"What's to get?" was my stock, dismissive and snobby answer. "It's just a collection of New England folk tales, lumped together into one big plotline. The end."But that wasn't cutting it.
And it was at that point I realized that not everyone is:
A. Catholic
B. Readily familiar with Chaucer and/or Dante
C. Capable of discerning underlying metaphors without Morgan Freeman's verbal assistance:
William Somerset: "There are seven deadly sins. Gluttony, wrath, greed, envy, sloth, pride and lust. Seven."
~ Se7en, 1995
K. Imma break it down for ya'll. Check it out.
The embodiment of Pride in this film is William (Ralph Ineson), the father, who - in the film's opening scene - dares to question authority, resulting in his banishment from the village, along with his entire family.
Governor: Must you continue to dishonor the laws of the commonwealth and the church with your prideful conceit?
William: If my conscience sees it fit.
William is convinced that he's morally superior and that he and he alone, should be shepherding the flock and that it his example which should be followed. Clearly, William - despite his love for The Holy Bible - has forgotten Proverbs 16:18 - "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
More concerned with the whereabouts of her cherished silver cup (sold by her husband for hunting supplies), Mother Katherine is Greed here. Kathy is the 17th century version of the girl with the most cake. Honest to god, she loves that fucking missing silver cup more than her own children. She's willing to sell her daughter out as a scullery maid to bring in the bling. Her pinched face and piggy eyes are always surveying, measuring, sizing up, seeking out the pros and cons of every situation, and how best to work it to her advantage. To paraphrase Charles Dickens, she measures everything by gain. If a situation doesn't result in a profit, whether it's monetary or social rank, she quickly passes the buck, or ignores it altogether.
Teenager Thomasin is pissed. Righteously pissed. She bridles at her mother's sternness and balks at her rules. She deeply resents being forced to mind her younger siblings and be responsible for the bulk of the chores. She's disgusted by her father's hypocrisy. She'd totally smack a bitch if she could get away with it, namely her annoying little sister Mercy. In other words, she's a typical teenage girl. One can hardly blame her for exploding in frustrated fury about an hour into the film. She'd been simmering slowly for the first half, setting her jaw and biting her tongue. You just know she's a walking volcano, trying to hold in all of her anger and making an eruption all the more imminent.
Duh. There's nothing at all subtle about Brother Caleb. This kid is a walking, talking erection. He's a hormonal jelly donut of a boy. Thoughts of sex torment him all the livelong day, sweaty and humid, ready to Blow Thy Load into Thy formal breeches. Unfortunately, it's sixteen-forty-fuckall and our boy can't just slouch down to the mall to eyeball the girls. He shares a
Little Mercy, one of a set of twins, is a feisty little shit toad. She's spoiled and bratty. She won't mind. She won't work. She doesn't listen to anyone. She's stuck in her Terrible Twos at the age of six. She turns a deaf ear to her mother's demands for obedience and diligence. She spends her days playing and singing, her nights eating and sleeping. Her mother can't control her and so shifts the responsibility and blame to Thomasin, who can no more control Mercy than a Taco Bell CEO can control their flatulence.
6 - GLUTTONY: a limitless appetite for food and drink.
Gluttony goes along with Sloth, because one cannot have the one without the other. Not much is made of little Jonah, twin brother to Mercy, except that he's just another bottomless pit, consuming everything and returning nothing. Lazy and spoiled, he is never without his sister and his chubby moonface is evidence of his love for one thing and one thing only: dinner.
Unbaptized baby Samuel is the only innocent character in the entire film. He has done nothing wrong in the eyes of God, nor is he capable of sin. But being the child of Pride and Greed, he is the object of envy by all of the characters. He is carried and coddled as a baby should be. He is fed and sung to and sleeps without care. He is fat and pink and glowing with ruddy health. He is the prize pig in the brood. Who wouldn't want to trade places with a cherished baby, all of your needs tended to and no responsibility? But only The VVitch acts on her envy, stealing away baby Sam for his blood and plump fatty tissue. Smeared along the length of a broom handle, it is the magic potion bestowing flight. Patience might be a virtue, but 200 years is a long time to wait for the invention of the airplane.
So, there you have it. The VVitch is about The Seven Deadly Sins, and the ways in which they lead people - even people who started out as pure and God fearing - to ruin and damnation.
*And here I edit, and mention the fact that my podcast buddy Erik was totally hip to the Seven Deadly Sins thingie too, and we did almost a whole entire podcast dedicated to it. Which you can listen to right the hell HERE. Sorry Erik, I suck.
Or some such shit.
You're welcome.
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