东镇女巫

先接触的是小说，被作者的文笔气质所吸引，凑巧推荐给小伙伴，然后小伙伴搜索便查阅到了关于同名小说的电影，找来一窥究竟，大失所望。

看到了三位各具特色，魅力非凡的女主与杰克·尼科尔森（闪灵男主），心生笃定，佳片算是稳了，可万万没想到的是，才开场看了半小时，就被电影剧情和对白的大量改动惊得外焦里嫩，都不知道说什么好了。

三位女主与小说中的角色对比而言，应该是同步率很高的，可男主有些脱线，表演的太过突出，有些格格不入，感觉就他一个人全程高潮不断，其他角色都成了配角，超夸张惊悚的表演有些get不到，不过视觉冲击确实不俗。

小说与本片所表达的内容可谓南辕北辙，完全不搭边，怀着来欣赏具象化小说的小伙伴们可能要和我一样铩羽而归了。

如果抛开小说再看电影，只能说一般，除了杰克·尼科尔森的抢眼表现外，特效、音乐都不是很出彩，倒是小镇的选址，大栋别墅的场景是最忠于原著的。可剧情真就让人产生严重不适，或许还是我个人原因占了主要因素，我满怀期待的找到了它，可看完之后空留下诸多遗憾。

镇报社记者苏姬（Michelle Pfeiffer 饰）、雕塑家艾丽克丝（雪儿 Cher 饰）、大提琴手珍（Susan Sarandon 饰）是三个居住在东维克小镇的好朋友，她们有一个共同点就是婚姻皆不幸福。三人经常在周四晚上举行聚会，谈人生，谈男性。某个大雨之夜，一名来自纽约的神秘男子来到小镇，并买下拥有百年历史、传说曾用来处决女巫的蓝氏府邸。男人有着费解而难记的名字——戴尔·梵侯恩（杰克·尼克尔森 Jack Nicholson 饰），他的到来在小镇引起轰动，不祥的气息也开始肆意蔓延。未过多久，这三个好友的芳心便先后被戴尔虏获，各种诡异魔幻的事情也相继发生……
本片荣获1998年美国科幻与恐怖电影学院最佳男主角奖（Jack Nicholson）。©豆瓣

小镇上，三个婚姻不幸的好闺蜜共同许愿，想要一个完美的男人。结果那个男人真的来了，不仅很有钱，而且有超能力，很快分别将三人俘获，虽然起初闺蜜们相互吃醋，但都爱他爱得不可自拔。很快小镇上出现了各种风言风语，但这个男人总能摆平。三人意识到他身上可怕的地方，决定离开他，却遭到了他的报复。三人屈服于他，和他和好，然后暗中设计用古老的女巫方式将他送走，但是却都怀上了他的孩子。三个闺蜜生下了他的孩子，在这座豪宅里开始了快乐的生活。

本来以为是个爱情伦理片，充满男性想象，结果后半段直接成了CULT片，故事也变得简单许多，三人和男主之间关系也没有递进，能看出导演不想往深了讲。片里，尼克尔森想要说服雪儿上床时，有一段对话，印象挺深刻的：

“我想和你上床。”

“谢谢你的坦白，我也尽量对你诚实，我认为，不，我确定，你是我这辈子最不感兴趣的男人。我们相处了一下午，你已经示范了每一个男性身上的低劣品格，甚至更过，心理扭曲，肉体冲动，语言粗俗，无知、自私、愚蠢，品位低，格调低，对了，你还有体臭。你根本不够格引起我的注意。”

“你喜欢在上面还是在下面。”

“再见。”

“这就是你感受到的？真的是你的感受吗？”

“我要回家了。”

“有人在家吗，有吗，小孩会照顾自己，吃东西，上床睡觉，做功课，我保证他会的。打扫家务吗，干净了明天还会有更多的灰尘，铺床，洗盘子，煮饭，明天还要做同样的事情。你的宠物，你的针线活，你的手工……”

“这些正是我想做的。”

“假装是你想做的？假装成另一个人活着？你已经这样多久了，世界一天天变化，它回馈给你的是愿望落空，梦想流逝，你还能忍受多少。当你小睡片刻，躺在床上，看着天花板，你意识清楚，渴望不一样的事情发生，同时又犹豫着。时间是杀手，就现在，不要再等了，让它成真，利用我吧，满足我。”

一滴泪从女人眼眶滑落，转身拥吻男人。

哈哈，这段话挺有意思的。表面上看，其实都是双方相互间贴的标签和“偏见”，也正因为这种“偏见”异常的统一，使得两人更有一种不谋而合的相配。当两人拥吻时，观众能够明白，他们源自相互的理解，这更接近爱。

当然80年代的台词放到当下语境就不经用了，一是因为这些年这类嘴上王者的人物形象有些泛滥，二来是女性力量的觉醒，排斥男性自上而下的审视。估计放到现在电影里，女人应该是，“傻逼”，然后转身离去。

感觉没看明白，去check了一下。看到短评里也有表示不懂的，丢个Wiki来让大家feel一下原作的内涵吧！


This article is about the John Updike novel. For other uses, see The Witches of Eastwick (disambiguation).

