affections, Him and Mojo Jojo complete

evil deeds. Showing his true power, Him forces the Earth into a decaying orbit around the

sun, only stopping when the Rowdyruff Boys mention that if he continues, everyone will

die, including them. The Rowdyruff Boys leave, telling Him that they want to destroy the

Powerpuff Girls. Him is overly emotional as he hugs Mojo Jojo, proclaiming, “All you

can do is raise them the best you know how and hope they turn out right. I’m so proud”

(“Custody Battle”).

In the Powerpuff Girls, the ability of adults to raise children successfully is

questionable. The show gives the message that adults, good or evil, are incompetent and

must rely on the younger generation to save them—usually from themselves (Kirkland

18). Authority figures on the show, from the incompetent mayor to Professor Utonium,

are seen as unable to handle the simplest task, often requiring help. While incredibly

powerful, Him is defeated because he cannot fathom how this new, younger generation

thinks.

Even though Him’s plans eventually collapse, he typically attempts to outthink his

opponents, a quality he shares with the Faustian Devil. Him also has the arrogance

associated with both the Faustian and Miltonesque Devil. His rhetoric to influence others

resembles Milton’s Lucifer. Dante’s Devil is revealed through Him’s monstrous

transformation. His coloring is also reminiscent of this particular Devil in that Him

incorporates the complexion of all three faces in his design: red, yellow, and black

(Alighieri 537). As there is no other higher power mentioned, he does not typify the

Judeo-Christian Devil.


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Ultimately, audiences appreciate this characterization of the Devil because Him

subverts expectations. Despite The Powerpuff Girls being an action show and Him

having access to near infinite power, he almost never relies on his physical capabilities,

preferring to use intelligence and psychological manipulation. Audiences value Him’s

unique villainy because he complicates the “easy distinctions of most animation” while

representing the most “disturbing cartoon villain of all time” (McHenry; Duca).

South Park (1997-Present) & South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)

The Devil in South Park is unlike any other example so far because the use of this

particular character suggests that evil originates from humanity. While Satan is not a

regular character in the series, he has made significant appearances, helping to shape it.

Here, the Devil is openly homosexual, relatable, and sympathetic as he straddles the fine

line between good and evil.

Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park initially began as a short

animated Christmas card (“The Spirit of Christmas”) that was distributed around

Hollywood and quickly garnered attention among network executives at Comedy Central,

leading to a series order in 1997 (Neuwirth 18). South Park, heralded as one of the

“raunchiest and most successful animated cartoon series ever produced for television,”

has proven itself a comedy stable as it has been airing for over twenty years as of 2017

(Lenburg 275). The creators, both members of Generation X, infuse the show with humor

that specifically appeals to their generation: “highly referential, self-reflective, and

cynical” (Johnson-Woods xi). The show has received mostly positive critical praise,

including Time magazine ranking it number six of the 25 best-animated films of all-time

(Corliss).


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South Park is about four elementary school children (Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and

Cartman) and the unusual circumstances they experience in the small town of South Park,

Colorado. The show satirizes and critiques real world events. Much of the comedy and

content of South Park comes from the show’s irreverent approach to serious topics

including politics, censorship, homosexuality, and religion.

Both South Park and its feature film, South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut, are

meant for adult audiences.9 Despite being marketed towards adults, quite a few children

watch the program on television. While no one under 17-years-old was supposed to be

able to see the feature film in theatres, several minors were able to talk their parents into

taking them because it was a cartoon, with even more watching it uncensored on Comedy

Central.10 (Karen Thomas 1D; Neuwirth 19).

Satan from South Park is the most physically imposing of the animated Devils,

with a muscular body capable of tremendous feats of strength. He has crimson skin,

fangs, and yellow horns and eyes. Satan also has goat-like legs with feet that are cloven

hoofs. He dresses in a fur loincloth with a skull belt buckle and a purple G-string

underneath. Satan (Parker) has a deep, booming voice that inspires dread. His overall

appearance may traditionally depict the Devil, but his physical appearance conceals his

sensitive nature.

Besides fooling others about his innate goodness, the greatest trick Satan

accomplishes is in the episode “Damien.” Satan arrives in town to fight Jesus in an

9 Before each episode (which is rated for mature audiences) there is a disclaimer which states, in part, “The

following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone”

(“Damien”). 10 President Bill Clinton and the National Association of Theatre Owners came to an agreement that would

make it much harder, if not impossible, for anyone under 17-years-old to watch an R-rated movie without a

parent’s consent ("R-rated Exclusion: Could We See Some ID, Please?").


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apocalyptic boxing match with world domination as the prize. The residents of South

Park bet on the outcome of the fight, believing Jesus will ultimately win. When Satan

arrives, his dominating physique causes everyone in town to change their bet to Satan

with only one rooting for Jesus.

During the fight, Jesus is no match for Satan physically, and when Jesus finally

attempts to hit him, his punches are ineffectual. Satan’s deception becomes evident as he

falls to the ground pretending to be unconscious, thus throwing the fight. After Jesus is

declared the winner, Satan immediately stands up as the crowd realizes that he tricked

them out of their money. Satan gloats: “Fools, you are all fools. Of course, I took a dive.

Don’t you see? Who do you think was the one person that bet on Jesus to win? Me, you

idiots” (“Damien”). This trick shows Satan’s mischievous nature as well as the joy he

takes from deceiving the people of South Park.

Satan’s role becomes greatly expanded in South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut

where he initially appears to be the film’s antagonist. In Hell, Satan’s new boyfriend, the

recently deceased Saddam Hussein, takes pleasure in constantly belittling Satan in front

of others, causing him tremendous emotional pain.11 Hussein’s abusive treatment is the

audience’s first insight into the two’s unhealthy relationship. By depicting Satan as kind

and sensitive, Parker and Stone show that evil is just his day job, whereas Hussein is truly

wicked.

11 Saddam Hussein was previously seen on South Park when he invades Canada during the second season

of the show. Hussain is animated differently than everyone else. His body is animated, but actual photos of

Hussein are used for his face. The show explains Hussein was killed by a toxic cloud when thousands of

Canadians were flatulent, but the movie changes this to him being ripped apart by wild boars (“Terrance

and Phillip in Not Without My Anus”; South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut).


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While dreaming of Earth, Satan reveals the loneliness and misery that constantly

plague him. Satan clearly wants to be accepted by society. He longs to have friends and

even, potentially, children someday. Satan also questions the very nature of good and

evil, wondering if there is hope for him. He sings, “They say I don’t belong / I must stay

below alone / Because of my beliefs / I’m supposed to stay where evil is sown / But what

is evil anyway? / Is there reason to the rhyme? / Without evil there could be no good / So

it must be good to be evil sometimes” (South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut). One of the

reasons Satan looks to conquer Earth is not necessarily because he wants control, but so

he can finally live a happy life free from the tortures and torments he contends with daily.

Once Satan arrives on Earth, Hussein demeans him before everyone. The vicious

insults make Satan angry enough to hurl Hussein back into Hell, impaling him on a

jagged mountain peak. Returning the world to how it was before he arrived, Satan proves

that he can perform good deeds. He leaves, claiming his destiny is to be alone, but before

disappearing, he finds a hand-puppet and asks if it would like to accompany him to Hell.

Satan is desperate to meet Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, particularly the third level—the

need for companionship.12 Moved by Satan’s despair, the townspeople announce he can

return to visit. They realize that he is not the force of evil they initially perceived him to

be.

Satan’s next major appearance is in a duo of episodes, “Do the Handicapped Go

to Hell?” and “Probably,” which sees Satan vacillating between his new boyfriend and

Hussein. Satan realizes that the only person he can turn to for advice is God who tells

Satan,

12 For more on Maslow’s Hierarchy, see Chapter Three, pages 64-65.


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What the hell happened to you? You got kicked out of here for being a

headstrong rebel. And now you’re a whiny, little bitch. You’ve become

dependent on relationships, so you haven’t even considered the option of

not being with either of them. If you’re not sexually attracted to someone,

you’re not ever going to be. But Saddam isn’t right either. He’s the other

extreme. You need to spend time alone, so that you can find the balance—

the middle ground (“Probably”).

Ultimately, Satan abandons both his current and former lovers but not his desire for

companionship. He relies on others (both human and demon) for friendship, without

seeking any romantic attachments.

South Park’s Satan is one of the few Devils who is almost a perfect mix of the

four traditional archetypes. Regarding the influence of Judeo-Christian writings, Satan

clearly has a relationship with God. He is a subordinate assigned the task of taking care

of all souls relegated to Hell. While this is not a job he relishes, he accepts it as a

necessary responsibility. He is also “quite faithful to the original Hebrew notion of one

who challenges, or acts as an adversary” (Lipoma 47). Although South Park’s Satan is

still guilty of rebelling against God, there is no resentment on either side as God is

willing to give advice to Satan to alleviate his relationship problems.

Another influence on South Park’s Satan is Dante. Satan resembles this particular

Devil simply by the traditional nature of his appearance. Although not as massive as the

Devil in The Inferno, Satan is still much larger than any of the regular characters on

South Park. He also has several bestial features such as his horns, teeth, and legs.


