I was too young to see Candyman (1992) when it first came out. I got to know and love Tony Todd in the role of Worf’s brother Kurn on Star Trek: The Next Generation first. Still, it seems almost too have been better to wait till now to watch this film. With a sequel due soon and the political landscape being what it is Candyman feels really relevant. Writer/director Bernard Rose’s adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story only benefits from being relocated to inner city Chicago circa the early nineties. In this way Candyman is enabled as a film to address issues beyond the uses of folklore in contemporary society and paint a scathing portrait of the legacy of systemic racism in the United States.
Besides touching on the complicity of the police in the oppression of Black Americans, Candyman paints a clear and satirical portrait of the “white savior” mentality present amongst white academics. The Virginia Madsen character’s interactions with People of Color constantly reiterates her perceptions of them as “other” while also indicating that, to her character, these are figures of pity. Yet she mines their urban lore for information that is helpful to her studies, unleashing the supernatural forces of Tony Todd’s Candyman in the process.
Candyman himself is the product of centuries of institutionalized racism in America. He is the phantom of victimhood, sustained and empowered by oral traditions of storytelling, destined to bring his wrath to any who doubt in his suffering. He targets Madsen only because she does not believe and thus poses a threat to the fear that sustains him. In a way Candyman himself is an accomplice in the oppression of the residents at Cabrini-Green. The cyclical nature of the relationship between victim and victimizer is what makes the film so unsettling when it isn’t actively being terrifying.
Considering Candyman came out in 1992 it is pretty incredible how audacious its politics are. Hopefully the new installment will move this forceful film’s legacy even further. All of the political aspects aside, Candyman is an effective horror film that, even if it doesn’t appeal to one’s political leanings, it will most definitely frighten you.
