Nguyen

Johnny Nguyen
Professor Greg McClure
Writing 39B
7 November 2015
Loss of Faith: A Rhetorical Analysis Essay on The Exorcist
After the filming of the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, a slight yet unusual influx of
exorcisms arose within the next two decades (Libaw). While some may believe that hysteria
drove these new claims of possession, it is evident that William Friedkins film was a strikingly
effective horror film. The film is one that aims to condemn Americans loss of faith. With the
heavy number of sexual innuendos portrayed, we can see that the directors attitude stems from
the change in sexual activities in his time period. After the invention of the first birth control pill
in 1960 (DeNoon), the gateway for casual sex flung wide open. Friedkin aims to generate horror
particularly in the audience of his time period when casual sex was still more of a novel idea,
when sex for pleasure was still considerably sacrilegious. And so Friedkin intends for the
demonic to reflect defilement of the mind and body. The directors idea of desecration manifests
itself in Regans body possessed by a demon named Pazuzu. The demonic of the film is
especially reflected through Regans sexual actions and speeches. Aside from the unusual
behavior Regan exerts as she falls ill, there are also instances in the film where particularly
medical procedures allude to rape and essentially the defilement of the body. Friedkin also uses
the medical institution to create a metaphor that condemns the audiences sole trust in science.
Friedkin intends for the audience to put itself in not only in Regans shoes, but also those of the
bystanders of the conflict including the medical professionals, Regans mother, and Father
Karras. Essentially, Friedkin intends to invoke fear in the audience by introducing a relatable
character and using her as a gateway to highlight the sacrilege of his time, lust. In addition, the

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director establishes metaphors between the medical and religious institutions with the purpose of
shining light on the loss of faith in his society.
Regans apparent progression of illness and offensive language and behavior alludes the
directors criticism towards the lust that Americans possessed around the time that the first oral
contraceptive was conceived. It is a widely believed concept that the natural purpose of sex is for
procreation (Lee). However, throughout recorded history, religion has played a vital role in
determining the minds attitude towards sex with Christians believing that the activity is a sacred
one (Whipps). Friedkin classifies the influx of casual sex as a defilement of the body and
represents this idea through Regans falling ill. After Chris MacNeil opens the attic and releases
Pazuzu, the being representing the demonic of defilement, the plot of the film only goes down
hill. Following this scene, a priest enters a church to decorate the statues of Joseph and Mary
only to find the Madonnas statue marred with mammary and phallic protrusions. Friedkin
includes this image of inflicted virgin to symbolize the violation of chastity and to also
foreshadow the impending calamity succeeding the Regan MacNeils possession. After Regans
first diagnosis, the doctor mentions that she consistently sweared throughout the visit. He
particularly mentions to Regans mother that the girl advised him to keep [his] fingers away
from her God damn cunt (Friedkin). Friedkin intends for the audience to take firm notice of the
red flag in this scene, the slang word for a womans genitals, cunt. It is clear that Pazuzu spoke
for Regan in that instance since Chris asserted that Regan was well-behaved and Friedkins
portrayal of her up to this point is consistent with her mothers claims. Regan tells the doctor to
keep his fingers away from her cunt (Friedkin) as if the doctor was making a sexual approach
to her, alluding to the defilement of the body. After the doctor prescribes Ritalin, the MacNeils
return home only to return back to the hospital as she continues to exhibit these symptoms.
After the operation and the second discharge, the doctors make a house call. By the time the

