The 2018 Suspiria is a deconstruction, not just of assumptions exhibited in the original, but of naive deconstructions of those assumptions.
Warning: Spoilers are unmarked.
Reading the 1977 original as social commentary
The original Suspiria may be set in the then-modern world of 1977, but it operates much like a fairy tale. The innocent young protagonist, Suzy Bannion, travels far to reach the castle-like Tanz Dance Academy. There, she is menaced by the plots of Always Chaotic Evil witches. Eventually, applying intelligence and courage - and a boon of exposition from a pair of older white males in respectable intellectual professions - she ultimately slays the villains and ends their evil.Critics have generally appreciated Argento’s 1977 film on its own merits, recognizing the fairy-tale aesthetic. Yet it would be possible to turn a critical (and disapproving) eye on certain assumptions embedded in the film.
Take the nature of the witches. Professor Milius, a white-haired white male from academia, declares that the witches can only use their occult powers to do harm, and that their only desire is to attain wealth and power at the expense of others. And, as one-sided and flat as this portrayal is, the narrative shows us absolutely nothing to challenge it.
Deconstruction limited to simple reversal
The most simplistic way to ‘deconstruct’ those assumptions would be to simply reverse them. Is the orthodox society portrayed as all-good? Very well; let’s portray it as actually bad. Is the secret society portrayed as all-evil? Very well; let’s portray them as the truly virtuous ones.To some, such analysis comes across as far too “pat”, too convenient. Yet, there will always be people who do gravitate to such analyses, because they are so simple, and - if applied to the real world - offer the opportunity to assert secure moral superiority. “I must be a warrior for great good! How do I know this? Why, because I am opposing great evil!”
