ORLANDO, FLORIDA — The Mouse has made a deal with the Devil and the church isn’t happy about it.
On April 5, Disney+ acquired Pauline, an original series about an 18-year-old girl who has a one-night stand with the Devil and becomes pregnant with his child as a result.
The German show is the brainchild of Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann, the creators of the Netflix series How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast). The duo called their work a “coming-of-age story.”
“For a long time, the series has been and still remains a project very close to our hearts,” the creators told Deadline. “We’re thrilled that Disney+ loves this coming-of-age story as much as we do.”
Inside the Magic, a digital publication covering Disney, called the show “a wild ride and a step in a new exciting direction for Disney.”
PUSHBACK FROM SATAN’S OPPONENTS
On June 5, the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) posted a YouTube video about the show, in which a pastor told viewers: “We’re fighting a spiritual battle.”
“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,” the pastor added. “Because he wants to appeal to the masses, and we're seeing this over and over and over again.”
Three weeks later, a TikTok video from Christian musician Robin Martyr called for his followers to boycott Disney. The post garnered over a quarter-million views.
“I think it’s about time we cancel these folks,” Martyr said in the video. “What is the reason? What message are we trying to get across exactly to our children?”
Movieguide, a site that provides film and television review through the lens of a Christian worldview, began circulating a petition with the goal of pressuring Disney into calling off Pauline. As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had garnered over 10,000 signatures.
“The show's attempt to normalize and even promote demonic association is a blatant attempt to blur the lines of morality and make evil desirable,” Movieguide founder Ted Baehr wrote.
“By normalizing and promoting such a relationship, Pauline sends a dangerous message to young viewers that associating with demons, Satan, and evil is acceptable and even sexy or desirable.”
