# The Exorcist: A rather lame Pitting of VH1 **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328 "2005-11-03T18:24:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/1 "2005-11-03T18:24:02Z")
Last weekend VH1 did a two-hour show about the making of The Exorcist. I believe it was called The Curse of The Exorcist. In this post I hope to Pit a) VH1, b) Idiots on VH1, and c) Idiots in movie theatres who eventually end up on VH1. a) It wasn’t enough to do a documentary about the making of this classic film. No, they had to suggest that the film, set, and crew were quite possibly posessed by some demon. That so many things went wrong on the set is surely a sign that Satan’s at play, right? It couldn’t possibly be, oh, say, that Jason Miller’s son was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that Max von Sydow’s brother was hitting the lutefisk a little too much. And that William Friedkin was a psychotic asshole. Naw, must be the supernatural. Satan just loves making films go over budget. There can be no other explanation. Unless, just possibly, VH1 was pandering to the morons that just can’t get enough woo in their daily lives. a1) Friedkin, here’s a clue: If you build a crazy contraption and strap a preteen girl into it, and she begs you to stop violently shaking her, that is not your cue to start filming. Sure, seeing a minor getting her spine cracked on film makes for great drama, but next time strap your own sorry ass in. Inflicting a serious back injury is not directing, it’s abuse. c) This comes before b), and it’s pretty mild. Before 1972 nobody even heard of exorcism, or posession. Seeing a little girl spit up soup is no excuse for you to start believing in demons. IT’S A MOVIE, PEOPLE! b) This one was just so odd that it’s had me going “Gah?” all week. And it’s not limited to this movie, or movies in general. It’s an attitude that seems to run rampant in religious and woo circles. I can’t remember who it was, but one of the film makers said something like “This was scarier than most horror movies, because for once the premise was about something real.” Real? Sorry, no, even the Catholic Church dismissed posession as woo centuries ago. Just because some author wrote fiction about some half-remembered newspaper article he read a decade before, that does not make it “real.” Just because you paint a minor’s face green, it does not offer proof of Satan. And I guess that cuts to the heart of this rant. People make up the wildest fantasies, then label them “real”, or “truth.” I often hear people say things like “The ninth level of Heaven is a manifestation of Rover’s love for cosmic dog poop, and that’s REAL! This material world is illusion.” The fuck? No. That which you call “real” is a product of your fevered and impaired imagination. And you need to be hit upside the head with an “illusory” two-by-four. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/2 "2005-11-03T19:46:57Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Sorry, no, even the Catholic Church dismissed posession as woo centuries ago. Without commenting on the rest of your rant, the above is [factually incorrect](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/others.html): > [@](#): > > 1673 When the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion, it is called exorcism. Jesus performed exorcisms and from him the Church has received the power and office of exorcizing. In a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. The solemn exorcism, called “a major exorcism,” can be performed only by a priest and with the permission of the bishop. The priest must proceed with prudence, strictly observing the rules established by the Church. Exorcism is directed at the expulsion of demons or to the liberation from demonic possession through the spiritual authority which Jesus entrusted to his Church. Illness, especially psychological illness, is a very different matter; treating this is the concern of medical science. Therefore, before an exorcism is performed, it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/3 "2005-11-03T19:48:05Z")
I can only assume that my coding error was the result of demonic possession and pray that a Mod will exorcise it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/4 "2005-11-03T19:54:21Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I can only assume that my coding error was the result of demonic possession and pray that a Mod will exorcise it. The thread. Is on. My foot. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/5 "2005-11-03T20:19:40Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I can only assume that my coding error was the result of demonic possession and pray that a Mod will exorcise it. Well first you have to get a young Mod and an old Mod… ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/6 "2005-11-03T20:25:30Z")
JESUS COMMANDS THAT OTTO"S CODING ERROR BE FIXED!!! did it work? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/7 "2005-11-03T20:27:19Z")
Re: point (a), it’s not VH1’s pandering–the on-set “problems” on _The Exorcist_ set have long been a part of the production history’s folklore. VH1 wasn’t creating something out of nothing, it was merely repeating what has been oft-repeated already. For them to exclude it would be more conspicuous than to sensationalize it (especially with 2 hours to fill). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/8 "2005-11-03T20:36:59Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > JESUS COMMANDS THAT OTTO"S CODING ERROR BE FIXED!!! > > did it work? Well, yeah, that works in this forum. You’ve got **Giraffe**. It’s like saying, JESUS COMMANDS THE YANKEES MAKE THE PLAYOFFS!!!, or, JESUS COMMANDS THAT WEDNESDAY NIGHT’S LADIES DRINK FREE!!! Try making a coding error in my forum and see how far you get. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/9 "2005-11-03T20:38:34Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Re: point (a), it’s not VH1’s pandering–the on-set “problems” on _The Exorcist_ set have long been a part of the production history’s folklore. VH1 wasn’t creating something out of nothing, it was merely repeating what has been oft-repeated already. For them to exclude it would be more conspicuous than to sensationalize it (especially with 2 hours to fill). Respectfully disagree. The narrator mentioned the weird, supernatural curse at every commercial break. In all of the interviews with the cast and crew, not one mentioned a curse of any sort. With one notable exception – one man said something like “If there was any curse on The Exorcist, it was that all of the sequels sucked.” And that was clearly tongue in cheek. The narrator’s comments felt extremely out of place and contrived. Now, had he said “Folklore has it that…”, then that would have been pretty neat. Had he explained it the way you just did, that would have added a nice touch to it all. Instead, it was all this mysticism bullshit. It felt like an episode of Sightings. