Image by AStoKo at Pixabay
On December 30th, 2021, I finally did it. I read The Exorcist.
Yes, that “Exorcist”.
The novel. The one they made into the movie.
Yes, that movie.
And I know what most people will probably think: big deal. But for me, indeed it was.
I was just shy of eleven years old when the movie opened in theaters and terrified me into many sleepless nights. The big deal in all this is that I never even saw the movie, only the trailers. And the various articles and interviews that came out during the promotion of the film. Those tiny snippets of film and information freaked me out so thoroughly and efficiently that I knew I could never see the film. I didn’t know anything about mental breakdown or psychosis at the time, but I understood, viscerally at least, that I would never be the same if I were to see it.
So I didn’t. Of course that was easy since it was rated R and I wasn’t even eleven yet. But there were still opportunities. I could have snuck in with a group of older friends, I suppose, or simply bought a ticket and walked in. The kids working the box offices at our local theaters were not exactly interested in enforcing the rules of Motion Picture Association of America, only that people buying tickets paid for them (and not even always that.) In fact, I saw numerous other R-rated movies before the “legal” age of seventeen. Many for free.
Why was I so afraid of The Exorcist? There were many reasons but being Catholic and coming of age in Catholic schools during the sixties and early seventies easily topped the list. During those years the faith basically taught through fear and shaming. With stories about believers who literally had to fight with the devil to prove their goodness. Or children who saw images of the blessed mother at Lourdes being told they’d be “boiled in oil” for lying. It taught me that if you were bad, like lying about seeing Mary, you would be punished. That made sense (although the boiling oil part was a little extreme.) But then, if you were good, you would still be punished. You had to exchange fisticuffs with the devil himself for Christ’s sake. WTF? There was no winning.
Original sin was big then, too; we kids were constantly told that our souls were tainted. That humans were lowly creatures unworthy of the Garden of Eden, destined to spend their lives fearing God. Even just thinking about those days is a downer. Why would such talk encourage any young child to seek solace or inclusion from the church? Who would choose to enter into such a life?
Those religious experiences might not have been enough to turn me off from the movie by themselves. But combine that with my distaste for horror films in general and there was no chance. Scary, gory movies disturb me and sometimes literally give me nightmares. All of those factors together meant that The Exorcist would not happen for me. And I was fine with that. My life was rich, beautiful, and blessed; viewing one less movie wasn’t going to ruin anything.
Flash forward forty five years. That’s when I read an article about Ronald Hunkeler and suddenly I was obsessed. You mean it’s all real? (or mostly so?) Good enough! Now it had me. I had to know who this guy was. What happened to him. How the novel was the same or different from his situation. Everything.
A duckduckgo search led to a few more articles about Hunkeler. I read them all and kept looking. I found If There Were Demons Then Perhaps There We’re Angels: essentially William Peter Blatty’s (the author) story of his research for the novel. An hour or so later I was done and searched for anything I could find about Blatty himself.
I was not disappointed: the guy was fascinating, talented, and intelligent. Oh yeah, and funny. He started his writing career authoring comedic novels and screenplays (I know, right???) He was quite successful in the genre. Who would have guessed? So after getting to know him in that little bit of time (and rereading If There Were Demons), I knew I had to do it. I had to read The Exorcist.
So, how was it?
In a word: enthralling.
Wait, also: riveting.
Shucks, go ahead, throw in chilling while you’re at it.
But wait, there’s more! Intellectual, entertaining, suspenseful, occasionally gross and abhorrent. Frequently terrifying. But most of all? Surprisingly poignant. Even spiritual.
Blatty was a Catholic, raised in Catholic schools. He graduated from Georgetown and studied under the Jesuits about whom he wrote. He heard the possession story from them. In short, the guy was no hack. Sure The Exorcist is a novel, but it was born from thorough research and Blatty’s genuine desire to explore the possibility of demonic possession. And religion. Human relationships. Psychology and science. The existence of God.
I didn’t expect to delve into ideas about family, commitment, psychology, or tenderness in The Exorcist, but it was all there. Father Karras’s personal struggles with his own faith, Chris’s (Regan’s mother) agony with her daughter’s transformation into a monster, humans suffering with the struggle to discern the presence of God in a hostile world. The realization that life is only worth living in the context of love. And that, as Father Karras realizes, “…There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 13:15 (New Living Translation). Because (spoiler alert) that’s exactly what he did.*
Aren’t these topics some of the very concerns we need to explore as human beings (hopefully minus the demonic possession part)? To answer the question in the title of this post then, I’d have to say essentially yes. Insofar as any of us actually figure out the meaning of our lives. It’s not obvious that Chris or Regan transformed their beliefs from the experience (ironically), but Karras certainly did. Through his genuine concern and compassion, he realized he could make a difference. He understood, at the most powerful level, exactly what love (and for him, God) is. What more meaning could one find?
I haven’t decided yet if they book has “changed my life,” but I’m definitely leaning that way. After all, I still have a lot of exploring to do. Researching Blatty, I discovered ideas I’d never heard of (like those of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the Omega Point.) There’s so much to learn!
So yeah, The Exorcist was amazing. For so many reasons. Who’da thunk it?
*2nd spoiler alert: Blatty explained in If There Were Demons, that Karras wasn’t thrown out the window by the demon. He jumped out to kill the demon before it could use him to kill others. Before it would then exit his body and leave him, Karras, to deal with the horror.