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

Nancy Downs may have mishandled her magic in The craftbut I could have done the same thing as her if I were in Nancy’s place, and I can’t help but root for her. An extremely underrated Halloween horror film, The craft follows Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney), a California high school student with strange powers that even she doesn’t understand. When she moves to a new school, Nancy befriends a trio of outcasts who have a fascination with the occult and witchcraft. In Sarah, they see the solution to their problems and to becoming popular.

If you imagine Heathers and Halloween City mixed together, you can get The craft. The delightful twist on the high school coming-of-age film, The craft stands out for 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 film. She is tough, has a tough side and is a loyal friend. In fact, she’s so nice, that even as she begins to emerge as The craftShe’s the villain, I can’t help but like her.

Nancy is not a true villain, but an “unlikely female character” antiheroine

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

While Nancy is positioned as the antagonist of The craft in the second half of the film, I have a hard time calling her a “villain.” She’s an antihero at worst. Nancy is at the start of a long line of female film and TV antiheroes and is too intriguing to hate. The leader of the trio of outcasts who takes Sarah in, Nancy proves to be her closest friend, genuinely showing love for her beyond Sarah’s powers.. Nancy knows what it means to be “weird.” She even says at one point, maybe The craftthe most famous phrase of “,We are the weird ones, sir.”

The Los Angeles school the clan attends is full of rich, white, preppy students, and Nancy, dressed as a goth, doesn’t fit in at all. She comes from a poor family and has a stepfather who abuses her. Nancy doesn’t dress or act like the other students at school and is ridiculed for it. Instead of giving in to the girls’ demeaning comments, Nancy focuses on the things that make her different. It’s inspiring. I think all of us, at one time or another, stop being ourselves for a while because of comments from colleagues.

Nancy doesn’t care about society’s expectations of how she should behave or act. She does what she wants. Her being transformed into the vessel of a demon with incredible powers is her reward for refusing to give in to others’ ideas of femininity. When she finally gains control of her life for the first time, She wields this new power as she wants. It’s tragic that she does it so violently, but that’s part and parcel when you’re disappointed in everyone else in your life.

Each of the witches in art is placed in a box by society

Almost all witches use their power to adapt, except Nancy

All four witches in The craft are placed in a box they did not choose. Because of something they cannot control, society sees them a certain way and expects them to act a certain way. Sarah is treated with care and nervousness by her family, who don’t seem to know exactly what to do with her. Bonnie Harper (Neve Campbell) thinks she doesn’t fit into normal beauty standards because of the scars she received in a car accident. Rochelle Zimmerman (Rachel True) is one of the few black students at school and suffers racist bullying.

Then there is Nancy, who no one respects or likes because of her position in life. She is a poor girl surrounded by a bunch of rich students. When the coven gets their powers from Manon, or maybe just one does, which is a theory I subscribe to, each member uses witchcraft to regain control of a part of their life that others have mocked them for. Bonnie heals her scars; Rochelle casts a spell to make the hair of one of her tormentors, Laura (Christine Taylor), fall out; and Nancy goes one step further by giving her abusive stepfather a heart attack.

Sarah casts a love spell on Chris Hooker (Skeet Ulrich), hoping to start a relationship. Of course, each of these curses backfires. As everyone tries to force their way into society’s standards, things go wrong. Everyone except 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 had some shockingly villainous moments

Sarah was terrorized by Nancy

Of course, Nancy did some horrible things. I will 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 tried to sexually assault Sarah, but remember he was under the effects of a love spell. He is not in control of himself. Then she becomes an evil witch when she invades Sarah’s dreams and tries to make her kill herself. Nancy’s violence grows at the end of The craftand while I still see her as an antihero, there’s no denying that she’s lost control.

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

Nancy takes no prisoners and uses all her powers

Whatever Nancy’s actions, however cruel they may seem at the end of The craftIt’s hard not to be impressed. She is a real witch who performs magic, casts curses and walks on water. What more could you want in a movie witch? Nancy was abused by her family and forgotten and disrespected by her peers, through no fault of her own. So do you know what she does when she receives diabolical powers? She fixes the parts of her life that she feels are the cause of her suffering.

This is not a witch who waits for someone to explain the ins and outs of being a witch. Nancy gets her powers and is cursed. That”With great power comes great responsibility“Uncle Ben’s quote? Nancy has had enough of responsibilities. It’s everyone’s turn to take a little responsibility for the damage they caused her over the years. Combine all that emotion with Fairuza Balk’s outrageous and singularly fiery performance and Nancy Downs isn’t just the best witch in the world. The craftbut one of the best fictional witches of all time.