How Voodoo has been Portrayed in the Media
Voodoo dolls, zombies, dark magic, and animal sacrifices are among the biggest Hollywood portrayals of the Voodoo religion. What many people don't know is that Voodoo has Christian and African roots in it. To an average Westerner who doesn't know about the Voodoo religion, they would believe that it's a very strange and menacing religion because it includes things like animal sacrifices, spirit possession, spells, and zombies. The "zombies" associated with the Voodoo religion are much different from the real "Zonbis" of Haitian Voodoo. Today, there have been lot's of movies that portray Voodoo with things other than the true concept of what Voodoo actually is. This is being more directed towards the youth because they may not have lot's of background knowledge on the religion so they'd find it interesting. What isn't shown in the media about Voodoo is things like their rituals and their beliefs. For instance in their ceremonies they have music, food, dancing, drumming, and sometimes animal sacrifices. They believe in the continuity between life and death. In some rituals, Voodoo practitioners go in a cave several times a day and when the sun is shinning down in a hole on the top of the cave, they ask for help from the Loa's (spirits). Much of the facts/history of the Voodoo religion are not shown in the media making it harder for people to know what's true and what isn't. During the 1930's-1940's, Voodoo zombies were shown as black and terrifying creatures in movies. All that changed during the early 1950's when zombies were being shown as white but still scary.
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