"Reel" vs. "Real"

It’s unquestionable that cinema today strives to bewitch its viewers in an enchanting way. The director of the motion picture The Crucible, Nicholas Hyther, contrived several aspects of the film to enhance the tragedies of Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials occurred in the late 1600’s, and resulted in the deaths of about twenty innocent lives. Though The Crucible educates its viewers on the true essence of the trials, some of the most gripping scenes in the film are the most fictitious.

Particular parts of The Crucible were formulated to capture its audience. One example of this is displayed in the opening scene of the The Crucible. In this depiction, dozens of teenage girls from the village were found in the forest dancing and performing witchcraft with Tituba, the Parris’ servant. This scene was fabricated to entertain because in real life, Tituba was merely reading the palms of girls in the Parris’ kitchen, according to the article “Devil In Salem”. In a similar manner, Hyther spiced up the movie with a stagy love affair between adulterer John Proctor and adosolent Abigail Williams. This scandalous relationship added heartache, bitterness, and lust to the flick. Historically, 11-year-old Abigail Williams was 60-year-old John Proctor’s maid, but there is no accredited indication that this dramatic and highly unlikely affair took place. Nicholas Hyther managed to synthesize real history with “reel” history so even the insidious town of Salem, Massachusetts lured you in.

The Crucible, though filled with false facts, told the horrendously hooking story of the Salem Witch Trials. The video embodied numerous educational truths about the seventeenth century witch hysteria. Importantly, the film included various vital characters actually involved in the trials. Reverend Parris, Tituba, Giles Corey, and Sarah Osborn are merely just a few names of authentic figures that were pulled from primary sources, such as trials records, town censuses, and property licenses. Additionally, the landscape exhibited in The Crucible represented what the scenery might’ve been like in this time period. The vast majority of buildings were constructed of wood, and plains stretched as far as the eye could see. Historically, people of this time would have had trees as one of the few available resources to build houses, and since they were still living in early America, it made sense that there were undeveloped lands surrounding the village. The Crucible once again successfully incorporated legitimate reality with Hollywood entertainment.

The Salem Witch Trials were put into perspective through the movie The Crucible. The film showed the true horrors of the late 1600’s , while also entertaining with drama and love affairs. The witch slaughters of this time can be compared to modern terrorist acts performed by feared theocracies, such as ISIL. Equivalent to some terrorist groups, the Puritans from this time period stretched to drastic, violent measures to ensure that their religion was being practiced by everyone in the way they saw appropriate. The Crucible helped paint a fine, vivid line between acts of religion and acts of terror.