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Furthermore, Dante’s Devil is reminiscent in Satan’s color scheme: crimson skin, yellow

eyes and horns, and black hair (Alighieri 535-537).

Similar to Lucifer in Paradise Lost, Satan is all too human in his desires

(Jacquette 251). Both Lucifer and Satan exhibit emotional complexity in their need for

love and companionship. By painting a sympathetic Satan who turns against South Park:

Bigger, Longer, & Uncut’s true villain, Hussein, Parker and Stone, like Milton, present

an anti-hero. Satan also does not find joy in torturing humans in Hell, which is

comparable to how Milton’s Devil takes no pleasure in his actions against humanity

(Milton 122-123). Even the Devil’s name can be traced back to Paradise Lost since, in

that work, he abandons the name Lucifer, demanding that he must be called Satan

(Milton 321).

While South Park’s Satan does not make deals, one of the major characteristics of

the Faustian Devil, other instances indicate similarities. Especially in the episode

“Damien,” Satan exudes an arrogant nature as well as bravado when he encounters

mortals. Furthermore, he is similar to Goethe’s Devil because he is an agent of God.

Another characteristic Satan shares with Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust is that both

are self-reflective. Also, both the Faustian Devil and Satan enjoy being mischievous and

taking delight in tricking mortals.

Although Satan possesses several aspects of the archetypical Devils, one major

deviation concerning the Devil is depicted in South Park, Cow and Chicken/I Am Weasel,

and The Powerpuff Girls: his homosexuality. Satan in South Park is openly gay, and Red

Guy is also known for being flamboyant; he has been referred to by several reviewers as

“unquestionably ‘gay’” (Perlmutter 266). For example, in the episode “The Great


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Pantzini,” Red Guy operates a circus and frequently kisses his only clown. The clown is

eventually forced to quit because his wife becomes jealous of Red Guy. Him’s sexuality

is never discussed as he has no interest in romance (although in terms of general

companionship he is seen in the company of both men and women).

Him and Red Guy are similar in that they are both appear as women, although

their respective shows use this for different purposes.13 Him is transgender because the

character’s gender identity does not match with the one he was born, and he only changes

from his preferred gender if forced to exert his full power (“GLAAD Media Reference

Guide - Transgender”). In entertainment, a transgender character surprises audiences with

his or her ability to present a “gender at odds with sex, a sense of self not derived from

the body, and an identity that operates within the heterosexual matrix without confirming

the inevitability of that system of difference” (Halberstam 76). Red Guy, on the other

hand, cross-dresses both as a means of gender expression and for comedic effect;

however, he does not wish to permanently live as a woman (“GLAAD Media Reference

Guide - Transgender”). Historically, cross-dressing has been exploited as means of comic

entertainment in both cartoons and live action (Bolich 55).14 Because Him and Red Guy

are depictions of the Devil, there is the possibility of adverse implications for people

belonging to this lifestyle, such as they are deceptive by nature or are societal outcasts—

much like the Trickster in his traditional narratives (Bevan 14; Bockting 320; Bassil-

Morozow 47).

13 Satan cross-dresses only once on South Park when he dresses as Britney Spears for Halloween (“Hell on

Earth 2006”). 14 For instance, Bugs Bunny cross-dresses in 37 out of 168 Warner Brothers’ cartoons between 1940 and

1964 (Sandler 130). Popular films using cross-dressing in a comedic manner with which Generation X

would have been familiar include The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Tootsie (1982), and Mrs.

Doubtfire (1992) (Baker 232, 247).


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Although, because these Devils are Tricksters, dressing as a woman (as well as

transforming into one) should be considered an extension of their powers: “One

prominent feature of the Trickster’s personality is gender ambiguity…a male who can

transform or disguise himself as a female, usually with comical and highly disorderly

results” (Mills 237). An example of a Trickster disguising/transforming himself as a

woman appears when the Native American Wakdjunkaga marries the son of a chief and

bears him three children (Hyde, “Where Are the Women Tricksters?” 185). Additionally,

in Norse mythology Loki frequently changes his gender, such as when he transforms into

a mare to seduce a stallion or when he becomes an old woman to trick Frigg into

revealing how he can kill Baldr (185; Lindow 66). Individuals not familiar with Trickster

figures and their abilities may only see Him or Red Guy as the Devil, equating their

powers and deceptions as an extension of the evil traditionally attributed to this character.

Historically, regardless if there is a connection to the Devil, homosexual and

transgender characters have long been depicted as villains due to the lasting effects of the

Hays Code.15 The code was enacted in 1930, lasting 38 years with the intent that no

entertainment should ever “lower the moral standards of those who see it” or that “the

sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of…sin” (Mondello). In the

late 1930s and early 1940s, the entertainment industry took an interest in the new

connection psychologists made between “gay and criminal identities” after J. Edgar

Hoover declared a “War on the Sex Criminal” (Dennis, “The LGBT Offender” 89-90).

For the next 20 years, there was an influx of homosexual villains in entertainment

15 The Hays Code was named for William Hays, the first president of the Motion Pictures Producers and

Distributers of America. He was tasked with improving the public image of Hollywood following a series

of public scandals. He did this by writing what he called “the Production Code,” later colloquially known

as the Hays Code (Kochberg 42).


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because “it was a time when homosexuality could be used as a plot device to reduce

exposition and simplify motivation” (J. Weir 17).

Beginning in the late 1970s, filmmakers and television executives creating

homosexual and transgendered villains began to face an organized backlash from the

public (Wiener and Smith 281; Potter 217). Activist and film historian Vito Russo argues

in his book, The Celluloid Closet, that mainstream audiences must become concerned

about the negative stereotypes constantly facing homosexual and transgendered

characters in entertainment because it causes the public to feel “fear, contempt, and/or

pity” towards innocent individuals self-identifying with these groups (Wiener and Smith

281). During the early 1990s, the negative depictions continued gaining notoriety as

several organizations (such as: Out in Film, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against

Defamation, and Queer Nation) protested how “Gay men and lesbians…are consistently

characterized solely in terms of their homosexuality…[it] seems to signal a character is

either sinister or irrelevant” (J. Weir 17).16 However, by the late 1990s several positive

depictions began appearing on network television countering the villain stereotype, with

over 50 series having reoccurring homosexual characters—more than twice the amount

appearing since the inception of television (Potter 217).

While the Hays Code ended in 1968, it continues to influence stereotypes still

found in animated shows like The Powerpuff Girls, including “a mincing gait, a

trembling voice, a leer, an air of sophistication and decadence, preferably with an actor

who was tall, thin, and willowy, with [a] long face and long fingers” (Dennis, “The

LGBT Offender” 91). Of the three Devils examined in this chapter, only South Park’s

16 Several popular and highly acclaimed films in the early 1990s were criticized for having homosexual

villains, including: J.F.K., Silence of the Lambs, Basic Instinct, and The Prince of Tides (J. Weir 17).


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Satan breaks these stereotypes. While Red Guy and Him are seen as “either silly or

creepy,” Satan comes closest to being depicted as a balanced character who struggles

emotionally with his relationships (Kirkland 18; Dennis, “Perspectives” 139).

While Cow and Chicken/I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, and South Park

debuted within two years of each other, South Park is the only one to express an opinion

specifically on evil (perhaps because its audiences are older). South Park does not mock

Satan for being homosexual; instead, its creators ridicule Hussein, showing that evil can

take many forms besides traditional.17 By having God give Satan relationship advice,

Stone and Parker make a statement that religion (specifically Christianity) should have no

issue with homosexuality. Opponents of homosexual lifestyles believe that messages

such as the one in South Park are part of a liberal agenda spread by both the

entertainment and media industries in an attempt to make “everyone celebrate

[homosexuality] as just one more perfectly normal lifestyle, something many religious

conservatives adamantly reject” (Anderson 21-23). However, the depiction of

homosexuality on South Park “undermines the hysterical homophobic rhetoric that

characterizes gays and lesbians as devils, showing how ridiculous such images are”

(Keller 292). South Park is neither purposefully liberal nor conservative; Parker and

Stone have, on multiple occasions, claimed they are “equal-opportunity offenders”

looking to shock viewers regardless of their politics (Davis 6; Leo).

Ridiculing Hussein has multiple inspirations, including “the mispronunciation of

his name by George Herbert Walker Bush, who throughout his presidency insisted on

referring to the Iraqi leader as ‘Sodom’ (Keller 292). Additionally, Parker and Stone are

17 While South Park is not mocking Satan specifically, the show often criticizes and ridicules religion in

general.


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resorting to childish name-calling because “the idea that ‘gay’ is the most humiliating

thing that can be said about a heterosexual male” (292). Using Hussein as a character also

allows the show’s creators to comment on the nature of evil. By having Hussein in an

abusive relationship with Satan, it gives him access to power that he otherwise would not

have—power that he is able to exploit for his own advantages. South Park looks in-depth

at what American society considers to be more evil: the traditional Devil or the enemy of

the state—Hussein. By reclassifying the Devil as a figurehead of evil who is secretly a

sensitive individual just doing his job, Parker and Stone show humanity’s own evil is the

problem by using Hussein, a character who is “megalomaniacal, manipulative, abusiv

[sic], and sexually sadistic” (Hewitson 114-115). On South Park, evil originates on Earth,

not in Hell. The creators of South Park suggest that people should not seek otherworldly

sources of evil, but instead be concerned with the behavior, attitudes, and actions people

exhibit within American society.

