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Students worked on a research project for five weeks to produce a thorough analysis on a subject of their choice; must be related to overall theme of the Humanities Core program....

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“The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”: Reimagining the Witch Since the first motion picture was introduced to the world, the film industry has developed and enhanced its productions through a continuous process of “aspirations, then accomplishments”. From the minds of a countless number of film directors arise an innumerable ideas and concepts, all of which were shaped through social influence of their respective time. Paradoxically, some of the biggest successes were born from ideas that challenged stereotypes and encouraged ideas of nonconformity. Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s Netflix show, “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” (2018), dares to take a darker spin on the Archie comic (1939-present) series’ comical and conventional charcter Sabrina the teenage witch. In his re-imagining of the comic, Aguirre-Sacasa disrupts the progress of American adaptation of the idea of the witch by eliminating the purely magical concept behind it and reverting back to the darker witches of the late 15th century. By introducing an unfamiliar concept on Netflix, one of the largest streaming platforms in America, and crafting the show to target teenage and young adult populations, Aguirre-Sacasa’s show continues to effectively garner attention throughout the country. As of November 2018, the show had taken second place for Netflix’s most-viewed TV show, even beating out the famous and recently acquired TV sitcom “Friends” (“Netflix’s Original…Content (Study)”). With such a far-reaching platform, AguirreSacasa employs the mighty influence of the empire built through film to re-fashion the life of Sabrina and her coven in a way that blurs the lines between religious Christian heaven and Satanic hell by presenting self-proclaimed angels as fighters of an unnecessary crusade and refashioning Sabrina herself in the image of the Messiah. Although Sabrina is a novel reimagining of the witch, there is history behind her development that makes her seem different in modern media. Unlike the magical witches of

today, Sabrina is both magical and a dark arts practitioner. Over the course of time, the archetypical witch has undergone many transformations, and every deviation from its respective stereotype is perceived as different. Each retelling of the concept of the witch presents varying tales based on the storyteller. Throughout centuries, the witch went from being a mere rumor to a status or unholy taboo and then was mythicized as folklore. This prompts the question: what do witches and witchcraft mean to Americans now? This of course is a very vague and ill-defined question; witches and witchcraft have grown beyond the stereotyped 15th century images of gloomy outcasts with a penchant for the dark arts. Interest in witchcraft depend on various factors including but not limited to cultural heritage, family tradition, age, sexual orientation, and religion. Defining ourselves as separate and distant from the dreadful atrocities of witches from the past actually helped society to entirely forget the previous notion of witches. Nowadays, witches are one of the most popular costumes to wear in celebration of Halloween and are portrayed as the magical and illustrious heroes of countless stories. “Witches” have gone from a completely negatively connotated term to a neutrally, and arguably, positively connoted term. The 15th century publication of Malleus Maleficarum: The Hammer of Witches (1486), “became the guidebook by which inquisitors and judges conducted themselves and which subsequent writers used as a foundation for their own works” (Guiley 222). More simply put, the Malleus Maleficarum (1486) introduced a checklist for the signs and red flags of witches all of whom were hunted and killed based on the Biblical command from the book of Exodus: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18 King James Version). This invigorated mainly Christian believers of the notorious witch hunts throughout colonial America. Its story is presented in classes as a dark blotch in America’s history, the tales embellished with rumors of

magic and superstition. These embellishments, added by a storyteller and spread throughout generations, turned the witch into a contemporary legend. As the time gap between the witch hunts and the present grew, generations born after the influence of the witch hunting time period took the legend of the witch and introduced a sense of selective humanness—adding human aspects that turned the female witch into a relatable figure. By the 20th century, five centuries after the notorious witch hunts, popular media were breaking certain stereotypes about the witch. Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz (1939), strays away from previous general notions of witches and uses Glinda to correct Dorothy’s misconceptions: Glinda: And so, what the Munchkins want to know is, are you a Good Witch or a Bad Witch? Dorothy: Oh, but I’ve already told you, I’m not a witch at all! Witches are old and ugly. Glinda: The Munchkins. They’re laughing because I am a witch. I’m Glinda, the Witch of the North. Dorothy: You are?! Oh, I beg your pardon! But I’ve never heard of a beautiful witch before. Glinda: Only bad witches are ugly. The Munchkins are happy because you freed them from the Wicked Witch of the East. (Wizard of Oz) Not every witch is entirely bad; Fleming’s witches are good or evil, depending on the region they come from. In addition, Fleming creates a distinction between good and evil based on looks. Many other works precede and succeed The Wizard of Oz (1939), including Bewitched (1964-1972), The Blair Witch Project (1999), and others, but the developments tend to follow a trend of refashioning the witch in a way to prioritize effectively appealing to the public. “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” created a stark contrast with the enchanting world of witches by introducing a novel TV show that highlighted darker aspects, such as Satanic rituals and symbols. This inconsistency attracted the attention of mainly young adults for its daring take on a transforming a harmless and beloved character from the Archie comic series into powerful, Satanic practitioner.

