the evolution of the witch in film: the Craft, the Witch, the Love Witch & Fear Street

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0:00 the witch
7:00 witches on film 101
12:30 the craft
15:40 the witch
21:00 the love witch
27:50 fear street
instagram: elle.literacy
letterboxd: letterboxd.com/elleliteracy
business email: [e-mail]
faq:
-accent: lived in america when younger, ireland most of my life
-edit: final cut pro x
-study: English Lit & Film Studies, graduated in 2022

[@elleliteracy]

hello everyone - I used a slur against Romani people around 8:53 by saying “g-word fortune teller” and a few people have brought that to my attention. I wasn’t aware of the derogatory nature while making this video and I’m really sorry for saying it. That word is now out of my vocabulary and thank you to everyone who called me out for it - I appreciate it. Sorry again to any hurt or offence I caused, it was pure ignorance and in future I’ll try better to ensure I don’t use any outdated or harmful language - Ellen

[@sheenaisaparasite.]

why the word gypsy would be a slur?

[@sheenaisaparasite.]

@MoonMonkey oh i see, thank you for clarifying this!

[@TA3.6.9]

Gypsy is not a slur.

[@finland4ever55]

@@TA3.6.9 it depends on the person. There are a lot of romani people who are insulted by it and a lot who think it's fine. So I don't think it's inherently a slur but enough people are bothered by it that people feel forced and pressured to never say it. I've seen a lot of people say that because of the divisiveness of it, you can also ask people if they mind it or not and decide whether you can say it or not. Of course some people will still get mad if you say it even if many like it but that's their problem

[@imst1llaliv3]

oh my i did not know that was a slur

[@trinaq]

I never really liked Glinda's line to Dorothy that "Only Bad Witches are Ugly." This implies that a person's morality is automatically linked to their appearance, which naturally isn't always the case.

[@simonholmes841]

I agree, though there are a few ways to interpret it. Most charitably, she's saying that Dorothy's expectation (that all witches are ugly and malevolent) is ignorant. She could also mean that evil magic carries a curse of ugliness, or that good magic comes with beauty spells or something. But . . . I think she's really making a different distinction: That magic power (one part of being a witch) isn't exclusive to those who subvert the patriarchy (the other part). I don't think she's saying that immorality and ugliness are linked, so much as that an ugly woman wielding power is a moral failure. And that it can be morally good for a woman to have power, if she is attractive. Which is equally abhorrent, but it fits witch lore and the themes of coming-of-age stories, where the great evil is usually mostly a bad role model for the hero.

[@gisela_oliveira]

This line actually makes me think of "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters", when they first say that witches are ugly because their pact with the devil makes their body to rot. then they find out abou the "good witches" wich i think just have powers, whitout no pact, and they just look normal.

[@emily-crawford-soprano9181]

She also can’t tell which Dorothy is so what is she saying exactly?

[@gisela_oliveira]

@@emily-crawford-soprano9181 maybe she thinks Dorothy could be wearing a spell to look pretty. Like in the Oz movie, where one of the witches was bad but was hiding her appearance

[@katherinealvarez9216]

I never thought about that before. Huh.

[@neverhowever3231]

i feel like recasting the cultural idea of the witch to be a young, attractive woman is a missed opportunity. it's definitely an easy way to make the archetype more sympathetic to an audience, but it continues this link of "beauty = kindness," and that young and conventionally beautiful women are worth more, or more likely to be sympathetic. The idea of the witch is so historically linked to older women, specifically women with a medicinal knowledge (or maybe just a level of emotional intelligence) that makes men feel threatened. And personally, I think I'd be pretty likely to sell my soul to the devil as an old woman in 16th century - that's decades of being oppressed and condescended to, and in my experience the feminist rage of older single women has usually aged like wine. We could have some incredible feminist movies if we continued subverting these misogynistic tropes, but with the stories of old women who've been experiencing sexist societies for their entire lives, and who've continued to watch them exploit their sisters, daughters, friends, students. so much of feminism is about decoupling women's value from being about youth and beauty.

[@Ca-yr2rz]

Ugh I so agree with you

[@emily-crawford-soprano9181]

Indeed! There was a touch of this in Penny Dreadful with Patti Lupone’s first character, would love to see more of that.

[@yourstepmother8109]

the book series the wicked years is a retelling of the wizard of oz from the wicked witches point of view. I’d recommended reading the first one at least. It’s a bit different from the musical based of the book series, which is just called wicked. Which I’m sure there is a high chance you’ve heard of. If not, I recommend both!

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Very true.

