BootsHernandez

I agree. I do feel like it kicked off the "evil kid" genre. Probably no Exorcist, Chucky, Shining Twins, Babadook, etc. without the book / play / movie.

They should do Grease 2; it's much more rewatchable than Grease. It was on the same infinite cable loop as Teen Witch (with the "Reproduction" number cut, obv.) One sex ed video we watched had a mom at a sleepover make reproductive organs out of pancake batter. Another had the cast of Annie, cheerfully explaining that when puberty hit, they'd be fired. Clearly the high school I went to had one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country.

Yes, TW is by no means feminist or queer-friendly or subversive (unless you're Celluloid Closeting it). It's more or less your basic '80s teen movie (Weird Science, Can't Buy Me Love), just with somewhat reductive/heteronormative/white/middle class female power fantasies instead of reductive/heteronormative/white/middle class male ones. I think the female power fantasy thing alone though is a big part of what makes it so fun/beloved. The magic didn't trip me up either, especially if you tie it to adolescence/puberty/ sexy awakenings. Zelda and Luis are witches who reincarnate. Their powers start up when they're 16, and at first, when its weak/unintentional, water can ruin their spells (they also run out of power faster when they're inexperienced; they have to build up, like w/cardio). They get stronger (the amulet just focuses power, like a prism and a light beam) and then, when they get older, they get weaker. This book series is unrelated, but it has some of the same hand-wavey magic principles https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/657637.Lucky_13

This movie is cray, but it a lot of it makes sense if you wanna get all film school about how it's about the "female gaze," female desire, etc. Jake is a coquettish goober or whatever, but he's no worse than billions of female "love interests" in movies. (That said, you're a crummy friend, Luis.) Also, in that classroom/purse/humiliation scene, "just in case?" meaning she's not sexually active, but she wants to be prepared. (And yeah, the condom scene is insane-o, but sadly that's more scientifically accurate info than what they're probably allowed to teach in some schools. (I miss how, in the '80s/early '90s, teen movies would at least mention condoms/birth control in teen movies.) Also, if you look at the interior design Luis's house, it's decorated in a duck theme, because it's an ugly duckling movie. I love Ritchie. "Finals Girls" was a fantastic teen girl movie.