Set design is perhaps the most important aspect of presenting the show as a darker spin on witchcraft. From the dull and autumnal colors of the show to the attractions of the small town of Greendale, each selection holds importance. Lisa Soper, the production designer for the show, provided some insight into her set design in an interview with Whitney Friedlander, a writer for the Variety magazine. She based the design of Sabrina’s house on the notorious Winchester House in San Jose, California as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The House of the Seven Gables.” None of the walls are straight; “even the entryway’s split stairway is symbolic, she says, because ‘Sabrina’s always faced with choosing between the path of light or the path of night…’” (Friedlander). Even though the interview was short, it is evident that each and every aspect of the design was selected for a specific reason. Items or aspects that contribute to creating a horror vibe to the show include the eerie blue of the lifeless dungeon (7:49), violent gore (32:07 and 36:04), and burning at the stake (46:26). Items or aspects that dare to show the taboo of Satanism include ritual summoning of unhuman creatures using a ring of candles (8:53), the physical form of Satan himself (35:53-36:00), and prayers to Satan (50:14-50:50). Additional designs are incorporated throughout the episode representing Witchcraft; at 38:28 there is an overhead view of the pentagonal-shaped lobby. The tile pattern is the pentagram, and even the halls branch out into five pathways. Various twists on modern phrases are casually used throughout the episode: “sure as Heaven” instead of “sure as Hell” (21:33 and 22:15), “anti-pope” instead of “pope” (37:03), and the “three-in-one” instead of the “Holy Trinity” (39:29). Establishing Sabrina, a follower of occult practices, as a model protagonist might spark controversy. A great example of this would be the book series that shook the world— “Harry Potter”. In fact, the original title of the first book was “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” It was later retitled “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” because publishing thought

that it would better appeal to children using a more familiar word. However, it might have actually sold less to children: But, ironically, the retitling of the first Harry Potter novel may have attracted, and sent precisely the wrong signals to, some of those who subsequently became vigorous critics of J/K/ Rowling and her world of witches. Although the change made the novel sound more accessible, it also made it sound more “magickal.” As the Arkansas case had shown, sorcery was a concept with almost uniformly negative connotations… in many American Christian homes the word “sorcerer” simply conjured up images of their children falling victim to devil-worship. Ironically, the replaced phrase, “philosopher’s stone,” had plentiful Christian Associations. (Gibson 186-187) The problem was not with the children, but rather with the parents. The negative connotation associated with a single word, “sorcerer” was enough to drive guardians to inquire about the book and link the series to “devil-worship”, even protesting for the series to be banned from classrooms and libraries (Burkart). Although this is a slippery slope at best, the question at hand is valid—could a series of books have a large impact on a child’s or young adult’s mind? After all, what better way to implant seeds of wonder and doubt regarding ideas of the occult than through fantasy novels made for the younger generations? Could it be that …paganism, indeed satanism, are now seen as real threats to society, not just metaphors? Viewers and readers, especially young people and women who feel disempowered, are desperately keen to read and watch stories of witches, while parents and pastors are desperately worried that they will become witches themselves. What better solution than to leach the economic, sexual, and social power from the image of the witch, even as it becomes a vehicle for the promotion of self-empowerment? (Gibson 222). Just as the power of a book series can transform a negative perception of the witch an icon of self-empowerment, the power of film can turn a black-and-white comparison into a gray zone. In “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”, Aguirre-Sacasa creates episode six of season two with an over-arching theme that blurs the line between the contrast of Heaven versus Hell. The title of the episode is “The Missonaries”. By definition, “missionaries” is “A person sent on a

religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country” (“Missionary | Definition of Missionary in English by Oxford Dictionaries”). In this episode, there are three missionaries who are part of the Order of Innocents, a “good” counterpart to the coven. In a way, they are promoting in a foreign country; Sabrina’s witch family lives posing as humans in a normal house, but the coven exists in the woods, assembling via teleportation. In the episode, Theo, a transgender male and one of Sabrina’s close human friends, subtly compares the missionaries’ mission to the Children’s Crusades of 1212 (12:06-12:25)—a movement of around 20,000 children, adolescents, and adults from Europe with the objective of recapturing Jerusalem to make up for the failure of the 11th to 13th century Crusades. However, they never went past the shores of Europe; the group failed to garner enough monetary support to secure passage across the Mediterranean Sea (“Children’s Crusade”). This foreshadows the missionaries’ failure of being unable to fulfill their holy goal of saving the souls of the coven. In addition, the Children’s Crusade was more of a Children’s Mission; a crusade denotes papal approval and an official decree, whereas the Children’s Crusade was never sanctioned by the Pope. The comparison of the Children’s Crusade to the missionaries’ operation suggests that their objective is not for a holy cause, but rather for their personal doctrine. Throughout the episode, the missionaries travel across the town to hotspots of “evil”, which they believe manifest itself in the form of witches. Aguirre-Sacasa seems to base his version of the 1960s missionaries off a folklore perception of the witch rather than an accurate perception of clergy from the 15th century: Clerical perceptions of witchcraft and possession were based on the old elite, theological conceptions of diabolism. When confronted by instances of witch-induced possession, the clergy saw the witch merely as an instrument of the Devil, and thus directed their attentions more towards Satan than his earthly vassals. On the other hand, in the folk conception of witchcraft, the Devil was largely in the background, and was not generally cited directly as an agent in cases of popular witchcraft. When attributing blame for their

possession by evil spirits, people looked no further than the witch. (Davies) This is another hint telling the viewer that these missionaries are not the holy people they believe they are. The 15th clergy’s stereotypical approach to combating witchcraft and the Devil are not followed by these missionaries. The missionaries are more similar to the folk conception of witchcraft. Jerathmiel, the leader of the missionary trio, follows Sabrina back to her house, where he plays the part of an actual missionary and asks Sabrina if she would like to hear more about his church, similar to Jehovah’s Witnesses. He tries to kill Sabrina, who escapes. Jerathmiel uses sheer force to break through the door when conventional methods cannot be used, one of the first indications of his true nature—not reserved like the typical image of a missionary, but rampant and violent. As he throws himself at the door multiple times, blue thunder sounds loudly, as if it represents God endowing him with power (30:25-30:27). Thunder sounds multiple times throughout the episode, but the same blue lightning and sounds are reused. What is confusing is that the thunder will sound when the missionaries summon the power of God, but it also sounds when the power of the Dark Lord is summoned (see 35:34 and 50:08). Whether the power of God is stronger or the power of the Dark Lord is is unclear to the viewer, and makes it difficult to determine who is good versus bad. While Jerathmiel trailed Sabrina, his two associates, Gideon and X (the female’s name is unknown), find leads that take them to Sabrina’s family and friends. F arrives at Dr. Cerberus’ House of Horrors, a shop in town that sells superstitious antiques. The very existence of the shop as a hotspot suggests to viewers that selling items of superstition, whether it be voodoo dolls, books of spells, or tarot cards, is perfectly normal. Taboo items that used to indicate dark forces at work is pictured here as acceptable. Hilda, the younger of Sabrina’s two aunts and a worker at the shop, asks what F needs to which F responds, “Repent. And beg the Almighty for his

