Context

Context

Trumpton

Trumpton - Distinctive stop animation style, beginning in the 1960s.

Trumpton reflects the mythical small-town "family values", often championed by right-wing politicians, who Radiohead dislike.

It is a small bubble of middle England that is not troubled by external forces.

Wickerman

Neil Howie travels to Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison. He thinks the islanders are thwarting his investigation. He comes to the conclusion that she is the human sacrifice chosen due to the poor harvest; in reality, he is. Howie is put inside of the Wickerman with several other animals and is burned alive.

It is set on a rural, isolated and perfect island. 

The community is isolated, and is not reflective of modern / urban life. They have their traditions.

Dawn Chorus

The bird in the video is singing cheerily despite the nightmarish and dark lyrics. 

Radiohead have formed a company called "Dawn Chorus LLP" and another called "Dawnnchorus Ltd", to minimise the success or failure they have on their other albums.

Their social media shutdown took place on the first Sunday in May.

The Trumptonshire Triogoly

In the late 60s, 3 connected animated series - Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley aired on the BBC, showing the way of life in idyllic little communities, teaching children about community values. Those conventional lessons are something that the music video pillories by making its own values hideously screwed up. There is also similarities between Trumpton and the model village seen in the video.

Wickerman

The Wickerman was released in 1973 and the remake in 2006. It is about a Christian detective going to an island to investigate a disappearance. The community relies on pagan rituals to make their harvests successful.

The video is less explicit than the film, with the inspector climbing into the cage, not being dragged into it.

Medieval Practices

The menacing tone gets more bleakly anti-intellectual via medieval details such as the red crosses painted on doors.

Jobe's

Throughout the video are crates of tomatoes, a reference to the empty crates of Summerisle Fruit in the Wickerman.

The crates are full to bursting and are plastered with Jobe's. 

Representation in Burn The Witch

Tight-knit community
Religion / Beliefs
Mob mentality (cult)
Women
The fear of the outsider

Small community - on the surface it is picture perfect but it has cult-like attributes - attempted human sacrifice

Like a mob - head of the mob who dictates the communities actions - powerful leader




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