It has to be a scary feeling to have Satanists against you. The Satanic Temple has sued Netflix and Warner Bros. for allegedly stealing the temple's version of the statue of Baphomet for scenes in four episodes of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
As Variety noted, the $50 million lawsuit claims the statue features several elements that make it an "original expression" subject to copyright. The Satanic Temple said the statue cost around $100,000 to design and build, basing it on 19th century iconography. The original Baphomet statue shows two children looking up at a goat-headed man with awe. The statue shown on Netflix's Sabrina series looks very similar. That statue is first shown on Episode 2, as a main feature of the Academy of the Unseen Arts.
The Satanic Temple has become known for objecting to various religious statues and monuments. The Baphomet statue is now in Detroit, but the Temple wanted to place it alongside a representation of the Ten Commandments in Oklahoma, and also fought to have a Baphomet statue at the Arkansas State Capitol.
The Satanic Temple's Sabrina lawsuit, filed November 8, asks for at least $50 million for each alleged infraction -- copyright infringement, trademark violation, and injury to the business' reputation. Co-founder Lucien Greaves told CNBC The Satanic Temple does not promote evil, and hails Satan as a "rebel against God's authority, rather than an evil being." He also tweeted comparisons between the real and show statues:
Other than being sued by Satanists, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina seems to have had a successful first season for Netflix. Kiernan Shipka's powerful turn as Sabrina Spellman has hooked fans, who are now thirsty for the story to continue in an eventual Season 2.
While this version of Sabrina is clearly much darker than Melissa Joan Hart's Sabrina the Teenage Witch, it's still based around teenage characters battling relatable high school drama.
Sabrina was originally developed as a companion series to Riverdale, since they are both set in the same Archie Comics universe, and share Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa as showrunner. It's still possible for a future crossover between The CW's Riverdale and Netflix's Sabrina, although not everyone wants that.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has some company when it comes to recently ticking off Satanists. American Horror Story: Apocalypse is finishing up its season this coming week, starring Cody Fern as Michael Langdon, a.k.a the Antichrist. A recent episode mentioned The Church of Satan, and the real Church of Satan denounced the "lazy writers" for how it depicted church founder Anton LaVey.
Satanism is just TV's latest trend, for some reason, so unless Jesus takes the wheel sometime soon, we may keep hearing angered Satanists pipe up about representation. For now, consider it your calling to follow our fall TV guide of new and returning shows.