Despite the possibility for audiences to have negative connections between the

association of homosexuality and evil, South Park’s Satan is the most accepted Devil in

animation for two reasons: he is the most understandable in his motivations, and he is the

most available to audiences as South Park has remained popular for over 20 years as of

2017. Millions of Americans have seen this particular depiction of the Devil; however,

while Satan’s physical appearance alludes to a traditional, monstrous depiction, his

sensitive and caring nature belie past representations, making this Devil unique.

The Animated Devil: Final Thoughts

Animation may be more accessible than live-action because it is typically

intended to be viewed by people of all ages, reaching a larger audience. Parents are more


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apt to consent for children to watch an animated show, even those not originally intended

for them (as seen with South Park). By frequently weaving the modern Devil as a major

character within cartoons, children are introduced to a character whose mythology is

steeped in rebellion, exposing new generations to a main tenet of Generation X.

Within animation, there is an entire realm of possibility from the realistic to the

fantastic when depicting the Devil; however, as shown in the three examples in this

chapter, each Devil relies on a traditional physical representation—they are red and

bestial, instantly informing the audience to whom they are. What makes these Devils

unique from the ones before is that they intertwine Trickster characteristics with a strong

desire for companionship, forming new motivations for their actions. They also all belong

to the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) community, and while the use of

stereotypes inherited from the Hays Code inform the depiction of Red Guy and Him,

Satan demonstrates emotional sensitivity even as others emasculate him (Keller 292).

The use of homosexuality, cross-dressing, or a combination of both within

animation is traditionally intended to be lighthearted and humorous, and in the case of

Him from The Powerpuff Girls, gives the Devil a less menacing appearance. However,

there is a possibility for these specific Devils to cause psychological harm to the viewing

audience, particularly younger viewers struggling with their sexuality. The portrayals of

the Devil in this chapter depict people living outside of conventional sexual norms as

inhuman; in fact, they are literally demonized. While children as young as four are

capable of differentiating reality from fantasy within entertainment, they still often

identify with these cartoons regardless of if they exist, especially if children share any

similarities with the characters (Li et al. 104; Lemish 58).


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Additionally, problems can occur when an individual over-identifies with another

person or group (real or fictional), as the association may potentially subsume elements

of a person’s identity. Identity is the “sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all

circumstances; the condition or fact that a person or thing is itself and not something else;

the condition or fact of remaining the same person throughout the various phases of

existence” (Bailly 28). Identification, on the other hand, is the recognition of sameness

with another individual or group (Campbell 95). Identification is “the detour through the

other that defines a self,” and is the first emotional tie a person is capable of forming (95;

Seshadri-Crooks 133). Identification creates both a sense of jubilation and, more

problematically, self-alienation within the individual (E. Diamond, Unmaking 110).

Moreover, identifying with the “other” causes eventual problems for the identity

of the individual: “To be the other is a loss of self, identification violates identity, even

as, paradoxically, identifications produce the identity we come to recognize” (E.

Diamond Unmaking 107). By identifying with the other, a person destabilizes their

identity because not only do they incorporate elements of the other into themselves, but

they incorporate themselves into the other eliminating both distance and difference which

are essential to self (E. Diamond The Violence 390). Psychologist Sigmund Freud argues

that identification irrevocably changes identity by assimilating and transforming the I/ego

every time a person identifies with the other (396). Young members of the LGBT

community have historically had difficulty in identity development because many do not

have others to connect with once they realize their sexuality (Fish 72-73).

The absence of an easily accessible peer group can cause adolescent LGBT

members to seek fictional beings with which they share similarities, creating a bond in


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their mind with these characters, such as the Devils found in Cow and Chicken/I am

Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, and South Park: “Thus, television has the potential of

presenting a world that is not directly accessible to them, while bypassing traditional

socializing agents that might prove themselves embarrassed, confused, non-supportive, or

even covertly if not overtly hostile” (114). Even in entertainment, however, there is a

shortage of positive LGBT characters meaning that a person may form a bond with a

character who is negatively perceived, such as the Devil.18 19 These individuals,

especially young children, are more likely to imitate inappropriate behaviors, skewing

their perception of good and evil as well as how they relate to others (Coon and Mitterer

246; Janis 178).

Ultimately, animation’s use of the Devil familiarizes children with concepts that

they might only tangentially be familiar, such as the idea of evil. Animation allows the

character to be less threatening than might occur within live-action. As a medium,

animation also broaches sensitive subjects by approaching them in a lighter and more

comedic manner than might be achievable in a live-action portrayal. The Devil has

become so ingrained in American popular culture that parents appear to be even

comfortable permitting this character (via a cartoon form) to be introduced to their

children.

18 Only 4.8% (43 regular characters out of 895) were depicted as being LGBT during primetime scripted

broadcast television for the 2016-2017 season. This statistic is higher than it has been in previous seasons

(“Where We Are On TV ’16-’17” 4). 19 This negative perception may be caused by the lingering effects of the Hays Code (Dennis, “The LGBT

Offender 91”).


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Chapter Five:

The Psychology of the Devil

Just as every cop is a criminal / And all the sinners saints / As heads is tails / Just call me

Lucifer / ‘Cause I’m in need of some restraint / So if you meet me / Have some courtesy /

Have some sympathy and some taste / Use all your well-learned politesse / Or I’ll lay

your soul to waste / Pleased to meet you / Hope you guessed my name / But what’s

puzzling you / Is the nature of my game

-Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones).

The Devil’s more contemporary traits, specifically tricking others while craving

companionship, have elements inspired by an amalgamation of several popular twentieth

century psychological theories. Chapter Five focuses on how the theories concerning

pleasure gratification, fathers and sons, and the shadow archetype are relevant to the

modern Devil. Family, or the lack thereof, has been a motivational factor for the Devil as

he struggles with abandonment issues which, in turn, have been derived from the

psychological theories discussed in this chapter.

The modern Devil’s pleasure principle constantly drives him to amuse himself

through tricking others, and it causes him to fill the void left by his loneliness; sometimes

he seeks to satiate both. By endeavoring to gratify his id and ego, with varying levels of

success, the Devil’s motivation emanates primarily from Freudian psychology and the

theory of the unconscious mind. The initial element constituting the unconscious mind

for Sigmund Freud is the id. The id concerns itself with immediate gratification and is a

fundamental aspect of an individual’s personality, housing all of the instincts and base


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desires typically repressed among civilized members of society (Laplance 197). The ego

evolves from the id as an individual develops, and while the ego still seeks fulfillment, it

allows a person to recognize that he or she cannot always satisfy impulses immediately

(Comer 38). The final aspect of the unconscious mind is the superego which balances the

id and ego, usually helping people to avoid acting on their urges (Laplance 197). In the

Devil’s case, more often than not, his impulses remain unchecked and are given free

reign over his actions. For the Trickster Devil, as the id processes a desire, it must

immediately be satisfied without morality or rationality (Brunvand 1485). Gratification of

the pleasure principles at any cost, regardless of personal consequences, is a primary

focus of the Trickster Devil: “For him there is no past or future, only the present

fulfillment” (1485).

Freud’s other theories, especially on fathers and sons, as well as the theories of

Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan, also influence the modern Devil. The relationship between

God and the Devil directly correlates to the Devil’s need for love and companionship

because he either wants his father’s love or must fill the void left by his father’s

abandonment. Their relationship is also a contributing factor as to why he tricks others:

he seeks attention, even if that attention is negative. Freud wrote prolifically on the son’s

desire to replace and kill his father in what has become known as the “father-complex”

(Lauzun 198).1 The Devil’s rebellion against God is a perfect example of this concept.

Freud uses Goethe’s Faust as an example of how a son’s desire to replace his father

1 The father-complex is a central tenet of Freud’s Oedipus complex, in which a son desires a sexual

relationship with his mother. Simultaneously, the son believes his father is a rival, seeking his removal at

all costs; otherwise, the father will castrate him (Mitchell 15).


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should not inspire guilt: “What thou hast inherited from thy fathers, acquire it to make it

thine” (Lauzun 201).2 3

Jung also developed a theory regarding fathers and sons. While Jung encourages

children to accept their father’s authority as credible, bowing “down before all spiritual

dogmas and values” associated with a father-figure, he also emphasizes that the son must

discover his own authority to truly “become conscious of himself” (Jung, Archetypes

214; Jung, Practice of Psychotherapy 155). For Jung, the father is both venerated and

destroyed by the son, and these destructive elements grant the Devil the freedom to

develop a unique and separate personality.

