So I recently had a conversation about the representation of Papa Legba in American Horror Story. In the opinion of any of the practicing voudousaints I know (myself included) seeing Papa steal babies and send souls to the underworld was just heartbreaking and so SO inaccurate!!!
Papa Legba, our dear, wonderful, big and benevolent Alegba is loving, playful, helpful anVoodoo.
I must say I loved the incomparable Angela Bassett as Marie Laveau in AHS! I don't think there is another actress alive who could have portrayed the famous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans as well as Angela! She was strong, regal, noble, fierce and compassionate-just as I imagine the real life Madame Laveau would have been!
So-the AHS depiction of Papa was unfair-but several other popular shows over the past decade or so have depicted hoodoo, voudou and santeria accurately. And in some cases, tv shows have shown that this practice is the deeply spiritual and healing practice we know and love!
In Corazon, a Criminal Minds episode, we see a Santerian priest who helps Dr. Spencer Reid,banish his mysterious headaches. As Spencer works with a team that hunts down serial killers, the priest warns him that his work is causing the problem because of the violent nature of the victim's deaths.
In an episode of Blue Bloods, Detective Danny Reagan visits a Voodoo service where he witnesses a young man being healed of a possession. The same young man is depicted as having dressed in a Baron Samedi costume for Halloween.
In the show Bones, Dr. Temperance Brennan is shown in New Orleans helping identify bodies after the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. She visits a Voodoo shop in the famed French Quarter and encounters a very helpful voudousaint who works as an orderly in the morgue and educates her on voodoo.
And of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention the many references to hoodoo, goopher dust, red brick powder, graveyard dirt, and even our fantastical Baron Samedi, in the Supernatural series.
If you are interested in seeing some Voodoo come to life on TV for your viewing pleasure I highly recommend any or all of these television episodes:)
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