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/10 "2005-11-03T20:47:31Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Without commenting on the rest of your rant, the above is [factually incorrect](http://www.christusrex.org/www1/CDHN/others.html): It was my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that while the rite of exorcism is part of the Catholic faith even today, that the church almost never invokes it, and really doesn’t like to admit that it even exists. It’s like one of those silly archaic laws that states that it’s illegal to put a banana down your trousers after sunset on Wednesdays. Still on the books, but no one cares. Am I wrong about that? How common are exorcisms today? Before 1971, did the general public even know what the word meant? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/11 "2005-11-03T20:52:28Z")
**tdn** , I think \*you’re \* possessed. Or you’re a beast, anyway. 😉 Right…no flirting in the Pit. In reference to the actual OP, I hate things like that myself. “So-and-so raided this tomb - and they all died.” Well, yeah, humans do that. It’s a failing. Or “there was a curse on this movie, and look, you can see a ghost.” D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/12 "2005-11-03T21:10:40Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Right…no flirting in the Pit. The penalty being a spanking. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/13 "2005-11-03T21:19:00Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > The penalty being a spanking. And you think that’s going to \*stop \* me and not, say, encourage me? Right, I’d better go before everyone yells at me. Then again, it is \*your \* thread we’re hijacking. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/14 "2005-11-03T21:27:29Z")
JESUS COMMANDS **tdn** TO SPANK **Anaamika**. JESUS FURTHER COMMANDS THAT YOU SEND PICTURES OF THIS TO **vetbridge**. THAT IS ALL. Wow. I’m chanelling Jesus!!! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/15 "2005-11-03T21:32:08Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > JESUS COMMANDS **tdn** TO SPANK **Anaamika**. Well, geez. I’d sure hate to disappoint The Lord. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/16 "2005-11-03T21:35:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It was my understanding (perhaps incorrect) that while the rite of exorcism is part of the Catholic faith even today, that the church almost never invokes it, and really doesn’t like to admit that it even exists. It’s like one of those silly archaic laws that states that it’s illegal to put a banana down your trousers after sunset on Wednesdays. Still on the books, but no one cares. > > Am I wrong about that? How common are exorcisms today? Before 1971, did the general public even know what the word meant? [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcism) (with standard Wiki-disclaimers on accuracy, although it jibes with what I recall reading elsewhere): > [@](#): > > The Catholic Church revised and renewed the Rite of Exorcism very recently in January 2000 under Pope John Paul II, who reinforced its necessity (and performed three himself during his pontificate). As a result, a number of dioceses have designated a priest as the Exorcist for the diocese. The same article also talks about the decline of exorcism’s overall importance in the wake of The Enlightenment and especially in light of greater understanding of psychology and mental illness. I would imagine that hard data on the number of Catholic exorcisms performed in a given time period would be nearly impossible to obtain, but considering that the most recently deceased Pope performed exorcisms during his pontificate and the current Pope delivered a speech at an exorcists’ convention, I don’t think the ritual can be resigned to “banana in the pants” territory just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/17 "2005-11-03T21:37:51Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Wow. I’m chanelling Jesus!!! Just like Linda Blair! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/18 "2005-11-03T21:51:39Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The same article also talks about the decline of exorcism’s overall importance in the wake of The Enlightenment and especially in light of greater understanding of psychology and mental illness. So I guess what’s in question is exactly how much of a decline it suffered. Blatty based his story on a real event from (I think) 1947, but I got the distinct impression that it was a pretty isolated story, and certainly not common in every corner church every Sunday. In the movie, Father Damien states that the church keeps it around as “sort of an embarassment.” I wonder if that notion was made up of whole cloth, or if Blatty got it from the priests who were on the set. At any rate, that movie certainly moved the idea of Exorcism to front and center of American pop consciousness. For instance, when we talk about someone’s head spinning, we know exactly what that means. Prior to the book’s release, I wonder how many people on the street could have told you what an exorcism is. I don’t really know, as I was pretty young at the time. I’m sure it was not part of my world, at any rate. I also wonder if the movie had any effect on how the church deals with it now. It would be interesting to find out that Linda Blair had some direct or indirect effect on Papal policy. I guess we can only speculate on that. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/19 "2005-11-03T21:55:36Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > In reference to the actual OP, I hate things like that myself. “So-and-so raided this tomb - and they all died.” Well, yeah, humans do that. It’s a failing. Or “there was a curse on this movie, and look, you can see a ghost.” D’oh! Or like that show, I think it was on MTV, a while back, where they took some people out to the woods, flashed lights around and rustled the underbrush, and the subjects ran back to the van screaming. “This proves that ghosts are real.” No, putz, it proves that **people react to stimuli**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328/20 "2005-11-03T22:01:29Z")
**Rilchiam** , what show was that? Was it the people in the woods that said ghosts are real, or was it the producers? That is, was it all a goof, or were they serious? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-exorcist-a-rather-lame-pitting-of-vh1/329328.md?page=2)