Posted on Oct 31, 2023
A priest explains what 'The Exorcist' tells us about evil
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https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/ [login to see] /the-exorcist
Not much power has leached from The Exorcist since its first release in 1973. The horror film's upcoming 50th anniversary has unleashed an inevitable new version out in theaters now, as well as countless other tributes, including articles, special screenings and podcasts.
Among the latter, the podcast Taking on the Devil is notable for its heady, intellectual interrogation of The Exorcist's theological implications. The host is horror movie scholar Gina Brandolino, who teaches at the University of Michigan. (Full disclosure, I became friends with Brandolino while on a fellowship there.) Her partner in the podcast is Gabrielle Thomas, an ordained priest and Emory University professor of early Christianity, who has written about representations of the devil. The two debate questions such as how The Exorcist helps us think about evil in the world.
Not much power has leached from The Exorcist since its first release in 1973. The horror film's upcoming 50th anniversary has unleashed an inevitable new version out in theaters now, as well as countless other tributes, including articles, special screenings and podcasts.
Among the latter, the podcast Taking on the Devil is notable for its heady, intellectual interrogation of The Exorcist's theological implications. The host is horror movie scholar Gina Brandolino, who teaches at the University of Michigan. (Full disclosure, I became friends with Brandolino while on a fellowship there.) Her partner in the podcast is Gabrielle Thomas, an ordained priest and Emory University professor of early Christianity, who has written about representations of the devil. The two debate questions such as how The Exorcist helps us think about evil in the world.
A priest explains what 'The Exorcist' tells us about evil
Posted from npr.org
Movies
Religion
Christianity
Theology
University of Michigan
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""What I loved about The Exorcist is that it gives us a [sense of] how to respond, in the sense of these two priests," she said, referring to the characters Father Karras and Father Merrin, who perform the film's dramatic exorcism. "They're not perfect. They're completely messed up, just as many people on the street would be. But they respond with love," she said. "They're absolutely not the most successful in the way that they approach it ... but they're present in it. So Regan is not alone ultimately."
And right at a moment when the world feels caught in something profoundly, cosmically terrible, maybe The Exorcist still carries a message.
"It doesn't leave us with a sense of 'there's just nothing we can do'," Thomas said. "It leaves us with a sense of: I can be present. I can be present with the person who's experiencing evil. I can stand with them. If I'm a priest, I might pray some particular prayers. If I'm not a priest, I might not pray these prayers, but I can be with that person or with that group of people... For me, it was the message of presence."
The director of The Exorcist always insisted his movie was not a horror movie. It was a movie about faith. And it reminds us that when we feel helpless and hopeless, there is power in being present."
...""What I loved about The Exorcist is that it gives us a [sense of] how to respond, in the sense of these two priests," she said, referring to the characters Father Karras and Father Merrin, who perform the film's dramatic exorcism. "They're not perfect. They're completely messed up, just as many people on the street would be. But they respond with love," she said. "They're absolutely not the most successful in the way that they approach it ... but they're present in it. So Regan is not alone ultimately."
And right at a moment when the world feels caught in something profoundly, cosmically terrible, maybe The Exorcist still carries a message.
"It doesn't leave us with a sense of 'there's just nothing we can do'," Thomas said. "It leaves us with a sense of: I can be present. I can be present with the person who's experiencing evil. I can stand with them. If I'm a priest, I might pray some particular prayers. If I'm not a priest, I might not pray these prayers, but I can be with that person or with that group of people... For me, it was the message of presence."
The director of The Exorcist always insisted his movie was not a horror movie. It was a movie about faith. And it reminds us that when we feel helpless and hopeless, there is power in being present."
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I have a love hate relationship with 'The Exorcist'. I love the movie, but hate many of the religion based copy cat movies it spawned.
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