Post by saladfingers on Dec 21, 2005 5:11:36 GMT -5
I just watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It is my favorite movie so far, not because of the special effects and especially not because of the whole Emily-should-be-a-Saint bullshit, but solely because of the court room scenes and the intensity of the verbal war between the 2 attorneys. I totally loved the brain-fucking scenario. 
For the most part of the movie I was constantly praising its originality. I appreciated how this film actually stepped out the horror movie stereotype and focused more on the technical aspect and the clash of moral and scientific beliefs regarding exorcism. But my amazement all came crushing down when I saw the scene wherein Emily’s skin was burned when Father Moore stuck a cross on her chest.
Call me biased, but even before I was exposed to the Born-again belief I have always held a prejudice against situations wherein demons are shown to be terrified by crosses, statues of saints, holy water or when hearing passages from memorized prayers e.g. Our Father. I spit at the notion. I can’t seem to understand how an all powerful entity would be terrified by a stone carved as a cross or by water deemed by ‘mere mortals’ as holy? Don’t they even stop to think, like what the hell separates ordinary water from Holy Water? Seems fucking similar to me.
Also, how can a prayer uttered in fear and out of desperation scare off a demon? I cringe at scenes where possessed beings or demons scamper off when a human starts chanting Holy Mother. Our pastor says that a demon can quote the bible and that it can stay in a church and walk out of it unscathed. I believe him, entirely. I don’t mean to sound like I’m holding demons in a pedestal of power, but I'm just being realistic. As long as we inhibit this world, demons and their influences is the greatest enemy of mankind so it is unwise to give in to coward human beliefs that anybody can just cast out demons.
My Tita is a pastora and is very well-versed in the scientific and religious fields of study and she has in all honesty admitted that demons can’t be defeated by just anybody. It requires an unbelievable amount of faith. She even undergoes fasting. Before, I regarded fasting as a ridiculous practice but she explained to me that it was a way to separate yourself from your body’s earthly needs, to focus on the mind alone, to strengthen the will. Makes perfect sense to me. I don’t intend to instill fear in your minds and alter your Catholic beliefs. What I just want to say is that, never readily accept anything. Weigh things out. Just because your church’s belief is widely accepted doesn’t make it right. What I’m all about is that no amount of freaking holy water can save you, nor does any material thing. I don’t want to sound cliché but it is faith alone that makes the difference.
Since I’m ranting about rationality I might as well make it clear that I do not rule out the possibility of the success of exorcism using crosses, holy waters and what not. For people to actually accept that these things are more powerful than demonic entities means that there is some truth in it. But, I firmly believe that the only reason these mediums were able to cast out demons was because of the faith of the person using them. The crosses and holy waters are just props, nothing else. With or without these things exorcism is possible. But sometimes I think people are inclined to have confidence boosts when presented with a tangible object. They need something to hold on to, like crosses, something to channel their fears. This natural human mind-set is best described by the phrase “To see is to believe”. For me, it works backwards, “Believe first then you will see.” Ridiculous, you think? Well, Walt Disney’s wife agrees with me. During an interview at Disney Land’s grand opening, a reporter commented on how sad it must be that Walt Disney, because of his untimely death, won’t be able to see all the fruits of his creative mind. His wife countered, “If he didn’t believe on the possibility of his dream or if he didn’t foresee any of these, then there won’t be a Disney Land standing before you today.” You get my drift? Something must be conceived in vision first before it materializes. Same thing with the logical explanation that apparitions and ghost sightings are most likely to occur when one is terrified – simply a manifestation of one’s fear.
So you understand now why I find it very, very stupid when movies underestimate the strength of one’s fear and how demons can manipulate that single emotion and play it out in their favor?
