Quick Link--Review of The Wicker Man

Author: Quill / Labels:



Review of The Wicker Man


You know, sometimes I have to take a moment's pause for the many ways that magical thinking and Pagan beliefs have set my opinions at odds with what would be expected.  This review is a fine example of it.

After seeing The Wicker Man for the first time (happily, with no one spoiling the ending for me beforehand), I was puzzled at how it was considered a horror movie.  Sure, the nature of what is considered "horror" has changed since the '70s, just as "heavy metal" means something quite different from when I was a teenager, but I think it goes further than that.   Was anything truly scary going on?  If so, how did I miss it?  Lord Summerisle, to me, was a figure of grandeur (and not just because he was played by the incomparable Christopher Lee) and I would have been a willing pupil to his wisdom.  Willow, in my eyes, is a self-assured young woman enjoying the place of prominence that her youth, cunning, and connection with eternal Goddesses affords her.  Sounds great to me.

Unlike the woman in the review, I don't see anything sexist going on.  Yes, the penis is revered as a generator of life and given prominence but men are not.  Men are no better than women on Summerisle.  Many of the characters who do the truly important things in the story are female.  Willow, easily the most prominent female character, is unattached and doesn't consult with anyone else before acting.

And the suffering of Sgt. Howie?  He's not suffering at all to me, at least no more than anyone else playing out the fate of their lives.  I don't feel bad for him; it's the way things must be.  I also don't think that any of the deception of the people of Summerisle was devious.  There was something at stake which was of greater importance than any one person.  It all makes sense.

I suppose this is what made me also side with the townspeople in Thomas Tryon's "Harvest Home."  This was their whole world and its continuation was essential if anyone or anything was to survive.  The fact that some unpleasantness must ensue was, by ancient Pagan standards, completely reasonable.  There is always death before life and struggle before peace.  This is an essential part of true reverence of the earth.  We must shed the rose-colored glasses that make us see the world as a place of unending happiness and open our eyes to what it really is--a place of potential and possibility.  Sorrow eventually begets joy, pain will give way to pleasure, and death opens the door to life.

Enjoy this darkly comic review and think about which side makes sense to you.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive