Author Shirley Jackson's Hate Mail
by compound complex 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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ziddina
Hey, Purple Sofa! Thanks for posting that! I'll still have to check out the book eventually, but this gives me a free, quickie preview!
CoCo, thanks for starting this thread, too!
Both!
Zid
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ziddina
Oooo, I've only watched the first half but I think I know where this is going... "The Wicker Man", 1973 version - the crops require ~~human bloooooood~~ (my spooky voice isn't working right now...)
By the way, "The Wicker Man" 1973 version is showing on Turner Classic Movies tonight at 10:00 PM - 12:00 midnight, Rocky Mtn/Central time...
Zid
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ziddina
Hah! Totally different ending than I was expecting - I thought there'd be some speech about the crops needing a "Sacrifice" to grow properly - you know, the "eeeeevil pagans"... But this is chillingly reminiscent of a Biblical stoning, rather than some so-called "pagan" rite... No wonder Ms. Jackson received so much hate mail. If she HAD given it a much more 'pagan' twist, I'd bet there wouldn't have been a murmur against it, because then her predominantly Christian readership could have felt comfortably self-righteous, confident that their religion would never do such things...
Don't want to upset the nice Christians on this board, including CoCo and Mouthy, but - this sure illustrates that the concept of 'human sacrifice' isn't limited to the much maligned heathen religions... Zid
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BabaYaga
Ziddy, it was definitely a "crop" and "harvest" thing. It was a tradition, a randomly picked sacrifice (thus "the lottery" itself). It was not a punishment and sentencing for some "sin" like a biblical stoning.
As for Ms. Jackson's making it more "Christian" or more "Pagan", part of the brilliance is the subtlety and mundane quality of it all. She wanted it to feel safe and homey until the horrific realization.
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compound complex
Dear Baba and Zid:
Thank you for your references and thought-provoking commentary.
I was trying to bring up a vague recollection of a past thread and/or image of some grotesque, woven statue situated on a desolate knoll. Well, Zid, you supplied the image and the story. I did see the movie last night, only because I saw your post in time and the TV chez moi produces ONLY Turner Classics (that's another story).
Your remarks vis-a-vis Christianity and paganism cause me no offense; thanks for you thoughtfulness, however. The story, as presented by the movie, intrigues, but I would like to read the book as film depictions are generally lame compared to what the ol' fertile imagination conjures up. I was totally unprepared for the musical aspect of the movie. I was not particularly unsettled by the dialogue (much of which I could not comprehend [Scottish brogue?]) nor the "fleshy scenery," perhaps just somewhat underwhelmed by the graphic portrayals of what the pagans really do do. Not until the end, when Howie is apprised of the vital role that he uniquely must play in appeasing the gods, was I stirred, principally by his fine acting.
Black and white would be more effective in producing the frisson factor. Yet I do understand that the aspect of day-to-day normalcy about the isle adds immeasurably to the rising terror of it all when, finally, that normalcy is juxtaposed against Howie's consequent realization of what gives.
The film was a popular and critical success ... who am I to argue with that?!?!?
Thanks, dear ones.
Love,
CoCo
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ziddina
Oh, yes, Baba Yaga, I see what you're saying and agree with it totally; however the fact that they DID use a 'stoning' as opposed to a 'pagan' sacrificial altar did give the piece a 'biblical' flavor, even tho it was a 'sacrifice' for the crops as opposed for a 'sin'... That's what I suspected people objected to, though your point about how mundane and homey it seemed until the final blows - rocks - were thrown, was very accurate and well-put.
Zid