【Plot】The story, set in the fictional Rhode Island town of Eastwick in the late 1960s, follows the witches Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont, who acquired their powers after leaving or being left by their husbands (although Alexandra is a widow). Their coven is upset by the arrival of a devil-like character, Daryl Van Horne. The mysterious Daryl seduces each of the women, encouraging them to play with their powers and creating a scandal in the town.

The three women share Daryl in relative peace until he unexpectedly marries their young, innocent friend, Jenny, on whom they resolve to have revenge by giving her cancer through their magic. The witches doubt their judgment after Jenny's death when Daryl flees town with her younger brother, Chris, apparently his lover. In his wake, he leaves their relationships strained and their sense of self in doubt. Eventually, each summons her ideal man and leaves town.

【Literary significance and criticism】
Updike described his novel as "about female power, a power that patriarchal societies have denied." Many scholars viewed it as strongly pro-feminist, "an intelligent engagement with feminism, and a rare case of a male novelist writing from women's points of view." [1] Some have expressed concern that the book may be misogynistic, as it seems to reinforce the patriarchal conceptions of women as witches and of women requiring a man for personal growth; others believe that the book may be more of a satire of such ideas.[2]

At the same time, there were those who praised the novel as a departure from John Updike's previous novels.


Note: all from //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Witches_of_Eastwick

The Witches and Eastwick(1987)和Bell, Book, and Candle(1958)都描写了女性在一个社会中的斗争，在这个社会中，规范的女性气质和巫术是 "社会构建的女性特征 "的两端。虽然两部电影最初都是描写职业女性（女巫），但社会塑造的欲望迫使她们做出不同的反应，即要么顺应所谓的 "常态女性气质"，要么反抗所谓的 "常态女性气质"，最终导致吉尔为了家庭化的爱情生活而牺牲了巫术，而三个女巫则欢迎她们内心的女巫组成了一个 "非传统 "的家庭。 在她们的挣扎过程中，正是每个时代的美国文化焦虑引入了 "理想规范的女性气质"，对女巫和女性起到了压迫的作用。

两部电影的女性角色都是以职业女性的身份开始，并且将自己的权力控制在手中。吉莉安是一个成功的女商人，经营着自己的商店；亚历山德拉-斯波福、简-斯玛特和苏琪-罗格蒙特是一个雕塑艺术家、音乐教师和记者。在这个阶段，她们都是和男人分开的。吉尔是单身，亚历克斯、简和苏琪的丈夫不是死了，就是离了婚，或者抛弃了她们。然而她们所有的自我依赖状态都无法持续太久。社会的压力和焦虑袭来，通过插入与 "规范的、传统的女性气质 "的距离的恐惧，扰乱了她们的时代。对于吉尔来说，她对谢泼德产生了生理上的吸引，渴望爱情亲情，渴望和他一起过着家常的生活。东域的三个女孩渴望感受到达里尔的力量，为她们提供自尊和关怀。从这里开始，所有的女巫都会把自己改造成一个有点性的女巫，"都是华丽的，做着邪恶的事情"(吉布森99)，比如吉尔迷倒了谢普，三个女巫让自己被达里尔勾引，对基督教女子费利西亚施咒。即便如此，这两部电影的结局也是截然不同的。对于吉尔来说，女巫是毫无顾忌的，也是由缺乏典型的女性属性来定义的。"不能脸红，哭泣或恋爱"（吉布森92）。吉尔坠入爱河，放弃了自己的巫术能力，成为 "唯一的人类"，以一个 "被安全驯化的性感女巫"(92)结束影片。相反，亚历克斯、简和苏琪则与魔鬼达里尔反目成仇，他们重新获得了巫术的能力，并将他赶走，故事的结尾是 "和他们（和他）的新宝宝一起生活在一个幸福的公共家庭"(99)，这是一种非传统的生活。

