Modern Connections
The history of witches and the way society contains them has long fascinated Western artists, writers, and cinematographers. Although the archetypal image of the evil witch as an ugly old woman is certainly a powerful trope in the popular imagination, there are modern connections that shed light on other aspects of witchcraft and the persecution of witches. Perhaps the most politically charged among them is the idea of the witch hunt. Two prime examples from the 1950s and 1960s included state persecution of dissenters: McCarthyism in the U.S. attacked supposed communist sympathizers and Eastern bloc governments cracked down on anti-communist protesters.
Today’s appropriation of the “witch hunt” signifier into the arena of contested political leadership provides one testament to the shape-shifting potential in modern popular culture interpretations of witchcraft. Others include the dichotomy between black and white witchcraft, between ugly old crones and beautiful young women (often viewed simultaneously as sexually alluring and threatening), or the “domestication” of the witch in mid-20th century American television. These ambivalent attitudes to witches in popular culture are often seen as cultural hostility towards powerful women.