The Evangelical Universalist Forum

William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist - profoundly Christian?

Studies Books
#1

A word of warning: this post explores dark and challenging themes, and occasionally, but necessarily, addresses subjects, and quotes language, some people might find offensive.

I was unsure whether to start this thread under the heading ‘books’ or ‘movies’. But even though the famous – or should that be infamous? – 1973 movie version of The Exorcist is showing on British TV as I write (in its uncut glory, not in the appallingly neutered version some of us might have been exposed to over the years), it was a book first and a movie second, and yours truly has a special affinity with those unsung heroes of Hollywood, the men and women who think up all those great stories. So here we are, in books.

I hope what I have to say here has a real bearing on topics we are discussing on parallel threads currently – about the nature and provenance of evil, and Biblical inerrancy.

So. What do you think, guys and gals? Is The Exorcist a profoundly Christian meditation on the problem of evil, as the author of the novel, William Peter Blatty, claims? Is it at a neon light showcasing the reality of evil, whether in the form of literal demons which can possess us, or simply in the form of the human psyche, with its infinite capacity for wickedness? Or is it sensationalist occult nonsense that cashes in on our eternal fascination with ‘the dark side’?

Does it point us towards God’s universal, sacrificial, salvific love for all His creation? Or is it a dangerous flirtation with the ways of the prince of the air?

Well, I’ll put my cards on the table. (Hell, you guys saw my hand ages ago! I’m not playing poker with you!) I think it’s a sincere, but sincerely misguided, attempt by a true believer to confront the reality of evil. Blatty has gone on record as saying that if he could get people to believe in the devil through his writing, then they must as a corollary believe in God. So in one major sense The Exorcist is just a glorified Chick Tract! But of course, it’s far more profound, and far more Christian, than that.

If anybody has seen Blatty’s magnum opus The Ninth Configuration, you will know that he has a deeply held belief that God is ultimately in control of our universe, and that while evil and violence and suffering are the currency of this present darkness, acts of true altruism and goodness are the proof that the devil doesn’t hold all the best cards after all.

There is a great, great line in The Ninth Configuration, when the protagonist, Captain Cutshaw (supposedly the astronaut who was going to the moon in The Exorcist, and to whom Regan said, in that movie, “you’re going to die up there”) says to his shrink, an army captain who turns out to not be what he seems, “I don’t believe in God, but I do believe in the devil”, and the captain asks him why, and he says, “because the prick keeps doing commercials”.

Now that is very profound to my way of thinking. Evil is an indisputably present reality in our world, the world we believe God has made. So what are we to make of that?

What are we to make of the reality that children get raped and murdered? Again, Blatty is on record as saying that the reason he included the most ‘shocking’ elements of The Exorcist – the bits, which I still find almost impossible to read or watch, where Regan masturbates with a crucifix, and screams out blasphemies which I’m not prepared to reproduce here – is because he wanted his audience to confront the reality, and the power, of evil, of the demonic. Anything less – and goodness me, those scenes still shock me to this day – and it would be too easy to shrug and say, oh well, it’s not so bad. But of course, it is that bad! Far, far worse acts than any of Regan’s blasphemies are perpetrated every single day! That is the reality of the world we live in. That is the darkness at the heart of God’s creation. That is the tension we must live with. That is why I am so full of angst, nay despair, so much of the time.

But the ending of The Exorcist gives me hope. It echoes, re-enacts (spoiler alert here guys!) Christ’s great sacrifice for us. Father Karras gives up his own life to save Regan, in a weak reflection of Jesus giving up His life to save all of us. And that, ultimately, is why I see The Exorcist as profoundly Christian, even Universalist.

Blatty’s sequel to The Exorcist, Legion, is, to my mind, even better, and even more spiritually profound. I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice to say it made me think, and wonder.

What say you all?

