The above video is a brief 50 second clip from the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You” which shows Jennifer Aniston’s character sitting at a table at a party in which the man she meets identifies himself as “a Wiccan  … a male Witch”, reveals his magical name, and defines Wicca loosely as “a nature-based, pre-Christian religion.”  Her character Beth’s reaction is to mutter “yeah, that’s fantastic.”

I will say upfront that I have not seen this movie and I can’t say that I really intend to.  Not because of this scene, but because I rarely watch much in the way of “chick flicks” preferring instead to spend my TV time with GamerDude who, while a sensitive soul, isn’t about to endure 2 hours of watching women bemoan the lack of a lasting love relationship.

I will also admit, upfront, that I am easily annoyed at portrayals of Wicca in modern media.  I remember being more angry with The Craft for what it portrayed accurately than all of its misinformation as the former was what gave credibility to the latter.  More recently I was a bit miffed by the portrayal of a “killing curse” wielding Wiccan on the CBS show The Mentalist .

The above video is but a few brief seconds in a movie that most viewers, even fans of the movie, probably won’t even notice and almost certainly won’t remember for very long if they do.  But I still found it a bit unsettling.  Not so much Jennifer Aniston’s character Beth’s reaction to her table-mate’s revelation as by the portrayal of the Wiccan in question.

Those of my readers who are Wiccan, or some other Pagan persuasion, how likely would you be at a social function to jump right into identifying your faith right after introducing yourself for the first time?  How likely would you be to reveal your full magical or initiatory name (if you choose to use one) to someone you just met?  Would this be how you would want someone/anyone to hear about Wicca (or your own Pagan faith) for the first time – in an awkward oversharing moment?  Would you want this man, fictional though he is, to be the first Wiccan many Americans meet?Because according to a recent survery most of the United States has little to no idea of what Wicca is and what they do know, scares them?  Now, granted this survey was done by a Conversative Christian polling group but still …

Personally, I rarely identify myself as either a Wiccan or a Witch (unless asked a direct question) unless I know you to some degree.  I do not necessarily need to know you well or intimately but I need to have allowed you to already have gotten to know me a bit so that, whatever the word(s) evokes for you, this revelation will be weighed against what you have come to know about me as a person.  I hope that the impression I give is that perfectly average,  intelligent, kind almost 40 year olds are Wiccan too. 

How do you feel about the portrayal?  How do you feel about Ms. Aniston’s character’s reaction? Please Let us know in the forum.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

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Written by Mama KellyTags:"he's just not that into you", jennifer aniston, media, movie, pagan, paganism, wicca, wiccan, witch