[@teodorasavoiu4664]

​@@emily-crawford-soprano9181 I loved that part of the series. And the contrast between her character who, one could say was truly independent in her craft and her knowledge of medicine and midwifery, with no patriarch above her, and the coven who got their powers from that pact with the devil.

[@The-Aniverse]

i love that you touched on women of color as witches! i have yet to see an asian witch portrayed in media and it would just be so cool to see that

[@elleliteracy]

I'd love to see that!!!

[@xoRowie]

@@elleliteracy I love that you included some racial analysis but you also used a slur while doing it :(

[@elleliteracy]

@@xoRowie I wasn't aware of the g word and I'm really sorry about that, I won't use it from now on!!!

[@MyGuidingMoonlight]

It's only an okay show, but Marvel's Runaways has a bisexual Asian witch in it.

[@allienculture]

There was a witch in Mulan live-action and then I watched a video where a Chinese blogger was breaking down all that was done culturally wrong, and she said that such Western concept of a witch was not true for the Asian culture, would you disagree?

[@sydney9011]

SPOILERS FOR THE WITCH AND MIDSOMMAR: I think the reading of the "good for her" ending in The Witch can be boiled down to the same sentiments people had about Midsommar, like, no it's not great that Dani joins a cult and no it's not great that Thomasin signs the devil's book but in doing so, both characters achieve a SENSE of liberation. Whether or not it is real liberation comes after both narratives end and can't conclusively be decided. I would be extremely hesitant to say either is a GOOD ending, but they're both cathartic releases.

[@lunalu2174]

I thought the same thing! whatever happens after the end, we will never know, so in the happiness of liberation, there is a sense of dread, we don´t trust the cult and we can´t really trust the devil

[@annasullivan7641]

Yeah it's a a facade

[@vanesalodico7798]

I thought the same thing, Dani at the end is forever trapped in a cult who will eventually kill her and Thomasin becomes a witch and a slave to Satan. I didn't take it as a good ending, since they were both vulnerable and they were taken advantaged.

[@Anon26535]

I always thought it would be fun to do a sequel to The Vvitch where Thomasin and the other witches realize Black Phillip is jerking them around and try to get revenge.

[@teodorasavoiu4664]

​​@@vanesalodico7798 honestly the devil in these storylines sounds like a super abusive boyfriend of a vulnerable person who has nothing left to turn to, but him. I cannot understand who and why would see a pact with the devil as liberatory. The absurdity is beyond me I mean, I get that a lot of us have had religious trauma inflicted onto us by various Christian communities while growing up, but switching one false patriarchal saviour for another ain't the solution to any of that

[@danaikaramanoglou6485]

"I Am Not a Witch" (2017) is a very interesting allegoric film about witches and forced labor. It is directed by Zambian director Rungano Nyoni and set in rural Zambia. I am not sure how well known of a film it is because I found it on accident but it was a really fun watch and had a very unique representation of witches and the societal perceptions of them as well as their treatment from society.

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

I've seen that. It has a sad ending but weirdly it brings their community together.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

That sounds like a really interesting movie-l should try and seek it out.

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

A movie that I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t touch on is Paranorman. The movie’s story is genius in the way that it uses the witch, and how it portrays its themes of prejudice and fear. It’s one of my favorite movies to watch around Halloween, and one of my favorites in general, and I highly recommend it.

[@HotnHeretical]

I feel like what fear street 3 was going for with the accents was what puritanical accents would've sounded like. The dialects of english weren't just different back then, english accents and the way they translated over to the colonies were different. Now, we'll never know exactly how the puritan English sounded, but a lot of "period accurate movies" have gone with a mix of Irish, Scottish, English and Dutch due to the ethnic make up of the colonists.

[@deactivated-78936]

I've been a practicing witch (the real life kind, not the magical fictional kind!) for 17 years, and the witch movie that had the most profound impact on me was definitely Practical Magic. It was the first time I ever saw a movie that portrayed witches as beautiful women who were truly good & human. Not a single witch in that movie is "evil", which is why I preferred it over The Craft.

[@Sophie_Pea]

Omg yesss I love practical magic

[@hambone.fakenamington]

I watch that movie like 3 times a year, it’s one of my favorites

[@one-onessadhalf3393]

I’m really interested in learning about witchcraft, how can I do that?

[@HitchcockBrunette]

Same here!!! That film had a profound impact on me as a 12 year old baby witch… here i am decades later still practicing the Craft… all thanks to PM and the roots it planted!

[@Sarah-zt3oc]

fear street is one of my FAVORITE films because of its love care and respect for the women and marginalized groups in it

[@YikYakTikTak]

I agree that the ending of The Witch doesn’t seem like a happy empowering ending. I actually don’t think it’s empowering or disempowering. While she ends the film liberated from the abuse and scapegoating of her previous life with witch powers, it’s undeniable that she only had these due to the manipulation and permission of a male figure - the devil. Additionally, the tone of horror and creeping unease never leaves the film, hinting that nothing much has really changed for her.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

It’s just a bittersweet ending, although not a downer one.

