America's Obsession With the Occult

            America seems to have always been captivated by the occult. We tend to be very curious about the unknown. A classic example of this infatuation is exemplified in Young Goodman Brown. There are plenty of modern examples of our interest in dark, supernatural forces, such as the movie, Paranormal Activity -which I personally find to be way too terrifying-. Does this make Americans sick, twisted, satanic people? Or do we just want to escape reality in an attempt to entertain ourselves with fear?

            There are various ways that we can indulge ourselves with this form of entertainment. We can read books, such as Twilight, watch movies like Paranormal Activity, or even keep up with dark TV shows, such as American Horror Story. This suggests that Americans enjoy the adrenaline rush of watching ghosts and demons rattle pans in an ordinary family’s kitchen, and are eager to imagine what they would do in a zombie apocalypse.

            In Hawthorne’s short story, Young Goodman Brown, the main character goes on a late night journey into the woods with the devil. He was bewildered by the sight of all of his devil-worshipping peers, who he thought were good, righteous Puritans. This popular piece shows that there has always been interest in the occult. This explains why even today some Americans go on haunted tours and around Halloween, haunted houses are a popular destination for many.

            Authors and producers keep providing society with this type of entertainment because they know how to manipulate us. They take what Americans are afraid of, and emphasize it. Maybe this is how some people face their fears, or maybe going to a thriller with a group of friends is a great way to experience an emotional catharsis. Americans as a whole are drawn to dark, intangible mysteries. We always have been, and we probably always will be.  

Anti-Heroes: Ichabod Crane vs. Olivia Pope

On the popular TV show, Scandal, character Olivia Pope (a well respected crisis management attorney in Washington DC) is portrayed as strong, independent, brilliant, and honest. However, if one looks beyond that, she can seem to be just the opposite. It’s hard not to like Liv, but she’s not always as good as she may seem, she will do whatever it takes to help “fix” her clients problems. Though it may seem hard to believe, Olivia Pope has some shocking similarities with the classic antihero, Ichibod Crane, from Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

First of all, both Ichibod and Olivia are attracted to seemingly unattainable people. Ichibod, a poor schoolteacher, is infatuated with Katrina Van Tassel, or rather the idea of her. He wants her for her wealth and land. Olivia, on the other hand, is having an affair with the president, a very powerful and wealthy man. Not to mention the fact that he’s married with children. She has hopes of breaking up the family for her own benefit. Also, Olivia has had a history of only dating men who are rich, powerful, and older than her. Clearly, both characters are flawed, and frankly, gold diggers.

Another similarity between Olivia and Ichibod is that they both are willing to completely cut off anyone in their current life if they attain what -or whom, rather- they hope to. Ichibod imagines just how quickly he would abandon any colleague or friend of his if he won the hand of Katrina. Similarly, Olivia would leave her firm, along with all of her blindly loyal associates, if/when the president decides to go live with her (in the luxurious home he had built for her in Vermont). Evidently, both characters are so caught up in their selfishness that they have total disregard for those around them.

Finally, both characters have issues when regarding the subject of morality. Ichibod Crane is somewhat of a tyrant in the classroom. He is cruel to his students, unless he thinks their mother will prepare food for him, in which case he spares the child. Olivia Pope employs some very interesting people, one of them being a CIA trained killer, who is addicted to torturing people. Whenever she has dirty work, or needs something to be “handled”, she has him take care of it. This is acceptable to the viewer because she “rescued” the man after the CIA dumped him and made him homeless, indebting him to her forever. Both characters have their positive traits too, but I have focused on their questionable attributes. This sheds these characters in a different light, showing them as anti-heroes rather than heroes.