Barack Obama and the Voice of God
By Michael Kinsley Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
Courtesy Of: Time US link by title and below:
Courtesy of:Time.com
In the 1950s and '60s, god was a man named Alexander Scourby. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., of Greek immigrant parents and attended college in West Virginia, but he spoke in a "deep and resonant voice" (as Wikipedia puts it) and--here is the key point--with more than a touch of a British accent. Long after Britain had exhausted its resources in World War II and lost its empire, a British accent conveyed authority, dignity, power.
In Hollywood, they sometimes refer to an omniscient but unseen narrator as a VOG, short for voice of God. Scourby was the leading VOG of his day, in documentaries like Victory at Sea and numerous commercials. His was the voice in the first ever recording of the entire Bible, made in the 1940s. At that time, it was as natural to assume that God spoke with a British accent as it was to assume that he had a beard--or, for that matter, that he was a he... who is God today?
The answer is clear: he is James Earl Jones. Jones' voice is best known for five immortal syllables: "THIS [pause] is CNN." Jones is also the voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars films. And his recording of the King James Version of the Bible has sold more than 400,000 copies. Jones' voice is even deeper and more resonant than Scourby's, but there is only a trace of a British accent. Jones is African American and sounds it.
A real gem to stmble upon written by: Michael Kinsley Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
Courtesy Of: Time US, linked by title and below:
Barack Obama and the Voice of God
By Michael Kinsley Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