[@issbzgl8494]

we could've talk about the witches in the Suspiria movies too, very interesting horror movie about how witches can practice their spells and what they want through dance and act

[@malikamaybe]

With the ending of The Witch, I lean towards the latter interpretation like you do. It does feel like a trade rather than true freedom. Though, I def understand how someone can see and prefer the former. The couple of Black witches films that popped into my head wouldn't have fit in with the horror breakdown (like you mentioned too), but (this is me attempting not to let out a wistful sigh lmao) maybe some day. This was a wonderful breakdown (and I've added The Love Witch to my watch list).

[@RachelAnnPotter]

Someone else online theorized that The Witch was the story told about a family that left the community and ended up dying due to witchcraft. The idea was that this story was told to the generation that grew up to be the ones to ignite the Salem witch trials

[@trinaq]

I like how we're moving past the stereotypical portrayal of witches as being mean, old and scary. Nowadays, they're more likely to be conventionally young and attractive.

[@chasebarber10]

I think that can be subverted. There was a comment above that expressed it well, but why is being old and calling out bs perceived as scary and mean? The potential for witches to be represented by older women who don't fit the beauty standard (ESPECIALLY older BIPOC and/or queer women/non-men) would be pretty groundbreaking.

[@unimportant246]

The original witch was also young and conventionally attractive Like young, attractive, single = dangerous seductress that needs to repent/die Young, beautiful witches are just as stereotypical, but the shift back to them as being attractive is making them also the main character (which is kinda weird in itself, like why don't "mean, old and scary" women get sympathetic character arcs)

[@Giuime]

I usually really like your stuff and understand how complex this topic is for someone who may not practice any form of witchcraft - but I think it's important to say that the Love Witch is also a critique of the republican traditionalism of Wicca (ex, displaying the 'coven' a Wicca specific phenomena and the male dominance of Wicca because Wicca was cultivated through a man co-opting the practices of traditional witches and re-writing them to essentially 'put women back in the kitchen' in the literal 1950s). The Love Witch is my favorite film because of this and I personally see this as the core of the film itself, especially given that actual witches had a hand in making it, they were intentionally producing a critique of Wicca.

[@elleliteracy]

that’s so interesting!! I didn’t pick up on that, probably because I’m not very knowledgeable about Wicca, so thank you for the comment!

[@bikenesmith]

recommendation for non-conventional representations of witches of color: eve’s bayou!

[@elleliteracy]

thank you!

[@witchplease9695]

I’ve always wished there were more films and media on witchcraft in relation to race and spirituality. I am Haitian and Voodoo/Vodou is a real religion and important part of my cultural background and history, it literally assisted in us gaining our own freedom and independence, but at the same time is very demonized and misunderstood by the west as well as our own country, Christianity is upheld even though it’s what oppressed us in the first place. Like the saying goes, Haiti is 80% Catholic and 100% Voodoo. Much of the same rituals and practices of Voodoo/Vodou can be found in a Black Catholic or baptist church. They’re just praying to a deity that isn’t theirs.

[@guyafrica7894]

I find the Vodou is a fascinating belief in what it offered to enslaved people and empowering them against masters. In South Africa, magic is historically seen positively. It's one's actions that lead to being viewed as witchcraft. Evil actions define you as witch in society as magic is historically believed as existing to empower and heal one's people or community. However this was affected once the fire nation attacked... opps I mean white people the OG colonizers 😁

[@Altair11055]

Oh i would love either a movie series or an actual show that shows different types of witchcraft and witches. Young, old, conventionally pretty and non conventionally pretty, poc, queer, different cultures and times etc. either switching between stories or having one movie/ season per character and in that they are the main character but there could be crossovers and pov switches maybe even genre switches. That sounds like it’d be my newest hyperfixation or special interest

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

Is there any truth in the movie The Serpent And The Rainbow or do they grossly misrepresent the Hoodoo(I think that's accurate) faith?

[@Anon26535]

I always thought it would be a neat idea to do a story about Vodou zombies vs. horror movie zombies. Some genetically engineered virus is turning people into undead monsters and a powerful Houngan rises up to save the world with their own army of the undead.

[@starscreamthecruel8026]

@@Anon26535 Now THAT'S a movie I'd love to watch!

