The Teen Witch and the Complexity of Care Under Capitalism Through a Case Study of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Abstract

The contemporary teen witch figure is conceived of and represented in a way that is interrelated with young adult media culture. Through an examination of the show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as well as teen witches in popular culture, contemporary alternative spirituality, and witch hunts in mediaeval Europe, I explore how the extra-ordinary girl figure like Sabrina the witch is culturally and historically symbolic of how care practices become defiant amidst capitalism. I draw connections between the teen witch, the teen girl in contemporary North American society, and ideology within the context of care as resistance to capitalism. Through textual analysis of Sabrina, qualitative research, and a brief discussion of the relevant socio-historical background, I emphasize that the teen witch figure today must be read within the context of capitalism and neoliberalism. Moreover, the multiple methods I use illuminate the various ways the defiant girl’s care can be both valorized and weaponized. I draw upon real and fictional girls to demonstrate that there is a link between the fictitious co-opted witch in contemporary popular media and real women who were labelled witches around the emergence of capitalism. I explore the significance of the show Sabrina, alongside socio-cultural phenomenon of present-day alternative spirituality and the ‘witch’ of feudalism in Europe.

Keywords:

• neoliberalism
• girlhood
• capitalism
• witch
• TV
• culture

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I am using North American as shorthand for English-speaking culture in the United States and Canada, while recognizing that its geographical range includes Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

2 A dolly long shot is a steady moving shot capturing the landscape around the main subjects of the scene.