The “coming out” of Paganism into American society through the television medium is interesting to me, because I feel that it is mirroring the “coming out” of Gays in television. Gay people began to appear in TV shows in the mid-late 1970s, in one of two lights. We were either used for pretty stereotypical humor, as on Soap, when Billy Crystal’s mom just couldn’t keep him from wearing her clothes; or as on Three’s Company, with much hilarity ensuing as Jack has to act all “Gay” to fool Mr. Roper into letting him live with Chrissy and Janet.
The humor- while a bit non-progressive- was in retrospect perhaps understandable. Humor represents a way of coming to terms with changes or challenges, and introducing “Out and Proud” Gays into the American psyche was a bit of a challenge. The second utilization of Gays in 70s television- Gays used for “Shock effect”- was the more pernicious.
In these scenarios, the revelation of a character as “Homosexual!” (and therefore “Deranged!” and “Sociopathic!”) was often the “Shock-Twist” ending. I remember a Charlie’s Angels where Jaclyn Smith was being menaced by a mysterious “woman” (“Why are you doing this to me- Why!?”), who it turns out (who couldn’t see this coming) is actually a Man who longs to be a complete Female and so hates- just absolutely hates- lovely Jaclyn for possessing the pure feminine beauty that will never be “Hers.” After Shelley Hack was unceremoniously retired from Charlie’s Angels, I remember her in a short-lived series called Jack and Mike. There was a story (I remember seeing) where the unknown killer turned out to be (who didn’t see this coming) a Deranged Lesbian obsessively in love with Shelley, cooing to photos of her beloved, “Soon- soon my darling; we’ll be together forever- and no one will ever keep us apart again!”
Then in the 1980s- after the social processing of the put-down humor and the shock-value story-lines of the 70s- TV shows like Designing Women and Golden Girls became “radical” in their liberalism, for treating Gays as if we were “just like” Normal people (radical thought, right?) LA Law became one of the first shows “radical-liberal” enough to have a recurring Bi-sexual character- and today we have so many Gay characters on television, I believe that every ensemble piece considered for production must receive the comment: Yeah, but who’s the Gay character?
My point is to wonder if the “coming out” of Paganism in American television will not play out along similar lines.
If we assume that the example of the Gay “coming out” into television represents a Process- then Pagans (at current) appear to be at the “humor and shock” stage.
On recent TV shows like The Simpsons and recent movies like He’s Just Not That Into You, what seems like the eccentricity of our customs is placed into satiric contrast with more conventional Norms. Basically we do get used for humor these days: “Wicca” can be the punch-line to jokes.
I have come to believe that this is a necessary part of the Process, as the humor represents the Dominant Culture’s attempts to come to terms with Us and with the profound social changes which we harbinger. I’m not saying that I think we should all just roll over and take being the social butts of jokes (I’m kind of into confident assertions of Social Pride): but perhaps we can manage to be a bit sanguine about the circumstance if we recognize the “humor-response” as part of the Process- and remember that everybody likes a good sport and a good sense of humor.
The “shock-value” response to new social movements is seen in our case in television shows such as the recent Bones, “the Witch in the Wardrobe” (Season 5: Episode 20, air-date 5/6/10). As near as I can tell, this show was generated by mixing up elements from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Wizard of Oz, and the Salem Witch-trials (featuring both historically factual information and made-up stuff), in order to have a special “Witch” show (I’m kind of surprised they didn’t air this on Halloween). The problem is, then they decide to make it relevant by throwing in some Wiccans- and you have a good example of Wicca and Neo-Paganism being utilized for the maximum “Shock-Effect.”
However- I don’t think this is going to last. I think that inevitably- and possibly sooner than we might expect- some producer is going to realize the value and “edge” and novelty of having a Wiccan or a Pagan character on a show (Glee- I can easily see Glee incorporating a recurring Pagan figure). The novelty of it would be the key- once television executives understand that “Pagan” story-lines give them material with which to work that no one else has- the “stand-out” quality is what is going to sell us.
Then once we’ve become established in The Industry- once producers see how Pagans can “work” within entertainment story-lines- once advertisers can understand how backing a “Pagan” show might be to their advantage- any one of the following might well become an altogether reasonably viable project:
Will and Grace-only Wiccan. (This actually is the punch-line to a joke I have in a later piece.) All by itself, this could be the opening to a pitch-meeting: A Chick and her Gay Guy friend- they run around having all sorts of Wiccan adventures and crazy Wiccan mishaps- cause they’re Will and Grace-only Wiccan.