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doctors arrive at the MacNeils home, they find Regans behavior has drastically changed.
Quickly after the doctors enter Regans room, the demons voice emerges and exclaims Fuck
me, fuck me, fuck me (Friedkin) before Regan breaks out into a tantrum. This is another red
flag that Friedkin throws at the audience. When the possessed Regan says Fuck me (Friedkin),
she mockingly says to have sex with her. Friedkin intends for this issue to stand out to the
American audience at the time. It is a widely believed American concept in Friedkins era that
children as young as Regan shouldnt be engaging in sexual activities yet Regan is yelling Fuck
me(Friedkin). It is clearly evident that Friedkin intended to traumatize his audience with this
touch on bodily desecration. Regans disturbing behavior reaches its crux just after the
detectives visit and when Chris finds flying objects in her daughters room. When Chris opens
the door, she finds Regan masturbating with a crucifix screaming Let Jesus fuck you
(Friedkin). Chris struggles to take the cross away, but her possessed daughter pulls her head
down to her crotch and tells her mother to lick her. Friedkin aims to completely mortify the
audience with this scene. He does so by showing the extremely profane image of a little girl
masturbating with a crucifix. Friedkin expects the audience to recognize the image as
sacrilegious. He also expects the audience to recognize the inappropriate situation when Regan
tells her own mother to lick her, slang for oral sex. Friedkin by this point establishes an
eminently discernible motif for sex through Regans actions and speech. The director ultimately
uses Regan to mock the lust of his audience and to remind the audience of its loss of faith. The
loss of faith Friedkin refers to is signaled by the shift to casual sex as a result of the oral
contraceptives invention.
Although most of Regans suffering is from her possession, Friedkin draws attention
towards the institution of science and juxtaposes Regans medical treatment with her demonic
manifestation. Immediately after her possession, Regan begins to exhibit signs of discomfort.

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When the MacNeils visit a psychiatrist by the doctors suggestion, the psychiatrist says Im
speaking to the person inside of Regan right now (Friedkin). The director intends on using the
word inside to allude, again, to sex. Just before the psychiatrist calls Pazuzu to come out, he
asks Regan if she wants him to leave to which she responds with a yes. Friedkins choice of
words and Regans wanting Pazuzu to leave her body are vital in constructing a metaphor of rape
between the demonic manifestation and the activity itself. Throughout the film, there is not one
instance in which Regan finds pleasure. She only suffered after the demon entered her body. This
depiction of demonic manifestation as rape is important as a means for Friedkins portrayal of
the medical treatments as rape. The innuendo is illustrated in the hospital visit after Chris
experiences Regans bed shaking violently firsthand. The scene opens with Regan refusing to
take a sedative in a syringe. The doctor had to have the nurse and her mother restrain Regan and
use force to deliver the sedative. Friedkin wants the audience to recognize that Regan doesnt
want something put inside of her and that the doctor forces the needle in against her will.
Ultimately, Friedkin wants the audience to recognize the insinuation of rape. In addition, Regan
undergoes an operation to find out if there is a lesion in her temporal lobe, the doctors proposed
cause of Regans symptoms. The procedure begins with the surgeon injecting something into
Regans neck. He then inserts a needle for a catheter into the hole left by the previous injection.
Again, we see that Regan is being restrained by the surgeons assistant as the surgeon pricks her
with needles. Friedkin wants his audience to recognize the discreetly phallic needle and Regans
yonic crater and essentially the imagery of sex. We also see this image of rape again during the
house call immediately afterwards when the doctors have to forcibly sedate Regan as the demon
tosses her entire body around. The combination between Regans forced restraint and the
imagery of sex reveals another metaphor for rape. The director includes these illustrations of rape

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with the intent of inducing discomfort in the audience. He establishes a metaphor between rape
and the medical treatments to not only to produce discomfort, but to also discredit the social
construct of science by connecting the demonic manifestation and medical treatments.
Friedkin vilifies the institution of science in order to further condemn his audiences loss
of faith. The director consistently pushes the idea that science is not the answer to everything to
the audience by insinuating distrust and fear for the medical procedures. Throughout the film, we
see that all scientific approaches to Regans symptoms are ineffective. In the first visit, the doctor
adamantly suggests that Regan takes the Ritalin. At the end of Regans first visit, the doctor tells
Chris to Try not to worry (Friedkin). Shortly after, we see that the Ritalin fails to be of any
help in relieving Regans symptoms. Throughout the past few centuries, humans have had an
increasing affinity for science, so they have been place more trust in science and less in religion
(Wolchover). The doctors telling Chris to not worry is synonymous with saying Trust in science.
Friedkin tries to remind that science doesnt have the answer to everything by introducing a
professionals diagnosis and proving its deficiency. When Regan visits for the second time, she
undergoes a procedure known as a pneumoencephalography or PEG, a procedure that has for the
most part been displaced by other techniques (Britannica), to check for lesions that cause her
symptoms. In the scene, we see that the procedure requires Regan to have needles stuck in her
neck and the use of heavy, loud machinery all without any type of anesthesia. Friedkin intends to
appall his audience with these medical procedures that look comparable to torture. He displays
blood draining out of Regan and includes loud, rather intimidating machines to make the
audience fear the medical procedures, and he was successful in doing so (Baker). Not only did
Regan cringe from the procedure, but so did the audience. And evidently, the doctors diagnosis
concerning the lesion is proven wrong, further encouraging Friedkins notion that science cannot
prove everything. After Regan is hooked up to another machine and finally sees a psychiatrist,