However, if the Devil is initially only an instrument of God, how could he rebel

without free will?: either all of the Devil’s actions are the result of God’s will, or, the

Devil, as an angel, is capable of breaking free from God’s control, implying God is not

omnipotent. Psychologist Henry Murray believes the Devil’s ability to exhibit free will

relies on his resemblance to God. As God created the Devil, he fashioned a being too

alike in both temperament and power, which is where their conflict originates (Murray

46). Both God and the Devil are jealous, causing them to seek revenge: “God is jealous

and the Lord revengeth”; both insist on being subservient to no one else: “no other gods

before me”; and finally, both are wrathful: “For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and

with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury and his rebukes with

flames of fire” (46). Since the Devil is not only eternally subordinate to God but also

2 Freud takes this quote out of context. Faust is not desiring his father’s position or power, but rather,

“cursing the ineffectualness of all that he has inherited” while recognizing that he must accept that his

father’s flaws have become a part of him (Frankland 21). 3 Freud frequently quoted Goethe, particularly Faust, throughout his career. He uses Faust as a way to

expand on concepts involving the father-complex in his book Totem and Taboo (Lauzun 201; 204).


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Jesus and humanity, he behaves in the only way to which he is psychologically

hardwired: rebellious, to replace God as dictated by the father-complex (46-47).4

Lacan’s theory on fathers resembles Freud’s father-complex in which the son

fears the father and must find a way to supplant him. Lacan believes that an individual

traverses three stages to develop an identity. For Lacan, the son initially recognizes his

father as a rival for his mother’s affections, leading to the father prohibiting the son’s

desires. This realization causes the son to want to remove/kill the father, taking his place.

The final phase involves the son renouncing his wish to eliminate his father, becoming

like him instead (Etchegoyen 30).

The major difference when applying Lacanian theory to the Devil is that the

second phase comes first: the Devil wants to replace God. Also, instead of God being a

rival for a mother’s affection, the Devil sees humanity as his rival for God. While the

steps are slightly modified, they still apply because the Devil feels both jealousy and the

need to replace his father. The third stage is not immediately apparent; in his banishment,

the Devil becomes God-like, especially because he becomes the ruler of his own domain:

Hell. The Devil boasts he has stolen a kingdom from God: “Divided empire with

Heaven’s king I hold” (Milton 112). Despite his pride as a ruler, the Devil suffers for his

actions, trapped in his own personal Hell: “Hell hath no limits, nor is circumscrib’d in

one self place; for where we are is hell, and where hell is must we ever be” (Marlowe

4 Murray argues that Freud should have created a second aspect of the father-complex to accompany the

Oedipus complex: the “Satan complex.” It concerns an individual’s desire to overthrow his or her father

based specifically on “hate and a compulsion to destroy or to abase, both of which are born of a need to

revenge a purely personal insult” (52).


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22).5 He feels both physical and psychological torment because he laments being apart

from the father he simultaneously loves and hates.

If a child is unable to either remove the perceived threat generated from a father-

figure or accept the desire to become like him, then the son becomes stuck in the “eternal

son” phase, causing him to live as a permanent revolutionary and preventing him from

ever “obtaining his [father’s] kingdom” (Neumann 190). The inability to move beyond

the father-complex into true adulthood locks the son into a state of perpetual youth, who,

as he grows older “turns out to be a neurotic who is not prepared to ‘be his age’ and

accept his limitations” (190). Furthermore, if the son cannot identify with his father due

to the father’s absence, this syndrome may also occur.

While God is not an absentee father in Judeo-Christian writings, the Devil

perceives him to be. The Devil’s refusal to recognize humanity’s dominion over the

angels, along with his following defiance and rebellion, speak to the state of mind of a

being unable to move beyond his place in God’s universe. In the Apocryphal Book of

Adam, the Devil explains to Adam, “I will not worship an inferior and younger being

(than I). I am his senior in the creation, before he was made I was already made. It is his

duty to worship me…If [God] be wroth with me, I will set my seat above the stars of

heaven and will be like the highest” (Forsyth, The Old Enemy 238).

The craving for his father’s attention motivates the Devil’s tricks against

humanity. His actions continue his activities from the Book of Job, when God permits

him to cause suffering to show Job’s faith. The Devil reasons that causing people to

5 This sentiment is more famously echoed in John Milton’s Paradise Lost when Lucifer laments, “Me

miserable! Which way shall I fly infinite wrath and infinite despair? Which way I fly is hell; myself am

hell” (111).


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suffer results in prayers to God, drawing his attention to the source of their distress.

Therefore, the Devil earns God’s attention.

The Devil’s trickery grants him vengeance upon humanity as well, whom he

believes supplants him. Sibling rivalry is an extension of the father-complex in Freudian

doctrine. While not siblings in the technical sense, both Jesus Christ and humanity force

the Devil to vie for God’s attention. When he does not receive enough, the Devil enters

the eternal son phase seeking revolution, but when defeated, he is unable to concede:

What though the field be lost? All is not lost; the unconquerable will, and

study of revenge, immortal hate, and courage never to submit or yield—

And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or

might extort from me…We may with more successful hope resolve to

wage by force or guile eternal war, irreconcilable to our grand foe, who

now triumphs and in the excess of joy sole reigning holds the tyranny of

Heaven (Milton 12).

Unable to reconcile with God, several of the Devils throughout this dissertation

fall into the eternal son category to varying degrees; their immaturity depicts beings who

are physically adults with childlike temperaments. For instance, in The Devil’s Advocate,

Milton unsuccessfully attempts both to seize dominion from God as well as tempt his son

with the possibility of eventually gaining it as well. However, Milton neither gains nor

gives power because he is trapped in the eternal son phase, unable to escape (Neumann

190). As Milton realizes that he cannot succeed, he rages against God, his son, and the

world around him. His actions are not those of a mentally fully-functioning adult because

he struggles to break free from an adolescent mindset.


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In addition to incorporating the differing theories of the father-complex and the

eternal son, Jung’s also describes the shadow archetype, similar Freud’s theory of the id

as it represents primitive impulses that individuals instinctually try to fulfill (Avens 200).

The shadow also symbolizes a person’s darker, unconscious qualities that he or she

typically endeavors to repress or deny. The conscious mind balances these impulses,

analogous to Freud’s superego balancing the id and ego (Jung, Archetypes 265). Aspects

that individual personalities deem “evil, inferior, or unacceptable” are shunted away

behind the shadow archetype (S. Diamond). The association with the Devil comes from

the shadow archetype’s connection to evil aspects of human nature as well as humanity’s

collective unconsciousness (Moreno 40).6

Jung compares the shadow archetype to two specific Devils: Lucifer from Judeo-

Christian writings and Mephistopheles from Faustian stories (Avens 204, 206). The

shadow archetype does have positive attributes. When examining this archetype using the

collective unconsciousness, there can be no good without evil because “one opposite

compensates the deficiencies of the other opposite” inevitably leading to enantiodromia

(199).7 Jung, like Freud, frequently refers to Goethe as a means to explore the tension of

opposites within the human mind (Douglas 25). Jung finds part of his inspiration for

enantiodromia in Faust when Mephistopheles says, “I am part of that power which

always wants to do evil, and yet always creates good” (Avens 206). Jung, echoing

6 The collective unconscious is “the product of generations past, the deposit of the experiences to which our

ancestors have been exposed: it contains the wisdom of ages, our innate potential, which emerges from

time to time in the form of ‘new’ ideas and various creative expressions.” The collective unconscious,

according to Jung, houses all of a person’s instincts (Avens 198). 7 Jung’s enantiodromia is a phenomenon occurring when “an extreme, one-sided tendency dominates

conscious life; in time an equally powerful counter-position is built up, which first inhibits the conscious

performance and subsequently breakings through the conscious control” (Jung, Psychological Types 425).


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Goethe, argues evil originates from good and vice versa: “there is no good that cannot

produce evil and no evil that cannot produce good” (Jung, Psychological Reflections

209).8

Jung believes that the shadow archetype is synonymous with the Trickster figure.

He states that, because of the shadow archetype’s influence, the mythological Trickster is

naturally sly, mischievous, and duplicitous (Casement 107). In his “Answer to Job,” Jung

references the Devil’s actions within the Garden of Eden as a “practical joke,” calling the

Devil a “Trickster and spoilsport who loves nothing better than to cause annoying

accidents” (Psychology and Religion 394; 396). Society’s fascination with both the

Trickster and Trickster Devil potentially originates with the breaking of cultural taboos:

“There is something simultaneously horrifying and satisfying about his breaking the rules

all humans in society chafe at. He does, it has been observed, what everyone would like

to do, but cannot, whether because of fear, reason, or virtue” (Brunvard 1485). While

Jung considers the Devil a Trickster, within modern entertainment this idea does not

become prevalent until the early 1980s.

Cultural anthropologist Paul Radin references Jung when describing how the

Trickster’s portrayal across various cultures is “represented by countertendencies in the

unconscious, and in certain cases by a sort of second personality, of a puerile and inferior

character … [causing] ineffably childish phenomena” (202). The Trickster’s dual-side

nature as being a creator and destroyer, attributed to the shadow archetype, can cause him

to act irrationally, encouraging him to work against his welfare producing both good and

evil (Gunter 53). Several Devils discussed in this dissertation actively undo their plans by

8 Several Devils within this dissertation espouse the idea that evil can be good. For example, Satan in South

Park specifically mentions this. For more information, see Chapter Four, page 106.


