To appease nature - the concept of natural in The Wicker Man (1973)
A word to the wise - this article does not demand but strongly suggests the viewing of the movie The Wicker Man (1973) 
- not to be confused with the Nicholas Cage abomination remake - so as to not be upset by spoilers.
The Wicker Man (TWM) is a film that stands out. It’s not an experimental film - it has a narrative, a (robust) script, professional actors, editing, the works. Its difference lies in how it breaks away from the hard boundaries of film genres and toys with us, from the first few scenes all the way to the climatic end. We’ll come to that later.
The idea of film genres is thrown out the window after you watch TWM. The director believed it to be a musical. For the distribution company, who found it impossible to fit it in a box, this was a horror film. For couch critics, it can be stuck between mystery, folk horror or fantastique. This film is all of that and then some; it’s drama and comedy, action and introspection… and none of the above. It moves freely beyond the segregation efforts imposed by genres. It is, if you allow me to crawl into fan-territory, like the human experience itself - too complex to be defined by a single word.
It becomes obvious, a few minutes after arriving on the island, that we are not experiencing a game in passive mode. Just like Howie, we too try to untangle the web in which we are trapped, searching for facts. This game could only have been written by Anthony Shaffer , the scriptwriter who had given us another cat and mouse game, Sleuth (a play and then an amazing movie and then a meh remake of the movie). Shaffer is a skilled artisan in the fine art of weaving plots that are scrupulously resistant to common mistakes like discrepancies in space an time, lack of conflict, unexpected and unfounded changes in character psychology, etc. His scripts, while respecting the reader’s (and future spectator’s) intelligence, play and toy with them, making us jump from position to position, from one idea to another, until finally showing us the complete hand of cards.
The film, both in its production stage as well as its post-production and distribution phases, lived a dreadful rearing and infancy. Part of the fascination it has on its viewers can be explained by all that happened around it, creating the mythical aura that surrounds it. This topic is fascinating in itself, and much can be written about it, but it is not the purpose of this small contribution. I suggest further investigation .
Above all else, TWM describes a civilisational and religious clash; two factions, two sides of the same coin (made of belief) and much closer to one another than they could accept.
The fundamental difference between these two religions and worldviews lies in the interpretation of what’s correct, and correct precedes the notion of natural - the film’s keyword. For Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward ) it is not natural to believe in the regenerative forces of nature. For one of his subordinates, it’s odd, all that fruit coming from such a barren land. Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) feels it’s unnatural to bow before another [person]. For the islanders, it’s not natural that a man would resist and force himself to ignore the sexual calling of an Aphrodite on Earth. Sex, pleasure, licentiousness, symbols, education itself, everything is defined by religion and it is religion that labels something as natural or anti-natural.
Summerisle inhabitants are ignorant in medicine, chemistry and biology. This is noticed by Howie time and time again, as he witnesses folk treatments, fertility and nativity beliefs and the omnipresent weight of magical thinking. He’s able to see through the pagans’ factual mistakes, as a citizen of the mainland where knowledge is based on science, but fails to notice how his religion makes him believe in premises as absurd as the islanders’.
Lord Summerisle’s grandfather - the original Lord Summerisle - a distinguished victorian scientist, agronomist, free thinker. - used science to transform the island of Summerisle, barren until then, like the surrounding islands, in a rich, fertile land, in which new varieties of vegetables could grow and multiply. In essence, the first Lord altered nature for the benefit of humans; he advanced the human experience - anti-naturally - beyond nature’s determinism.
Of course, his experience would demand local workforce willing to accept the impossible: an island up north in Scotland generating abundant produce. A scientific explanation, one that would use reason as its basis, would be insufficient - counterproductive, even - as it would be seen as anti-natural. Let’s not forget that, for the islanders, be it as Christians first (which they were, prior to the evangelising efforts of the original Lord Summerisle) and then as Pagans, the concept of natural is of extreme importance and defines morals and ethics. In an 180º turn, the zealous agronomist transformed the anti-natural into mythological and science into ritual, via the old gods and Pagan practices.