Likewise: Queer As Folk-only Wiccan. Easy pitch-sell; TV executives know Queer As Folk worked. This is Queer As Folk- only Queer As Folkwith a Pagan twist; they’re Gay Guys running a Gay Male Wiccan coven together- It’s Queer As Folk-only Wiccan.
MASH-only Wiccan. What’s major-big right now in the Pagan World? That’s right- Pagan soldiers (a topic covered regularly by the Pagan Newswire Collective: Warriors and Kin). How does one deal with being a Pagan and a Soldier; how does one’s Paganism sustain one through the challenges of military life? MASH-only Wiccan, could address these issues.
All in the Family-only Wiccan. The daughter of a bigoted blue-collar man marries a committed Gaia-Worshipper and Wiccan-Practitioner. Much situational comedy ensues!
I believe that with patience and time, we- with our colorfulness, and cinematic qualities, and interesting perspectives- will become irresistible to the makers of popular entertainment. And once that happens- I feel that the tendency to find us “shocking and humorous” will seem as quaint as Billy Crystal in his mother’s dress from Soap.
Through its patience, water will wear through rock.
This makes sense. I also look forward to the time, which is the next step in the process, when both queer folk and pagan folk are so much a part of the tapestry of entertainment we get the normal plotlines. Consider how recently a romantic comedy with black actors in the lead has been considered box-office viable by a big studio. Or how people of color are increasingly common on network television (though Asians/Pacific Islanders are really getting shafted). How about Seventh Heaven, Pagan Style, with the parents being HP/HPs of a coven and trying to raise their kids in a complex world that doesn’t always get their way of life? Or a 70s-style serio-comic detective series in which the pairing is a druid and an atheist? Come so far, yet so far to go.
As Gandhi said: ““First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
I think on TV it goes the other way around for the middle ones.
Ignored, villain of the week, comedy relief, main character.
And Queer as Folk did a Radical Faerie ep, which wasn’t nearly as spiritual as one would expect.
Time and patience. We are where the gay community was in the 70s and 80s, as you said.
I hadn’t thought of the long-term view of the way Wicca has crept into the cultural context, but the way you put it sounds exactly right.
I also think that, given the way technology is changing, we should consider producing some of these shows ourselves. No, seriously: community access TV has low costs, and I come armed with a Flip camera that allows me to upload direct to Youtube. It’s actually becoming a popular form of alternative entertainment, and anything that gets a following online demonstrates to mainstream producers the marketability of such programming.
It would also be refreshing to see a Youtube show where the occult isn’t a standby for “leading to bad things.” Remember those “lonelygirl” videos a few years back? It would be nice to simply present a different idea/approach.
Like what Carroll O’Connor and Archie Bunker did against the automatic assumption that bigotry is “right and natural.” But we could have done without the vicious ‘cutting down’ of each other that seems to have become so popular in society after the series run of “Benson.”
As with the era of “Blacksploitation” movies, are we foreseeing a “Witchsploitation” film fad to come to Hollywood? NO, I DON’T MEAN the kinds of stuff from Hammer Films and their general branch of the film industry.
“Dark Shadows” was definitely a low-budget soap opera (my Mom had me hooked — daily had to watch it with her after I got home from school). The sets were flimsy enough that you could often see a wall wavering or wobbling after an actor came in contact with it. Slightly flubbed lines would be kept instead of trying for another take. Exteriors were few and far between, with a limited number of stock exterior shots which got recycled ad-infinitum. With today’s technology, it shouldn’t be all that difficult to pull off a totally Pagan generated show with a similar kind of story feeling . And the viewers were quite fond and loyal to their favorite characters from “Collinsport, Maine.”
I think you have some valid points, but I’m kind of troubled by the using of the words “Wiccan” and “pagan” interchangeably, since they’re definitely not the same thing.
Also, I believe the character in Charlie’s Angels would be considered transgender, not homosexual? I guess they probably didn’t really bother differentiating at the time, though…
[...] importance of voting, and the right to openly carry a firearm. At The Juggler they’ve covered Paganism “coming out” on television, Wicca in the movies, the new Robin Hood film, and mixing art with ritual. Lastly, at Warriors [...]
i can see this happening within the Vampire Community as well. thank you for putting this into perspective for me. as part of both the Pagan and the VC worlds i try to keep up with both. now i have a new way of looking at the public mockery of both my communities.