[granville1]

Good ideas there, jagged – thanks for sharing 🙂

[granville1]

Thanks. It appears on the second page at

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..-1949.html

 

Thanks for posting.

 

EDIT Sorry, you're right, the link doesn't work. I tried to delete the link by Editing but it did not delete.

[granville1]

Looks enticing, but sorry to say the page displays the following message –

 

Sorry…

The page you have requested does not exist or is no longer available.

[granville1]

A bit OT, but now there's a claim that Spielberg featured one of those so-call paranormal “Black Eyed Children” in Close Encounters, as follows:

 

http://twocrowsparanormal.blog…..child.html

[granville1]

I love it … intentionally or not (mostly intentionally), this film is packed with symbolism and inner resonances. I'm glad you seem to have found another one 🙂

In reference to Karras' death scene, iirc, there is graffiti on the side of the steps that reads, “PIGS”, which some say may be a possible reference to the demon(s) “Legion” that Jesus cast into a herd of swine …

… then there's the “Christian Cross” window debris that appears on the right side of the window frame from Kinderman's POV in Regan's room, and on the left side when viewed from outside and below, with Kinderman framed in the broken window …

… then there's Regan's “bat tree” drawing that Karras examines, and which, viewed upside down, turns the “bats” into so many miniature, black “Merrins”, complete with hat and a suggestion of a valise as in the iconic poster …

… anyway, this masterpiece continues to engage and astonish. Thanks again for your contribution.

🙂

[granville1]

I can only think of two, and they are both in The Exorcist franchise – in Exorcist III, Miss Clelia does a ceiling walk that is similar to the spider walk. In Exorcist the Beginning, the possessed Elizaeth Scorupco does a kind of spider walk all over the walls of underground caves.

[granville1]

Psychiatrist said:

Great topic here…..for me personally, the book took much greater lengths to set up a scenario where the possibility of Regan actually being possessed (vs mental illness) was debatable…or doubtful. The book on Witchcraft, the in-depth personal debate the Father Karras had with himself throughout the story, and most genius, was Regan speaking languages she had not known; when you read the translations, you realize she is just speaking fragments – things she could have picked up in passing which casts doubt on the authenticity of her possession. In the movie (and especially in the silly “version you've never seen”), there was absolutely no doubt that there were supernatural forces at work.

This whole aspect of the book was fascinating to me, since I had seen the movie dozens of times before reading the book.

===

 

Actually, in the end, the novel supports possession. Blatty himself has said so, including his crucial statements that “the devil did not win” and that Karras was genuinely redeemed and genuinely “took the demon inside”. Moreover, Blatty depicts Merrin as a real expert on the real exorcism of real demons. There is no winking at Merrin's authentic expertise or his integrity.

The book magnificently carries out this salvation plan, for which a real demon is the necessary component. Otherwise, The Exorcist becomes a meaningless tale of sound and fury, wherein all the major characters are simply insane, starting with Regan herself:

Regan falsely imagines she's possessed; Merrin falsely imagines that Regan is possessed; Karras sacrifices his life for the same delusion; Merrin dies of stress induced in fighting an imaginary foe; Chris, Sharon, Karl and Willie are horrified by a non-existent entity. All the novel's angst and metaphysical issues are negated by its attempt to interest the reader in a cluster-f-ck of a gaggle of crazy, useless characters. None of this is sensible, or even tolerable, because it all defeats Blatty's express purpose in penning the book, i.e., “if there can be demons, there can be God, angels, saints, and a benevolent supernatural”; and: “I don't want people to think that the devil won”.

Before Karras dies, he has come to believe in the demon's reality, and even addresses it, telling it that “You're good with children, little girls – how about trying me?”

Then, when possessed, Karras is heard to tell the demon, “NO – I won't let you hurt them (all the people in the house)”.

And when Karras dies, he dies with a radiance in his eyes and “a glint of triumph”.

When told that Karras had been having problems with his faith, Chris replies, “I've never seen such faith in my life”.

When Karras leaps from the window, Regan is immediately returned to herself. And post-possession, when she sees Fr. Dyer's Roman collar, Regan kisses him because she associates priesthood with liberation from a real captivity. Clearly, then Blatty considers the demonto be just as real as he does Karras' self-sacrifice and redemption. In fact, Karras' self-sacrifice depend on the demon's reality, otherwise his act becomes the meaningless, wasteful action of a moronic psychopath. The exact opposite of Blatty's oft-repeated intention.

Mere mental illness is a flimsy structure on which to build a psychoanalytic word castle relative to Blatty's novel. It won't bear the weight of Blatty's central, supernatural message. To attempt to foist a materialist/reductionist-rationalistic “explanation” on Blatty's text is to misrepresent both his intention and his narrative.

** Sorry, everything came out italicized, I tried to correct it, to no avail. **

[granville1]

Yes, there's something askew. The screen seems squished vertically with a left-hand bias, with print running right across right-hand margins.

[granville1]

ReganMacNeilfan said:

Thanks. I had help with the make up. Not bad for a quick costume too. 🙂 the crucifix i made myself.

Great work all around, then. There's nothing like throwing yourself and friends into a fun, scary project – especially an Exorcist -related project.

[granville1]

Nicely done – it's obvious you have a talent for makeup and mimicry, and a love for Regan's character. Good colors, too 🙂

[granville1]

Jagged said:

Damn I can't read half of this. Everything is formatted beyond the page width again.

Time for a new 'puter me thinks.

===

 

Hey, me too. The right margin is chopped off.

[granville1]

Captain, thanks for this interesting bit of cultural history. If we can judge by the media cites, Omaha was unable to see the film's subtleties and religious meaning beneath the gross-out sfx. That was their loss, of course.

[granville1]

Yes, it's appearing in its normal position now – thanks for the fix 🙂

[granville1]

We trust in our Captain … thanks for working on it.

[granville1]

Thanks much, Captain 🙂

[Author]

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