Aaron Reviews: The VVitch

Last Saturday Megh and I had the opportunity to see The VVitch (stylized with the double V as it would have been in the 17th century typography.) Being a limited release, we were ushered into the smallest theater Memorial City Cinemark had to offer. The theater was about half full, the crowd consisting of mostly teens and young couples. I was worried. I had been very interested in this movie since its first Sundance reviews, and had been hyping the movie up in my mind for several weeks.

The movie started strong. The crowd quieted. It stayed completely silent throughout the film, save one man softly exclaiming "Jesus" at a particularly upsetting part near the end. When the movie was over, everyone silently stood and left. No one discussed the film. To me that is a good sign.

 

The plot was simple: A 17th century family is tormented by a witch. The movie had a slow but steady build-up of dread and every part of the movie, from the excellent cast to the cinematography and score, worked together to make the best horror movie I've seen in a long time. There are no twists. There are no tricks. There is only one mild jump scare, and it was used with care. The blood and gore in the movie was also used with care, and it was not over-the-top or ever unnecessary. The actors did their jobs well, even the children. The source material for the film, the legends and accounts of witchcraft in 17th century New England, are portrayed accurately and even sometimes verbatim with the literature of the time.

Describing the movie further is difficult. In fact, on our way home Megh and I remarked on the fact that there wasn't much to talk about, even though we both thoroughly enjoyed it. There's a certain element that the movie has that can't really be explained. The movie feels bad. In the same way that the old woodcuttings of satanic rites feel bad. The way that being alone in the woods can suddenly feel bad. Or hearing a baby cry in the dark feels bad. Not a feeling that something terrible is about to happen. A feeling that something terrible has already happened, and you're too afraid to look, because after you look you can't go back to not knowing.

The movie isn't for everyone. It's not a slasher. Its not a thriller. The dialogue can be difficult to understand in parts. There's no sex, although sexuality does have its part. It doesn't have a lot in common with most new horror movies. But most new horror movies, I would say, aren't very good. This movie was. It was upsetting, dark, and very, very good. I would give it a 9.5/10, and I plan on seeing it again.

Poor, Pregnant, and Pro life: My experience at a Crisis Pregnancy Center

 About two years ago, I found myself in a situation that I never thought I would be in.

 I was pregnant. At 19 years old, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still technically a teenage pregnancy and I was scared. I had no job, I was not emotionally stable, and I was facing housing problems. My parents lived across the country and Aaron and I had not known each other for very long. It was a real mess.

 Being anti abortion is easy when you are not accidentally pregnant. You feel like you can tell people, perfect strangers, what to do. You can hold up pictures of fetuses in the womb, late term abortions, little babies with tiny feet in the air and halos around their sweet heads. You can shout slogans and pray in front of clinics for the women going in. It will most likely not mean a damn to any woman who is desperate and scared. I know that discovering that I was pregnant with a baby that I wasn't ready for shook my dedication.

 As a teenager, I feel like I fought pretty valiantly for the cause. I organized Stand True's yearly Day of Silence twice at my high school. At the time I felt it was not a protest, but rather a day of silent prayer for all of the mothers and babies affected by abortion, to inform others. I held my head high as I was mocked and threatened with rape, and even shoved down the stairs as I wore that red tape over my mouth; I knew that I was right and that these children can joke and hate and try and hurt me as much as they liked, I would never break. I saw my younger sister and dear friends treated similarly.  I helped design fliers and make t-shirts and passed out red tape. I was the president of our Young Republicans club and I called state senators or congressmen or whoever to ask them to pretty please not support such and such or this bill. I was a good little warrior.

 I reflected on that two years ago, as Aaron and I drove to my appointment at the Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Did you know?...

I was a vegetarian for about 10 years. When Isaac came along, my stomach was too sensitive and my energy too low for me to prepare any real, healthful vegetarian dishes. So for the duration of my pregnancy, I ate meat. Mostly baked or grilled chicken, as my meat-free childhood ill prepared me for stomaching fattier meats, such as pork and beef (as well as both of those tasting like death to me).

 Last night, I learned that my weak, vegetarian-conditioned stomach also could not handle preparing a whole chicken.

Well, game hen.

I had been wanting to roast a game hen for as long as I can remember, and yesterday I resolved to do it. How hard could it be? After all, I had cooked frozen boneless chicken fillets, and even raw, slimy ones. The hen looked all nice and neat in its little package, so I assumed it would be like the fillets, only chicken shaped and with bones. Let me give you my first impression upon freeing the hen from its plastic case.

"OH MY GOD THIS IS ISAAC." The hen was a chubby, pale pink thing, and was similar to the size of my son when he is curled up. After yelling out out to Aaron that I had murdered something, I inspected the chicken more closely. Moving its wings and legs and little joints made me sad. Finding the cavity through which it had been gutted and cleaned was embarrassing. And picking it up and feeling the weight and remembering that it had once been a living, breathing creature made me swear off meat again, this time forever.

It was delicious.