Friday, July 9, 2010
The "Real" exorcism of "Emily Rose"
I readily admit that the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was very well done. It was beautiful and cinematic, very well acted and downright creepy. I think the plot was a bit uncomfortable and awkward, like a jerky wheel on a bike, but all-in-all, a very good exorcism type movie.
I never could see it again and, in fact, gave the DVD away. My son had meningitis and had seizures in front of me and since then I couldn't look at the movie without having a bit of mommy PTSD. But, it is definitely worth seeing.
What I appreciated about it so much was that they left you up in the air--was it really a possession or was it a seizure disorder or mental issue? What the hell was wrong with this young woman? The real story happened to a Catholic German girl. I always find it interesting that Catholics seem to be the ones that get possessed and need exorcisms, but I won't comment on that.
Even though I don't in any way believe in possession, demons or evil, I do find the notion as interesting as a zombie movie. I don't believe in zombies, but the "what if there were zombies?" idea is a compelling one and the "what if you could get possessed?" concept is entertaining in the horror genre, as well.
I find it tragic that this girl died and after seeing the photos of her in her last moments, she was obviously malnourished and being given all the wrong kind of care. It sort of reminds me of those parents that for religious reasons won't let their children be medically treated. Should a "God" figure gave us food and oxygen and we use it, He wouldn't chastize us and by giving us brains to create modern medicine, He would not slap our wrists.
Honestly, I prefer the not-based-on-true-story possession movies much more than "The Exorcist" and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." Still, if you're into that kind of thing--I thought that "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was actually better executed than "The Exorcist" which got kind of tedious and set-bound.
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There are actually a lot of third world like countries that believe in possession, or at least that's what I've come to learn from the National Geographic Channel :-p I think a lot of the Amazonian civilizations believe in it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the movie... The only thing I can think about it was my middle school friends joking about how stupid it was. I guess we were expecting something up to the Exorcist Caliber. :-p It is a bit sad that it was based on a true story though.
(BTW: I'm quite envious that you get real words for verification, and I get junk like ardsh. lol)
I found your post more interesting than the film itself. Good job.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve! There's not a lot of possession films with exorcisms, so this one was fairly notable for the curious twist on it and the filming.
ReplyDeletePeople scare me more than any damn demon!
ReplyDeleteThey should, Grim, as you are one of them too!
ReplyDeleteLol, I was listening to this while my husband was going to sleep in the other room and I hear, "Heather - what the hell is that?!". Definately disturbing and ultimately sad footage. As for the movie, I think I saw it but don't remember, which doesn't say much.
ReplyDeleteHeather;
ReplyDeleteYou're funny! Yeah, I'm sure he had to wonder if he should call the medics or the cops... Yeah, the movie to some was a snooze because it became a lot about the legal issues but it truly made you wonder the entire time what the real problem was.
I'd tap that :)
ReplyDeleteI saw this movie a couple of days ago, and it had me wondering. If the movie was based on real events, then the jason character(boyfriend) existed. My point is, why was the trial in the movie only limited to the exorcism itself. "Emily" was from a very religious background, that is obvious. But why did she start getting possessed after leaving her home and going to college? My theory in short words is that "Emily" had sexual relations with "jason", then came the feelings of guilt(because of premarital sex). I read that the real emily would not face images of God, but instead look away. I think that she felt shame for what she did, and did not dare face God, and would feel disgust(leading to anorexia). In one scene of the movie where emily is inside the church and jason tries to help her and she screams: "dont touch me", that line was the one that struck me the most, and therefore inspired my theory. I've also read that the real emily would "stink" as hell, there are many types of seizures, and some may cause a person to urinate or defecate on him/herself. One thing lead to another, the exorcism helped on developing the behaviour of possession. Then she would start hating god(maybe because he wouldnt help her), and she would regress to an animalistic form, because she didnt feel human anymore. Religion is a very powerful thing, and may lead one to believe in such things as possession, but in reality , its all in the mind.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, you are one smart man. Yes, I agree with you. A male realtive had anorexia upon starting college and depression and it was due to having a male roommate and realizing he might be gay. College students are very vulnerable to panic attacks, anxiety, depression and such. It's a huge change to leave a religious family and learn that the world has no parameters, only the ones your parents showed you. It's very likely she had pseudoseizures due to a borderline personality problem and religion tends to be the subject of some serious mental illnesses. You don't see people killing their children because Santa Claus told them to, but it seems God tells them to often.
ReplyDeleteI think Jennifer Carpenter really did a gereat job with the movie. It takes a lot of work to pull of pretending to be possessed.
ReplyDeleteAnneliese Michel's story has really changed my life and how I look at the next world.