Nicole Kidman’s Hollywood Witches

Dissatisfaction ties these two Kidman witches together. In both cases, the craft is a short cut or a revenge ploy, while a normal relationship with a man is the ultimate goal. Domesticity means safety for both of Kidman’s archetypal hetero witches. Neither one is too dangerous; one just chooses a Jimmy instead of a Jack. When Jimmy is killed, Gillian prays to God, begging his forgiveness. She promises to tame herself and have kids, and even attend PTA meetings. A woman’s powers, it would seem, are only good for one thing. The proper use of witchcraft, like the proper use of a woman’s sexuality, is to locate and snag the right guy.

-Hairpin pal Durga Chew-Bose takes on Nicole Kidman’s witch roles, as Isabel Bigelow in 2005’s Bewitched and as Gillian Owens in 1998’s Practical Magic, over at The New Inquiry.