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helping their supposed victim. For instance, in Bedazzled, the Devil schemes to collect

Elliot’s soul, and yet, paradoxically she works against her desires by helping him achieve

happiness.

The Devil’s future within American entertainment explores his trickster nature

and innate humanity. Moving away from evil does not mean that the character will be

necessarily good, or even liked.9 Beginning in 2009 and continuing into 2017, two

popular television shows have incorporated this newer Devil. The first is the series

Supernatural where the Devil is a reoccurring character across multiple seasons, and the

second is Lucifer where he is the show’s protagonist. These Devils illustrate the

psychological principles discussed in this chapter, drawing particular attention to the

father-son complex, the unconscious mind, and the shadow archetype.

Supernatural (2009-2010 & 2015-2017)

The Devil on the CW television series Supernatural has had several major story

arcs over the course of three seasons—season five, eleven, and twelve. Supernatural’s

Devil, who goes primarily by Lucifer, is a Trickster beset by loneliness, fitting the profile

of the new Devil. Lucifer’s initial story arc portrays him initially as a reluctant villain,

forced to fight the archangels. During his second major appearance, the character

eventually transforms from antagonist to anti-hero. Season twelve sees Lucifer revert to a

chaotic villain, while simultaneously becoming a parent searching for his unborn child.

While the relapse back into a villain undoes the Devil’s heroic attributes, the character’s

need for love still drives all of his changes.

9 Because he is mercurial, he can be depicted simultaneously as both good and evil. He frequently, in

several different portrayals, ranges between the two, never truly settling on either.


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Supernatural is about two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki

and Jensen Ackles), fighting supernatural threats across America. While the series might

superficially appear to be about preventing monsters from wreaking havoc, Supernatural

is really about family: the kind people are born into and the kind they choose. The show’s

creator, Eric Kripke, uses the series as a means to explore how family (or the lack

thereof, in the case of Lucifer) affects people, their choices, and their view of the world:

It’s always been a show about family, much more than it is about anything

else. The mythology is only an engine to raise issues about family. A big

brother watching out for a little brother, wondering if you have to kill the

person you love most, family loyalty versus the greater good, family

obligations versus personal happiness (“Eric Kripke”).

Thematically, Supernatural has explored both brothers united and brothers divided, as

well as the relationships between fathers and sons. Lucifer is the product of what happens

when family turns against each other or loyalty is questioned.

The conflict between Lucifer and his brother, the archangel Michael, parallels

Sam and Dean, especially their sibling rivalry. While both sets of brothers claim to love

one another, only Sam and Dean put the other’s safety above their own. Lucifer and

Michael are unable to move beyond any past transgressions: “Neither is able to change,

neither is capable of the forgiveness necessary for a lasting, loving relationship” (Chaib

146). The inability to forgive one another drives Lucifer and Michael further apart.

Psychologically, only one set of brothers illustrates Freud’s explanation of sibling

rivalry—Lucifer and Michael. The rivalry between the Winchesters is not truly

antagonistic; rather, they mean to save and support each other. For Freud, the eldest


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sibling is jealous of the younger for consuming a parent’s attention, causing the older

child to mistreat their sibling. In the case of the Winchesters, Dean raises his brother as

best he can in the absence of their parents. However, Freud’s theory does explain the

relationship between Lucifer and his older brother Michael: “The elder child ill-treats the

younger, maligns him and robs him of his toys; while the younger is consumed with

impotent rage against the elder, envies and fears him, or meets his oppressor with the first

stirrings of a love of liberty and a sense of justice” (Toohey 146). Michael and Lucifer

constantly war over their duty to God versus an “individual’s freedom of thought and

will” (Goguen 173).

Additionally, both Lucifer and Michael feel a rivalry with a symbolic sibling:

humanity. Even though they did not join Lucifer’s rebellion, several angels are bitter

concerning their displacement by humanity as God’s favorite creation. The war between

the two angelic brothers begins because a cabal of angels provoke Michael into starting

the Apocalypse. This cabal believes that, in God’s absence, they should gain more power

in Heaven, and ultimately supremacy over the humans whom they secretly resent if the

Apocalypse occurs (Hurst 65).

While Lucifer and Michael love each another, they still perceive the other as a

rival for dominion in God’s absence. Furthermore, Lucifer’s relationship with God at

times also mirrors the Winchesters’ relationship with their father. John Winchester often

disappears for long periods of time seeking vengeance against monsters and demons for

the death of his wife, Mary. Sam and Dean both feel abandoned, a sentiment they share

with Lucifer. But, the difference is that, eventually, they understand and forgive their


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father, realizing the importance of saving other people’s lives. Lucifer, in contrast,

harbors his resentment permanently.

Lucifer first appears during Supernatural’s fifth season when he escapes the cage

in Hell where God had imprisoned him, searching for a human vessel capable of

containing his power—Sam Winchester.10 Lucifer finds a temporary host in a widower,

Nick (Mark Pellegrino). Appearing as Nick’s murdered wife, Lucifer manipulates him

into giving consent for possession.11 Lucifer then reveals his identity, explaining how

God has disappointed them both:

You people misunderstand me. You call me ‘Satan’ and ‘Devil,’ but do

you know my crime? I loved God too much. And for that, he betrayed

me—punished me…. There are only two rational answers, Nick—either

he’s sadistic, or he simply doesn’t care….That’s why I want to find him—

hold him accountable for his actions. Just because he created us doesn’t

mean he can toy with us, like playthings (“Sympathy for the Devil”).

With God absent, Lucifer decides to punish him by destroying what he loves most:

humanity. Sam eventually sacrifices his life to banish both Lucifer and Michael to the

cage in Hell.12

During the eleventh season, Lucifer persuades the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) to

release him from his prison to help prevent a more dangerous threat—the Darkness, who

is revealed to be God’s sister. Similar to Lucifer, the Darkness, also betrayed by God,

10 On Supernatural, while demons can possess people at will, angels (even fallen ones) must first gain the

host’s permission before they are allowed to take control. 11 Lucifer acquires most of his vessels through trickery. He appears as a deceased loved-one and then tells

the vessel he is an angel who can reunite the two as long as they give permission, which is factually true as

he causes the vessel’s soul to leave its body. 12 The Winchesters frequently die and are resurrected throughout the series.


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was locked away. Lucifer facilitated her initial imprisonment since God was unable to

stop her by himself. Surprising Lucifer, God (Rob Benedict) returns to help. However,

Lucifer childishly refuses to work with him until he apologizes for the betrayal of

banishing him: “You were my father, and you forsook me” (“We Happy Few”). Despite

their differences, when the Darkness is about to destroy God, Lucifer’s love for his father

causes him to sacrifice himself in God’s place.

The twelfth season reveals that Lucifer survived the attack, and that God and the

Darkness made amends, leaving the Earth. Despite his previous heroics, Lucifer has been

abandoned once more. Hurt, he now inflicts chaos wherever he goes: healing some and

killing others. Any progress Lucifer achieved towards ending the eternal son phase and

escaping the father-complex is negated by God’s second rejection:

I need love. I had a really jacked childhood. … I’m not especially

interested in [God’s] opinion. Dear old dad, he finally apologized for

abandoning me and what’s the very next thing he does? He ditches me and

rides off into the sunset with auntie Amara. He needed my help and he’d

say anything to get it. His words, they mean nothing. Don’t you get it?

This is all meaningless. Heaven, Hell, this world. If it ever meant

anything, that moment is past (“Rock Never Dies”).

To appease his loneliness, Lucifer sires a Nephilim: a child with the power of an

angel and the soul of a human. Upon the child’s conception, Lucifer realizes he has

committed an act of creation for the first time, vowing to prove himself a better father

than his own. Soon afterward, he is imprisoned by an ally of the Winchesters, Crowley

(Mark Sheppard)—the self-proclaimed King of Hell.


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Unwilling to abandon his son or permit his child to perceive him as uncaring and

absent, Lucifer escapes. However, the eternal son phase proves to be his undoing. He

compulsively gloats, defeating the Winchesters while his son’s birth causes a tear in

reality. As he is about to win, the Winchesters’ mother pulls Lucifer through the rift

while Crowley sacrifices his life to seal it.13 The series demonstrates that family, both

blood and extended, protects each other by any means possible. Parents and parental

figures throughout Supernatural constantly put their children’s welfare first and, if need

be, sacrifice themselves, a concept that escapes immortal beings such as Lucifer and

God.14

Because Lucifer is preoccupied with revenge against God and his creations for

much of the series, he never has any occupation besides being in charge of Hell.