[@rubyslocum7716]

People might have mentioned this already, but after watching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I saw a lot of similarities between the young witch Willow and “Fear Street”/ “The Craft”. In the first few seasons of Buffy, Willow hadn’t figured out her Wicca abilities, but being her nerdy self, she was able to research and experiment with witchcraft in a supportive environment. Her magic was used in understandably teenage ways, like “The Craft”, and she had a female love interest which somewhat corresponded with her witchcraft like in “Fear Street”. I just wanted to add some of my input on other modern witches. Thanks for a great video!

[@SlapstickGenius23]

My dad is still a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[@blablablair1]

Rewatching The Vampire Diaries, I was unsettled upon realizing that pretty much all of the POC characters were witches/wizards and were written as (pardon the term) Magical N*gro archetypes whose magic is in service of the white main characters. I'm not sure if this is a trend in other newer witch related media, but I suspect it's common :(

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Mexican Telenovelas often feature full blooded European Mexicans (or those with only a small hint of Amerindian, but otherwise appear European as in the case of Mexican pop music megastar Thalia Sodi) rather than people from the primarily Mestizo majority.

[@lollydolly4590]

I went to a witchcraft museum recently it was really interesting there were a couple of rooms about the cinematic history of witches first and then the rest was all about the history of witchcraft in the area and the wider world

[@linseyspolidoro5122]

I practice witchcraft, mostly of the more herbal remedy, cunning person variety. One thing I have noticed in the more modern portrayals of witches is the homogeneity of practice styles and iconography. There is such a rich diversity of folk magic traditions or syncretism with the dominant religion, even just in the US. I also think the elements often used in media, such as burning white sage is lazy but also harmful because of the appropriation and over harvesting of that particular item. Though it is not alone. Regardless, I think the trend towards less vilification is good conversely the ‘Wiccafication’ in media is kinda lazy since there is such a rich tapestry of traditions to depict. [Also because Wicca is a religion while witchcraft is a practice and is not inherently religious. Pagans and witches often are in the same communities because of some overlap but witches can be atheistic, abrahamic, or any other religion. They are not mutually exclusive.]

[@scenes5757]

Honestly, thank you so much for recommending the Love Witch! This film's aesthetic is the most beautiful visual out of all cinema! Period. _(Wes Anderson, who is that? I only know Anna Biller)_

[@samrodgers1077]

Thank god someone finally talked about the accents in fear street 1666. 😅

[@kimlip_tree2009]

ikr?! 😅

[@manicpixiedreamgoth1263]

I thought the point of The VVitch was that serving Black Philip is literally the best that Thomasin can hope for. The film shows that she will always be under the hand of patriarchy whether she becomes an actual witch or not. At least Black Philip/The Devil promises her nice things.

[@RedSpade37]

Why was she in the situation in the first place? Her father. Is Black Philip confirmed to be "The Devil"? Which of the literal thousands of different interpretations of the Bible is this movie going off of? Is it technically even a Christian setting? The trope of the "Witch" is a tool of the patriarchy, so honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it all, even though I've seen the film 3 times, all told. I did like its ending, initially, but I'm conflicted and ambivalent. Did Black Philip force Thomasin into the situation? Or was her whole family a victim of pride? There's also metaphorical interpretations, and one just off the top of my head is "this is what it's like to stop believing what your family believes and striking out on your own" And is Black Philip a man in the way we usually mean the word? Maybe he/they is a Fae that has a completely different sense of morality. Another way of looking at the movie, is that we think it is one kind of movie, but it's actually another. I dunno. There's a lot of ways you could look at The VVitch

[@RedSpade37]

Why was she in the situation in the first place? Her father. Is Black Philip confirmed to be "The Devil"? Which of the literal thousands of different interpretations of the Bible is this movie going off of? Is it technically even a Christian setting? The trope of the "Witch" is a tool of the patriarchy, so honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about it all, even though I've seen the film 3 times, all told. I did like its ending, initially, but I'm conflicted and ambivalent. Did Black Philip force Thomasin into the situation? Or was her whole family a victim of pride? There's also metaphorical interpretations, and one just off the top of my head is "this is what it's like to stop believing what your family believes and striking out on your own" And is Black Philip a man in the way we usually mean the word? Maybe he/they is a Fae that has a completely different sense of morality. Another way of looking at the movie, is that we think it is one kind of movie, but it's actually another. I dunno. There's a lot of ways you could look at The VVitch

[@manicpixiedreamgoth1263]

