First show for Sable, and in the tradition of October being Halloween the entire month I thought I'd start with witches on film! Rather than a comprehensive history of the witch on screen I wanted to focus on the following three films in detail, specifically in relation to Julia Kristeva's theory of the abject.
Pretty sure that's the entire book linked up there! A quick summary is that it is an object or something that disturbs identity, system and order. It's related to the uncanny but it's way more violent. Kristeva suggests that certain individuals possess an abject quality and it is why we are repulsed by certain things and feel 'horror'. The famous metaphor Kristeva uses is the skin on boiled milk. The skin on boiled milk is 'abject' as its almost inexplicably gross, and the revulsion we typically feel is because the skin on the milk is a liminal and in theory reminds us of our own corporeality. It makes us hyper aware of our existence and it freaks us out; that feeling is the feeling of abjection! I would like to be able to explain this metaphor better but its dense and this webpage does a better job than I do.
But the reason I wanted to discuss it is because I feel it resonates with modern films representation of witches! Witches are a well known symbol and historical account of how if women stray from the hegemonic ideal they are totally vilified and punished. All of these films treat the relationship to magic as a dubious path for our heroines and The Craft and The Witch really stray into boring moralistic territory which I'm not bothered about...
Other big inspiration for this show is that witchcraft is something that feels like a very feminine response to trauma and I'm intrigued by what feels like renewed interest in witchcraft. Is it a collective response to the collective trauma of the modern age? Trauma runs through all three films discussed but I do hate that all three portray witchcraft as patriarchal. I'm not keen to claim that 2 male directors has lead to the patriarchal portrayal of witchcraft in The Craft and The Witch as I think that's just gender essentialism and reductive. The Love Witch actually critiques this which is nothing but credit to Anna Biller being queen of pastiche and parody (I thought about Linda Hutcheon's theory of parody for this, read here ) Her take on witchcraft being centred on cults and new age mysticism means it resonates loads with our current girl boss neo lib post feminism nightmare.
Films referenced
The Craft (1996) dir. Andrew Fleming
The Witch (2015) dir. Robert Eggers
The Love Witch (2016) dir. Anna Biller
Other films 2 watch in regards to witches, cults and the abject...
Rosemary's Baby (1968) dir. Roman Polanski
Belladonna of Sadness (1973) dir. Eiichi Yamamoto
Suspiria (1977) dir. Dario Argento
Practical Magic (1988) dir. Griffin Dunne
Jennifer's Body (2009) dir. Karyn Kusama
