Week 05: Witches - Redlands (5 pts; 1 Point for each volume)

Witches, a controversial yet popular topic especially in October when ghouls come out of hiding and us humans are intrigued by anything spooky. There are many reasons why witches are controversial but mostly it is based on history in which certain women were murdered due to their suspicions of using “dark magic” to aid them and others in their life. So, anything any woman that would break from her gender roles in any way or had a different point of view was considered a witch.

    As we all know witches have been viewed in many different ways as either these horrid ugly women who are mischievous and only care about themselves or were seen as a sex icon of sorts that seduced others in her evil doing. What was in common in all these tropes is the view that these women were not to be trusted in any circumstances and were wrong in the eyes of society. This led to an evolution in where nowadays many people relate to witches and see them as an icon of rebellion for women who want to break free from others standards. Or in my opinion a symbol of what a woman has to become in order to live their desired life or be taken seriously. Which brings me to the reason why I enjoy this week’s reading, Redlands.

Redlands starts with our protagonist being the usual evil witch that is there to ruin the lives of most mortals as they go on about their evil doings. Yet we find out that after their hostile takeover, they are living a somewhat normal life as the town’s primary law enforcement. We can see that our protagonist is like us who get annoyed by their jobs and have their own family and social lives. The only thing “witchy” about them is that they have lived for a very long while maintaining a young body as well as do a ritual in which they feast on virgin’s blood. But from what I can gather they are not some type of evil monarch that abuses their power on innocent lives unless it’s necessary for them. Which I feel like is a very common in today’s interpretation of witches who are just like us mortals with some differences. 

As viewers we can see this in all reincarnations of Sabrina the teenage witch whose main plot has always been the struggle of a young woman fitting in a society where she is not accepted. This brings readers/viewers to question on how women in general have always have to assimilate to an already established set of rules that are against them and have to be considered evil doers for just wanting to live their lives their way. 

I feel like the discussion of withes in any type of medium is truly an eye opener in where people get to question their unconscious morals when it comes to women and minority. How most of us are victims of a cruel system that separates others who are considered different from the rest of the world just as witches are depicted to live by themselves in the woods with other of their kind or be completely isolated just for they can live in peace. Unless they do a hostile takeover and reclaim their power just as the women of Redlands have. Either way witches are a symbol of rebellion for women and are more common in our world than we think.