Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
This post acts as both a continuation of this blog's collaboration with St. John's United Methodist Church on their 'Movie Night' series, and as part one of this blog's two- part Halloween- related entry.
The movie screened at the church this evening was 'Hocus Pocus.' Incidentally, our second choice for tonight would have been Tim Burton's 2012 stopmotion film 'Frankenweenie,' another awesome film with a great message to it.
This 1993 film, while it did not initially succeed either commercially or with critics, has since achieved cult classic status and become traditional Halloween viewing for many people, myself included.
In it, teenage boy Max isn't adjusting well to his move to Salem. He misses his home in California, is picked on by a pair of boorish bullies, and is resentful of having to take his little sister Dani out trick or treating. On Halloween night, he, along with Dani and his crush Allison, unwittingly reawaken the Sanderson sisters, three evil witches who seek to drain the life out of Salem's children in order to obtain immortality and eternal youth/ beauty. Our heroes, with help from the magical cat Binx (Once a colonial boy who centuries earlier had to watch as his sister was drained of her life force by the Sandersons before being turned into a cat and given immortality to always reflect on his failure) must then do what they can to undo his mistake and stop the Sandersons in order to save everyone in Salem.
I did not see this movie for the first time until a few years after it premiered, and didn't see it again for decades after that. That being said, I've always found it an enjoyable movie, and pretty much perfectly fits the bill if you're looking for more family- friendly Halloween fare. It's got action, light scares, humor, and pretty good character development. It also holds up pretty well today, about the only dated things about it are some of the 90's slang terms the bullies use and when we briefly see a trick or treater dressed as Mrs. Potts from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast." The child actors are all great, and all make for pretty likable characters, especially Binx. The Sanderson sisters make for incredibly entertaining villains. It's rather strange, while we obviously don't want their despicable plan to succeed, at the same time they're so fun to watch that it feels like we shouldn't really want them to die either (It's similar to how I felt about the Penguin in 'Batman Returns'). You can tell Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy must have been having a blast playing them. Their zombie henchman Billy is a pretty cool character too, especially near the end when he regains the ability to speak. The movie's appeal is further shown by the fact that, for the last several years, the Disney theme parks have had a live show of it as a key part of their "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" Halloween celebration.
In my devotional to be passed out at the screening, I talk about how 'Hocus Pocus' helps to explore the theme of true beauty. I used the examples of Proverbs 31:30 and 1 Peter 3:3-4 to show how, while the unbelieving world, much like the Sanderson sisters in the movie, focuses too much on outer beauty and vanity, true beauty in God's eyes is found in instead demonstrating kindness, gentleness, and holiness.
I think another Biblical theme that can be found in 'Hocus Pocus' is on demonstrating responsibility, especially towards family. In the first half of the movie, Max is trying to pretend to be something he's not and shirk his responsibility to Dani in order to impress Allison. This drive to superficially impress her leads him to light the magic candle which reawakens the Sanderson sisters, nearly killing all three of them as well as all the children in town. By the climax of the movie, though, Max has better realized his responsibility to his sister (Largely through learning from Binx's sad example), as he is willing to sacrifice himself to save Dani's life, by arranging it so that the Sandersons will need to drain the life out of him rather than do so to Dani.
This calls to mind 1 Timothy 5:8: "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."
We all have responsibilities to our families. They are the ones we see the most in life (Or, at least that we SHOULD see the most in life), and thus the way we treat them is one of the most important ways of putting our faith as Christians into action. Whether it be our spouses, our siblings, our children, or others, we must always seek to do what is right by our families, putting their needs ahead of our own, as Jesus put our needs ahead of His comfort by coming down to Earth and dying to save us. We shouldn't let life keep us too busy to find time to stay in touch with those of them who are not nearby (I admittedly can be guilty of falling short in this regard), and help meet the emotional and spiritual needs of our immediate, close families at home, as an act of service to them and to God.
By doing these, seeking true and lasting beauty and accepting our responsibilities to look after and properly care for our families, we can follow God's will and better shine His light to areas shrouded with evil and darkness.
That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Part 2 of my Halloween special will be up by the big day in question so stay tuned. Until then, God bless you all!
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