《钟、书、烛》的时代背景是50年代，这个时代的劳动妇女刚刚通过埃莉诺-罗斯福对妇女事业的推动获得了社会地位的提高。然而，这个后珍珠港时代又充满了来自父权社会的期望，希望 "女性会很高兴回到厨房和育婴室"(Gibson 92)。女性想要获得权力，但她们还是害怕成为 "激进分子 "的后果。在影片中，当吉莉安试图向谢普坦白她的巫术时，他开玩笑说 "你是不是一直在从事非美国的活动？"，她回答说："没有，我想说的是，我的巫术很厉害。"（吉布森92）。"不，我会说很美国"(93)。这可以理解为女巫吉尔害怕被冠以共产主义者的称号，是出于恐惧的反应。女巫与伊斯维克》的背景是80年代，一个在里根主义下保守主义加剧的时代。开头包括学校的发言人指责离婚率暴涨和拉客的孩子的现象。对于像伊斯威克这样的保守小镇，一个靠近塞勒姆的小镇，曾经举行过女巫审判，任何轻微的异常都会受到邻居的监视。三个女人的情况最初符合巫术的理由：（守寡、多子、不孕）。她们在潜意识中意识到自己作为女性的 "不正常"，并受到性压抑，导致后来她们参与了达里尔的勾引。因此，我认为，是美国的社会文化焦虑，将 "理想的常态女性气质 "寓于其中，对女巫和女性起到了压迫的作用。

BothThe Witches and Eastwick(1987) and Bell, Book, and Candle(1958) depicted women's struggles within a society where normative femininity and witchcraft are on the two ends of the spectrum of "socially constructed female traits". While both of the films initially depicts working woman(witches), their socially shaped desires force them to react differently, that is either conform to or rebel against so-called "normative femininity", eventually leading Gil sacrificing witchcraft for domesticated love life, and the three witches welcoming their inner witch forming an "untraditional" family. During their struggles, it is the American cultural anxieties in each era that introduced "ideal normative femininity", acted as oppression on witches and females.

Both films begin with female characters as working women and have their own power controlled in hand. Gillian being a successful businesswoman, running her own shop; Alexandra Spofford, Jane Smart, and Sukie Rougemont being a sculpture artist, a music teacher, and a reporter. At this stage, all of them are separate from men. Gil being single, Alex, Jane, and Sukie's husbands either died, divorced, or discarded them. Yet all of their self-dependent states couldn't last long. The social pressure and anxieties come in, disturbed them through inserting fear of distancing from "normative, traditional femininity" during their eras. For Gil, she becomes physically attracted to Shepherd, desires love affection and a domesticated life with him. Three girls from Eastwick yearn to feel empowered by Daryl, providing them self-esteem and care. Starting from here, all witches transform themselves into a somewhat sexualized witch, "all gorgeous and doing evil"(Gibson 99), like Gil enchanting Shep and three witches allowing themselves to be seduced by Daryl and casting a spell against Christian woman Felicia. Even so, these two films have drastically different endings. For Gil, witches were without scruple, and also defined by a lack of typically feminine attributes: "could not blush, cry or fall in love"(Gibson 92). Gil fall in love, abandoned her witchcraft abilities to be the "only human", closing the film with a "sexy witch safely domesticated"(92). Contrarily, Alex, Jane, and Sukie turn against the Devil Daryl, they re-acquired their power to bewitch and drive him away, and end the story living in a "happy communal family with their (and his) new babies"(99), a non-traditional life.

Bell, Book, and Candleis set in the '50s, an era in which the working women who just gained a raise of social status through Eleanor Roosevelt's promotion of women’s cause. However, this post-Pearl Harbor era was filled again with expectations from a patriarchal society, hoping that" women would be glad to get back to the kitchen and the nursery"(Gibson 92). Women wanted to gain power, still, they were afraid of the consequence of being "radicals". In the film, when Gillian tried to confess her witchcraft to Shep he joked ‘Have you been engaging in un-American activities?’, to which she replied: "no, I’d say very American"(93). This could be read as Gil the witch terrified of being titled with communist, a reaction out of fear.The Witches and Eastwickis set in the '80s, an era with Increased conservatism under Reaganism. The opening includes a spokesperson of the school accusing the phenomenon of divorce rates skyrocket and latchkey kids. For a conservative town like Eastwick, a town near Salem where the Witch Trials were once held, any slightest abnormality would be under neighbours' surveillance. The three women's conditions initially fitted into the justification for witchcraft: being widowed, having many children, and being infertility). They were aware of their "abnormality" as females subconsciously and were sexually repressed, causing their engagement with Daryl's seduction later on. Therefore, I argue that it is American social and cultural anxieties that fabled "ideal normative femininity", and acted as oppression on witches and females.