
Times are very strange. Let me break this down for you…yes, Disney Plus has an upcoming show that’s main storyline follows a pregnant teenager. Yes, that teenager becomes pregnant by way of a one-night stand with Satan. Deadline, one of the most respected and reputable sources in entertainment news, confirmed this development at the beginning of April.
Deadline described the Disney show as a “German original about a teenager who falls in love with the devil.” That teenager is the titular character in Disney Plus’ upcoming Pauline.
Now, a New York City Pastor of V1 Church, Mike Signorelli is speaking out about the problems that come with capitalizing on the idea of Satan in the media – especially children’s media. Billy Hallowell of Faithwire quotes Signorelli from the Pastor’s video denouncing the new Disney show. Signorelli says,
My reaction was: Satan always comes masquerading as an angel of light, and so he’s going to portray himself in the form that people are most readily able to accept. Because he wants to appeal to the masses, and we’re seeing this over and over and over again…If you are a parent watching this video right now, I just want to make it as clear and plain as possible: These cartoons are not for adults. They can say they’re for adults. They can have an adult rating, but we know that cartoons appeal to children. And somebody has to be bold enough to say it.
Filming has reportedly already begun and will star Sira-Anna Faal as Pauline and Ludger Bökelmann as Lukas…you know, the devil. Executive producers include Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann, of Netflix’s 2019 How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast). Even people who lean more liberal than conservative are wary about the dynamic this show will bring to Disney Plus.
One Christian entertainment group, Movieguide, has already started an online petition called “Help Stop Satanic, Grotesque New Series PAULINE From Streaming on Disney.” There are currently only about 2,300 of the desired 150,000 signatures, but the group makes similar claims to Pastor Signorelli. They call Pauline, “an attack on [their] children” with a “disturbing premise.”
So…uh…yea. What do you think?