--- Tanya Duvic <tduvic@...> wrote:

> o come on.... hot school girls in uniform being
> naughty wtiches. It was commercial and came
> along about the time Charmed did as well....
> and a few other witchy type shows and movies to
> come out about that time..what abotu angel
> when did that start maybe buffy. there was a
> whole slew of stuff like that all of a
> sudden...
>
> It was the thing to do

Paul replies:

Actually, "The Craft" preceded all of the shows
you mention by at least one year ("Charmed," for
example, came out in 1997). So it's more accurate
to say that "The Craft" opened the door to
several late-1990s witchcraft-themed TV shows and
feature films.

As for "hot school girls in uniform," you may
have something there, insomuch as the underlying
theme of "The Craft" (at least according to the
director's commentary on the DVD of the film) is
the power of teenage female sexuality. That being
the case, I can't help but wonder if Fairuza's
edgy performance as Nancy struck a chord with
young women who realized they could now wreak
havoc on the same high-school boys who used to
ignore or ridicule them.

Sure, Nancy pays a price for her lust for power
by losing her sanity, but even that can be
appealing in a gothic romance way (think of
Heathcliffe and Cathy roaming the English moors
as ghosts at the end of the film, "Wuthering
Heights").

I think the defining moment of "The Craft" is
when the school bus driver tells Nancy and the
girls to "watch out for the weirdos" and Nancy
(Fairuza) snaps back, "Mister, we ARE the
weirdos!" Teenagers often feel confused and
alienated during the onset of puberty, and in my
opinion, this one line, beautifully delivered by
Fairuza with a mixture of pride and contempt,
perfectly sums up the experience.

The other scene that seems to strike a chord with
viewers (especailly the female viewers I know) is
the exultation Nancy feels when she asks the
spirit to enter her during the beach ritual. Our
Puritanical American culture often goes out of
its way to demean or punish women who (gasp!)
enjoy sex, but in this one scene, Nancy/Fairuza
speaks for every woman who takes joy in this most
natural and enjoyable of human activities.

What do you think?

Paul