Witches in Popular Culture

[foxfire]

I wanted to start this topic to talk about the various witches we've come to know and love. What is so fascinating about magic? Why are witches such a staple when it comes to storytelling?

Basically I'd like to know what everyone's personal definition of witch is or at least what they think a witch should be like. Should they be like in Charmed where they can do spells/potions but have their own unique abilities? Or should it be like on Buffy where anyone can be a witch with practice and the right spells?

Also, who are your favourite witches? I'll list some just in case anyone gets a mindblock:

- The Charmed Ones
- Glinda and Elphaba (from Wicked/Wizard of Oz)
- The Witches of Eastwick
- Willow Rosenberg
- The witches from "The Craft"
- The witches from "The Covenant"
- Zatanna (not quite a witch but close enough)
- Scarlet Witch (same type of thing as Zatanna)
- Sabrina ("The Teenage Witch")

There's just my small list... so discuss away about magic, witches and what's cool... and no-so-cool about them.

[CharmedBOSthanh]

I would love to see a crossover of Sabrina teenage witch and Charmed now that would be cool 2 cool shows combined especially with the cat Salem and his comments to the charmed ones that would be so funny I would laugh my guts up and I find it interesting that both the book of shadows Charmed and the magic book sabrina are kind of similar in size.

[CharmedBOSthanh]

As you all know I am currently writing a book yes I am hoping to get it published which according to my family means 'FAT CHANCE' your a blind loser you will never amount to nothing. I think witches are cool however in my book I have stayed away from witches cause I think that it has been done to death. All I will tell you is that my book has 1 Angel instead no witches. I love magic especially since the Book of Shadows man I am so obsessed with that book I love my copy even thought the company made a mess of the colours I am so lucky to have a copy! I also watch besides Charmed Sabrina teenage witch due to Salem the cat he is a total classic imagine him in Charmed he would of said the funniest things. I have a friend who is a white witch and she was upset I was showing my Book of Shadows to everyone cause to them it is like a Bible and I didn't realize how special it is. Re: my book of shadows I cracked it cause people were telling me what to do with it and what not to do I put a picture of me in it and a message that fanfic I am 'the keeper' and that it was unofficial just in case the creator picked it up and she cracked the shits with me or sued me which I have heard is more her style. I have heard on the internet that the creator of Charmed sues everyone so watch yourselves!

[Nimue]

I think this is a good topic. I think people find magic so fascinating for several reasons. For one, I think it mainly has to do with the idea of having that kind of power, the power to be able to do almost anything you want. Another big reason is that you can use supernatural stories as metaphors for real life, it can be the opportunity to explore certains themes and issues in a different way. Another reason might be the idea of belonging to a world that is so completely different from ours, where almost anything is possible and where you can meet the kind of people you don't usually see in real life, such as elves, fairies, dwarves... I'm sure a lot of people would love to meet those kind of creatures... Or maybe I'm just really weird. Another reason might have to do with how diverse magic in general is: we have all these myths, legends, stories about these supernatural creatures, and it's really fascinating. As for witches... well witches can be a real metaphor for girl power, about how women are empowered in ways they aren't in reality. God, I really have too much time on my hands, I think too much about this kind of stuff...
As for my favourite witches... here's the list, in no particular order: Prue, Samantha, Hermione Granger, Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Tiffany Aching (The Discworld Novels), Angelique Bouchard, Gillian and Sally Owens, Willow Rosenberg.... As for my personal definition of a witch, I think it should be something more like Charmed, where they can cast spells and brew potions and also have their own special ability. That's definitely more interesting. Although being able to just learn all that without any special predisposition (like Willow), is also really cool. *sigh*. I think too much about this kind of stuff...

[cyma]

Nicely put. I think what attracted to me to witches or Charmed(which was sort of my first witch/magic show) was probably the sisterhood aspect rather than the female leads or magic aspect. The themes of being special and different were already covered in X-men the animated series. Which will always be my first love  Right now Willow and the Charmed Ones are the only witches I know and enjoy seeing on my TV/PC screen. But once I see Scarlet Witch in action in 2015 in Avengers 2, that may change. Sure there was Zatanna too in the DC animated series or DC animated movies, but she isn't featured enough to make a lasting impact on me.

