I guess I do have an opposing viewpoint. For the Wicker Man shows the horror of extremes. The people of the community have taken communalism so far that they are indistinguishable except for the leader. None of them are shown to have any opinions that are different from the leader. The cop is an extreme Christian and so macho individualistic that he puts himself in dangerous situations with no backup just thinking God and his manhood will get him through. Midsommar for me is a completely different story. For me it is a story about death and grief. It is also a story about a woman chucking her gaslighting boyfriend in a fire which is very cathartic for me. Back to the wicker man, i also engage a lot with skepticism so for me i see a bunch of people who think their irrational beliefs will save them when they won’t: god doesn’t save the cop, sacrificing him won’t bring them a good harvest. I guess where i see the movies coming together is that they both end with no one coming to save the protagonist but at least in midsommar she saves herself. Not saying you or anyone is wrong. Just thought I’d offer my perspective since you asked if anyone had a different one.
A couple of years late, but I agree with you 100%. Just because people belong to a different religion than you doesn’t make them evil or heathens. FYI: the Nick Cage remake plays a much crueler trick to get him on the island.
I love Midsommar and I get so annoyed when people refer to them as a cult. They are not a cult and don’t meet any of the criteria of one. No charismatic leader, no recruitment, all the locals that die are volunteers. The outsiders that are killed, except maybe Christian, break rules and/or are disrespectful or a threat to the community. Plus, everyone seems to forget that this ritual happens every 90 years. Like Wicker Man, a self sufficient society that requires a small number of deaths once a century, half of which are locals that volunteer or are chosen at random. That’s a better murder count than any Christian society I’ve ever heard of.
This quote in particular was quite a larf: “Is it weird that if the cost of maintaining a low-stress community where people spend their days singing and dancing and their nights fucking in a field with a bunch of other locals is the grisly death of one miserable, judgmental dick, then I’ll be the first in line to grab a torch” 👍😂
I guess I do have an opposing viewpoint. For the Wicker Man shows the horror of extremes. The people of the community have taken communalism so far that they are indistinguishable except for the leader. None of them are shown to have any opinions that are different from the leader. The cop is an extreme Christian and so macho individualistic that he puts himself in dangerous situations with no backup just thinking God and his manhood will get him through. Midsommar for me is a completely different story. For me it is a story about death and grief. It is also a story about a woman chucking her gaslighting boyfriend in a fire which is very cathartic for me. Back to the wicker man, i also engage a lot with skepticism so for me i see a bunch of people who think their irrational beliefs will save them when they won’t: god doesn’t save the cop, sacrificing him won’t bring them a good harvest. I guess where i see the movies coming together is that they both end with no one coming to save the protagonist but at least in midsommar she saves herself. Not saying you or anyone is wrong. Just thought I’d offer my perspective since you asked if anyone had a different one.
Came here to say, it’s not just you. Digging in to watch The Wicker Man as we speak. Great piece!!!
A couple of years late, but I agree with you 100%. Just because people belong to a different religion than you doesn’t make them evil or heathens. FYI: the Nick Cage remake plays a much crueler trick to get him on the island.
I love Midsommar and I get so annoyed when people refer to them as a cult. They are not a cult and don’t meet any of the criteria of one. No charismatic leader, no recruitment, all the locals that die are volunteers. The outsiders that are killed, except maybe Christian, break rules and/or are disrespectful or a threat to the community. Plus, everyone seems to forget that this ritual happens every 90 years. Like Wicker Man, a self sufficient society that requires a small number of deaths once a century, half of which are locals that volunteer or are chosen at random. That’s a better murder count than any Christian society I’ve ever heard of.
It's not just you! I'm also on the side of the Summerisle folks. I gotta watch this again; it's been years.
This quote in particular was quite a larf: “Is it weird that if the cost of maintaining a low-stress community where people spend their days singing and dancing and their nights fucking in a field with a bunch of other locals is the grisly death of one miserable, judgmental dick, then I’ll be the first in line to grab a torch” 👍😂