When feminism, a break from patriarchal control, gets labeled as evil, it’s time to reclaim that power and embrace the darkness.
Through the films Don’t Deliver Us From Evil (1971), Alucarda (1977), Jennifer’s Body (2009), and The Witch (2016), we will explore the representation and importance of Satan as the image of an anti-patriarchal idol and source of empowerment for women.
Through witchcraft, possession, and pure free will, elements often referred to in connection with Satanic worship, the women of these stories explore their deepest darkest desires while breaking the bondage of conformity and oppression to become liberated spirits of wild feminine abandon. They achieve this when up against religious repression and temporal exploitation that surrounds their burgeoning sexuality and independence.
Women’s greatest foes come in the form of religious institutions such as convents and nunneries, enforced family roles displayed in fanatical Puritanism, and secular institutions such as public high schools that perpetuate the objectification of young women.
By highlighting the three main Satanic opponents of the patriarchy — Eve, the witch, and the succubus — we will show that there is strength in darkness and power within embracing the ideology of Satanism.
This is a rebroadcast of A SPECIAL LIVE PRESENTATION for the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival in February 2021.
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