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Just My Thoughts | ||||
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Possession, like all areas of the unknown, is a very controversial subject. In some cultures, it is widely accepted and exorcisms are just something that is done without question. In other cultures, our own included, it is not as widely accepted, and exorcisms, normally only done by the Catholic church, are not widely publicized. In point of fact, the only time we really hear about an exorcism most of the time is if there is a movie made out of an exorcism court case. Obviously, this doesn't happen often. Most of us have probably seen "The Exorcist" and the offshoots of this movie that have been brought out just in the past several years. Although "The Exorcist" has been around for many years, I watched it for the first time only about a year ago. I love horror movies though I have yet to find one that actually scares me. "The Exorcist" did not scare me due to the subject matter, but it did scare me from the standpoint of being a mother of four and having no one to turn to. It was horrifying to me that they would take a child actress (Linda Blair) and show her doing atrocious things to herself and others, as well as depicting the demon in her physical appearance and her words. It was also terrifying to me that it took as long as it did to have the Catholic church actually attempt to do something about it. In my mind, when you see with your own eyes, a photo of a child that is normal in every way, and then see her the way she became in this movie, what does it take to be convinced that something "out of the ordinary" needs to be done? It was more than obvious that they were not dealing with "something ordinary." However, by the time a decision was finally made, things had nearly gone too far. Of course, being a movie, all but the priest lived happily ever after. |
A more recent film released is "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." I really did not know what to expect from this movie and was a bit hesitant to watch it as I thought it would be very similar to "The Exorcist." Similar in the sense that they had to show every nasty and disgusting detail of the horrors one individual experienced. The fact that "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was based on a true story did nothing to alleviate my sense of dread at the idea of watching this movie. It is a known fact that Hollywood tends to want to increase the horror and drama in as many ways as possible to sell the movies to the public, so even a true story is often times changed in such a way that it is barely recognizable as the original story. Thus, the words "BASED on a true story." Curiosity, however, did get the best of me and I finally rented the DVD of "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." My preconceived notions about this movie proved completely unfounded. The filmmakers of this movie did not try to improve upon or copy any portion of "The Exorcist" as I had expected. They presented a very believable thought provoking movie showing necessary portions of possession, but not to the point of making me want to leave the room because it was so full of blood and gore. These filmmakers allowed the story to present its own horror in our emotions without having to show it to us visually. Having dealt with several incompetent doctors in my lifetime and also ones who give the impression that graduating from medical school and having the label of "doctor" makes them God, this film created much anger in me. The anger that the movie created in me stemmed from seeing the medical profession trying so hard to prove that Emily Rose couldn't possibly be possessed. There HAD to be some kind of logical, medical reason for what was happening to her and no other explanation was acceptable. It didn't matter at all what evidence was presented to them... they just couldn't get their minds around "the possibility" that sometimes there are things out there that even the medical profession cannot understand. It almost seemed that if they even gave the slightest inclination that it was possible, then their God status would be demeaned. Ridiculous! |
These types of attitudes really get me going because the attitude is not limited to the medical profession, but is seen in many places, including our schools. Though it's a bit off the beaten track, I'm going to share this next bit with you to give you an idea of how unbelievable things in our world have become. How certain areas truly believe that they are the only ones who have a right to practice what they do and that anyone who tries to change, improve or open up a mind should be burned at the stake. I received a letter from the school stating that my youngest daughter had missed a great deal of school (12 days) and that I would have to come in for a chat with the principal. Unfortunately, it was a very hard year that year for my daughter as she seemed to pick up every bug that passed her way. Upon arriving and sitting down, the principal shoved a piece of paper across the desk to me and said that I HAD to sign it. It was an attendance agreement. Two of the items on the paper were acceptable, but the third one I just could not accept. It stated that if my daughter was sick, I had to bring her to the school to allow the school nurse to take her temperature to see if she should be allowed to stay home from school. I looked incredulously at the principal and said, "So, what you are saying to me here is that, after raising four children, I have no ability to read a thermometer and no right to say that my child must stay home." His weak response was, "It's what the state requires." The school nurse was sitting in the room next to me and I turned to her. "Do you make house calls?" I asked her. She looked shocked and said, "Of course not." I then told them that I would not sign the agreement as it was written because I was not going to drag my child to the school in 40 below temperatures just to have the school nurse give me, the parent, the okay to allow "my child" to stay home because she is more qualified to read a thermometer. The school principal proceeded to threaten me with Human Services. My response was "Call them NOW." He didn't. I signed the agreement after revising that portion and writing that I would not comply with that particular item. | ||