@@RedSpade37 I thought the Puritan setting made it pretty obvious that we're dealing with Christian doctrine, so Black Philip is the form the Christian devil chose to take. To me, the point was that, when taken to extremes like the Puritans did, Christianity and its trappings (in this case, patriarchy) can drive people so crazy that they oppress themselves, act against their own best interests, and victimize the very people (like their own children) whom they should be protecting. And in fundamentalist societies like that of the Puritans, oppressed groups (in this case, women) have so little agency and so few options that in the end, they're forced into becoming the evil that everyone fears. The witch has always been the manifestation of a specifically feminine brand of evil. The Puritans believed that women's nature was so inherently corrupt that even the most virtuous could be turned to evil at the slightest temptation. You can see this in the way Thomasin is treated--she's blamed for everything and everything she does is wrong, despite the fact that everything she takes the blame for is others' fault (her father and brother sexualizing her, her dad letting her take the heat for him selling her mother's silverware, her young siblings being brats). She's the family scapegoat because she's a girl and as such, she occupies the lowest place in her society and is seen by even her own mother as the source of all evil and misfortune in her family's life. In the end, we see her turn to Black Philip because now she has no family, and there's nowhere for her to go. If she goes back to the village, her only option is to be a servant for someone else's family, where she'll likely have it worse than she did with her own parents and siblings. If she's lucky, she might eventually marry a man who's just as bad as her father and brother, and have kids who are just as bratty as her twin siblings. The movie shows what a miserable existence that kind of life is for her. Serving Black Philip/Satan in the woods, while simply another kind of patriarchal control, sounds infinitely better because at least she'll get to eat butter, wear nice dresses, and have magical powers, even if those powers are evil and predatory. Essentially she's given two very shitty choices and chooses the least shitty option.

[@RedSpade37]

@@manicpixiedreamgoth1263 Right, and normally, I would agree, but isn't this an A14 or A23 film? These kinds of movies very regularly have alternate interpretations, like the one about how Hereditary isn't about anything supernatural, but rather what it's metaphorically like to come out to your parents as trans. Not saying I agree with this interpretation, but with these kinds of movies particularly, I am always in a "lateral mindset" as pretentious as that might sound! At any rate, I don't think the ending is quite as positive as I once did, but still. Thomasin escaped her crazy family, maybe she can escape her "flying ointment" crew. Thanks for your comment!

[@AkiVainio]

This kept reminding me of Jules Michelet's 1862 book Satanism and Witchcraft, which is a weird proto-feminist take on witchcraft as a response to feudalism, as basically the only way women were able to gain any sort of control over their lives. Maybe Thomasin isn't happy in her new life, but you could also argue that it can't be worse than her previous.

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

That sounds like a fascinating book.

[@gayplastic1237]

I really like the witch in Gretel and Hansel. While I like that movie for the atmosphere and visuals, I did enjoy that the witches other form was a beautiful woman and that Gretel was essentially a witch but portrayed as good. The witch used to old lady facade most likely to appear feeble and harmless.

[@emmadoyle3990]

The Hocus Pocus duology is an excellent case study (and the subject of my English portfolio essay) in how witches have changed in films. You can see the real-time shift of witches from villains to victims and finally to heroines. All three archetypes are very visible in the films and so fun to analyse.

[@dazey8706]

i cant get enough of witch film analysis yet youtube seems to be lacking ngl!!! so glad you've made this because your essays never miss!@!!!!!!

[@ellamizang433]

Check out moderngurlz!

[@Cecilia-zm4dj]

I'm so glad you covered fear street in this video! I think the movies were so well done and tbh they made me cry a few times

[@Altair11055]

I never realized that fear street tried to do a Irish accent lol i genuinely thought they mixed multiple accents to make a sort of “old shadyside” accent or something. Like a made up accent for a made up town. But now that I’m thinking about it shadyside is in America so it’d make sense for it to be some European accent or something of the sort

[@natalieko3468]

I'm ready to sign up for an entire lecture series done by you. I love how in-depth, edited, and researched all your vids are. This topic in particular is so juicy and I could watch another 12 videos of you just disseminating every aspect and detail of this topic. The Witch is one of my favorite movies, and I think about how not only did Thomasin have no other choice when she signed the Devil's book, but she couldn't even read or write her own name, and he literally guided her hand to write it for her. The pretty promises served as psychological manipulation, and then he physically manipulated her signing away her soul.

[@elleliteracy]

that’s so sweet, thank you!! I’m so glad you enjoyed 💖

[@raspberryitalia3464]

When I saw The Witch, I was blown away by the idea that a malevolent force had strategically targeted this isolated family in order to acquire a new servant in Tommasin. When her whole family has died, she looks around at the carnage and then just lays her head down on a table, exhausted. In the quiet of that moment, I asked myself - What is she supposed to do? Go back to the town they left? Alone? What story will she tell? What will people do when they find her family's remains? They'll kill her. So when she is offered the chance to live deliciously, what else could she possibly do but say yes? This was a horror film, cathartic as the ending may have been.