Peace and love to you all my friends

Johnny

#2

i hope you get some good discussion on this! i’ve never read it, but was basically aware of the plot. i personally have some issues with exorcism/possession scenes, due to some crazy experiences of the past (which i have rational explanations for, but still am profoundly disturbed by it…may tell you when we’re out for a pint next time if i’m up to it!)
anyway…i think you’re basically right. it’s a bit Chick tracty, though it couldn’t help but be better :laughing:

heck if i could get some very Christian analogies out of Secretary and even the film version of The Story of O (i don’t recommend these to anyone here!!!), i don’t think it’d be too hard to get some from a moral fable like the Exorcist :slight_smile:

#3

Hey James

Good to hear from you, as always my uber-metal friend :smiley: .

You *do *have an eccentric taste in movies, old boy! *Secretary *is fairly mainstream (but Maggie Gyllenhaal is one foxy lady) , but *L’Histoire D’O *would probably blow a few gaskets here (but to be perfectly honest, I watched it a couple of years back on Channel 4 hoping for something really raunchy, and found it something of a letdown - apart from the presence of the legendary Udo Kier!!!).

I do think *The Exorcist * is a profoundly Christian, and profoundly challenging, work of art. ‘Gentle Anglican’ Radio 1 film critic Mark Kermode insists it’s the greatest film ever made! I don’t agree, but it is certainly worth a good old chin wag.

Love and peace

Johnny

#4

Can’t say I’ve seen the uncut version, and not sure if I want to :wink:

I think I read some of the book aways back, or maybe all of it, can’t remember… but yes, though it’s pretty crazy, the whole thing, I will say that the ending is powerful. :slight_smile:

Hey Johnny, maybe you could post more about the movie on my Movies thread, stoke the fire there a bit :wink:

#5

Hi Matt

Thanks for joining in. I agree *The Exorcist *is a powerful book and movie.

I wonder, are people here reluctant to comment on it because they believe it is a ‘taboo’ subject? Because they find it offensive, perhaps? Or am I just showing my age too much, and it was all too long ago for you young whippersnappers? :smiley:

I would be genuinely interested to know, partly because it was a film I categorically refused to watch for years and years, into my late 30s at least (I’m now 48), because I knew something of its content and just felt horrified at the thought of sitting through that sort of ‘blasphemy’.

Actually I read the novel around the time the movie came out, '73 or '74, aged about 10 (! - I was a bit of a precocious reader, read all my Dad’s Alistair MacLean and Desmond Bagley adventure novels before I was 10). One of the other kids brought it in to school, and she lent it to me. I recall our teacher saying something like are you sure you should be reading this. Funnily enough I don’t remember being frightened by it. In fact I can’t remember anything about the experience at all, except the weird image on the cover. Whereas I read *Jaws *a couple of years later and that had a very big impact on me.)

But when I did finally pluck up the courage to watch it, I found it a compelling and profoundly Christian work of art. Perhaps misguided, as I say, in its approach to evangelism. And shocking. But evil is shocking. And how many mainstream Hollywood movies these days have such strongly Christian themes?

Cheers

Johnny

#6

Hi Johnny, I only recently watched ‘The Exorcist’ after Matt stirred an interest in the supernatural in film with his earlier thread. I think it’s a really great film and really does point us towards God’s universal, self-sacrificial, salvific love for all, over and beyond the real and otherwise dominating existence of spiritual evil. I also reckon the film depicts the (Christus Victor) atonement reasonably well too. I know you said that it was a weak reflection, but I think I’m a tad more generous: every rite, both religious and secular/medical failed to bring about the restoration of a sickened, possessed and violently hostile Regan. Instead, Karras graciously confronts spiritual wickedness, offers himself as a ransom for Regan, and dies subjecting himself to its wages, releasing Regan from her bondage forevermore. It’s not perfect and it might be a tad cheesy, but I think it’s not a bad parable as far as film goes. But either way, I’m sure we both agree that if we frame the story merely as an occult-titillating horror film, we’ve missed the point. Though it might be that too!