Another major flaw of this movie is the letter of Emily Rose. I was soooooo excited when the defendant asked Father Moore, “If God loved Emily so much and she in turn is such a faithful servant, then why did He allow her to be possessed and ultimately die” I was impressed that the writers actually had the courage to tread on such complicated grounds. This has been an age old question, whose answer can shatter or create beliefs. So imagine my annoyance when Father Moore narrated Emily’s perception of her situation. She believes that she was divinely chosen amongst us to suffer such tremendous agony so that we would be enlightened with the knowledge that spirits do exist. And Mother Mary made a guest appearance no less! I was, like, are you kidding me? No fucking way is this crap of an explanation possible! I was literally pulling my hair out, when Emily oh so valiantly chose to suffer for the better of mankind! Sobrang corny!!!!!
On the same note, I get so frustrated when reading articles about how the Saints of the past have rid themselves of earthly wealth and led a poor life to prove their faith. That justification is sooooo goddamned shallow not to mention fucking ridiculous. It is not a sin to be rich, it is the attachment to material wealth and the love of money which drives people to do bad things. I’d definitely favor having money to spend rather than none at all because seriously I can help more people if I have the means. Besides how do you expect people to believe that the life you lead is way better when they see you starving your ass off? It’s not wrong to desire to be well-off, just don’t be controlled by it, which personally I find a very very difficult task. Anyway, in connection to Emily’s reasoning, I just find it foolish when people always take it upon themselves to sacrifice for everybody. I mean, why would God want Emily to suffer to such extent just to prove something so trivial? It doesn’t make sense. Although I’m not saying that Emily’s letter was a hoax, but I just think that in her delirium and when her faith in God was teetering over the edge, she must’ve justified her situation and concluded that everything happening to her is for the greater good. She is a devout Catholic after all. So it makes sense that she has this superhero complex as well. But hasn’t it occurred to her, that maybe, just maybe, the reason why she was so susceptible to demon possession was because she had weak faith after all? That maybe all along she was disillusioned, she had faith in the idea of having faith in God, much like when a person is in love with the idea of love – close enough but definitely not the real thing. Basta sobrang na-cornihan ako sa ending nung story tsk tsk. Very disappointing. But I would definitely watch it again, if only for the mental stimulation I get whenever I watch the court-room scenes. The best, pare.
Okay, I’m done with my ranting now. I just felt I needed to vent that out. ;D ;D
For the most part of the movie I was constantly praising its originality. I appreciated how this film actually stepped out the horror movie stereotype and focused more on the technical aspect and the clash of moral and scientific beliefs regarding exorcism. But my amazement all came crushing down when I saw the scene wherein Emily’s skin was burned when Father Moore stuck a cross on her chest.
Call me biased, but even before I was exposed to the Born-again belief I have always held a prejudice against situations wherein demons are shown to be terrified by crosses, statues of saints, holy water or when hearing passages from memorized prayers e.g. Our Father. I spit at the notion. I can’t seem to understand how an all powerful entity would be terrified by a stone carved as a cross or by water deemed by ‘mere mortals’ as holy? Don’t they even stop to think, like what the hell separates ordinary water from Holy Water? Seems fucking similar to me.
Also, how can a prayer uttered in fear and out of desperation scare off a demon? I cringe at scenes where possessed beings or demons scamper off when a human starts chanting Holy Mother. Our pastor says that a demon can quote the bible and that it can stay in a church and walk out of it unscathed. I believe him, entirely. I don’t mean to sound like I’m holding demons in a pedestal of power, but I'm just being realistic. As long as we inhibit this world, demons and their influences is the greatest enemy of mankind so it is unwise to give in to coward human beliefs that anybody can just cast out demons.
My Tita is a pastora and is very well-versed in the scientific and religious fields of study and she has in all honesty admitted that demons can’t be defeated by just anybody. It requires an unbelievable amount of faith. She even undergoes fasting. Before, I regarded fasting as a ridiculous practice but she explained to me that it was a way to separate yourself from your body’s earthly needs, to focus on the mind alone, to strengthen the will. Makes perfect sense to me. I don’t intend to instill fear in your minds and alter your Catholic beliefs. What I just want to say is that, never readily accept anything. Weigh things out. Just because your church’s belief is widely accepted doesn’t make it right. What I’m all about is that no amount of freaking holy water can save you, nor does any material thing. I don’t want to sound cliché but it is faith alone that makes the difference.