forgiveness” (31:09). Hilda, unaware of the situation, replies, “Oh we don’t accept solicitations” (31:13-31:14). F grabs her dagger from her pocket and replies, “Then you and the rest of your witch-kind can burn in Hell” (31:20). This is an allusion to what Theo says in the earlier presentation of the Children’s Crusade: “In 13th-century Europe, thousands of children set out on a holy crusade to win hearts and minds, and reclaim their holy city. As the children paraded through Europe, they offered each soul the same choice. Pledge your faith and… and join the mission, or… burn in the fires of Hell” (12:06-12:25). This makes the setting obscure in the mind of the viewer. By referring to “the fires of Hell” as a location or punishment away elsewhere from Dr. Cerberus’ shop, the viewer automatically creates a distinction in their mind that Hell is not there. Ironically, based Christian stereotypes, this town would actually be the closest thing to Hell on Earth. In a previous episode, Greendale is the only town with a surviving coven. A density of witches associated with Satan, who is linked to Hell, would suggest that Greendale is Hell—a place for evil. Through twisted depiction of the missionaries, Aguirre-Sacasa manages to convince viewers that witches are not the indication of evil, but rather that the missionaries are. Since the missionaries/witch hunters are trying to kill members of the coven, the viewer labels the hunters as the “bad guys” through black-and-white judgement. The members of the coven are being invaded and forcibly killed. Aguirre-Sacasa further paints the members of the coven as the victims in a later scene involving Gideon and Nick, Sabrina’s current boyfriend. Nick, drinking away his sorrows at the school bar, speaks of the academy as a refuge: “I only had the academy. It was my home” (26:12). There have only been three statuses throughout history—the isolated, the invaded, and the invaders. In this case, by having Nick audibly state that the academy, a society meant for witches and warlock to study the occult, was a home, Aguirre-Sacasa establishes which side has which label. The missionaries/witch hunters are the invaders, and the

students are the invaded. This seems natural in the flow of the show, but if one stepped back to compare the facts of the show versus the reality of present stereotypes, the sides are flipped. Missionaries are the ones spreading the “good” word of God, and the witches are the ones invading innocent minds to plant seeds of “evil”. The connection of the missionaries’ mission to the Children’s Crusade is further strengthened through Aguirre-Sacasa’s selection of the trio—he chooses to make all three around the age of a high school student. Age plays a key role in perception for this episode. The young adolescent age makes them fit and intelligent enough to realistically hunt down members of the coven, but also makes their wild actions seem inconceivable to the viewer. The automatic disapproval of their unprofessionalism and bloodthirst reinforces the black-and-white contrast between “good” and “bad”, reminding the viewer that it is the missionaries, the angels, that are the “bad guys”. Jerathmiel states in the beginning of the episode: “To be clear, I don’t want to hurt you. I want to save you! Well, your soul at least” (2:24-2:31) and “Imagine, an entire academy of witches to evangelize” (3:25). This message is distorted throughout the episode, transitioning from merciful to extremely almighty. Jerathmiel’s message states the initial goal of the trio, and his cordial introduction of himself as a preaching missionary suggests his respect for consent. He does not automatically attack Sabrina once he arrives at her doorstep. In fact, he holds a lengthy conversation: “Sabrina: But aren’t some people beyond saving? Jerathmiel: Not in my book. No matter what choices they make. (28:26-28:40) … Sabrina: But if you dedicate your entire life to something most people think is… wrong… or… evil. You can’t just wash that away. Jerathmiel: A hundred percent, you can. You just have to ask for forgiveness. Sabrina: If only it were that easy. Jerathmiel: Sabrina, that is exactly what I am saying. It is.” (29:14-29:45)

The key to being saved is defined here as simply asking for forgiveness. What Jerathmiel does not mention is the catch—will they be given time to? In the scene in Dr. Cerberus’ shop, F gives Aunt Hilda one chance to determine an answer. Even though F knew that the question was not understood in context of the situation, she automatically goes to draw her knife. In the scene with Gideon and Nick, there is no warning for the characters nor the viewers when Gideon shoots an arrow through the warlock bartender’s neck. Gideon justifies this instant judgement by stating that the bartender was too powerful of a warlock to be given a chance, and to Nick: “You, on the other hand, here’s your chance”. He immediately fires the crossbow at Nick’s throat (32:2432:30). Their goal, to evangelize and save souls, is now dependent on power as a qualifying factor for the opportunity of repentance. Nick is not too much of a threat, so he gets a “chance”, whereas the bartender is too po...