The Excorcism of Emily Rose (1 Viewer)

[Rich Malloy]

I think I understand what you're getting at, Jason, and I don't want to sound ridiculously indignant about this. And I recognize that I'm criticizing an impression of what I fear this film will be without really having any idea what the intentions of the filmmakers are. I guess you could say I expect the worst.

But when I assume that the filmmakers intend to exploit a tragedy in order to exploit a credulous audience, I doubt I'm too far off-base. Every criticism of this or that film as "dumbed down" or "pandering to mass prejudice" or "trafficing in facile stereotypes" often gets thrown back in to the critic's face with the retort "it's only a movie". And so when I read about the creepy trailer for this film and and the expectation of a real good scare, I can't help but think that some poor kid died as a result of nothing more than the bad luck to be born of parents who subscribe to a medieval view of the universe as inhabited by spirits and demons and whatever other superstitions they might harbor.

Even today, I come across this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4677969.stm

Of course, this doesn't just happen in Angola. There are recent cases in the United States. I think it's amoral in the extreme to exploit these stories, and far past the time to call "bullshit" on these practices and the supernatural hooey being preached even in this so-called civilized country. There's no law against exploiting tragedy, and there certainly shouldn't be, but one would hope that there isn't much of an audience for it either.

 

[Henry Carmona]

We'll just have to wait and see what the directors and producuers intent is on this film.

However, that doesnt change what actually happened. I guess what im saying is that one should be open to other explanations.

I believe there are supernatural happenings induced by the spirit world. I think that even demonic (if this is indeed the case with this girl) posession or influences can have very physiological, biological, and psychological explanations. However, just because they can be explained by science doesnt mean they arent spiritual in nature.

 

[BridgetJZ]

In response to this being based on a true story, i tried to do some digging and this was the best that i could come up with:

http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_1253.html

Sounds like its been translated from another language so the grammar's a little spotty, but worth a look over nonetheless.

Wonder why they changed the name.

 

[Linda Thompson]

A recent write-up:

http://tinyurl.com/byso2

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Rich: My problem with your take on the events is that the Roman Catholic church has not made it a practice to perform exorcisms for a very long time. The request to do so was repeatedly denied and approval came only after the priest watched her progress for a good deal of time.
Is it still with in the realm of secular explanation? Possibly.
But I wouldn't put this on the same level as renegade Pentacostal cult leaders. The medical option was pursued first, and there was a great deal of deliberation before the route of the excorcism was performed.

 

[Janna S]

Rich: I like your take on this and on such matters in general.

I am exhausted, saddened, and sometimes frightened by people who look for magical (e.g., religious, demonic, superstitious, mystical) answers or who seek to place blame on others (e.g., it's because of "people like that," "those kinds of people," "non-believers") for the complexities of life . . .

 

[Rich Malloy]

And I suspect this film will be noncommittal on that key point, allowing the credulous and easily-deluded to maintain the fantasy of demonic possession (or voodoo curse, or mal occhio, or whatever the prevailing provincial superstition may be). And yet another kid will die yet another pointless, unnecessary death. And that won't be the last one either.

 

[Henry Carmona]

haha, deluded are those who dismiss the spiritual becuase it doesnt fit into their way of thinking, or their idea of how this world is suppose to work.

 

[Kevin M]

The way it's going, this thread will soon be "exorcized" I suspect. :rolleyes

 

[JohnMor]

Well, it looks like it might be excellent, or it could have one of those climaxes that never quits, where they don't know that too much ruins it. I love Laura Linney, though, so that's a major deciding factor for me. The reviews would have to be pretty harsh for me to give it a pass.

 

[Malcolm R]

Damn! She's in it!?

*crosses "Emily Rose" off the fall must-see list* :frowning:

 

[Brian.L]

I know this isn't the official thread or anything, and I have no plans to write an something detailed, but here's what I said in another thread:

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

[DELETED: It's not even worth commenting on]

 

[AlexCremers]

I saw the trailer weeks ago and I it told me the movie is not going to be any good. Isn't that strange?

 

[Rich Malloy]

I don't dismiss the spiritual, but I do dismiss archaic and destructive notions from our less enlightened history. And the Church, as corrupt and benighted as it is, has also consigned such lunacies to history's dustbin (or at least the loony fringes).

But my criticism of this film isn't exactly that it promotes ignorance and superstition (though I suspect that it will do precisely that). My criticism - or my expectation more precisely - is that the filmmakers will exploit a real tragedy in order to exploit a credulous audience by presenting the events as plausibly the result of supernatural forces. At the same time, they won't follow through on this conviction by allowing for the possibility that this girl was afflicted by a natural condition. They'll have it both ways and nondiscerning audiences can take it how they wish, and all will justify it as being somehow objective and even-handed, in the spirit of allowing for subjective interpretations of natural phenomenon. After all, who can say for certain and shouldn't we acknowledge the right of people to hold different opinions?

I'll allow that this sort of intellectual relativism is benign in certain contexts (though no less the enemy of a rigorous search for truth), but when children continue to die as a result of these practices - and they do - it seems to me that we are then morally obligated to expose and denounce it. Certainly, it would seem beneath contempt to treat an actual tragedy such as this as fodder for entertainment product, or to capitalize upon it by making a Hollywood thriller. And if you, in this day and age, still hold to the superstitions of the distant past, then please understand that the filmmakers don't share your views, but are more than willing to cynically profit from them.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Am I overstating the harm? One can hardly open the paper without reading of children dying as a result of ancient rituals and superstitions: http://www.slate.com/id/2125225/

And one might recall my post from page one of this thread where I linked to other such reports that just happened to be in the paper that day (link's still good if you care to check).

 

[John Doran]

sure. this film may very well occasion some people - "deluded" and "credulous", as you call them - to commit harm against children. but excoriating it for that reason seems suspiciously like blaming violent movies for violence. or ozzy osbourne for the occasional teenage suicide. or...

look, there are crazy people everywhere - why should we be held artistically hostage by their lunacy?

as for the dismissal of the supernatural as merely an ancient superstition, dare i quote one keyser soze: "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist"...

 

[Rich Malloy]

I half expected to be challenged with Biblical quotations, or perhaps even the modified version of the Exorcism Rite of 1641, but imagine my surprise to be faced with no less an authority than a fictional character in a middling, disposable Hollywood thriller. As citations go, that one's not exactly among the usual suspects, but a good example of the sort of trifle that some elevate to the level of religious authority.

For the record, I'll probably not be convinced by quotations from "The Devil's Advocate", "Constantine", any of the various Exorcist movies, the Omen series, the first two installments of the Evil Dead trilogy, or the Night Stalker. But I'm certain to be amused!

 

[Brett_B]

This thread is very amusing to say the least.

I was hoping to find more information in regards to the actual events (whether they are real or not), but I didn't expect this.



Haven't we seen movies that would fit this description before? Why the soapbox now?

The original Exorcist was based on a true story, but if I remember correctly, it was credited for making more people aware of the Bible in general. I can't remember reading any headlines where someone was killed because someone else thought that they were possessed and needed an exorcism which resulted in death (as a result of someone being influenced by the film).

You know what...forget it. I just want to see a good movie...end of story. Actually, I hope it inspires me to further research the actual events, and the facts behind it. Nothing more.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Since writing about this, I've discovered the the director and co-writer of this film are, surprise!, believers in this demonic bunkum and all their previous films are along the same lines of subject matter. They are not, in a word, objective. They are, in a word, idjits.