SUBMITTED BY

NIVEDITHA.Y

2230937

SUBMITTED TO

DR. VAGISHWARI.

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, POLITICAL SCIENCE AND

HISTORY

4HEP

16TH JANUARY, 2024

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, A
FILM BY PAUL FEIG

Steven Spielberg once said, “The cinema is a living, breathing chronicle of our past, a mirror
that reflects the struggles, triumphs, and evolution of humanity. In the flicker of each frame,
history unfolds, and through the lens of film, we glimpse the soul of a society in its most
poignant moments”. In aligning with EH Carr, I would say that the filmmakers just like the
historians are the product of their age. The filmmakers while making a film (considering a
historic film), are not just describing what happened in the past but also are understanding the
past and present through the interrelation between them. In today’s world, we can see a
variety of films raising questions against the stereotypes, and norms that are illogical in
society to a large extent. In a way, they are contributing to the historical discourse by
reflecting on sources of history through the costumes, dialogues, and setting, in the film. The
School for Good and Evil, though a fantasy film directed by Paul Feig, delves into a lot of
stereotypes that were prevalent in that particular society. This society in which the film
revolves cannot be fitted into a certain epoch of this world but in this paper, I will be taking
the incidents of this film to deconstruct the dialogues which would help us understand the
deeper meaning behind it. This is done to problematize the incidents in the film just like a
historiographer who tries to problematize the history to find the truth.

Eric says you put a hex on him, he says you looked at him weird and now he feels itchy said a
village boy to a teenage girl named Agatha who dressed, looked, and lived like the so-called
witch. Another villager warned Agatha that he doesn’t want any witches in Gavaldon as they
are a threat to the “DECENT” people of Gavaldon. The main question that is to be raised is
WHO IS A WITCH? Considering this film, neither Agatha practised witchcraft nor was she
involved with someone practising witchcraft (But her mom is believed to be a witch by the
villagers). Agatha lives by the graveyard, has a black cat as a pet, doesn’t wear colourful
dresses but rather very dark clothes, and lives with her lonely mother(probably divorced or
foster mother). Do we need any other source to prove that she was not a witch in the 17th or
18th century? In the late 17th century, the intensity of the witch craze was high and the ratio
of persecutions between men and women was 80:20 (80 per cent were women and 20 per
cent were men). It is also assumed that witches are normally female because of various
reasons like the Malleus Maleficarum igniting a widespread hunt for the so-called witches
described in it. They were put to trial, and burned by the villages for suspecting that they
were possessed by the devil. During this period, several thousands of people, mostly peasant
women, single, rural and poor women were put through a complex judicial process
administered by men and executed for witchcraft. Independent, wise women were seen as a
threat to this society because they went against the notion of “ideal women” as said in
Christianity. In the 12th century, the authorities in fear of witchcraft began to round up the
entire female population.

Another interesting question that could be raised through this film is does a witch hunt or the
idea of a witch divides women in a patriarchal society. Agatha who got chosen for the school
of good is bullied by the students in this school as a witch because she is comparatively
unique from other women who dress beautifully, and can score high in beauty class. In the
patriarchal society, women are expected to be in a certain way which would please the
society and the men are supposed to protect the society. A lady’s smile is a sword in the
battle for life and for true love said a professor in the school for good. Is this how you
empower us? Is this how a woman becomes powerful? Raised Agatha. On the other hand
men in this school are trained to defend the evil. But a peculiar prince, Gregor who is
interested in putting up a grocery store rather than becoming a king, was turned into a
creature because he couldn’t live up to the expectations of the school. The patriarchal society
not only expects the women but also the men to fit into the norms created by the society.
This film essentially talks about the importance of friendship, the idea of good and evil but
when deconstructed, we can find various stereotypes discussed above in that particular
society which are still prevalent though not widely. Witch hunting is a great source of
understanding various dimensions of the patriarchal society, The influence of religion over
people’s perception of looking at wise, independent women. Today’s world has a long way to
a progressive society but historic moments like the Rani Jhansi regiment(Female combat
regiment) which was able to defend the British army in a way, women in the postcolonial
nations which are considered backward, non-modern, led their nation and are in high paying
occupations. In this way, films are quintessential in understanding the dynamics of the
historical events when deconstructed, and problematized.

References:

1. The Witchcraft Reader by Durren Oldridge

2. Bailey MD. (n.d.). ORIGINS OF THE WITCH HUNTS.

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38935643.pdf

3. http://agnee.tezu.ernet.in:8082/jspui/bitstream/1994/1442/10/10_chapter%203.pdf

My Experience: This is truly a tough, creative and interesting task I would say because this is
my first time deconstructing a non-historic film this way. There is a huge distinction between
reviewing a book and a film because a visual source gives more insights and varied
perspectives. On the other hand, proving that this film is a source of history is quite a
worrisome task because I was sceptical if this could be related to a particular incident and that
stopped me from choosing a lot of films initially. But it was a wholesome experience at the
end because I was able to learn something new which I will be carrying with me from now on
while watching films.