The Nancy Downs of The Craft isn’t the villain—and that’s why she’s still a pop culture icon

Nancy Downs may have mishandled her magic in The ForceBut I would probably do the same as you if I were in Nancy’s position, and I can’t listen to her. A totally underrated Halloween horror movie, The Force Follows Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney), a California high school student with strange powers even she doesn’t understand. When she moves to a new school, Nancy befriends a trio of outcasts who all have a fascination with the occult and witchcraft. In Sarah, they see the solution to their problems and to become popular.

If you imagine Heathers And Halloween Town Blended together, you might get The Force. The delightful twist on the coming-of-age high school movie, The Force Excels because of its distinct 90s flavor, serious insights into feminism and society’s views on women, and some fantastic characters. Nancy Downs, played by Fairuza Balk, is a particularly fascinating character in the movie. She is tough, has a hard edge and is a loyal friend. In fact, she is so cool, that Even when she starts to come out like The ForceS villain, I can’t help but like you.

Nancy is not a true villain, but an antihero “unlikable female character”.

Nancy reacts to the world as she wants to, not as others expect her to

While Nancy is positioned as the antagonist of The Force In the latter half of the movie, I struggle to call her the “villain”. She is an antihero at worst. Nancy is early in a long line of movie and TV female anti-heroes, and she’s also intriguing to hate. The leader of the trio of outcasts that Sarah takes in, Nancy proves to be her closest friend, actually showing love for her beyond Sarah’s powers. Nancy knows what it means to be “weird”. She even says sometimes, maybe The Force‘s most famous line, “We are the strange ones.”

The Los Angeles school the Coven attends is filled with rich, white, preppy students, and the gothic-clad Nancy doesn’t fit in at all. She comes from a poor home and has a stepfather who raises her. Nancy doesn’t dress or act like the other students at school, and she’s proud of it. Instead of bowing to the girls’ belittling comments, Nancy doubles down on the things that make her different. It’s inspiring. I think we have all at one time or another stopped being ourselves for a bit because of the comments of a peer.

Nancy doesn’t bother with society’s expectations of how she should behave or act. She does what she wants. Her being transformed into the vessel for a demon with incredible powers is her reward for refusing to give in to other ideas of femininity. When she finally gains control of her life for once, She runs the new power as she wants. It’s tragic that she does it with such violence, but that comes in part and parcel when you’ve already been disappointed by everyone else in your life.

Each of the witches in the craft are put in a box by society

Almost every witch uses her power to fit in, except Nancy

All four of these types in The Force were placed in a box that they did not choose. Because of something they cannot control, society looks at them in a certain way and expects them to behave in a certain way. Sarah is treated carefully and nervously by her family, who do not know exactly what to do with her. Bonnie Harper (Neve Campbell) thinks she can’t conform to normal beauty standards because of scars she received in an automobile accident. Rachel Zimmerman (Rachel True) is one of the few black students at the school and is subject to racist bullying.

Then there’s Nancy, who no one respects or likes because of her station in life. She is a poor girl surrounded by a bunch of rich students. When the alliance gets their powers from Manon, or maybe just one, which is a theory I somewhat subscribe to, Each member uses witchcraft to take back control of a part of their life that others have mocked them for. Bonnie heals her scars; Rachel casts a spell to make one of her tormentors, Laura’s (Christine Taylor), hair fallout; And Nancy goes a step further, giving her abusive stepfather a heart attack.

Sarah casts a love spell on Chris Hooker (Skeet Ulrich), in the hopes of starting a relationship. Of course, each of the curses back. As they all attempt to force their way into society’s standards, things go wrong. All but Nancy, her descent may be dark, but at least she’s not trying to change who she is or what others think of her.

Nancy has some shockingly absurd moments

Sarah is terrorized by Nancy

Of course, Nancy did some pretty awful things. I’m going to say that killing her stepfather at least made some sense considering her history with him. However, killing Chris is definitely not heroic. He may have been trying to sexually assault Sarah, but remember that he was under the effects of a love spell. He is not in control of himself. Then she goes full evil witch when she invades Sarah’s dreams and tries to make her kill herself. Nancy’s violence grows towards the end of The ForceAnd while I still see her as an antihero, there’s no denying she’s lost control.

Nancy remains an icon because she is everything we want in a movie witch

Nancy takes no prisoners and uses the full extent of her powers

Whatever Nancy’s actions, as cruel as they seem to the end of The ForceIt’s hard not to be impressed. She is a true magic-making, curse-casting, walking-on-water witch. What more could you want in a witch movie? Nancy is abused by her family and forgotten and disrespected by her peers through no fault of her own. So you know what she does when she is given demonic powers? She owns the parts of her life that she feels are the cause of her suffering.

This is not a witch waiting for someone to explain the finer points of being a witch. Nancy gets her powers and gets cursed. that “With great power comes great responsibility” Uncle Ben’s line? Nancy has enough responsibility. It’s everyone’s turn to take some responsibility for the damage they’ve caused. She over the years. Combine all that emotion with Fairuza Balk’s outrageous and uniquely pathetic performance and Nancy Downes is not only the best witch in The ForceBut one of the best fictional witches ever.