However, while he may not have a profession like the other Devils, his personality is

based on three of the four archetypes. This Devil’s main influence comes from Milton’s

Lucifer. Both Lucifers believe God betrayed them by creating humanity. Refusing to bow

to inferior beings, Lucifer vows to destroy humankind despite the fact that he, at times,

empathizes with them, telling Sam, “My heart breaks for you. The weight on your

shoulders. What you’ve done. What you still have to do. It is more that anyone could

bare. If there was some other way, but there isn’t” (“Free to Be You and Me”). This

empathy for humanity resembles how Lucifer acts in Paradise Lost when he first views

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer’s arrogance and charisma are

13 God and the Darkness return the Winchesters’ mother to life at the end of the eleventh season as a means

of thanks for helping them reconcile. 14 God is initially unwilling to save either Lucifer or humanity from the Darkness in season eleven

believing both were undeserving of his help (“Don’t Call Me Shurley”). In season twelve, Lucifer has

ample time to rescue his son if he abandons his revenge against the Winchesters and, instead, puts his son’s

safety first.


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characteristically Faustian as he uses these qualities to manipulate others for his benefit.

And, before his fall from Heaven, he resembles the Devil of Judeo-Christian writings

because he is God’s chosen, working at his side. Other angels on Supernatural often

speak of how Lucifer is God’s favorite, trusting him above all others to help banish the

Darkness—a fate he too would ultimately suffer at the hands of God.

Lucifer’s difficult relationship with God and humanity has made him one of the

long-running show’s most popular characters (Gennis). Lucifer has gone from being one

of Supernatural’s main villains to an antihero whose sacrifice saves not only the world,

but God as well, before taking revenge again for being abandoned. During the series run

of Supernatural, Lucifer has had one major heroic action, but this heroism is a step in a

new direction for this character, a direction that will be advanced further in the television

series Lucifer.

Lucifer (2016-Present)

While one other Devil has been a protagonist within this dissertation (History of

the Devil or Scenes from a Pretended Life), the Devil in the series Lucifer is the first

depicted as a hero fighting injustices and protecting the innocent. This show originates

from the comic book character created by Neil Gaiman in his Sandman series, and was

later adapted into his own eponymous comic (Andreeva). While Lucifer maintains several

of the negative perceptions associated with the Devil, the series demonstrates that the

entity known for being the cause of all evil is capable of doing even greater good.

The initial premise of the show is that Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) has grown

bored with ruling Hell and abdicates his throne. Leaving Hell for Los Angeles, he opens a

high-end nightclub named Lux where he spends his time gratifying his id and ego,


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particularly through libidinous activities fueled by alcohol and drugs.15 When presented

with pleasurable activities, Lucifer partakes with no inhibitions regarding the sexuality of

his partners or the legality of the situations. Lucifer represses his superego, permitting his

id and ego to run rampant while also avoiding any responsibility after a millennia of

reigning in Hell following his banishment from Heaven.

Lucifer’s exile occurs because, just like the other Devils, he suffers from a father-

complex, causing him to rebel against God. However, Lucifer no longer intends violence

towards his father. While attacking Heaven is not a part of his plan, Lucifer does harbor

intense bitterness and resentment for all of God’s actions towards him. Asked by an

individual claiming to be God why he is so angry, Lucifer responds, “Because I’m your

son, and you rejected me!” (“God Johnson”). This rejection occurs twice in Lucifer’s

mind: the first is the creation of humanity and its subsequent elevation over the angels in

God’s hierarchy, and the second is when Lucifer is banished to Hell because he believes

God should have attempted to reconcile with him.

Trapped within the eternal son phase of the father-complex, Lucifer often

questions his responsibility as the cause of evil in the universe. He argues that all of his

actions stem from God’s treatment of him: “Casting me into Hell for eternity because you

haven’t got the balls to get your own cowardly hands dirty, manipulating me…giving me

the illusion of control. You are a patronizing, sinister, helicopter parent. Every bad thing

that has happened throughout eternity is your doing, not mine! It’s all part of ‘God’s

Plan!’” (“God Johnson”). Lucifer’s reasoning takes inspiration from Anselm of

15 Lux is Latin for light. A reference to Lucifer being known as the “giver of light” (Stanford 50).


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Canterbury’s argument for evil in the universe.16 For Anselm, moral evil belongs to either

to a cause or free will. Moral evil assigned to a cause is actually a variety of ontological

evil, for which God is directly responsible.17 However, if the evil is brought about by the

actions of free will, such as the Devil’s, then it is still “part of a cosmos that God

constructs and causes knowing in all eternity its every detail, its every event…if the Devil

invented evil, God permitted him to do so” (Russell, The Prince 131). Even if Lucifer’s

previous actions are his fault and he is accountable for the evil present on Earth, since his

escape from Hell, he is an example of Jung’s enantiodromia, becoming a force for good

as he attempts to negate the evil for which he is held responsible.

Unlike the other Devils discussed within this dissertation, Lucifer recognizes that

he is both burdened and trapped by his past; however, he attempts to make progress from

the eternal son phase by undergoing therapy. Lucifer no longer wants to be associated

with his father and would be happier left among the mortals on Earth. He examines his

past actions, and while his therapist initially does not believe he is the Devil, she still

helps him begin the process of emotionally healing and ending his father-complex with

varying success.

After witnessing the murder of one of his clients/friends, Lucifer makes it his

mission to punish the guilty party because he feels responsible.18 19 This newfound desire

to help inspires Lucifer to assist the police, where he becomes a consultant partnered with

16 Anselm (1093-1109 C.E.) was a Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic

Church who later was canonized as a saint (Russell, The Prince 131). 17 Moral evil is caused when an intelligent being “knowingly and deliberately inflicts suffering upon

another sentient being…which involves a conscious knowledge, anticipation, and a dread of pain without

an understanding of any good reason why one should be hurt” (Russell, The Prince 1). 18 Lucifer is shot multiple times as well; however, since he is immortal, he sustains no lasting damage. 19 Punishing the guilty is the one aspect of Hell Lucifer enjoys, and he continues this pursuit on Earth after

his friend is murdered (“Pilot” Lucifer).


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a detective named Chloe Decker (Lauren German). Like every other human, Decker

refuses to believe Lucifer is the Devil despite his constantly trying to explain his true

identity (Lucifer takes great pride in the fact that he never lies).

One of the abilities making Lucifer a valuable asset to the police force is that, as a

Trickster, he has access to powers that would be unseemly if possessed by a traditional

hero (Russo 260). People inadvertently confess their desires to him. Lucifer explains,

however, that they are not admitting their crimes, telling Decker, “I have no power over

people’s sins. I actually get a bad rap for that. I have the ability to draw out people’s

forbidden desires. But no, the actual sins, the sins are on you people” (“Pilot” Lucifer).

Having people admit to their deepest secrets, Lucifer is often able to discover the motive

for their crimes if he cannot get a confession; or, at the very least, he receives a clue to

the actual culprit. Lucifer also greatly enjoys the chaos that typically accompanies people

blurting out their desires with one of two results: he recognizes a potential lead that the

police would miss, or he receives a personal benefit such as sex.20 This aspect of

Lucifer’s nature is a trait of the Trickster: his innate ability to express (or inspire) libido

and gluttony (Russo 256).

Although Lucifer greatly enjoys his Trickster nature, his need for others causes

him embarrassment which he desperately attempts to hide. While never explicitly stated,

one of the reasons Lucifer left Hell is because he was lonely for company besides that of

demons and the damned souls under his care. Lucifer constantly ridicules God whenever

another person mentions him, but a part of him prefers reconciliation. Also, the longer

20 Lucifer convinces a therapist to break client confidentiality because she is unable to resist his sex appeal.

She refuses to give the information to the police, but he makes a deal that he will have sex with her if she

gives him the evidence, and she quickly capitulates.


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that Lucifer stays on Earth, the more he cares for humanity as a whole, which is

reminiscent of the view Milton’s Lucifer has in Paradise Lost—that he could have loved

humanity if God had not placed them above the angels (Milton 122-123).

Because of his newfound emotions, Lucifer continually sacrifices himself to save

Decker and other humans, including one instance where he becomes trapped in Hell

reliving his greatest regret—inadvertently killing his brother Uriel (Michael Imperioli).21

This continual selflessness is a quality that has not appeared in a Devil until Lucifer.

Lucifer is eventually rescued from Hell by his mother (Tricia Helfer) who plans to

manipulate her son to help her overthrow Heaven and enact her own revenge against

God.

Several storylines throughout the series focus on Lucifer’s need for

companionship and love. However, upon his return to Los Angeles from Hell, he behaves

more like a Trickster, such as when he announces he is married: a deception intended for

both Decker and his mother. Because God intended Decker to meet Lucifer, he believes

she has no control over her feelings, and he refuses to take advantage of what he

perceives as a forced emotional state. As Lucifer explains to his brother, Amenadiel

(D.B. Woodside), he is tricking Decker for her own good. Lucifer also uses his “new

wife” as a means to fool his mother into revealing her plans because he wants to protect

humanity from her (“Candy Morningstar”).

Discovering his mother’s plot to manipulate him makes Lucifer resent her almost

as much as his father, because she has become a negative example of Jung’s Mother

archetype—she harbors a “secret malicious intent” and is willing to betray her child

21 When Uriel is accidently killed during a struggle, Lucifer nearly goes insane because of uncontrollable

grief and a crisis of conscience.


