[splake]

Hi all.  i am new here.  I have been lurking for a while and thought I might as well join

the movie never gets old.  I saw it again In IFC last night and every time I watch it i pick up something different.  I have to admit, that I have been born and raised a Catholic and have in recently drifted away from the church, but not christ.  For Catholics, this story has a special, deeper meaning I feel.   When I was in 7th grade, my now deceased Religion teacher Father Benzing at Holy Family School sat on the desk and un did his collar and said that there was something really important on TV tonight.  His mood changed, and I could feel a heavy weight ( it was the first time it aired on Television) he said  we should go home and ask our parents if we could watch this important picture.   We all ran home ( all 12 of us in my class) and most of us were given permission to watch this picture.   This movie effected me in a way I can not put into words here.  I was beyond horrified.  I did not sleep for days, 35 years or so later, and It still effects me and frightens me, but I can not stay away.    I am a huge fan of horror pictures, but the Exorcist has completely made every other picture a joke.  I laugh at Jason Vorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface, paranomal Activity 1-4, etc.   Sometimes I do wish I could go back in time and unwatch that movie.  That is how I was effected by it.  About once a month, ( still to this day) I am awaken by horrible Exorcist dreams.  Either the bed is moving, or I am floating.    Horrible.  I read a book by a real exorcist called An Exorcist tells his story.  Chilling!      One good thing however, is this move has brought me and many others closer to Christ. I know a lot of it is sensationalism and Hollywood, but what a incredible moving picture.    I bought an old paperback on Ebay about a year ago and I am finally going to strart it.   I do have a few questions about the movie, I will post some  here and maybe someone can help answer-

#1-Karras tells Regans Mom, that she became violent when sprinkled with tap water and that does not support the grounds for an exorcism.  I do know what the Church needs to have before they grant and exorcism,  why wouldnt the water incident change the churchs opinon that this was a valid case?  why was it put into the movie?

 

#2-  What does that sign mean, above the door, when Karras is playing the tape for the other priest

 

#3-  I read an interview with Father karras's character, I think it was J. Miller.  He stated that the devil won.  he went there for Merrin, and killed two priests, and then left when Karras thrown out the window.  Devil 2.  Church 0

 

thoughts? 

[granville1]

Welcome aboard :)  As to your questions:

1. The idea is that the demon is a trickster, trying to make Karras think that the possession is fake – so the demon, knowing preternaturally that it's tap water, goes along with Karras' trick, out of spite and gleeful cruelty.

2. I think the Japanese sign means something like “Help me” or “Save me”.

3. The Devil didn't win. That may have been the interviewee's theory, but it wasn't Blatty's idea at all:

Blatty is on public record myriad times saying that the Devil didn't win. First, the Devil did “go there for Merrin”, but NOT TO KILL MERRIN. The demon wanted to KILL REGAN while Merrin watched on helplessly. Merrin died before the demon could defeat Merrin by killing Regan, so the demon lost its main plan. In the novel, the demon rages and raves that Merrin “would have” lost, and cheated the demon of its victory by dying before the demon could kill Regan.

The demon did not kill two priests. The demon wanted Merrin ALIVE, but Merrin died of a simple heart attack. The demon did not kill Karras. Rather, Karras took on the demon deliberately and took the demon out the window, which is not a case of suicide, but of “demonicide”. The book makes it very clear that Karras attained salvation and, Christ-like, gave his life for Regan's. The movie is less explicit, but between Karras' receiving absolution from Dyer and Regan's baffled kiss at seeing Fr Dyer's Roman collar, the movie still makes it clear that Karras lured the demon out the window, saved Regan, and that the Roman collar unconsciously reminds Regan of the two priests who risked their lives and sanity to deliver her.

[splake]

 thanks for the reply.  awesome the different takes and interpetations.  I am going to dive into the book tonight.  I can not wait.

[granville1]

You're welcome 🙂

[Jason Stringer]

Welcome to Everything Exorcist and I'm glad your questions were answered!

Great answers, granville1.

[granville1]

Well, thank you very much for your kind words, Cap'n. … If Karras “was killed by the demon”, then the story becomes less than pointless – it becomes an exercise in gratuitous cruelty and despair, the victory of a somehow contagious, vile mental illness with no true heroism or real sacrifice involved …

[oachi]

Thanks for the meeting.

[Author]

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