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the doctors finally suggest that Regan sees a priest for an exorcism, a ritual that one of the
doctors classifies as an outside cure (Friedkin). But the doctors continue to assert that the cause
of Regans symptoms is simply the belief that she is possessed, and they never admit that an
actual demon could be the cause of all the turmoil.
The director expects the audience to not only sympathize with Regan, but to also see
themselves as the bystanders of the film in order to remind it of its loss of faith and how it reacts
to such a loss. Friedkin expects the audience to associate itself with the static group of medical
professionals in the film. As mentioned before, the doctors would always try to explain Regans
symptoms with science, only to learn that all their hypotheses were proven against them. Even
when they propose a cure, an exorcism, that works, they continue to speak in scientific jargon
and reject religious causes of Regans symptoms. With the increasing belief in science and
decreasing faith in religion (Wolchover), Friedkin intends for the audience to see themselves as
the doctors and to realize the dangers of relying on science itself. These dangers are of course
represented by all the chaos that Regan endures, all of which couldnt have been put to rest
without the help from faith. We see this suffering not only through the Regans lens, but also
through her mothers. Chris MacNeil took her daughter to the hospital as soon as Regan began
exhibiting unusual behavior. Chris MacNeil becomes increasingly skeptical about the doctors
diagnoses and treatments throughout the film as none of them except the last are successful. But
even when Chris is on the shaking bed with her daughter, she blindly accepts the doctors
prognosis that The problem with [her] daughter isnt her bed, its her brain (Friedkin). The
director uses this scene as a catalyst to later remind his audience that Chris trusted science and
only made her suffer more. Only after Father Karrass involvement in the MacNeils crisis is
Regan liberated. Early in the film, Father Karras tells Father Tom that he has lost his faith.
However, we see that his faith isnt completely absent when he requests permission from Bishop

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Michael to perform an exorcism on Regan even though the evidence proves against her
possession. Friedkin aims to convey to the audience, using Father Karras, that having some faith
in religion will free the soul. The director employs these static and dynamic characters to advise
against relying wholly on science and to remind the audience of its faltering fate.
To some viewers, The Exorcist seems to be just another horror film that is designed to
scare the audiences. Friedkin, however, intended to cater mainly to the American audience in the
1970s. The special effects of the film alone are arguably enough to terrify the audience especially
the mutilation of Regans body. Though there was a monster to be afraid of, the film horrified the
audience on a personal level. The subject of the film was one that was applicable to that
particular audience, and this pertinence was an effective contributing factor to the fear it felt.

Works Cited
Baker, Charles A. "The Exorcist Revisited." The Exorcist Revisited 1.2
(1976): 21-24. Print.
Britannica, "Pneumoencephalography". Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia
Britannica Online. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015
DeNoon, Daniel. "Birth Control History on MedicineNet.com."
MedicineNet. N.p., 17 July 2003. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.

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Lee, Adam. "Is Sex for Procreation?" Daylight Atheism. N.p., 2 Feb. 2008.
Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
Libaw, Oliver. "Exorcism Thriving in U.S., Say Experts." ABC News. ABC
News Network, 11 Sept. 2001. Web. 03 Nov. 2015.
Whipps, Heather. "A Brief History of Human Sex." LiveScience.
TechMedia Network, 27 July 2006. Web. 06 Nov. 2015.
Wolchover, Natalie. "Will Science Someday Rule Out the Possibility of
God?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 08 Nov.
2015.
The Exorcist. Dir. William Friedkin. Perf. Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, and
Linda Blair. Warner Bros., 1973.