[Deleted]

When I was in grade school, back in the mid-70's, our class put on a play. The play we chose was the classic children’s story, Hansel and Gretel. Because of a shortage of girls in our class, yours truly ended up playing the role of the witch. You know, the evil witch who lived in the gingerbread house, who lured children there and ate them! Being around ten years old then, I didn’t know that I was contributing to the stereotype that has plagued practicing witches for centuries: Witches are evil, they worship Satan, they cast evil spells, they eat children. All total hogwash. None of those stereotypes are true.

For a long time, Hollywood went along with that thinking. Look at the classic movie, The Wizard Of Oz, made in 1939. The Wicked Witch Of The West was your basic stereotypical view of a witch: She rode on a broom, she wore a pointy black hat, she cackled as she made her evil plans. Once again witches were portrayed in a bad light. Still, in all fairness, the movie did include a good witch, Glinda, The Good Witch Of The North. She helped Dorothy get home at the end of the movie. However, when one mentions the witch in this movie, it is The Wicked Witch Of The West that most people picture.

In the 1960's, witchcraft was portrayed in a more comedic light with the show, Bewitched. In this show, Samantha Stevens, a witch, married a mortal named Darren and became a housewife (much to the chagrin of her mother, Endora). Although she had magical powers and such, Endora was not portrayed as an evil witch. She seemed more like a high society snob who thought her daughter had married below her class. She treated Darren like some kind of riffraff (and always called him Durwood, in fact none of Samantha’s family called Darren by his real name, they called him Digby, Dustbin, Dobin, you name it) However, this show was a step in the right direction, even if it was a small one.

By the time the 1990's arrived, thing had progressed significantly. Television shows such as Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (and its spin-off, Angel), Charmed, and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch (I have an interesting thought on Sabrina that I will get to later in this article) began portraying witches and witchcraft in a far more positive light. Although by no means accurate, these shows are a long way from the old “evil wicked witch” of days gone by. Also, movies were made that also showed witchcraft in a more positive light, movies such as Practical Magic (starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock) and the Harry Potter franchise (more on him below). However, even in this more progressive age, there were throwback movies, such as the dreadfully unfunny Hocus Pocus (which starred Bette Midler and future Sex In The City star, Sarah Jessica Parker). This movies look at witches was, in my opinion, decades out of date. Despite this, it seems Hollywood is finally catching up to reality when it comes to witchcraft, that witches are people, just like you and me, and always have been.

Witchcraft has also made significant progress in literature and nothing shows this more than the popular Harry Potter series of books, written by J.K. Rowling (if anyone is curious, J.K. stands for Joanna Kathleen). In these books, Harry, along with his friends Ron and Hermione, goes to Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These books have come under fire by some right wing Christian groups who hold to the old ideas that witchcraft is evil, but in the long run, it doesn’t seem to matter. The books have sold millions of copies and the movies, that are based on these books, have made millions at the box office and DVD sales. Kids love Harry’s adventures and will no doubt continue to buy the books and see the movies as long as they keep making them. Far from showing witchcraft as evil, Harry Potter shows witchcraft and magic in a wondrous light as Harry and his friends have one adventure after another. Witchcraft in literature has sure come a long way since Hansel and Gretel.

I mentioned above that I had something more to add about Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, well here it is. Sabrina originally appeared in the Archie Comics. In the old days, Sabrina’s Aunts, Hilda and Zelda, were shown as old stereotypical witches. They went around wearing pointed hats, they rode brooms (this always baffled me because they were supposed to keep their existence secret from mortals, yet when they went out in public, they wore those same garments, making them stick out in a crowd like a sore thumb). Worst of all, they kept getting on Sabrina’s case every time she did a good deed. They were always telling her that witches only did bad things, never good things. However, all that changed with the TV series, starring Melissa Joan Hart, premiered in 1996. On the show, Hilda and Zelda dressed in normal clothes and while witches still had to keep their existence a secret, the idea that witches only did bad things was thankfully tossed out. With the success of the TV series, Archie Comics finally woke up and followed suit, the Sabrina comic series was radically updated. Hilda and Zelda no longer dress like stereotypical witches and the stories have dropped the “bad witches” plots. All I can say is that it’s about time. Funny how it took the TV series to make Archie Comics finally decide to enter the 90's.

So it seems that as we progress into the twenty-first century, witches and witchcraft have made very good progress as far as Hollywood and popular literature is concerned. I just hope that this trend continues. If you ask me, the old and evil witches, that were portrayed in the past, should stay in the past, where they rightfully belong.