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(Kushner). Lucifer’s Trickster nature surfaces again as he intends to turn his parents

against each other:

I plan on kicking mum into Heaven and slamming the gates on her

backside. Hopefully they [God and Lucifer’s mother] tear each other apart

and then they’ll both get what they deserve: punishment for manipulating

me. I mean, dad set a trap for me but mum was the one who made sure I

fell…that I felt things I don’t want to feel anymore” (“Deceptive Little

Parasites”).

This explanation is only partially true because secretly he wants to make his family whole

again. When a man Lucifer believes to be an avatar of God appears, Lucifer attempts to

reunite his parents. However, when the man is revealed as a fraud, Lucifer’s bitterness

that a stranger was kinder to him than his father ever was causes him to briefly relapse

into the eternal son phase, negating progress he had made ending his father-complex

(“God Johnson”).

During his time on Earth, Lucifer learns to appreciate the sanctity of life and

strives to prevent the deaths his mother’s return to Heaven would cause: “It’s time for

you to move forwards mum. Even if it means I never see you again. You know if we go

back to Heaven then there will be a war. And in war, there will be casualties” (“The

Good, the Bad and the Crispy”). Lucifer convinces his mother to relinquish her hatred

and begin again without God. He uses a powerful relic, the flaming sword of Eden, to

open a rift to another universe for his mother to start over. Once his mother has entered

the portal, Lucifer disassembles the sword and throws the blade through the closing rift

so it can never kill another being, showing he has become the protector of both mortal


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and immortal lives because his need for companionship and love has taught him their

value (“The Good, the Bad and the Crispy”).

The second season ends with Lucifer waking up alone in the middle of a desert,

sunburnt and blistered, unsure of how he arrived; however, when he turns around his

wings have been returned.22 He is an angel once more. This transformation is, perhaps, a

reward for Lucifer’s good deeds, possibly foreshadowing forgiveness and redemption

from God, a feat no other Devil described in this dissertation has achieved.

Lucifer also works with a group traditionally perceived as a force for good: the

police. However, because Generation X grew up observing police brutality on the news,

audiences see them in a more sinister and less trustworthy light. For instance, at the

University of Wisconsin in 1967, during a student protest against the Dow Chemical

Company, over 50 students were injured by police, leading to an even larger

demonstration against police brutality (Spann 85). A year later at the Democratic

National Convention in Chicago, protesters against the Vietnam War were brutally

attacked by the police in a “breakdown in law and order that made it seem as if the

country were coming apart” (H. Johnson 52).

Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, incidents of police violence rose

in metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles, including the shooting of

unarmed civilians (Roberts B1). One of the most egregious cases of police brutality

occurred in 1988 at Tompkins Square in New York City’s East Village when police

22 Lucifer’s wings allow him to traverse between Heaven, Hell, and Earth. After abandoning Hell, he

removes them so he would be unable to leave Earth. To prove to Amenadiel he is serious about staying and,

as an affront to God, he destroys them as a further act of rebellion (“Wingman”).


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attempted to disperse a protest against park curfews.23 Reporters covering the protest

recorded police officers removing their badges and nameplates before attacking civilians

while dressed in full riot gear (Moynihan B5).

The event garnering the most widespread national and worldwide attention was

the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four police officers which a witness recorded on

videotape (M. Taylor). While charged with excessive use of force, the four officers

involved were later acquitted. This verdict ignited a massive riot against the police in Los

Angeles lasting five days and resulting in over fifty deaths, with the police responsible

for ten (Sastry). In a ten-year-span from 1980 to 1990, Los Angeles’s district attorney’s

office refused to prosecute 278 police officers accused of assault, and of the 41 (13% of

the total) prosecuted, only half were convicted (Freed A1). For Generation X, the

Rodney King incident, in particular, would linger in their memories with the video of his

vicious beating becoming the “first of a long line of police brutality videos to go viral”

(Sastry). More recently, social media has become a tool to easily disseminate videos of

police brutality, helping to create an environment where the police force may be

perceived as the enemy (Bayly).

In 2016, immediately before the initial airing of Lucifer, a growing percentage of

American society view the police force as a corrupt institution. Nationwide, only 56% of

American adults have “a great deal” of trust in the police, down from 64% in prior years

(Newport). These numbers continue to decline with only 52% of the overall population

having confidence in the police, the lowest since 1993. In fact, only 25% of people have

23 The curfew was instituted as a means to remove the homeless living in the park so the city could begin

the process of gentrifying the neighborhood (Moynihan B5).


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“a great deal of confidence” in the police force, much lower than it was just a year

previously (Jones).

This lack of trust is borne out on Lucifer as several police officers on the show

either take bribes, tamper with evidence, frame innocent individuals, or even murder

others to protect themselves and their nefarious actions. As a consultant, Lucifer

primarily works with an honest detective, but when partnered with the dishonest police

officers, he is, unfortunately, guilty by association. Nevertheless, although he is

occasionally surrounded by both criminals and corrupt police officers, Lucifer’s attempts

to help others are illustrated, showing how this particular character is transitioning away

from traditional depictions of the Devil.

Lucifer may be progressive, but he still possesses traits found within the four

archetypes. Lucifer takes inspiration for its Devil primarily from Paradise Lost, but the

other three are also well represented. Much like Milton’s Lucifer, this character is heroic,

sympathetic, and misunderstood. Both Lucifers suffer from egotism, using it to their

advantage to enhance their charisma. Lucifer’s extreme arrogance coupled with his

passionate rhetoric, while being Miltonesque, share similarities with the Faustian Devil

(Russell 216).

Another Faustian quality that Lucifer possesses is a penchant for making bargains

with mortals, although not for their souls. He is more interested in collecting favors than

obtaining souls. Lucifer’s Devil and those in Faustian stories have the tendency to be

amused at their foibles and misunderstandings, thus allowing audiences to ridicule them

and further remove themselves from evil (Janz 36). Prior to the existence of humanity,

Lucifer is God’s favorite among the angels, resembling his original position within


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Judeo-Christian writings. But unlike the New Testament, Lucifer does not appear to be at

war with God, and while he feels resentment, Lucifer’s Devil still cares for his father. He

is also capable of escaping his punishment in Hell without fear of divine retribution.

Lucifer only resembles Inferno’s Devil when he reveals his true appearance. While not

gigantic, Lucifer’s demonic visage is hideous with glowing red eyes and a disfigured,

crimson face, reminiscent of one of the Devil’s three heads in Dante’s Inferno.

By alluding to the archetypes, as well as breaking several of the stereotypes

surrounding the Devil, the Devils in both Lucifer and Supernatural share similar

qualities, use the same medium (television), and, for the most part, air within the same

two television seasons.24 Both Devils also sacrifice themselves for a loved one at the end

of their shows’ respective seasons within the same calendar year (2016). In the following

year (2017), both shows conclude with their respective Lucifers involved with a

transdimensional rift while a major character’s mother plays an important adversarial

role. Both are Tricksters using their abilities to satisfy their ids and egos. As previously

mentioned, Lucifer’s Devil appeals to his clients’ libidinous desires, actively fanning

them, which is similar to the approach taken with Supernatural’s Devil: “Everyone is a

toy to him [sic] and he wants to have sex with everything” (Highfill).25 Despite being

Tricksters, both Devils take pride in their honesty and sincerity in their dealings with

mortals.

24 The last two story arcs of Supernatural’s Devil occur during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, the same as

Lucifer’s first two seasons. 25 This is the advice about approaching the character that the original actor (Pellegrino) portraying Lucifer

gave the actor taking over the role (Collins) as a means to help him prepare during the series eleventh

season.


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The primary difference between the two Lucifers is that, regardless of what he

claims, Lucifer’s Devil still has hope in his father and the goodness for which he stands.

Despite making pithy comments about God’s uselessness to humanity, Lucifer knows

that if he is truly desperate, God will save him by either healing him or sending others to

help. The calculated front Lucifer displays implies he wants to atone for the sins ascribed

to him, not out of guilt but out of a perceived injustice. Besides the joy he receives from

stopping the guilty, he believes his actions will prove himself worthy of his father once

again. Moreover, while Lucifer would never admit it, even to himself, he would rather

unify his family than risk tearing it asunder again. While superficially self-absorbed, in

reality, Lucifer cares not only for his family but also humanity. This is a new concept for

the Devil and is one that is quickly proving popular with American audiences.

Due to the show’s popularity with audiences, it received a nomination in the

category “Favorite TV Crime Drama” for the 2017 People’s Choice Awards (“2017

People’s Choice Awards Nominees”). Additionally, both the show and Ellis were

nominated for the 2016 Teen Choice Awards showing that the series is well-liked among

younger viewers as well (Eliahou). Of the television series debuting during the 2015-

2016 season, Lucifer had the fifth highest rating and was 27th overall out of all 196

network broadcast shows for the 18-49-year-old demographic (de Moraes). Fox

entertainment president David Madden says of the show, “Lucifer continues to deliver,

with great blasts of dark humor and ambitious storytelling. The show has turned out to be

a true wicked pleasure” (Littleton). The series was renewed for both its second and third

seasons before several other of the network’s long-running programs because of Lucifer’s

continuing high performance, with only two shows being renewed before it: Empire and


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The Simpsons (O’Connell). Praising the show’s ratings, Madden says, “Lucifer is one of

those rare shows that starts out strong out of the gate, and just keeps getting better and

better” (Kaitlin Thomas). Lucifer’s popularity with the 18-49-year-old demographic is no

surprise since this group attracts a high percentage of members of Generation X as well

as the later generations they have influenced. Lucifer’s Devil incorporates elements of the

traditional archetypes, the psychological elements, and the modern characteristics

prevalent since the 1980s to create a heroic Devil whose appeal continues to grow among

American audiences.

