Line #33 Main/SistineSteal


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pickofdestiny.png]]]]
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8
9	When Creator/MichelangeloBuonarroti was given the commission to paint the Art/SistineChapel in Rome, he covered the ceiling with frescoes. One of those was ''Creation of Adam'', based on the Literature/BookOfGenesis: with his right hand outstretched, {{God}} floats above Adam to touch the man's fingertip. This famous and iconic image is known not only to art lovers but also to the [[PopCulturalOsmosis average television viewer]]. This makes it fair game for allusions, parody, and all sorts of tropey tomfoolery.
10
11	The "creation" pose is often used in ComicBooks, {{Webcomics}}, political comics and animated cartoons. As with Michelangelo's ''[[PietaPlagiarism Pietà]]'' sculpture, the recognizable arrangement of two figures is what makes the trope, although ''Pietà'' allusions tend to be poignant, while ''Creation of Adam'' is used more often in humorous contexts.
12
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Advertising]]
19	* There was a sacrilegious ad for President's Choice Cola that airbrushed a can of the product in question into God's hand, as if He were bestowing it upon Adam.
20	* There was a Samsung billboard advertisement that replaced Adam and God's skin with cell phones.
21	* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons C. Montgomery Burns]] loses his copy (albeit only the fingers are shown) when all his property is seized in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Fog this Coca Cola commercial]]. Whether it's the original or not is left up to the viewer's imagination.
22	* One of the images used in a rapid-fire montage TV commercial for Quizno's Subs consisted of God handing Adam the signature Classic Italian sandwich.
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* Seen in the opening credits of ''Manga/DeathNote'', with the symbolic double-whammy of [[TemptingApple an apple]] being passed between the KnightTemplar VillainProtagonist and the god-figure. This, though, is half symbolism (since the protagonist's moral decline after receiving the titular ArtifactOfDoom is related to original sin) and half show in-joke (since the god in question is addicted to apples).
27	* The unknown hand the title character of ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' reaches out to with a flash of light in the opening sequence is sometimes considered to be a reference to this.
28	* In ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'', [[TheGadfly Mai]] pulls this off on episode 4, in the MIDDLE OF AN EXAM, by touching a drawn hand on a chalkboard.
29	* There's a picture of the original photo itself in episode 11 of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. [[spoiler:Apt, since Madoka essentially becomes God and bestows her holiness on Homura.]]
30	* Used in ''Manga/RecordOfRagnarok'' when the valkyrie Reginleif performs her volund. Bonus points for doing it with the ''actual'' Adam and having Michelangelo himself in the audience reacting to the image.
31	* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'': In [[Recap/RevolutionaryGirlUtenaE39SomedayWeWillShineTogether "Someday, We Will Shine Together"]], Utena reaches her hand to Anthy [[spoiler:who lies inside the symbolic coffin of her fear and self-loathing where she's been most of her life. Their hands reach for each other, touch in perfect example of this trope... [[SubvertedTrope and suddenly slip.]]]]
32	* Subverted in the ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' manga when, [[spoiler:Knives and the plant integration are being broken apart physically and mentally, the subversion lying in the sense of loss and failure used in this scene as opposed to the sense of creation and connection in the original.]]
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
36	* In the ''Animation/SimpleSamosa'' episode "Kasturi Khushbu", as the UN meeting's attendees all fart simultaneously ([[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext the context for this doesn't help much]]), one stream of VisibleOdor somehow has a big hand that touches Samosa's fingertip in a style reminiscent of the famous painting.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': [[http://i.imgur.com/0jp9R.jpg An art puzzle]] featuring the characters parodies this, with WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck as Adam and Uncle Scrooge as God.
41	* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': The finger-touch part is imitated [[spoiler:using Death and Dream when Dream dies.]]
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
45	* ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'': When J.J. is commissioned to paint the ceiling frescoes aboard the S.S. ''[[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Trump Princess]]'', she is ordered to do this. When she is nearly finished, Trump complains that she mistakenly superimposed his face onto that of Adam, instead of God's.
46	-->'''J.J.''': Uh... are you sure, sir?\
47	'''Trump''': You still haven't read my book, have you?