His reasoning is perfectly logical and apparently error-proof:
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an agricultural community that believes in the natural basis for its crops
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the people - or at least these folks - free from Christianity’s oppression and self-limitation, from the anti-natural corset that suffocates joy, sex, freedom.
Speaking to Howie, his grandson tells us that the best possible solution was to revive the old gods, even though the original Lord Summerisle was not Pagan1. One could even argue he was an Atheist. In any case, he was pragmatic: he understood that the people needed to believe in something and therefore he went with the belief that was most aligned with his humanist instincts.
The plan went too well, perhaps: his son and seemingly moreover his grandson, the current Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) seem to have become actual believers: apparently Summerisle believes in what he preaches - or at least that’s what he wants us to think.
One would imagine, at the very least due to statistical chance, that a given agricultural season would be bad, with little to no harvest. Sooner or later, the cultivars used would fail. The locals, seduced into forgetting Christianism in favour of Paganism, believed that the old gods were bringing forth bountiful crops. If these fail, only one conclusion can be arrived at: the sacrifices offered the previous year were insufficient and another level on the animal ladder must be used, passing a barrier never before crossed - the sacrifice of a human life.
It is quite possible that the original Lord Summerisle had total confidence in his vegetable varieties and did not fear that a day would come in which he would have to deal with that darker side of this religion. His grandson, on the other hand, will have to control the situation, looking for a solution within Paganism, for only a Pagan solution will allow him to maintain the island’s status quo. Regardless of the existence of these old gods and of Summerisle’s belief in them, the sacrifice must be made - someone will have to die - and it has to work, otherwise the future of the island is to be like that of their neighbours, reduced to half a dozen sheep herders, as hungry as their livestock, whilst the rest of the inhabitants fled to the mainland.
Of course, in order for the sacrifice to work, that is, for the gods to be satisfied and allow the next crop to be bountiful, it has to be perfect. The victim will have to be the most adequate one can find.
Once more Summerisle plays the cards right in this game with its particular set of rules: killing an islander would bring problems, a sour taste. It could become the seed of disintegration of the community. According to Pagan tradition (at least as it is presented in the film), and after painstaking research, the ideal victim was found: a virgin adult, a representative of the Law, a fool, a king for a day. Summerisle finds an outsider, a stranger, someone who is other than ourselves, someone who does not understand or approve the spirit of the community, an insolent, an oppressor bent on removing joy and happiness from the islanders’ daily activities. The gods will be happy, the population will be kept in line, the source of income assured.
Will it, though? Will the sacrifice bear fruit? We don’t know, we will never know. All we can do is speculate and here lies the strength and universal character of the film. By not giving us an answer, by leaving open the result of the sacrifice, no position is preferred or imposed, and all can sing victory.
Christians can hail Howie’s martyrdom, his determination and strength when faced with temptation, insults and finally the hideous crime committed on him. They, too, can be sure of life eternal by the side of their Christ, whilst despising Pagan heresies and superstitions, confident that Yahweh will punish the islanders with a second year of failure.
Pagans, devil-worshipers and anti-Christians in general will rejoice with the sacrifice, feeling vindicated from nasty Christianity and its absurd dogmas, whilst believing in the offering’s infallibility, and the bountiful future it promises.
Atheists and - if we’re to believe what Peter H. Gilmore (current High Priest of the Church of Satan ) told the Center for Inquiry on a podcast of theirs - Satanists, will consider absurd both sides of this dispute, signalling each party as victims (and executioners) of superstition, gullibility, herd following (on both sides, mind), a need for something or someone that defines fate, that shelters, protects and punishes.
All in all, each person will see the film through the filters they placed in front of their own eyes2. The Wicker Man is not a Pagan film, nor a Christian film or a secular/atheist film - it is what each viewer want it to be… and if that is not the hallmark of an intelligent and well made movie, then I do not now what could be.
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1: This hypothesis is confirmed on the novelisation of the film, written and published after the release of the movie. Hardy, Robin and Shaffer, Anthony, The Wicker Man (Crown, 1978).
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2: The film was very well received when shown, prior to its release, to religious authorities from different Abrahamic creeds. This viewing was an attempt to prevent any religious sensitivity issues.
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