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TOP | RELIGION | SATANISMWitchery/9612.crucble.ph
To: alt.religion.wicca,alt.christnet,alt.paganism,alt.magick
From: Paul Hume
Subject: Re: The Movie, The Crucible, Sucks!!
Date: Sat, 28 Dec 1996 10:28:32 -0500
Nella -
Good.
Now go and look at (better yet, read) The Crucible again.
Miller doesn't give a rat's ass about "witchcraft" as we discuss it in
Neopaganism. If he even knew this kind of thing was around in 1955 (when
he first wrote The Crucible), it would not have mattered as far as the
play's intent goes.
In his view (original production) it doesn't matter if there were
rituals and orgies in the woods or not. The witch craze was the target
for self-righteous, and fearful, persecution of "the other" - and then
ignited greed in some, a chance to settle scores in others, and
political ambition in yet others, at the expense of those caught in the
madness - John and Mary and the others, but also Abby and Mary Warren.
Look at the reaction of Abby when Mary W. wants to recant. They are
trapped in their own nightmare.
If you poked your head outside of the limited literary world of
Neopaganism from time to time, you would know that The Crucible was
originally written as a direct challenge to McCarthyism, which was in
full swing at the time. THAT is what the witch hunt in the play
represents.
I am looking forward to seeing the film, not least since Miller wrote
the screenplay, to see how he handles the contemporary view of his
classic work on panic, on mob fear, and law as the tool of ignorance.
Only 6 people shown hanged? Well darn darn darn. I don't know if the
film includes the speech (its not by Danforth, but the local minister,
whatisface, which is a crucial part of Act III in the stage text, which
describes the impact of the trials, the fear, the mass arrests -the
desolation of the economy, cows moaning with distended udders in farms
from Salem to Andover.
You want Miller (and actors like Scofield) to portray cardboard villains
in place of Danforth and the others. You are in the wrong market, Nella.
Comic books are down the street. If the ministers and judges are simply
dirty old men, leering at their victims, then there is no conflict, no
hideous irony of concern for the safety of their community driving
people to vicious extremes. No acting worth a damn, for that matter.
The corruption of Danforth's search for truth by political expediency,
his almost manic need to get Proctor to confess, is a key part of the
drama.
(Yes, I have played the role, so of course view it as central to the
piece (g)).
You want a document about witchcraft - the Crucible transcends that
petty topic and was never intended to cater to that particular need.
Paul
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