48	* An early ''ComicStrip/{{Frazz}}'' [[https://www.gocomics.com/frazz/2001/04/08 Sunday comic]] had Frazz painting the cafeteria in kid-oriented versions of various famous paintings, including the ''Creation of Adam'' -- with a cafeteria lunch lady spooning food onto a student's plate.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Fan Art]]
52	* ''[[http://paulhanley.deviantart.com/art/Genesis-of-the-Daleks-265393389 Genesis of the Daleks]]'' by [[http://paulhanley.deviantart.com/art/Genesis-of-the-Daleks-265393389 Paul Hanley]] is a ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan-art featuring Davros as God and a Dalek as Adam. Now used as the page illustration for TheManBehindTheMonsters.
53	* As seen above, "[[http://www.toughpigs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/05-the_immaculate_jim.jpg?9d7bd4 The Immaculate Jim]]" by Dave Hulteen on ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' fansite ''Tough Pigs''.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Fan Works]]
57
58	* [[https://mostly-him.tumblr.com/post/673390969482346496/you-dont-give-orders-to-starscream-without This]] ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' comic has a faded mural of the Decepticon insignia get painted over with a rendition of ''Creation of Adam'' that replaces both God and Adam with Starscream because Megatron's order to get the mural repainted [[ExactWords didn't specify that the repaint had to be the same image as the original mural.]]
59
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Film — Animated]]
63	* The witch from ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'' makes a wood carving depicting bears in both roles. While the story is set in medieval Scotland, she clearly has some sort of power over time, as she's also carved out a [[Franchise/ToyStory pizza delivery truck]].
64	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'', there is [[http://puui.qpic.cn/qqvideo_ori/0/p0381ai1xhe_496_280/0 a symbolic finger-touching]] between little Moana and the personified ocean, at which point Moana becomes TheChosenOne on a godly quest.
65	* ''WesternAnimation/TheHauntedWorldOfElSuperbeasto'' has a parody of it with Dr. Satan replacing Adam, seen very briefly before Dr. Satan himself turns into [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a giant devil]] and shatters the ceiling of the wedding chapel where the painting was.
66	* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens''. The President of the United States has apparently made peaceful FirstContact with the alien spacecraft when a giant robot hand reaches out to him. The President reaches out with a finger as per this trope...only for the giant hand to try and squash him.
67	* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', this is seen with Mei replacing Adam and Robaire replacing God at the 4*Town concert.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Film — Live-Action}}]]
71	* The ''Creation of Adam'' appears in the opening credits of the 1959 version of ''[[Film/BenHur1959 Ben-Hur]]''. The film popularized the use of the painting.
72	* In ''Film/TheAgonyAndTheEcstasy'' Michelangelo (Creator/CharltonHeston) gets his inspiration for the painting from the shape of a cloud (undoubtedly because God shaped the cloud for his benefit).
73	* ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'': E.T.'s glowing finger on the promotional poster for the movie, as it touches the finger of the young boy.
74	* Some promotional material for ''Film/BruceAlmighty'' include this, with Jim Carrey's nether regions covered by [[CensorSteam a cloud]] and the only part of God showing being the arm.
75	* In ''Rocket Man'', after inadvertently waking up early from suspended animation, one of the activities the protagonist does to kill time during the 8 month voyage is make a painting of ''Creation of Adam'' (illustrating himself and his monkey copilot) using tubed food.
76	* ''Film/{{Creation}}'' has UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin reaching out to Jenny the orangutan in this way.
77	* In ''Film/DeathBecomesHer'', The stained-glass skylight that Ernest destroys when he falls after refusing immortality shows this image. Ernest breaks the skylight precisely where God and Adam's fingertips are about to touch.
78	* In ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', Frank-n-Furter's pool has the portrait done as a mosaic. In [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShowLetsDoTheTimeWarpAgain its 2016 remake]], [[spoiler:when Frank and Rocky are killed, their bodies are positioned to resemble Michelangelo's famous painting, "The Creation of Adam" (with Rocky in Adam's position and Frank in God's).]]
