Happy harvest moon! In this episode, we dance all night to the classic Halloween flick Hocus Pocus (1993).
Our theme song is “Moon and Spruce” by Sarah Littledrum.
Here’s a listening guide for the episode. (For a description of our segments, go here.)
Introduction (0:00 – 3:10)
Which Craft? (3:15 – 15:06)
- Our nostalgia for the 1990s
- Characteristics of 90s movies: likable anti-heroes, high-stakes comedy, frame story
- CGI and practical effects
- Faux 17th-century accents, time travel, and funny anachronisms
- Comedic subversion of horror tropes
- Parallels to other stories/ films
“Are You a Good Witch or a Bad Witch?” (15:13 – 29:20)
- Lots of awesome, dynamic female characters and only one (or two?) male protagonists
- Max’s non-toxic performance of masculinity (especially after the girls teach him to be better)
- Sibling relationship as the main focus; trio of heroes working as a team
- Max’s transitions as a character
- Portrayals of sexuality: Max as virgin/ ingénue, girls are more knowledgeable/ comfortable in their bodies, Sarah’s relationship with her sexuality
- Portrayal of the children’s parents
“Bald Heads and Queer Noses” (29:25 – 48:30)
- The witches’ bodies as the source for the film’s plot/ conflict and their feelings about their physical appearance
- Significance of Billy the Zombie (man silenced by a woman, no blame assigned to Sarah for Billy’s infidelity)
- Male characters lose their clothes (or they get torn) while the girls’ clothing remains intact and functional
- Bodies as text: the spell book made from human skin (with an eye, possibly sentient); marking your identity on your body or through your clothing
- Mary’s sense of smell
Related Links
“What if We Cultivated Our Ugliness? or: The Monstrous Beauty of Medusa”
“‘Toddler Grandma Style,’ The Fashion Approach That Will Set You Free”
“Round About the Cauldron Go” (48:35 – 1:14:42)
- Importance of the New England setting (maple leaves and fall)
- Origins of Halloween and the intersection with Salem and colonialism
- Binx the cat
- The witches’ relationship with nature (plus speculation about the witches’ origins, their mother, and their relationship to immortal figures like Hecate and the devil)
- Discussion of symbols and how the meaning of signs is dependent on context
- The film’s portrayal of the afterlife and the soul
- The witches’ psychosomatic pain
- Clash of belief systems: science and technology vs. magic and nature
- Max’s witchcraft and Alison’s witchcraft
- The preservation of the Sanderson house as a museum
Related Links
Final Spells ( 1:14:46 – 1:20:00)
- The title of the film
- The witches’ adaptability
Witches in Britches 