The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are in many ways explicitly shocking films. Both movies have been analyzed for deeper interpretations beyond the jarring images shown on screen (others have argued that The Exorcist isn't and wasn't supposed to be that shocking to begin with). While these deeper interpretations may hold value, in both cases it was difficult for this viewer to move past what was being shown on screen. And that alone bears exploring.
Bill Van Wert argues that The Exorcist is a film about the horrors of the medical establishment. He notes that "the explicit ordeals of possession and exorcism, which fill up the last forty-five minutes of the film, seem tame in retrospect when compared with the scenes involving doctors mechanically desecrating the little girl's poor body in their exploratory probing" [1]. He continues, stating "The Exorcist is the most biting indictment of the medical profession since Arthur Hiller's The Hospital" [1].
Van Wert's interpretation of the film is quite valid. The evils of medicine (both real and imaginary) are put on explicit display throughout most of the film - from the treatment of Karras' mother to the treatment of Regan. …show more content…
In a world where pedophilia, sexual abuse, and the hypersexualizing of children is commonplace, and where pornography has dulled our senses to sexual imagery, scenes of Regan being raped by the devil or forcing her mother to go down on her come off as not so much avant garde as instead simply in poor taste. With the shock value of these scenes faded by time, the imagery falls flat. It seems pointless, almost
Bill Van Wert argues that The Exorcist is a film about the horrors of the medical establishment. He notes that "the explicit ordeals of possession and exorcism, which fill up the last forty-five minutes of the film, seem tame in retrospect when compared with the scenes involving doctors mechanically desecrating the little girl's poor body in their exploratory probing" [1]. He continues, stating "The Exorcist is the most biting indictment of the medical profession since Arthur Hiller's The Hospital" [1].
Van Wert's interpretation of the film is quite valid. The evils of medicine (both real and imaginary) are put on explicit display throughout most of the film - from the treatment of Karras' mother to the treatment of Regan. …show more content…
In a world where pedophilia, sexual abuse, and the hypersexualizing of children is commonplace, and where pornography has dulled our senses to sexual imagery, scenes of Regan being raped by the devil or forcing her mother to go down on her come off as not so much avant garde as instead simply in poor taste. With the shock value of these scenes faded by time, the imagery falls flat. It seems pointless, almost