79	* ''Film/{{Lucy}}:'' After protagonist Lucy becomes strongly {{Transhuman}}, [[spoiler:she goes back in time and touches fingertips with the pre-human known as Lucy.]] Earlier in the film we get a brief look at the original painting, to make sure that no one misses the reference.
80	* Happens in the short film ''[[https://youtu.be/WJj_NMhYwf0?t=3m49s Room 8]]'', where the prisoner touches himself in a RecursiveReality.
81	* ''Film/Deadpool2'' has at least one poster depicting Deadpool as Adam and Cable as God.
82	* In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', a young girl points at Kong with her finger, and the creature reaches to her with his gigantic finger in response, with both fingers touching.
83	* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''. During her first fight against Steppenwolf, Wonder Woman loses her sword and the Flash helps her get it back. The sword is falling, Wonder Woman jumps after it to get it back and the Flash runs on the wall in order to reach the sword. He uses his index to push the sword back to Wonder Woman's hand with a little spark of electricity leaving his finger and travelling on the blade up to Wonder Woman's hand. Also, the Flash is human while Wonder Woman is pretty much a Goddess. Later in the movie, in order to jump start the Mother Box to bring Superman BackFromTheDead, Barry Allen generates power by charging towards the Mother Box at SuperSpeed, reaching out to touch it with a finger. Giving that he's literally creating life, the reference to this trope is obvious.
84	* During one of its apocalypse montages, ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'' shows the actual painting cracking down the middle, so that God's hand and Adam's are separated by the split, before the whole chapel collapses.
85	* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3'', [[spoiler:Peter]] is adrift in space and freezing to death. The camera pans to his left hand which is curving like Adam's when the hand of [[spoiler:Adam Warlock]] appears, reaching out to him like God's.
86	* ''Film/{{Bottoms}}'': Parodied. The footballers are so worshipped at the school that they eat lunch in a special table at the back of the cafeteria backdropped by a parody mural of ''Creation of Adam'', with quarterback Jeff in the position of Adam and holding a football in the hand that is touching God's.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Literature]]
90	* The covers of ''Literature/HisMastersVoice'' illustrate the frailty and significance of FirstContact by radio waves by [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Stanislaw_lem_his_master_voice_francisco_alves_editora_rio_de_janeiro_1991.jpg substituting the human hand with a radio telescope]].
91	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
92	** Parodied in the illustrated novel ''Literature/TheLastHero'', in which [[https://web.archive.org/web/20140301040622/http://files.myopera.com/Quinnuendo/blog/HPIM3268.JPG Cohen the Barbarian gives the middle finger to God]] (or rather Blind Io, the Disc's Zeus figure) and to ''the entire pantheon of major gods''.
93	** ''Literature/TheScienceOfDiscworld'' includes a scene where the Librarian (a wizard transformed into an orangutan) is magically searching for information about evolution and accidentally ends up in UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin's study while he's in the middle of writing ''On the Origin of Species''. The resulting scene is not illustrated, but one can imagine what it would look like if it were.
94	--->"What manner of shade are you...?"\
95	A hand reached out, tremulously. Feeling that something was expected of him, the Librarian reached out as well, and the tips of the fingers touched.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' has a couple of characters take part in a ''tableau vivant'' of the painting in one episode. There are two problems with the recreation: 1) George Michael, playing Adam, appears wearing cutoff jean shorts instead of being completely naked, and 2) George Sr, playing God, [[spoiler:makes a run for it.]]
100	* Used [[FauxSymbolism for no good reason]] in the first episode of ''Series/Cleopatra2525''.
101	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii "The Fires of Pompeii"]], the Doctor steps out of his TARDIS [[spoiler:to save a doomed family from the title eruption.]] The TARDIS is unaccountably shining behind him, and then there's a shot of his hand, reaching out for [[spoiler:the father's]] as if he's God and the human is Adam in the painting.
102	* In the TV series version of ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981'' the subsection of the Babel fish entry on the non-existence of God represents God and Man using the famous Sistine depictions.
103	* The first episode of ''Series/TheMandalorian'' ends with a shot of the title character and The Child reaching out to each other this way. Series creator Creator/JonFavreau specifically cited the painting and ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' as inspirations for the shot.