Yeah, and that was totally the point. Father Thomas Bermingham, who was the technical advisor, only agreed to assist with the book if it confronted “the awesome problem of evil in God’s world”. He said that: “There is an evil in this movie, but it forces you to confront it. It doesn’t pussyfoot around it … It, among other things, it did do what I wanted him [presumably Blatty] to do in the first place: to awaken people to the full dimension of the problem of iniquity, as the theologians call it. But I was also very happy that he also pointed out the mystery of heroic goodness… of extraordinary goodness.”

#7

that’s a great take on it, WAAB. i think it actually makes me want to see it. to me, despite the ugliness of the evil (or even because of it), it sounds an overwhelmingly beautiful tale of self-sacrificing love. i think i will try to get hold of it.

:laughing: i do have eccentric tastes, i’ll admit to that…i like just about any style of movie except cowboy films and (most) “rom coms”, with a few exceptions (such as Blazing Saddles for the former). i love horror, as you know. the more plot driven and atmospheric ones can be quite interesting as they sometimes explore ideas in an extreme setting, which polarises things and allows certain qualities to rise to the top to be examined. also, i like a good scare :laughing:

#8

I don’t know about this question. I saw the movie a long time ago, so for me the medium and the horrific scenes have overwhelmed any message about the goodness/sacrifice of the man of God. The medium (movie) portraying the horror overcame anything else I might have gotten out of the movie. Especially since I am going by a long ago memory.

I also remember being ticked off because it seemed the movie protrayed the evil as being so strong and the good so weak for such a long part of the movie—at least that is the impression I had. I was young at the time and didn’t yet know of the evil children suffer in this world so I didn’t understand why God did not help sooner or why the child was so vulnerable to start with.

I didn’t know there was a book, I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to read it. Usually I don’t like plain horror stories but from your descriptions maybe it is more than that.

#9

Hi Andrew

Thanks for your comments. I would agree that the Christus Victor theme does come through strongly in The Exorcist. And you’re right, I have read a number of reports saying that the Catholic Church was very supportive of both the book and the film, because they showed the reality of evil and the ultimate triumph of good over that evil, through the Church.

I went to a Q&A at the National Film Theatre in London a few months ago with Willliam Friedkin, who directed The Exorcist. It’s interesting, because he is, so far as I can make out, an agnostic, whereas Blatty is devoutly Catholic. Blatty was the producer of the movie, and he wanted to make the ultimate ‘victory’ of good over evil more explicit and positive, whereas Friedkin wanted the ending to be more sombre and ambiguous. Friedkin got his way in the end, but he has since said that he regretted that decision, and the 25th anniversary re-release of the film substitutes Blatty’s preferred, more optimistic ending.

If anybody out there who hasn’t seen it yet is interested in watching The Exorcist, I’d definitely recommend this later ‘Director’s Cut’. It is also more overtly theological than the original cinema release, and has better special effects.

Cheers

Johnny

#10

Hi Lizabeth

Thanks for sharing your perspective on this film. If you felt that the evil portrayed in *The Exorcist *overwhelmed the good, then I would suspect (see my previous post) that the writer and producer, Bill Blatty, would be saddened by that, and would feel that he had failed in his intentions as far as you were concerned. The director, Billy Friedkin (too many Bills :smiley: ) would probably be less bothered, as I don’t think the theological ‘message’ of the movie was as important to him - if it was important to him at all.

The book, though, is quite explicit in its ultimate message that true Christian faith overcomes evil. I’d say it’s worth reading (although do bear in mind there are some rather explicit and harrowing bits).

All the best

Johnny

#11

Hi Johnny, Casting out demons in the New Testament (NT) never took a long period of time and the NT ministers never resorted to inviting the demons inside of themselves and commuting suicide instead of casting out the demons in the name of Jesus and living a victorious life. Hm, I suppose The Exorcist was a pathetic portrayal of Christian ministry.

