The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty became infamous by leaving a scar on all of its readers, with the horrific undergoing of a thirteen-year-old girl. The film, The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin also captures the novel and the events with a chilling, yet superb cast and screenplay. The book and film begin with Chris, a successful actress that is dealing with a minor case of depression, divorce and a healthy, pretty child: Raegan. As the two progress, Chris notices a change in Raegan that is violent, profane, and extremely sexual. Eventually, it becomes evident to the majority of the characters in the book, that Raegan is indeed possessed by a daemon due to the changes in her appearance and drastic change to her personality. Blatty
…show more content…
The scene plays out very similarly to that in the novel, although, there are a few distinct differences. There is visually no fight, accept when Chris is seen stumbling up the stairs towards Raegan’s room. The demon shrieks at Raegan, “Do it bitch!” and Raegan is heard quickly saying, “No, please no!” Instead of Raegan being presented as masturbating sensually, she is instead seen stabbing at her vagina, with deliberate messy cuts, and screaming, “Let Jesus fuck you, let Jesus fuck you. Let him fuck you,” (The Exorcist). The sounds of the cuts are chilling and unforgettable. Audience members will eternally remember that sound of flesh being torn and cut without mercy. This “stabbing” turns the purpose of the scene completely around. The scene is no longer erotic; it is instead quite painful to watch. The demon is not violating Raegan with passion, or twisted pleasure, like he did in the novel. He instead is emotionless, and insufferable; he is shattering Raegan just to cause pain. This entire scene still succeeds to shock and perplex the audience, but if Raegan was to actually sexually masturbate in the film, it would’ve had to been rated X. It is impossible to show a girl sensually masturbating on screen without some sort of full-blown outcry from its
The scene plays out very similarly to that in the novel, although, there are a few distinct differences. There is visually no fight, accept when Chris is seen stumbling up the stairs towards Raegan’s room. The demon shrieks at Raegan, “Do it bitch!” and Raegan is heard quickly saying, “No, please no!” Instead of Raegan being presented as masturbating sensually, she is instead seen stabbing at her vagina, with deliberate messy cuts, and screaming, “Let Jesus fuck you, let Jesus fuck you. Let him fuck you,” (The Exorcist). The sounds of the cuts are chilling and unforgettable. Audience members will eternally remember that sound of flesh being torn and cut without mercy. This “stabbing” turns the purpose of the scene completely around. The scene is no longer erotic; it is instead quite painful to watch. The demon is not violating Raegan with passion, or twisted pleasure, like he did in the novel. He instead is emotionless, and insufferable; he is shattering Raegan just to cause pain. This entire scene still succeeds to shock and perplex the audience, but if Raegan was to actually sexually masturbate in the film, it would’ve had to been rated X. It is impossible to show a girl sensually masturbating on screen without some sort of full-blown outcry from its