Final Observations

While the modern Devil with his new traits and newer popularity does not negate

his occasional role as a villain within the horror genre, this particular Devil is not as

fashionable as he once was. The Devil as a character inspiring terror within American

entertainment reached a height of popularity during the 1960s and 1970s with such films

as Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen, but over the past thirty-seven years,

the incorporation of this traditional archetype has become less frequent. Within the horror

genre, the Devil can still appear as an evil entity attempting either the enslavement or

destruction of humanity along with overthrowing God. However, outside of this

particular genre, he is a much different type of entity because he no longer craves having

power over others.

For Americans during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the

cultural impact the Devil has had among society has greatly changed from what it was

during the Satanic Panic of the early 1980s. The association of pure evil with the Devil is

no longer as strong as it was for past Americans, with him considered “no more than a


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vestigial image, a broken-spirited relic of a perished past, a ludicrous ham actor with no

greater part to play in man’s imagination than the vermiform appendix in his gut”

(Delbanco 4). If the modern Devil is no longer the villain he once was, it raises questions

such as: who has replaced him in the minds of the American public in the late twentieth

and early twenty-first centuries? Moreover, why has society’s perception changed?

While there has been a multitude of fictional monsters, demons, and supervillains

who can compete with the Devil in American entertainment, society does not need to

look any further than history when contemplating which individual can replace true evil

in their minds. Within American popular culture, there is a singular figure who has

predominantly become a “placeholder for cognitive darkness”: Adolf Hitler (Klosterman

212). Jewish rabbi and philosopher Emil Fackenheim writes about the impossibility of

comparing Hitler to an ordinary individual or even another villain because his evil is

simply too great to comprehend:

You cannot locate Hitler on the ordinary continuum of human nature; you

cannot merely say that he is a very, very, very, very, very bad man,

perhaps the most wicked yet, but still explicable as the product of the same

human nature, the same psychological forces that produced, say, the next-

worse human being and the next and the next until we reach

ourselves…Hitler is off the charts, off the grid, in another category of

radical evil entirely (Rosenbaum 391-392).

Hitler was the mastermind of deeds so vile that despite occurring over 70 years ago, the

Holocaust still horrifies society in the attempt to commit mass genocide, which is “an evil

never matched before, or since” (Judt).


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The association between Hitler and ultimate evil is not a recent phenomenon.

However, the connotation between the two has grown as the decades have passed. Fewer

Americans are religiously inclined and, even among those who are, the belief in an actual

Devil as the cause of evil has declined significantly (“Most American Christians”;

Elliott). Hitler is the “entity we use in the same way people once employed the Devil”

(Klosterman 212). While the 1942 film The Devil with Hitler is outside the scope of this

dissertation, it suggests Hitler has replaced the Devil in the perception of American

society.26 The film is military propaganda in which the board of directors of Hell want to

replace the Devil with Hitler as chairman (Mitchell, The Devil on Screen 80-82).

Intended as a comedy, the film still recognizes the horrors and atrocities Hitler

committed.

Even individuals and groups associated with Hitler continue to carry the stain of

his evil, as Nazis are more despicable than average villains in both reality and fiction.27

Nazis possess a contempt for human life, representing all that is sinister and evil within

humanity (Buttsworth and Abbenhuis xix). Unfortunately, the specter of Hitler still looms

in America during the early twenty-first century as there has been a rise in hate groups,

such as the neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan, with the total number of hate groups rising 17%

since 2014 (Struyk). Part of the reason for this growth is that these groups believe the

United States is having a “crisis of white identity,” as the proportion of non-Hispanic

26 The Devil With Hitler is not a part of this dissertation for several reasons. The film is outside of the

timeline that is being examined as it was made in 1942. Also, the Devil depicted does not contain the traits

which have become prominent since 1980. 27 While final numbers have been debated, Hitler’s “final solution” massacred between five and six million

Jews according to Adolf Eichmann, chief of the Jewish Office of the Gestapo. Eichmann is responsible for

organizing the concentration camps and increasing their efficiency under both Hitler’s and Reinhard

Heydrich’s orders (Shirer 978). Eichmann’s eventual capture and trial in the early 1960s resulted in the

majority of American’s learning about the true atrocities committed within the concentration camps,

cementing Hitler’s (and his followers’) position as a force of evil.


154

white people has declined rapidly from 90% in the early 1960s to 62% in 2015, with an

estimated drop below 50% by 2043 (Potok, “The Year in Hate and Extremism”).

Perhaps the greatest reason that these groups are emboldened is the political

rhetoric espoused by Donald Trump, first as a presidential candidate and then later after

he won the election. Trump began his campaign by describing Mexican immigrants as

“rapists and drug smugglers” while using social media to falsely retweet that “black

people were responsible for 80% of the murders of whites” (Potok, “The Trump Effect”).

While on the campaign trail, he consistently encouraged violence while appealing to

“garden-variety racists, xenophobes, religious bigots, and misogynists” (Potok, “The

Year in Hate and Extremism”). Richard Spencer, leader of the white nationalist

movement, gave a speech to over 200 followers on election night which he concluded

with “‘Hail Trump! Hail our People!’ and then, ‘Hail Victory’ – the English translation of

the Nazi exhortation ‘Sieg Heil!’” while everyone in the room gave the Nazi salute

(Goldstein).

As of 2017, there is no bigger example of these hate groups’ growing strength in

numbers than the rioting that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia when the city removed

a statue of Robert E. Lee, with their protest resulting in the death of one counter-protester

and the injuries of dozens more (Fortin). While both Democrats and Republicans

condemned the violence perpetrated by these hate groups, Trump only gave a tepid

response without “singling out the white nationalists or neo-Nazis,” prompting former Ku

Klux Klan leader David Duke to say that Trump “represents a turning point for the

people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We’re going to fulfill

the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in, and that’s why we voted for


155

Donald Trump” (Astor et al.; Posner). Duke’s statement highlights that while the Devil is

occasionally depicted as a malevolent being in American entertainment, “the most

accessible expression of evil is Nazism” and the similar ideals espoused by related hate

groups (Buttsworth and Abbenhuis xxix).

There are several reasons for this change in opinion, but the greatest is that

American society’s very perception of evil has transformed due to such atrocities as the

Holocaust and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (Delbanco 5). The Devil of the

past was unique for every individual:

Evil was personified. Evil was…the Devil. Colorfully costumed. Almost

flavorful, altogether identifiable, a clarified being from another world. But

in the industrial system evil has become systematized. The production of it

has become technologized, internationalized, multinationalized, and

especially in times of war and high zealotry, officially rhapsodized (10).

As the use of the Devil in South Park suggests, humanity is responsible for more evil

than a fictionalized being could ever cause. The Devil in these instances is being used to

“characterize human enemies” and make these enemies of the state diabolical as a means

to persuade Americans as a whole to unify against them (Poole xix). Within

entertainment as in reality, audiences find it more plausible to believe that another person

can commit evil instead of a fallen angel.

By moving towards humanity as a cause of evil instead of outside sources, the

Devil is more easily adapted into a being better suited for playing tricks on others while

seeking companionship. The Devil is no longer confined to stereotypes. He can now be a

hero and still be popular, thus breaking his traditional role. The future of the Devil is


156

constantly evolving, but one area for which he appears to be staying the same is as an

adversary for good or evil. However, regardless of his moral alignment, the trends

continuing across his multifaceted depictions are his propensity for tricks and his

desperate need for companionship.

Combining the appropriation of Trickster traits, the need for companionship, and

the several modern psychological complexes the Devil suffers in conjunction with the

difficulties Generation X faced as they grew up, the research throughout this dissertation

has shown that for this particular group, the Devil’s standing, as well as that of the

hierarchy of Heaven itself, has changed. As members of Generation X faced increasing

hostility from society in general, they also encountered a family life much more likely to

be torn apart by divorce, statistically leaving them more likely to be raised by a working

mother with an absentee father (Huff). These conditions led some members of this

generation to feel abandoned by all authority figures, causing resentment. Within the

character of Devil, they saw a parallel to their own lives. The modern Devil’s desires

coincide with those of the members of Generation X, popularizing these current trends:

he wants pleasure, but he also wants the love he feels he has been denied. The changes to

the traditional Devil occurring since 1980 are linked to Generation X and their views of

society. Generation X is also responsible for reimaging the Devil as a hero, and without

this group, a series such as Lucifer would not have been viable in the first place. Without

this particular generation, the modern Devil would not have gained the popularity he has

now achieved, nor would have undergone as major a change towards becoming a

Trickster or seeking love.


157

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Documents

The Evolving Depictions of the Devil in American Theatre, Film