33 for 33: Hocus Pocus

I’m almost ashamed to tell you this, but until last night I had never seen Hocus Pocus.

What?! you’re probably saying. It’s one of the classics of our generation! I watch it six times every Halloween and constantly post .gifs from the movie on social media!

I know. It’s a thing. A thing I missed out on–until last night, that is.

You see, growing up, I wasn’t allowed to watch anything involving witchcraft or magic in general. My parents went through an extremely religious phase of life and so whenever my peers talk about Hocus Pocus or The Craft or even The Smurfs (apparently Papa Smurf cast spells? I don’t know, I’ve never seen it), I kind of smile and nod along and wait for the subject to change. I only got into Harry Potter around the release of the third movie as sort of an act of rebellion, though the rules had softened by then. Of course, nowadays, my mom is a big fan of the Harry Potter movies and keeps borrowing my copies of the books, so, you know. Things change.

Advertisement