Star Wars is such a big deal around the globe, having built up an impressively large and dedicated fandom, that one could even say that it has become a bit of a religion.
Well, okay, it’s technically not a religion, and even the subsequent Jediism movement can’t be called a religion—rather a philosophy—but you can’t say that people haven’t tried putting a religious spin on it.
Like this one guy who, come Christmas, gifted his very Mormon parents a very artistic interpretation of Jesus Christ… well, by artistic interpretation, we mean a portrait of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ever grew up in a religious family who loved to have portraits of Jesus Christ around the house?
Image credits: Ryan Buchanan
Meet Ryan Buchanan, a guy from Utah who had a very mischievous, yet brilliant idea back in Christmas of 2018.
You see, his parents are religious folk, active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or more commonly known as Mormons. So, he thought it would be very appropriate to get them something that’s within the actual theme of Christmas.
Since there have always been paintings of Jesus Christ in the home he grew up in, it was only natural he’d get his parents a portrait of Jesus Christ.
Well, that ain't no Jesus, that's Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, but someone did actually hang it as a painting on their wall thinking it's Jesus
Image credits: ihavenoideahowtopickausername
Well, come Christmas day, and he hands his parents a rectangular gift. They tear off the polka-dot wrapping to see… well, a very artistic rendition of who they think is Jesus Christ.
As soon as they turn the picture towards Ryan, saying how well done it is and how they haven’t seen this one before, Ryan’s camera that was set up to film their reaction actually captures a different face.
The portrait is actually of Ewan Gordon McGregor, the actor who portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars franchise, wearing the iconic Jedi attire.
Ryan Buchanan gifted the portrait of Obi Wan to his religious Mormon parents for Christmas
Image credits: Ryan Buchanan
The parents bought it and were very happy with the portrait—so much in fact that it ended up on their wall
Image credits: Ryan Buchanan
Ryan ended up posting the picture, hung on the wall of his parents’ place, on Reddit with the caption “I’ve made a huge mistake. Mom loves her Jesus Christmas present and I’m not sure how to get out of this thing alive when she figures out.”
He got the idea to do this from another Redditor who, some time before that, cracked a joke that Obi Wan Kenobi looks oddly reminiscent of Jesus Christ.
And since Ryan admitted that he was always a bit of a prankster, this was the perfect idea. If you watch the video, you will hear how his mother even says “why are you smiling” as if she’s onto him, but never suspects a thing, and that made the internet laugh out loud.
Despite his mischievous smile, Ryan is now thinking what will happen to him once his parents find out the truth!
Image credits: Ryan Buchanan
Now, this isn’t the first time Ewan McGregor has been mistaken for Jesus Christ because of his role in Star Wars as there was another Redditor whose brother swapped a picture of Jesus at their parents’ house with a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi as portrayed by Ewan McGregor. They didn’t notice it.
And, of course, the Mormon Church themselves have even featured Ewan McGregor on the cover of one of their Sunday programs. The designer of the program claimed that they were well aware who that was, but I guess it was just too tempting not to use it at this point.
Believe it or not, this is actually a thing as another person swapped their Jesus picture for Obi-Wan too
Image credits: u/A-ladder-named-chaos
There was even one time when a Mormon Sunday program was also designed to include Obi-Wan
Image credits: Mandy McConnell Wright
Ryan’s Reddit post of his prank went viral, garnering nearly 110,000 upvotes on r/PrequelMemes. He also supplemented it with a video on YouTube, which got over 385,000 views.
Take a look at the video Ryan posted of his parents unwrapping the gift
Image credits: Ryan Buchanan
What are your thoughts on this? Did you pull any pranks on anyone—or had pranks pulled on you—during Christmas? Let us know in the comment section below!