Spooky season is well and truly upon us as more and more scary movies find their way onto our streaming devices and, for the first time, I’m watching Practical Magic.
The 90s film tells the dark, sexy, romantic and funny tale of Sally and Gillian Owens (played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman), two descendants of a long line of witches plagued by a family curse that winds up killing any man who dares fall in love and be loved by the Owen’s sisters.
After the two are orphaned, (thanks curse), they live with their aunts, Frances and Bridget ‘Jet’ Owens (played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest) and begin learning the family business - practical magic.
The plot twists and turns, resulting in the two murdering an abusive ex-boyfriend — then facing the consequences of his not-so-dead body... all while dealing with true love and the turbulence of sisterhood.
Now, the film is revered as a cult classic, with scenes like midnight margaritas inspiring TikTokers to have their very own lime-in-the-coconut-style moment with their own girlfriends. However, and — quite surprisingly given its popularity, it didn’t do that well at the box office at the time of release in 1998.
The film was slammed by critics as “Barbie Joins a Coven” by The New York Times, and the Washington Post described it as “a TV-ready mix of camp and curdle.”
Critics put this down to the film jumping from lighthearted comedy to violent attacks on women, catching audience members off-guard. It’s true, the mix of domestic abuse, romance, supernatural horror and comedy is a whirlwind to behold — but, with the new lens of the 20s to gaze through, it’s actually a work of art.
An Ode To Womanhood, Girlhood, Sisterhood.
Girlhood is complicated and women are rarely afforded the time to enjoy girlhood. Girlish fancies are often portrayed as silly, whimsical nonsenses that get in the way of how we ought to behave in society. All too soon, young girls are taught to conform to heteronormative patriarchal beliefs that both condemn and worship femininity, purity and obedience.
Navigating girlhood via the sexual double standard means women are often faced with the sexual violence continuum and are traumatised by it. As such, entering womanhood can be plagued with conflicting internalised misogynistic turmoil. And we see this at play throughout Practical Magic.
For example, Gillian embraces sex and sexiness, telling the pearl-clutchers to “hold onto their husbands”, while Sally tries desperately to conform and be normal. No matter what the women do, they are not accepted or even tolerated by the men and women of their town.
It is only when Gillian’s life hangs in the balance, that the community of women is able to move past their differences, and come together and try and save her from a deathly possession.
There is a parallel that can be drawn here. Feminism is fractured by gender critical theory and white feminism (though you could make the case that real feminism doesn’t include these branches). It makes you wonder what awfulness could tie us all together to save one another, instead of condemning the most marginalised members to a lifetime of hardship and exclusion.
Throughout the film, the whiplashing between laughter and seriousness is a perfect mirror to hold up at society, too. We are constantly bombarded by news stories of violence against women and girls. And, in the same stroke, are marketed diets and fast fashion. Experiencing the world as a woman is living with surreal juxtapositions that are punctuated by the joy of womanhood; our deep connections with our friends, family, community and selves.
In Practical Magic, we get to see how girlhood is celebrated by eating sugar and spice and everything nice for breakfast. We see ourselves chaotically represented by drunk inaudible chatter, (bottomless brunch anyone?) And, we see the jolting seriousness of domestic abuse as well as the conflict between belonging and autonomy.
So, while CNN might have negatively described it as a “heat-seeking missile for a female audience”, I don’t think they’re wholly wrong. I just don’t think we’ve been able to appreciate all angles of womanhood, girlhood and sisterhood for what it is; trying to have fun in a world designed to condemn you for being what you are.