Brainwashed Societies’ “Love” Story: The Love Witch

The Love Witch is a postmodern spoof that reflects on the patriarchal order's continuation by reversing the power dynamic between men and women, masculine and feminine characters. The heroine, a young woman named Elaine, moves to a new town in search of a substitute for her recently deceased husband.

Even though the film is based on Feminist Film Theory, which argues and criticizes how women are portrayed on screen and the amount of screen time provided to women in dialogue, Elaine is attempting to attain an unrealistic male model type of a woman, and the irony shows how the patriarchal system impacts women.

However, in The Love Witch, Elaine is depicted not from the viewpoint of men, but from the perspective of Elaine's inner world, transforming the film into a feminist project that reverses the gender-based power dynamic, especially in scenes depicting her with dreams, visions, and what the camera sees and shows to the viewer is the female gaze.

The presentation of female and male nudity is comparable, and the staging of them reflects a feminist film based on camera angles. The stage style, vibrant colors, and almost unreal make-up represent Elaine's inner self and delusions. Binary oppositions provide a clear conflict in the film, representing two opposing philosophies and notions, and one of them is ultimately superior to the other, which makes us appreciate the narrative's message. Masculinity and femininity, patriarchy and matriarchy, reliant and self-sufficient, strong and poor are all portrayed in the film.

To show, Biller modeled Elaine's set and look in the 1960s, almost as if she were a princess in a fairytale, while Griff and the police department are in pale colors, which represent truth and masculinity. Elaine's ability to manipulate men is a result of her using her dominant side and battling sexism, while Griff is in the vulnerable place next to her and her sorcery.

In terms of Elaine's self-sufficiency, the reason she joins the cult and begins practicing witchcraft is to achieve her strength and influence, while her victims in the film gradually become reliant on her due to her magic. Close-ups of her eyes and long gazes reflect how she dictates and dominates men as they fall in love with her; the close-ups are used slowly, and suspenseful piano sounds are used to create anticipation. Even in the beginning of the film, the death of her ex-husband, and the abrupt and full of suspense flashbacks keep the viewer engrossed in the plot.

Elaine appears to be a character who is subjected to oppressive society's gender roles, but the director shows her being victimized and traumatized by the same society, and how her path has shaped her into the person she is. The Love Witch opposes patriarchal society's social expectations and is its self-awareness and one of gender politics' most basic testaments. She brings this self-empowerment tool to the next level by creating intense self-objectification, emphasizing how the patriarchal structure also exists in many ways and progresses.

The Love Witch criticizes how the patriarchal system brainwashes people and victimizes them to the point that they are forced to unconsciously obey the patriarchal system's laws in order to live.