Since I’m ranting about rationality I might as well make it clear that I do not rule out the possibility of the success of exorcism using crosses, holy waters and what not. For people to actually accept that these things are more powerful than demonic entities means that there is some truth in it. But, I firmly believe that the only reason these mediums were able to cast out demons was because of the faith of the person using them. The crosses and holy waters are just props, nothing else. With or without these things exorcism is possible. But sometimes I think people are inclined to have confidence boosts when presented with a tangible object. They need something to hold on to, like crosses, something to channel their fears. This natural human mind-set is best described by the phrase “To see is to believe”. For me, it works backwards, “Believe first then you will see.” Ridiculous, you think? Well, Walt Disney’s wife agrees with me. During an interview at Disney Land’s grand opening, a reporter commented on how sad it must be that Walt Disney, because of his untimely death, won’t be able to see all the fruits of his creative mind. His wife countered, “If he didn’t believe on the possibility of his dream or if he didn’t foresee any of these, then there won’t be a Disney Land standing before you today.” You get my drift? Something must be conceived in vision first before it materializes. Same thing with the logical explanation that apparitions and ghost sightings are most likely to occur when one is terrified – simply a manifestation of one’s fear.
So you understand now why I find it very, very stupid when movies underestimate the strength of one’s fear and how demons can manipulate that single emotion and play it out in their favor?
Another major flaw of this movie is the letter of Emily Rose. I was soooooo excited when the defendant asked Father Moore, “If God loved Emily so much and she in turn is such a faithful servant, then why did He allow her to be possessed and ultimately die” I was impressed that the writers actually had the courage to tread on such complicated grounds. This has been an age old question, whose answer can shatter or create beliefs. So imagine my annoyance when Father Moore narrated Emily’s perception of her situation. She believes that she was divinely chosen amongst us to suffer such tremendous agony so that we would be enlightened with the knowledge that spirits do exist. And Mother Mary made a guest appearance no less! I was, like, are you kidding me? No fucking way is this crap of an explanation possible! I was literally pulling my hair out, when Emily oh so valiantly chose to suffer for the better of mankind! Sobrang corny!!!!!
On the same note, I get so frustrated when reading articles about how the Saints of the past have rid themselves of earthly wealth and led a poor life to prove their faith. That justification is sooooo goddamned shallow not to mention fucking ridiculous. It is not a sin to be rich, it is the attachment to material wealth and the love of money which drives people to do bad things. I’d definitely favor having money to spend rather than none at all because seriously I can help more people if I have the means. Besides how do you expect people to believe that the life you lead is way better when they see you starving your ass off? It’s not wrong to desire to be well-off, just don’t be controlled by it, which personally I find a very very difficult task. Anyway, in connection to Emily’s reasoning, I just find it foolish when people always take it upon themselves to sacrifice for everybody. I mean, why would God want Emily to suffer to such extent just to prove something so trivial? It doesn’t make sense. Although I’m not saying that Emily’s letter was a hoax, but I just think that in her delirium and when her faith in God was teetering over the edge, she must’ve justified her situation and concluded that everything happening to her is for the greater good. She is a devout Catholic after all. So it makes sense that she has this superhero complex as well. But hasn’t it occurred to her, that maybe, just maybe, the reason why she was so susceptible to demon possession was because she had weak faith after all? That maybe all along she was disillusioned, she had faith in the idea of having faith in God, much like when a person is in love with the idea of love – close enough but definitely not the real thing. Basta sobrang na-cornihan ako sa ending nung story tsk tsk. Very disappointing. But I would definitely watch it again, if only for the mental stimulation I get whenever I watch the court-room scenes. The best, pare.
Okay, I’m done with my ranting now. I just felt I needed to vent that out. ;D ;D