#12

depends on how literally you take the subject matter (it is just a story, and the nature of demonic possession is not totally agreed upon).
personally, i think that demons don’t exist per se, and so a symbolic portrayal involving them as fictional beings being defeated through self sacrifice is fine and dandy.
many of the NT accounts can be chalked up to mental illnesses of crippling natures (not all. there are problematic ones for people of my view, i admit). it makes sense that Jesus would either have been of His time in terms of medical/scientific knowledge, or ok with using the symbols the people of that time understood in order to heal.

#13

Well, it was either a pathetic deliverence ministry or in your interpretation a pathetic healing ministry that required something along the lines of a sympathetic suicide.

I can see that the author might have wanted to make it a positive twist and made the priest self-sacrifice an act of love, but it did not work for me. Johnny, sorry if I am being too short about this. If that interpretation works for you, then don’t let me damper your inspiration.

Anyway, corpselight, regardless of the truth about exorcism, the movie portrayed a supernatural antagonist that was more than a metaphor.

#14

Hi Jameses :smiley:

James G, thanks for offering your perspective on this. As I said to Lizabeth, for slightly different reasons, I think Exorcist author William Peter Blatty would be saddened to hear that the theological framework of both novel and film did not work for you, as a Christian. However, that does not in any way invalidate your opinion, or render it less valuable than mine, say, just because it does work for me – even though I do not believe in the reality of demonic possession. It is axiomatic about works of art that whatever reaction or response they evince from us as viewers is valid. That’s one reason why most real artists won’t explain their work, or tell you what it is supposed to mean – because it means whatever it means to you.

Having said that, I agree with you that both movie and novel certainly portrayed a ‘real’ supernatural antagonist, in the form of the demon Pazuzu. I’m sure Blatty meant for the demonic possession to be taken at face value. In interviews he has said that he had first person testimony from some of the priests involved in the exorcism of a teenage boy in Washington or somewhere nearby in 1949, stating that they believed the boy was truly possessed by a demon, and that they succeeded in exorcising this demon. While his novel was not based on that real-life exorcism, it was certainly inspired by it.

I also think that James B is correct when he says that a" symbolic portrayal involving them [demons] as fictional beings being defeated through self sacrifice is fine and dandy". For me, the real ‘message’ of *The Exorcist *is that sacrifical love can conquer evil, and I would say that is profoundly Biblical and Christian. It doesn’t matter to me that the exorcism rite as performed in the movie does not accurately reflect the Biblical accounts - it is, after all, only a movie, and a Hollywood movie at that! :smiley: As I said in my original post, the fact that a major, big budget Hollywood movie actually addressed serious theological and spiritual issues, from an avowedly Christian viewpoint - albeit via the framework of a ‘horror’ movie - is something to be thankful for. To be honest, I can’t bring to mind a single major, mainstream Hollywood movie from the past 40 years that has such overt Christianity at its heart. There have been lots of films featuring a yucky Hollywood version of spirituality - Christianity lite - but few with a genuinely Christian ethos. (Still, Hollywood does seem to be infested with Scientologists, which ought to tell us something … :smiley: )

Maybe you guys can think of some!

All the best

Johnny

#15

Well, there was The Passion Of The Christ, but that’s not exactly a perfect film. :wink: Though it does have its moments… especially when Mary is trying to wash her son’s blood off the ground on the Via Dolorossa… that was powerful to me, for some reason, and moved me more than the crucifixion itself…

Some older films (yeah, I know, they’re older than forty years, so sue me :laughing:) I can think of though are Ben-Hur (the one with Charlton Heston) and Barabbas, both screen-written by a Quaker named Christopher Fry.
There are certainly hints of UR in both of those, especially in Barabbas, and being a Quaker, it wouldn’t surprise me if Fry was a Universalist. :wink:

I’ll have to bring them both up on my movies thread sometime. :wink:

And I’m sure I could come up with a couple others that might fit into that category. :slight_smile: