Okay, let's get it out in the open. I saw The Blair Witch Project and was highly disappointed. But not because of any inaccurate portrayal of Witches in the film, but because the movie just didn't scare me. I'm a big horror film buff, and I can watch A Nightmare on Elm Street whilst eating chicken wings or barbecue pizza. All the press I'd been reading on this was leading me to believe that this movie was the Alpha and Omega of horror, and that I was not gonna sleep for a week.

So I grabbed a good friend who was also a major horror buff. I didn't think I was gonna want to see this movie alone. My friend was also very interested in seeing the movie, but was a little concerned about one detail: Was I going to consider this movie blasphemy? She knows I'm a witch, and an activist, and she has no problem with it, even in the context of her own Christian faith. She knows we don't eat babies, she knows we don't sacrifice living creatures, and she knows we don't worship Satan.

But she was worried that I might get offended by a movie that had absolutely nothing to do with me. Mind you, this didn't offend me either-- this woman takes great pains to be considerate of my religion, and this was merely another example of that. I keep telling her she needn't bother; I've got a collection of Pagan lightbulb jokes that could get me lynched at any sizable pagan gathering. My whole impression of the thing was to be amused by the notion and to be once again impressed by my friend's thoughtfulness.

But then I started coming across newspaper articles about Wiccans who actually were offended. Phyllis Curott, who is president emerita of the Covenant of the Goddess, a lawyer, and the Author of Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman's Journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess, recently met with one of the directors of the film on an Atlanta radio show and asked him to put a disclaimer in the film stating that it didn't have anything to do with us.

Now I've made a personal policy of not specifically aiming my rhetoric at any single person, and not all of this is aimed at Ms. Curott, who has done some wonderful work for us in the past. But this is just ridiculous. The movie didn't even show a single person portrayed as a witch onscreen. It doesn't even specifically say that the Blair Witch is the one responsible for the events of the film-- or even that Elly Kedward was really guilty of the "witchcraft" of which she was accused and for which she died. (For those who want the story and haven't seen the film, go to http://www.blairwitch.com [This link is no longer active] and read the "Mythology" section.)

The media has been very kind to us lately, and Hollywood has been even kinder; I finally got a chance to watch Practical Magic and was bowled over. It was inaccurate-- we don't do spells for money, we don't do love spells (excepting the kind that Sally did-- to attract it, not to compell it), and we damned sure don't stab pigeons. But the overall tone was about a normal woman who just happened to be a hereditary witch, dealing with a bizarre circumstance while trying to lead a normal life. The more reckless and less moral sister pays the price for her actions and learns a lesson in the process. The people of the town prove to be accepting, once given the chance, and even participated in a Circle so well scripted and filmed that I actually got goosebumps the first time I watched it. I have pre-ordered my copy in Widescreen.

Admittedly, I didn't hear as much hooplah about Practical Magic as I did about The Craft, and most of what I did hear was before the movie came out. But the flap that has been raised over BWP has been pretty noteworthy. And pretty silly.

The fact of the matter is that we are starting to overcome the "satanist" stereotype. Even in Killeen, Texas, where a local minister is insisting that at least one member of the congregation come armed in case one of the "warlocks" tries to snatch one of their kids, a random survey of people revealed a more tolerant stance. Additionally, other clergy in Killeen are coming out to support our contitutional rights. (For that full story, go here. Special thanks to Wren's Nest, which is where I found the link.)

But at the same time we seem to be developing a new stereotype-- as whiners. We've all seen minorities (or even majorities) come out and make outrageous demands because they were offended. I've heard an African American complain that the computer industry is racist because most command line environments feature white text on top of a black background. I've heard a feminist complain that the space program was sexist because of the shape of rockets.

And now I'm listening to some of us whine about a movie because it has the word "Witch" in the title and features a fictitional 400-year-old legend of a witch. I'm starting to understand how my mom felt when she had to remind me that Bob Barr does not speak for all Republicans or all Christians.

And while we're on the subject of whining, can we please admit that not all of the people killed during the Burning Times were female witches? Lots of men died during that time, as well as members of religions other than ours. And while it is important to remember that this could happen again, the Burning Times were not perpetrated by any modern Christian church or organization. There are people out there who would see us returned to the stake, but they are few and do not represent the majority of Christians, who are, for the most part, a decent sort who view those times with the same shock and disapproval as we do.

The Blair Witch Project is an independent film done in a drastically different style that has made the world take notice. While I haven't been watching its box office numbers personally, I hear they're fantastic. My friend and I went to see it on a Tuesday night and had to come back the next night. When we saw it on Wednesday, the theatre was quite crowded and we left to find a Star-Wars-sized crowd waiting for the next showing. The whole thing was done very well and proved to Hollywood that there is another way of doing things. I wasn't scared, but I was impressed. The only things that I found offensive were the people criticizing it for imaginary prejudices and pretending they were speaking for me.

© 1999 by Cather "Catalyst" Steincamp