104	* In an episode of ''Series/MythBusters'', while testing an "cosmic energy absorber"; there's a short spoof of the painting with Adam (Savage) and Jamie's faces replacing Adam and God's.
105	* A promotional image created for ''Series/PushingDaisies'' shows Ned the Piemaker reaching out to Chuck this way. It serves a reference to Ned's ability to revive the dead with a touch of his finger, an ability he used to revive Chuck in the pilot episode.
106	* Used in every version of the opening credits of the long-running British arts programme ''The South Bank Show'', with an animated spark between God's finger and Adam's (according to the original animator, he mistakenly thought there was one in the original painting).
107	* The main title sequence for ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' depicts two spacesuit-clad hands appearing and touching fingers momentarily before fading away to make room for the title and a flyby of the eponymous starship. See it [[https://youtu.be/ZcTvrxwP6Is?t=1m7s here]].
108	* ''Series/UltramanTiga'': After being resurrected from his defeat in the hands of Alien Kyreloid II, Ultraman Tiga is shown getting to his feet in a seated pose, holding his hand up, while a bilboard in the foreground depicting God from the Sistine Chapel painting made it look like Tiga is in Adam's place.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Music]]
112	* The album cover for ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny'' is a parody of this.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Pinball]]
116	* Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/JackBot'' does this on the sides of the cabinet, which feature a close-up of [[Pinball/PinBot Pin*Bot]] and [[Pinball/TheMachineBrideOfPinbot The Bride's]] hands touching outstretched fingers
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Print Media]]
120	* ''Magazine/SportsIllustrated'' made a sports-related version of the ''entire'' Sistine Chapel ceiling for their fiftieth-anniversary celebration. The Creation of Adam fresco had the image of God unchanged and the image of Adam replaced with that of Babe Ruth.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
124	The art for the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card [[https://scryfall.com/card/cmr/384/sigardas-aid Sigarda's Aid]] (illustrated by Howard Lyon) depicts a scene of [[BigGood the angel Sigarda]] supplying a weapon to a wounded soldier in a pose deliberately echoing the Creation of Adam.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Video Games]]
128	* Seen in the Pleasantly Understated Credit Sequence of the Creator/LucasArts game ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam and Max Hit the Road]]''.
129	* In the Lovecraftian InteractiveFiction [[http://www.wurb.com/if/game/17.html game]] ''VideoGame/{{Anchorhead}}'', the art gallery hall of the Verlac mansion contains a painting of an ailing old man and a woman giving birth, explicitly described as a disturbing pastiche of the ''Creation of Adam''.
130	* A nude reclining Adam appears as a recurring boss in the (infamous) ''VideoGame/ChoAniki'' series of horizontal shooters. He would later become a playable character in the fighting-game spinoff.
131	* In ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', the icon for the Occultist's Unspeakable Commune camping skill has Adam reaching out to a tentacle in place of God's hand. [[spoiler:This is actually subtle foreshadowing to the fact that the EldritchAbomination under the manor was the creator of humanity.]]
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
135	* There exists a wallpaper of the famous shot where Adam is replaced with VisualNovel/{{Phoenix Wright\|AceAttorney}} giving God the pointer.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder:Webcomics]]
139	* ''Webcomic/KarateBears'': [[http://www.karatebears.com/2012/01/no-thanks-im-good.html Not interested.]]
140	* [[http://follyandinnovation.com/2012/08/pretty-sure-this-is-how-it-went/ Technology get in the way]] in ''Webcomic/FollyAndInnovation''.
141	* We get this in ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' when George and [[spoiler:the second]] Danielle [[http://kevinandkell.com/2003/kk1026.html re-discover]] [[ElectricLove their electric connection]].
142	* Done in [[http://maliki.com/en/bonus/finger-of-creation-2/ this illustration]] in {{Webcomic/Maliki}}, with cats!
143	* The third pages of the ''WebComic/ParadoxSpace'' story "The Inaugural Death of Mister Seven" briefly shows a portrait of GreaterScopeVillain Lord English as God reaching his hand out to his minion Mister Seven, who's reclining like Adam.