[@fairydoll9266]

this just reminded me that i need to rewatch the craft & the love witch tonight, thank you

[@dxctr_master]

Watched the craft last night and I love it sm, the actors are phenomenal and I adore the vibes of it

[@amandak.5967]

Great video, I like watching your analyses :) There's not enough awareness about this, so I just wanted to let you know that the "G" word you used at 8:53 has a bad history and is considered a slur by many Romani people. It was a label put on this ethnic group by Europeans who incorrectly assumed Romani people were from Egypt. Similar to Jewish people, the Romani have dealt with a lot of discrimination and hate crimes- which includes being targeted by the Nazis- and still have little protection today, so I think it's really important that we use the name that they chose and prefer.

[@elleliteracy]

other people have pointed that out, thank you for bringing it to my attention!! I didn’t realise when I was filming but I won’t use that word anymore!!

[@amandak.5967]

@@elleliteracy Thank you :)

[@elladyson8886]

watching this one and the yhara zayd the craft video in the same day is making me very very happy and all of a sudden very knowledgeable about witch movies!!

[@camplesco2708]

I might be a little off but the accents in Fear Street 3 are actually supposed to be reminiscent of the "American" accent present at the time. It's not supposed to be Irish, but Britain had a rhotic accent (hard r pronunciation; what we hear in Irish and American accents today) around that time before getting rid of it in the late 19th century. Colonists came over with a rhotic accent, and then Great Britain decided at some point that they needed to be special lol

[@cosmicamberx]

so excited for this video as someone who is a feminist, loves films and dabbles in modern witchcraft this is so perfect ☺️

[@guyafrica7894]

The Witch can't be feminist to me. She is coerced,manipulated and forced into joining the witches. She was a kind loving girl with a sense of right or wrong and she realistically wouldn't join the witches who literally sacrificed her baby brother. Like how is that feminist.

[@basicboii]

Hey Queen, loving the cape 🧙‍♀️

[@haybails4876]

I've always thought that, when in movies (like marvel), women shown being threatened in the witch trials, and then revealed to be a real witch was problematic. So, you're telling me the men were right????? I understand the appeal of this plot line, but validating the men murdering innocent women is just ewy

[@tuecceut7303]

I can't believe I haven't seen you in my recommendations before. Just by looking at your thumbnails I know this will be good. Time to benchwatch!

[@beaubunny4]

Your video inspired me to continue my craft, I’ve been in a slump and unmotivated but your video legit made me feel better and confident about being Wicca. Thank you 💜

[@mariamorrero2029]

Oh I just love ur content! Would you consider analyzing “AHS: Coven?” Just watched it and I have a LOT of thoughts

[@kec4t]

i am fascinated by witches. loved this vid

[@ruaoneill9050]

I'm so glad you mentioned the accent! I really enjoyed the Fear Sttreet trilogy but the only way I got through the fllashback scenes was to mute the tv and out on subtitles 🤣🤣🤣

[@suziemacduo38]

This was great. I really enjoyed your colors and patterns during the video. I really like how you explained the psychology behind the movie. This was a great movie and every aspect. Visually stunning it makes you feel like you’re back in the 60s and 70s, I love the vibrant, Gem Stone colors, and decor. I love how it has a little campiness also. Everything from the Sith design the sounds the orchestral music and the style of acting is like a bygone era and it’s portrayed beautifully and Anna Biller’s masterpiece. And who doesn’t love a beautiful & sexy which!

[@katherinealvarez9216]

Anyone listen to the podcast Unobscured? 9:10 anyone else remember that tv show Salem that portrayed her as evil? I hated it so much. 30:40 yeah, why is it always a pact with Satan? Satan gives terrible deals. If they want to piss off god, why not see if Baal wants to make a deal?

[@invisible__design657]

thanks for making this video! it is so thoughtful and smart

[@ameliestardust9221]

I love your videos! You're an inspiration for me :)

[@hallay2429]

YESSSS i been waitin for this one

[@paridhi6144]

And she has posted again. 🎉🎉

[@egm3912]

I thought the accents in Fear Street were based on Old British English accents, OP pronunciation, which maybe sound a bit like Irish accents, but aren't really the same

[@testosteronic]

There is also quite a bit of antisemitism in the traditional witch concept, Snappy Dragon has a video on it

[@testosteronic]

This video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2eWgp57ndVjh5Y

[@trunkofmymind]

I was just about to watch this and was waiting to see if this came up in the video - I’m guessing it didn’t from this comment? The white European image of witches (which informed the white North American one for example) is extremely antisemitic and anti-Romani in origin. I’m genuinely surprised if that didn’t get a mention at all in the video?

