Macbeth
Who hasn't heard the lines "Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble . . . . Cool it with a baboon's blood, then the charm is firm and good . . . ." from Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act IV? These lines have been repeated in today's media hundreds of times, with an image of the three hags stirring a steaming pot and speaking prophesy.The Wizard of Oz
The two stereotypes of witches in a dualistic, polar opposition (so typical of the western mind-set): Good witch Glinda of the north vs. Bad witch on a broom/bicycle. Glinda is chaste, appealing, young, blonde, soft-spoken, motherly, and wears a sparkly white gown like a fairy god-mother. This is the role model, the accomodating goodie-goodie. The Wicked Witch of the West is old and warty, with a screechy voice and cackling laugh, and of course wears black and is eventually killed off. How dare she have her own castle, army, attitude and no husband! The connection between this character and the cranky old biddy on her bicycle in Kansas (both characters played by the same actor) echoes and perpetuates the connections we're supposed to make between the Oz-lands of fiction and our daily lives and neighbors.
Bewitched
Oh, YOU know, the power of a woman (in this case to effect change through magic) subordinated (via marriage) to the needs of closet-case Darrin's desire for dinner and a well-kept home. The good-witch vs. bad-witch theme played out with the inclusion of the interfering mother-in-law. Being a witch is apparently a genetic trait, inherited by little Tabatha.
The Craft
Check out this review of a teeny-bopper witch movie which packs a big, woman-hatin' wallop.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
In this dull-as-chalk, live action TV version of the Archies comic spin-off of the same name, a suburban teenager is told on her 16th birthday that she is now a witch (the genetic code passed down from her father.) She realizes she has the power to turn people into frogs and such, but doesn't seem much interested in being a witch, she just wants to fit in and be a normal high school fluff-bunny. The acting worse than sucks (they don't even bother to cast anyone that can act, just pick out some "types" and clear complexions) and the story line is so boring that the show ought to be off the air already (I could only bear to watch the first episode. But then who was it who said that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public?)So now witches are no longer "evil," just watered down sit-com material, nothing to fear, they're as real as (they dreamt of) Genie. And need I even say anything about these images?
The X Files
The pentacle episode equates witchcraft with murder, vanity and the desire to look forever young in a plot involving some psycho plastic surgeons who slaughter their patients with liposuction and lasers. A couple of times during the show these activities are linked to black magic, but for the most part they simply call it witchcraft. Mulder says of one character who ends up the victim of murder by allotriophragy (which he defines as the spontaneous regurgitation of strange objects with no explanation as to their origin), "She's a practitioner of witchcraft. She's a practicing witch." In the typical style of this program, it's kept very unclear what her motives are, whose side she's on. She's been putting leeches on patients' bodies in the outline of a pentagram while prepping them for sick murder scenes. She's shown in a trance state that involves a lot of sweating, sitting nude in a dark room with an altar of some kind and lots of candles and cob webs, chanting in Latin, looking demented and pathetic. There's plenty of the usual props on the sets, pentagrams (made of metal, blood, inlaid wood, floor tile and leeches) everywhere (Mulder informs Scully that the inverted pentagram is different from the one used for protection, that it's a sign of black magic), a broom on a porch and a crying cat, belladonna in the prescription pills the surgeons all seem to be popping, a witch hiding a tub full of blood, levitation, blood sacrifice, the works. Scully tells Mulder that the only magic going on in the hospital is what's being done to preserve a youthful appearance in the patients. She's the Voice of Reason, telling us There is no such thing, silly superstitious viewers. Obliterating people and their culture and history. The viewpoints of Scully and Mulder reflect the two attitudes our society takes toward witches and pagans (and queers as well, by the way), one putting us down by portraying us as twisted killers, the other trying to snuff us out like a candle flame by denying our existence. Of course Mulder's viewpoint wins out as the links between the murders and witchcraft are established in the plot, leaving us with the more hateful, witch-bashing message, if not the more insidious one.
The Crucible
We'll review this movie upon seeing it.
Witches of Eastwick
Couldn't bear to see this one, even if just to review it. Isn't it something about competition between women? Any takers? Send in your review.Well, what a crank-meister! Nothing good to say! Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch! Can anyone recommend a film worth seeing which includes witch or pagan themes/characters? There IS that movie "The Burning Times," very interesting look at the inquisition from the perspectives of some modern-day witches. "A Midwife's Tale" had a promising story with a cool ending but fell a little flat in the acting/scripting departments. Anyone working on a great film or script? Let us know! E-mail us at zanne@cea.edu.
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Depictions of Witches during the Burning Times
Take a look at some images from the 16th and 17th centuries.
