I almost never watch network television. I don't know why. Perhaps because I have been seduced by the odd and varied shows that I can access through my satellite system. Perhaps it's because so much of "regular" television seems like the same stuff over and over again. Perhaps it's because we lived in the sticks, couldn't get much by the way of network TV, got the satellite and promptly found ourselves not wanting to watch network TV through all of that "snow" anymore. It was only in desperation did we finally get a waiver to actually access network TV through our satellite. (It has to do with the not getting to watch the Superbowl - so you might not want to ask!)

Anyway, this last fall I attended an out of town conference. After a long day of trudging around the enormous conference center (why did every session seem to be on the opposite side from my last session?), I went back to collapse in my hotel room. I turned on the TV for some welcome bit of noise, and ran across Charmed. Now, I had never really watched Charmed before, and since it has to do with witches, I thought that I would tune in.

I was fascinated enough with the show, that I took some time to watch other episodes at home. Hunting them down wasn't too difficult, as they are running in syndication - over and over again, in fact. What I think is the funniest thing about Charmed, is that the entire basis of the show is set in Christian mythology. The "Charmed Ones," the three witch sisters, basically save innocent souls from Christian demons. This totally cracked me up as one of the most idiotic premises that a show could have! I guess it's not bad propaganda for Pagans and witches, as it shows us fighting on the side of "good" - of course, good as defined by Christians. But, it does reinforce to a naïve public that witches actually believe in Satan and demons and other primary parts of Christian mythology - which is NOT true for the most part. While I couldn't see any self-respecting witch turn down helping innocent people from getting hurt, having a show with the lead characters as witches actually buying into and working within a Christian mythology framework is probably not good for our movement. And notice how I haven't said anything about the Hollywood magic/supernatural stuff. That is going to always be with us as long as witches are portrayed in Hollywood. *sigh*

In other essays I have talked about such movies as The Craft, and Charmed seems to fall into the same category. In The Craft and Charmed and in other movies and television shows, Hollywood has borrowed pieces of real Paganism and witchcraft and melded it into their version of reality. By using Pagan symbols, terminology, ritual forms and even God/Goddesses names, it lends strength to the pieces being produced by making them appear more credible/real. And I think that this is the scary part for us. While these shows may be bringing more young people into Paganism/Wicca by stirring up their interest, is this necessarily a good thing given the underlying assumptions of these shows? Do people who come to Paganism through their exposure to these shows really understand what it is we are about? Given many of the websites that I have surfed, I don't think so. We don't have enough people to teach the deeper mysteries of our religion, and so many people either use books or bad websites to try and fill in the gaps. And I don't think that it is enough. I have to wonder if the people who do come to us through popular culture, actually stay, once they find out the true reality of our religion. For the most part we don't slay demons, "orb" from one place to another, or change our hair and eye color without the help of colored contacts and a box of hair dye.

So it seems that the road to Hollywood may be paved with good intentions, given the latest offerings - but yet still have bad consequences for us as a movement. Is our movement becoming increasingly shallow? Do people coming to us via Hollywood do so because they see it as a short-cut to getting what they desire out of life?

Deep connections require deep understanding, and this takes time, discipline and thoughtfulness. In our society of instant gratification, most people don't want to hear that it will take hard work to reach their spiritual (and other) goals. There are many of those within our movement who practice the outer forms of ritual without much understanding of the deeper connections, and I can only hope that they find people who can help guide them over the superficiality that seems to be so endemic of some of today's Paganism. Of course, I think that the people who are willing to do the deeper work make for some of the most interesting, intelligent, caring and grounded people I have had the privilege to know. Whoops! My bias is showing.

Charmed, I'm sure.