[@chana7276]

Yea most of the witches who were burned were jewish or romani. Sad this isnt mentioned more in conversations about witches and the witch trials

[@devfrancis7666]

I love the love witch so much its like a fever dream to watch but when she calls that man a baby it makes my evil heart grin

[@kimlip_tree2009]

thanks for mentioning the irish accents they were so strange

[@BrytteM]

Another amazing video ❤❤❤

[@michelephant5182]

So accents of early American settlers where rhotic like how the Irish accent is rhotic. That means the letter R is pronounced in words like hard and park. That gives those accents a fake Irish feel but was probably more accurate than what we usually hear early Americans sound like.

[@madelynn-delarosa]

This was fun 🖤🪄!!!

[@elleliteracy]

thank you darling!!

[@lgarza9640]

I looooove this video 💗💗💗

[@Ash-hx1jz]

Do you have a list of the sources/quotes used in this video? I would love to do further reading on this subject!

[@13realmusic]

I like the movie Fast Color for a depiction of black witches especially as it goes through family generations. I think the main subversion was having the power depicted neutral in a way you see it can be destructive and restorative. And modernizes the witch hunt by putting the government at the lead instead of religious institutions. No rituals and no voodoo, just beautiful black women who can do extraordinary things.

[@kaylarist7050]

The accents are not supposed to be Irish but what English sounded like at that period of time. Sounds a bit Irish actually

[@sophielophey8686]

On the quote about heretics, there's a long history of associating even in traits that are also associated with Jews and Arabs. Witch stories and stereotypes have always been antisemetic.

[@lilacflower4471]

I love the love witch

[@pomegranatepoetess8804]

same!!

[@katpiss491]

Such a great point about the end of the VVITCH. Substituting that patriarchy. Never thought about it like that.

[@emptybrainedwriter]

(from what i’ve learned) during the salem witch trials, many people made false confessions because they would basically be told “repent and you shall go free” or something. so basically, it was safer to lie and be called a witch than tell the truth and be killed for witchcraft :)

[@archanelov]

I would love to see an analysis of Gilmore Girls

[@Anon26535]

I wonder if we'll ever get another decent Discworld adaptation. Discworld witches are best witches.

[@tushargautam01]

Plzz make a video about your favourite films.

[@skunx8600]

I love that we've come full circle where I can see people smoking and f-king on netflix but a film critiquer on youtube cannot say 'sexuality' without putting spaces in the word. jfc the witchhunt never ends does it?!

[@aDawg666]

Fuck yeah !! Great video !!

[@bossvertolet_]

i think Motherland: Fort Salem portrayed witches in the most interesting way

[@nastyak4516]

Twitches фильм про ведьм близняшек был моим любимым фильмом в детстве 🥰

[@sapphic.flower]

The Craft was so good until the final arc where you can just tell it was rewritten for whatever reason and became a whole other, cheaper, and less feminist movie. Idk if the original script is floating out there or if the director said anything but I'd love to see the initial vision.

[@ladyredl3210]

I have the exact same argument you had with the Witch with Penny Dreadful, the character of Madame Poole in particular, although Vanessa herself is also problematic. Poole has no real power, she simply switched her alliance from "good" dad (God) to "bad dad" (the Devil). I believe this happens mostly because men write these scripts.

[@greatvalue_ethelcain]

I think they were going for the ye ole English accent. At the time of Shakespeare, people would have spoken like Captain Barbosa from PotC.

[@liamroberts2576]

Thomason also had another option tho the one of her mother die as a puritan woman.

[@jackcomfy301]

i know that this is about movies, but diana wynne jones imo has a very cool take on witches in the chrestomanci series, where witch is a gender neutral term. the persecution of witches in one of her books, witch week, is applied to equally to men and women, and iirc there is a british indian boy in there who is classified as a witch the same as the others. the fear of the "witch" turns out to be the general fear of noncomformity and social exclusion, as magic is something almost everyone in their world can do in some way but everyone hides it and attacks others for it. i think it was really cool of her to explore those feelings of subjugation and fear for the benefit of a demographic with few rights and little way of self protection (children) and i think the genderless reading is actually great for kids who haven't had those biases ingrained into their heads just yet. it's only tangentially related to this video but i really just wanted to recommend witch week and the chrestomanci series for cool witch stuff

[@joyyoung3108]

