The Addam: The Love Witch

813 Words2 Pages

The Love Witch is set in the 1960s and is rich with the historical/cultural context of the time. The idea of witches and witchcraft in the media during this decade was primarily shaped by the hippie movement and counterculture. The hippie movement’s emphasis on nature, communal living, and spiritual development planted the seeds for this resurgence in otherworldly beliefs. Socially, the perception of witches in the media was shaped by the changing societal norms and values. Moreover, second-wave feminism allowed the word ‘witch’ to become a symbol of female empowerment against the longstanding patriarchal oppression. These factors allowed the perception of witches to escape the previously conceived notion of witches set by Salem standards, supporting this a long-time ban on the practice of witchcraft was lifted in 1951. This paved the way for ‘witches’ such as Morticia Addams (The …show more content…

Within the color realm, red is the most apparent color in the film, color plays an important role in film and overall storytelling. The emotions invoked by the color red can range from love, desire, passion, and excitement to aggression, anger, rage, and violence (Fusco and Hellerman, 2023). The emphasis on the color red articulates the compelling dynamic that Elaine faces between her desire for male attention and the urge to control them. Broadly speaking, the contrasting meanings behind the color red in the film show the transition between first and second-wave feminism in the 1960s. Along the same lines of symbolism, The Love Witch (2016) adds subtle nodes of occult elements to Elaine’s household and overall aura. She even sells her love potions at a holistic/occultist store in her new town. Moreover, her house is decorated with pentagrams, potions, herbs, and so on. These small elements further paint Elaine as the media portrayal of a witch during the

Open Document