The Shift From a... Grimm Period

One thing that is particularly interesting that I have noticed in contemporary Western culture is that the witch has changed from being associated with Satanic practices to being associated to old European religions and folklore, shifting from something to be shunned and feared to becoming something that is fun and mystical, while at the same time being able to be scary or intimidating. There are examples of sitcoms, such as Bewitched that makes witches seem fun and sociable; however, witches are generally still intimidating on some level in modern culture.

I think an excellent example of this is Adalind Schade from the series Grimm. Grimm is a series that is focused on (mostly Germanic) folkloric creatures/monsters, or "Wesen" that secretly exist the world. As the title would suggest, the show is mostly based around creatures that appear in the Grimm Fairy Tales (although there are plenty such as wendigos that do not).  There is a heavy emphasis on Germanic mythology and many of the Wesen are either based on classic German folklore. Pronunciation is even very German, despite the show taking place in the United States, even the name “Schade” being pronounced “Shaw-duh” instead of “Shade.”

            Schade is a witch Wesen known as a Hexenbiest (or Zauberbiest if male). Schade begins the series as a villain and slowly transitions back and forth between being a “good” character and a “bad” character, although slowly transitioning from being a villain later in the series. She does use sex and seduction for evil purposes early in the series, similar to beliefs in witches during time periods when witch hunting was common. Female monsters, such as witches and succubi, appear to have very negative sexual characteristics, generally being promiscuity on using seduction to manipulate others. The theme of female monsters having these elements seem to represent old, sexist ideas and stigmas that existed in the ancient world and still affect our culture today and perhaps the presence of seductive villainesses are representative of sexual stigmas that still exist.
            Sean Renard, a warlock, or Zauberbiest, in the series, is a “good” character, albeit one with an intimidating demeanor. While most witch and warlock characters are intimidating, some are “good” characters and part of what makes this possible is that, despite there being some Abrahamic demons in the series, most European oriented Wesen are based on classical European Pagan beliefs that existed before the spread of Christianity and thus are not Satanically based. Adalind Schade, mentioned earlier, although she began as a villain, slowly developed into a somewhat heroic character later in the series.

There are also Wesen that are lycanthropes, such as Blutbaden, most which being “good” characters, with a few exceptions. The protagonist’s best friend, Monroe in the series is one. Although Monroe has urges to hunt innocent people, he, along with other Blutbaden in the series, goes through great measures to maintain self-control and moral discipline and is a productive member of society despite being a monster.

I would also like to note that many creatures that were once entirely evil have changed in our culture to be more neutral and morally complicated and variable based on the individual. For example, orcs, which originated in Tolkien’s works, began as an all-evil race of cursed elves, but have changed in contemporary culture. Especially in video games, orcs became more intelligent and portrayed as more moral and often brave and heroic despite being shamed and disliked by other races. Our culture’s shift toward liberalism and acceptance has led to many morally simplistic “bad” creatures and races to become more humanized and complex, rather than creatures that can be killed without any moral implications. In fact, the children’s movie Shrek even makes a point of this with its ogre protagonist. I think this shift can also be seen in werewolves and witches. It appears that as our attitudes toward other races, religions and even our attitudes toward sex directly affect our view of monsters and how they are portrayed.