I know I'm a year late in my reply. But I decided to watch your video again because it's the beginning of October and I wanted to recommend a movie with witchy black women. 1997's Eve's Bayou is a popular cult classic in the black community. I grew up watching the movie as a kid and watch it once a year as an adult. It's a beautiful movie that is underrated and deserves its flowers. The description for the movie is below. At its core, Eve’s Bayou is the story of Eve (Jurnee Smollett), a 10-year-old middle child in a prosperous family, nestled in a Creole community in 1960s rural Louisiana. On the surface, they have a life as perfect as unmarked porcelain. But this facade crumbles when Eve accidentally witnesses her father, Dr. Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson), having sex with a married family friend, Matty Meraux (the always excellent Lisa Nicole Carson). Despite her older sister, Cicely (Meagan Good), insisting that Eve’s recollection of this event can’t be true, it alters the young girl’s understanding of her family irrevocably. The film, like true a southern folk tale, dips into other narratives: her mother, Roz, coming undone by her husband’s infidelity; Cicely’s obsessive loyalty toward her father and nascent puberty; and the voodoo-practicing Aunt Mozelle (a standout Debbi Morgan), who fears she is cursed because all her past loves have died violently.

[@evanrybak7439]

Personally I agree with the more cynical interpretation of the ending to The Vvitch. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending either way, but I did not see it as “empowering” Thomison. It honestly felt like her snapping from everything that happened in the film.

[@the_dino_clan1899]

Btw gypsy a slur it should only be said by Romanian people i don't think that you know that because nowadays it's been used as "nicer" name but it's still a slur though i do not know if yourself is Romanian if you are im sorry obviously im not trying to say Romanians should not say the g slur but i don't know you're racial background so i just wanted to tell you that

[@elleliteracy]

someone else brought that to my attention too, sorry about that I didn’t realise before but it’s out of my vocabulary from now on!!

[@the_dino_clan1899]

@@elleliteracy oh i see i understand thank you

[@finland4ever55]

Not romanian roma

[@ashspike5232]

I hope no one here thinks ' we are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn't burn ' isn't complete cringe

[@caipirinhagaudy]

i used to hate the movie of the craft because the church i went to used it to tell us that every bad thing that happened to the girls was deserved because they werent pure and christian

[@ambergerhamburger]

Yes the witch was awesome until the end - I had such a major let down … the liberated girl joins a harem of naked women overseen by a man

[@bzztthundaa]

💕

[@Smile-ni9nc]

I really did not like the witch, even though on paper it should have been a movie I love. My main problem with the movie is that the paranoia of the Christian family is completely justified. There is an evil witch eating children in the forest and their daughter is absolutely in danger of being seduced by the devil and turning into a witch herself and in the end does so. It just seems weird commenary on witch persecution. I would have loved a different version of the movie with a much greater uncertainty if witches and the devil actually exist and a slow ramping up of the paranoia and scapegoating.

[@bear8861]

It's not an Irish accent, I think they were going for old English.... which is why it sounded like bad irish accent lol (this isnt a diss tho, I was confused at first too!!)

[@mariacollins3742]

Damn , did they make this movie about me? 🤔

[@srose1088]

Is wizard the male equivalent of witch or warlock? What is a sorcerer? Or is this a tom-A-to tom-Ah-to situation? lol

[@RedSpade37]

The Witches were doing just fine until that family moved into their backyard.

[@lavendershadows4370]

"Is a Halloween witch costume antisemitic? Jewish dress historian explains noses, hats, and more" by SnappyDragon, goes into the anti-Semitism history with witches.

[@fictional-girl_05]

There were men executed during the witch trials too, but far more women.

[@BleachBath-fr8ps]

Out of the original wave of "elevated horror," The Witch is (by far) my least favorite.

[@ray-mc-l]

the witch is 10/10. that fear street show looks unwatchable tho.

[@acerose84]

honestly i really liked the fear street movies but as an irish person i could barely get through the third one, i was so close to just turning it off

[@TehTeh911]

Man I did not like the craft, I didn't watch it until a couple years ago as an adult and honestly I just don't see most of the themes you listed being valued in the movie. As someone into secular witchcraft I feel it perpetuates the idea of wicca activities actually making people float rather than being a tool with which to guide your life and actions. I don't see how the friend group that devolves into peer pressure and attempted murder of one of your own that traumatizes and hospitalizes them is having a theme of 'sisterhood'. I just get so confused about how people get that one in particular from it, but I only watched it the one time as it wasn't enjoyable for me so maybe I missed something.

[@kimlip_tree2009]

the first one or second one?

[@Siennarchist]

Are you romani? If not, im pretty sure you cannot say G****

[@elleliteracy]

oh no I didn’t realise!! Sorry about that - I’ll keep that in mind from now on.

[@seanmichaluk1222]

Fun Fact This Story is a teaching of Jesus Christ's elevation through the lower shak ra sss...😊😊

[@TA3.6.9]

"ESS EE EX-uality"? Really?