I give The Craft credit for not completely falling into the typical depiction of a witch. This is not to say that the movie did not come close to achieving just that though. Hollywood uses hair and makeup to reveal the characters" attitudes and roles. They present witches in a dark and almost sinister way. In this day and age we should know better than to fall for stereotypes.
The girls eventually end up using their magical powers for evil. They torment Sarah when she decides that she wants to leave their circle. Every witch that has come to speak to our class has spoken only of good magic. The portrayal of witches as vindictive and evil is definitely present in this movie and from my observations over the semester seems nothing but false. Bonnie and Rochelle appear to fall trap to Nancy's insane quest for magical power. The pagan followers that have been to class appear to have their beliefs and do not appear to be pressured into following anyone else's beliefs. Nancy's character is a witch out of control, nothing like the true witches that we have been introduced to this semester.
In spite of The Craft's awkward portrayal of the physical appearance of witches, this movie brings much of what has been taught in class onto the screen. The Pagan Ritual that we attended in class appeared to focus on the elements of earth. The calling of earth, wind, fire, and air. A large part of this movie is devoted to the fact that since there are four girls, each representing one of the elements, they can perform they magical acts. In one scene of the movie the girls sit around a cauldron in a field. Each girl asks for something. There is an appearance of butterflies and the girl's wishes are granted. However, one of the girl's wishes does not come true. Hence they perform the ritual again. The first ritual is in a small way realistic. The chanting of earth, wind, air, and fire is what drew my attention.