Some people on imdb keep thinking that Burke was molesting Regan!

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  • #18727
    Blizzi
    Participant

    I agree with you… It’s just interesting, imo, to hear other possibilities… Like being a detective 😉

    #18736
    Justin
    Participant

    I am getting just annoyed with it. Yes the film is deep, but people are looking into this WAY too much when the obvious is staring them right in the face.

    #18738
    granville1
    Participant

    If Dennings was the real bad guy, the film would have spelled it out in undeniable terms. So would have Blatty in the novel.

    Blatty says of Dennings something like, “he was a kind and considerate man when sober”. He was a close friend of Chris and showed his thoughtfulness to Regan, e.g., on her birthday he lighted her on-scene and filmed her blowing out her birthday cake candles.

    Flakes such as those at imdb might insist, “Yeah, okay, he was nice when sober, but when drunk – which was frequently – he could have turned into a molester.”

    Unfortunately for that view, Blatty (and Friedkin) _do_ show us what Dennings is like when he is drunk. In fact the uncut version of the film shows that Regan and Dennings are both present together at the party at Chris’s house, the same party where the plastered Dennings makes his “alien pubic hair” remark, trashes Karl’s dignity, and smashes a glass.

    At no point does the drunk Dennings exhibit anything like off-color sexual behavior, much less ephebophilia. There is no hint of this in the book or the film.

    Still, some imdb pinheads will further insist, “Yeah, okay, but Dennings was up in Regan’s room and she broke his neck and pushed him out her window, so maybe she was provoked by his unwanted intentions.”

    This is really too ludicrous to be entertained, but for the sake of truthfulness, let’s entertain _and_ refute it:

    Dennings may in fact have had some quite legitimate reason to have gone upstairs to Regan’s room. Blatty, though it takes some time for him to arrive here, lets us know that Regan is no longer her normal self.

    We know this because 1) she twisted Dennings’ head completely around facing backward, a demonic method of murder; and 2) supernormal strength is required for this, strength far beyond that of little Regan. It is thus established that the “thing” in the upstairs room is no longer the normal Regan.

    This “Regan replacement” – which we later observe to be incredibly strong and violent – could easily have lured Dennings upstairs. Perhaps she manifested some of her weird poltergeist noises; perhaps she just screamed in her normal voice and/or cried out for help. Either way, as a decent human being and a family friend, Dennings probably would have probably bounded up the stairs in aid of Chris’s daughter. That, or something like it, is the most likely scenario for Dennings being in Regan’s room.

    Finally, although in the novel and film Regan is said not to remember the actual possession, nothing is mentioned about the “overture” or “infestation” phase. We are free to imagine that Regan’s memory was unimpaired about the things leading up to the possession.

    Therefore, it is probable that if Dennings had been molesting Regan in the weeks leading up the possession, she certainly would have mentioned it – then or later – to Chris. Granted, some molestation victims are unable to talk about their abuse, but it defies _literary_ logic that Regan would be one of them. Here we return to the point that if Dennings was really the bad guy, Blatty and/or Friedkin would have pointed it out, and the best way to do so would have been from Regan’s own testimony post-possession. Or somehow establish it from some other source. But, in fact, nothing of the kind takes place.

    Pre-possession, Regan does exhibit anxiety about Dennings, but it is nothing that resembles a personal conflict. She is only worried that her mother will decide to marry Dennings. Her concern is thus not really about Dennings, but about her mother’s good judgment. Moreover, it is not really Regan who initiates this mistrust – in this early scene in the film, it is insinuated that Regan’s doubts are already being suggested by Captain Howdy’s influence.

    I suppose we really can’t expect exacting and nuanced judgments from people like those on imbd. That’s why I for one am grateful for the forum that our own Captain Howdy gives us here, where we can delineate the fine points of the Exorcist saga.

    #18740
    Blizzi
    Participant

    You said it. 🙂

    #18742
    granville1
    Participant

    Thanks, Blizzi.

    #18743
    Sofia
    Participant

    You are so articulate, granville. How can you say you’re not too much of a writer? 😉

    “…Either way, as a decent human being and a family friend, Dennings probably would have probably bounded up the stairs in aid of Chris’s daughter. That, or something like it, is the most likely scenario for Dennings being in Regan’s room.”

    That’s what happened. It was explained on the last chapter of the novel.

    People on imdb should stop readind too much into it.

    #18746
    granville1
    Participant

    Thanks for the nice words, lunuso. Yep, I think those who look to Burke Dennings as a villain or even the cause of the possession are superficial readers who substitute insinuation for evidence.

    #19142
    colombiancannon
    Participant

    Maybe Regan killed Burke Dennings when he was downstairs in the livingroom. Then she takes him upstairs and throws him out the window. The reason I suggest this is whenever she was possessed, she came downstairs. For example, during the party, she was sleeping then she comes downstairs to pee on the carpet and the spider-walk scene, she comes downstairs and when she gets the cross from the little table, she probably went downstairs to grab it, so that she can masterbate with it. Just a thought.

    #19147
    Themagus01
    Participant

    Burke dennings come around to the Mcneil residense alot. cuz he gets lonely.

    and didnt Reagan took a dump on the alter??

    #19178
    granville1
    Participant

    I don’t know if she actually defecated on the altar. The perp left a mound of excrement on the altar. I’d always pictured her dropping it out of a plastic bag. That would be quicker than climbing up on the altar, disarranging her clothes, defecating, probably wiping herself (sorry), and re-arranging her clothing. I think this is the same incident (?) in which the pornographic altar card was left in the church, and the Virgin’s statue was desecrated. Whether or not all this occurred at the same time, stealth and speed would have been intense motivators. Hence, I would opt for a pre-packaged bit of dung rather than a more time-consuming defecation.

    #19183
    Blizzi
    Participant

    Never thought about it. Sounds good, granny.

    #19187
    granville1
    Participant

    Thanks Blizzi… actually, I never thought of it either. It does conjure some…oddball… images, for sure! I think that’s one scene that a scripter would do well to avoid in any Exorcist re-make…

    #19207
    Themagus01
    Participant

    a possessed demon with stealth and ninja abilities, ive seen Enter the ninja the dominition

    #19209
    granville1
    Participant

    pseudo-haiku…

    southwest wind demon
    blowing through russet child
    lurking in dark church
    dropping poop plops!

    #19228
    Blizzi
    Participant

    Now Sufi poems are tricky… Can’t even spell it correctly 😛

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