The Exorcist: The Real Message Behind It - written 8 years ago
The Exorcist: The Real Message Behind It?
written 8 years ago ( Aug 10, 2008 @ 5:09PM )
This thread is for fans of The Exorcist. If you have never seen it and want to.. then you probably should not read this.. because I will be giving away a lot of what happens. And because of the controversial subject matter of the movie.. some of what I talk about might offend certain people. Just warning you...
I first saw this movie when it came out in 1973. I was only 11 (much too young to see a movie like this... but my older sisters got me in anyway..). Certainly 35 years later the movie has been dated somewhat.. and is not the 'shock' that it was when it was first released. But back then it was revolutionary. For those who were not around back then..there is no way to convey how powerful the psychological impact this movie had on those who saw it when it opened in 1973. The movie goers of 1973 were woefully unpaired for what they were about to witness on the screen. The movie is really the first true 'horror' movie. And as an 11 year old, the movie traumatized me. I'll never forget seeing it in the theater.. along with others also seeing it for the first time. I don't remember people screaming (very much anyway) or getting sick like you hear about.. all I remember is sitting there in stunned silence at the horror of what I was watching.. as I suppose most everybody else was.
It had been many years since I last seen it.. but I decided to watch The Exorcist again recently and had found some curious aspects of it I did not notice before. After doing a little research I've found that I'm not the only one who noticed as well. And that is that the ‘demon’ that Regan (Linda Blair) was really ‘possessed’ by was the fact that she was sexual molested by Burke Dennings (the man who was found dead with his head spun around at the bottom of the steps outside Regan's room) . And the idea of being ‘possessed’ was really just a manifestation of the real ‘hell’ that she endured… and that the ‘horror’ plot of the movie was just a vehicle for what the author and director of the movie were really trying to get across. The idea is that we were seeing Regan through the eyes of the adults around her who did not want to believe that she was sexually molested. A subject kept very much in the closet back then... and maybe still is.
It is obvious that Burke is attracted to Chris MacNeil.. Regan's mom (played by Ellen Burstyn), but the feeling is not mutual. Even Regan mentions in the movie that she suspects there is ‘something’ going on between them.. but Chris just says that they are only friends and adds that Burke is a lonely man. At Chris’ house party he gets drunk and starts insulting and using foul language…. and makes vulgar sexual comments as well.. and also becomes violent and starts a fight. All very similar behavior that Regan would soon exhibit. As he is leaving he gives Chris a long and seemingly uncomfortable hug. There does seem to be sexual tension there.. certainly from him anyway.
What was Dennings doing in Regan’s bedroom the night he was ‘murdered’ anyway? Chris even later says “He had no reason to go into her bedroom”. And she expressed anger at Sharon (who worked for Chris) for leaving him alone in the house with Regan. Did Chris suspect something? And that is also the night that Burke was found dead. And it's at that point that Regan goes over the edge in her behavior as well. Up until that point her behavior, although strange, was tame compared to what was about to come. Immediately when Chris is told about the death of Burke, Regan comes down the steps in the famous 'spider walk' scene (originally cut from the movie.. but has since been restored in the DVD version). She has blood pouring out of her mouth while she is coming down the steps...it's a very creepy effect and is the beginning of her becoming the monster that she soon becomes.
It is never really explained in the movie why Burke went into the room. Was he taking out his sexual frustration toward Chris on her daughter Regan? It’s also interesting that the adults around Regan never even mention sexual molestation despite the fact that she exhibits many of the symptoms of a girl who has been molested. She can’t sleep, depressed, possible bed wetter, self-mutilation, she is very overly sexualized… and even attacks verbally the men around her in a sexual way. She is constantly making obscene sexual comments at the priests. She also grabs the testicles of the Dr. trying to hypnotize her among many other sexually obscene things she does. When she is at the Dr.’s being tested, she reacts violently to them.. as if she is afraid of being violated. She also says to one of the Dr’s. (and I’m paraphrasing, because I don't remember word for word...) “Don’t touch my God damned *beep* Something her mother was shocked at when she found out. Chris had no idea she even heard the word before.. and the only other person in the movie who used it was Dennings when he insulted one of the house workers at the party.
During the now infamous crucifix masturbation scene, just before Chris runs into the room…you can hear the noise that is coming from the room, and you can tell that there is obviously some sort of fight or struggle going on in the room. And you not only hear Regan's voice crying for help.. but other voices as well. And if you listen closely to the voices coming from the bedroom at that point, you can make out Dennings voice saying “you bitch”. This was the scene where Chris (who is an atheist in the movie) becomes convinced that an exorcism is needed. Why would his voice be coming from the room at that time if it wasn't important to what was happening in there? And it’s at that time that Regan is violently sticking a crucifix into her vagina. Could this be symbolizing that she was violently raped by Dennings? And of course, during the scene, Regan’s head spins halfway around (just the way Dennings was found when he was dead..) to look at her horrified mother and mimics Denning's voice while saying “Do you know what your daughter did… your *beep* daughter?” In the scene, Regan also sexually molests her own mother. This is a girl that has truly lost her innocence.
There are too many clues here to be ignored in my opinion. Dennings obviously plays a bigger role in all this then what is first thought. The fact that sexual comments and the very obscene sexual physical acts she does… plays such a big role in her transformation to the demoniacally possessed creature that she becomes, adds to the idea that she was molested.
And lets not forget that the exorcism does not work.. something that is overlooked and rarely talked about. It did not free her of the demon. Why doesn't it work? Maybe she was never really possessed by a demon to begin with, and the real demon was that she was raped. A much more real and horrific situation.. since it is something that happens all too often in our society. In the original possession case that Blatty based his book on, sexual molestation was suspected. The demon only leaves Regan when another man (Fr. Karras) steps in and demands that it come into him. Was this what Regan needed? Could this be to symbolize that another man was needed to accept and take the blame for this ‘hell’ she was living with? Which Karras does .. and then jumps to his death down the very steps that Dennings fell down when he dies.. The demon does leave Regan and go into Karras… but just before he jumps out the window you can see his face turn back to normal. He does not take the demon with him when he dies, nor does the demon jump back into Regan. Again, maybe another clue that there never really was a ‘demon’ (satanic that is..) inside of her at all. Instead a very real and tragic ‘hell’ of being molested. To me it seems obvious that this is a story about molestation of a young teenage girl… but very cleverly disguised as a horror movie about a girl possessed by a demon.
I have seen on other websites where people have suspected this as well. I wonder if anyone else here has also.
Well.. I've rambled on long enough. Sorry about that... :D
Regardless, this is a very intelligent, provocative and thought provoking movie. Which is unlike most horror movies. And in my opinion, one of the greatest movies of all time.