144	* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': [[spoiler:Dr. Bowman, the creator of [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots fully sapient AI]],]] kills time by playing [[TheGadfly mostly-benign cat-and-mouse games]] with the staff of his facility. This includes somehow [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2600/fc02585.htm painting]] a "Creation of Adam" scene of Dr. Bowman and a robot on the group shower ceiling.
145	* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'': [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/03/22 A parody of the composition]] is featured with [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos]] fighting God and Jesus Christ.
146	* ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'': [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/images/fanart/fanart-contest-2013/joshua-stamford-01.jpg This fanart]] from the second contest depicts Woo and the raccoon goddess Seeoahtlahmakaskay in place of Adam and God.
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Web Original]]
150	* The page image for Creator/BishopBarron's article on [[https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/article/the-myth-of-the-war-between-science-and-religion/331/ Science and Religion]] sees the Art/SistineChapel ceiling illustration of God pointing towards and creating the Big Bang, which takes the place of Adam.
151	* Because everything's better with Cthulhu: [[http://squeakychewtoy.deviantart.com/art/The-Creation-of-Squid-29113579 The Creation of Squid.]]
152	* Michaelangelo himself is depicted striking the pose in a rap battle between the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles and their Renaissance namesakes in ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'''s third season finale. "I'm a rap God, and you can't quite touch me!"
153	* An article on [[http://www.graspingforthewind.com/2011/08/21/science-fiction-and-religion-a-marriage-not-made-in-heaven-nor-even-the-laboratory/ Science Fiction and Religion]] on the Website "Grasping for the Wind" uses another Sistine Steal as illustration.
154	* The UsefulNotes/FlyingSpaghettiMonster! [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Touched_by_His_Noodly_Appendage_HD.jpg Touched by his noodly appendage.]]
155	* WebVideo/SoundSmith does this for the thumbnail of [[https://youtu.be/MuZjmtlwZ1w A Mann’s Guide to the Force-A-Nature]], using RED Scouts from VideoGame/TeamFortress2. The one in place of God is wearing lime-painted accessories, and the one in place of Adam is wearing the Ghastly Gibus.
156	%%* There's an edited image where the Big Bang extends from God's finger. Another one shows a DNA helix doing the same. Both are holding onto a Force-A-Nature shotgun.
157	[[/folder]]
158
159	[[folder:Western Animation]]
160	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', Michelangelo faces a deadline, gets help from the Warners, and is horrified to see that they've painted [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial God as E.T. and Adam as Elliot]], and it's too late to change anything because the Pope has arrived. But as the Pope turns out to be Creator/StevenSpielberg, he loves it.
161	-->'''Yakko Warner:''' Painting is like show business: You have to know your audience.
162	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
163	** In "The Homer of Seville," Homer paints [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Simpsons-michaelangelo.jpg himself as Adam and Marge as God]] on their living room ceiling.
164	** In "A Star is Burns," Mr. Burns creates a very self-indulgent short film entitled "A Burns for All Seasons," whose title card has Burns' face replacing that of Adam.
165	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'':
166	** In season 1 episode 6, the ceiling of the throne room in the Katrepat Castle features such a parody, with Count Vampyro in Adam's spot.
167	** Another one with The Mmmmmmmmmporpg and Maude in episode 12 of season 2, during BulletTime. Plus LampshadeHanging by Ruel.
168	* ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'': The kids sing about being artists in one of their movies. A banner rises behind them of the Creation of Adam, with God and Adam both modeled after Coach [=McGuirk=]. God is handing Adam a beer.
169	* An alternate universe in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has no Christianity. The Sistine Chapel ceiling was designed by John Hinkley and is just photos of Jodie Foster.
170	* The first disc of the ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead'' Creator/MikeJudge Collection DVD box sets features one with Beavis as God and Butt-head as Adam.
171	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E10PrincessSpike "Princess Spike"]], Spike makes a painter portray him as a hunky dragon in the style of Michelangelo's ''Creation of Adam'', only with floating gems in place of God.
172	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' episode "Shake It Up", an instance of a Sistine Steal occurs when Ms. [=McBrisk=] leans over her lawn hedge and offers her neighbor Granny Crumpet to stay at her home.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Real Life]]
176	* [[http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/869/684/16e.jpg The creation of drunk Adam]].
177	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SistineSteal