Though I didn't at all enjoy seeing The Exorcist movie when I was seven; as I reached a more appropriate age for that kind of thing, I grew to like the franchise.
What would our world be like if we
Recently we watched season two of The Exorcist TV show. I totally LOVED that.
I can't say the same for the first season of the show. I thought it started strong, but then after the big twist, it got a bit too silly for me. I might write a post about all that one day. But for now....
I just want to list the reasons I loved the second season. I've been trying to decide if I want a spoiler post or a spoiler free one.
I'm going to go with spoiler-free. I guess I'm kind of hoping to promote the show; though hardly anyone reads my blog, and when they do, I don't think I often succeed in brainwashing them to check out the stuff I want them to check out.
But still.
I'm going to go spoiler free. Later I might write more in a spoiler-rich post.
Until then...here's my list.
1. DIVERSITY- I love that none of the main cast are white straight males with American accents. There's one white man in the main cast. He's gay, and has a British accent.
In terms of diversity, I'm pretty sure that accent isn't as important an issue as things like skin color, disability, religion, sexuality, etc. But I do think audience members could benefit from being exposed to more characters that are first generation Americans.
The two main characters (the Exorcist team) are first generation Americans. I think that's very cool.
Then two of the other principal adults are Asian, and they have American accents. So that illustrates the point that it's not always the white people who have been here long enough to language-assimilate. I think this is an idea that really needs to be driven into our brains. Hell, I'm MARRIED to an Asian-American with a 100% American accent, and I'm still sometimes surprised when an Asian person opens their mouth and an American accent comes out.
Yikes. I just realized that two of the main characters are white males. But they're children. So maybe I should say, none of the ADULT main cast are white, straight males with American accents. And also, the kids probably qualify more as supporting characters than main characters.
2. CREEPY SETTING-The show takes place on an island in the Pacific Northwest. I think it's Washington, but it might have been Oregon. Like many American TV shows, Canada does the portraying.
The island has a creepy foster home, and that's where most of the creepiness happens.
But there's also a creepy cabin, a creepy well, a creepy ferry station, a creepy forest, etc.
Pretty much everything on the island is creepy and eerie.
I'm wondering if the island is actually creepy. I mean could you take the setting and turn it into the perfect place for a romantic comedy? Is it only the storyline that makes it seem sinister?
But then I don't think I got a sinister feeling about Washington DC from The Exorcist movie, and nor did I get one about Chicago from the first season of the TV show.
I think maybe there IS something about the island...especially the house. Tim and I both noticed that there was a lack of lighting. The characters seemed to walk around in the almost-dark a lot.
3. SCARY. I think the show was definitely scary. What I love is that the jump scares and gruesome scares aren't what got to me. Actually, I don't remember any jump scares. But I assume they probably had some, and I just forgot.
The show had the obligatory spider walks and demon make-up effects. That was fairly cool. What really got to me, though, was the psychological horror.
I'm trying to figure out if I can talk about this without spoilers.
Maybe.
It's the suffocating idea of being plagued by visions and not being able to escape them. It doesn't matter if they come from ghosts, demons, aliens, or are own brains.
The show also has the whole scary idea of being trapped by delusions, and losing touch with reality. I think a mild, harmless (probable) delusion here or there can make life more interesting. But if it completely takes over your life and ruins you, that's scary to me.
There's also the scary matter of vulnerable people being easily brainwashed.
4. TEAR JERKER- I think horror movies and TV shows usually elicit one or two emotions. Any decent one will hopefully make us afraid. Then, for better or worse, some will make us laugh.
How many make us cry?
I got pretty emotional during the last episode of The Exorcist. I think I was more emotional watching that than I was watching the three recent episodes of This is Us.
5. SURPRISES Tim and I made guesses about what was going to happen. In most cases, we were wrong and quite surprised about what ended up happening. So, the show wasn't predictable for us. I think stories can go too far in either direction.There are stories that are too predictable. It's so easy to guess what's going to happen next. You might as well be doing the writing yourself. Then other stories are full of surprises, but they don't make logical sense. Or it's just ridiculous. OR I can't follow the storyline, so I don't even know what the hell is happening. The killer is revealed, and I'm thinking, Huh? Who the hell is that? Am I supposed to know who that is?
The Exorcist surprised me, but once I got an answer, it made total sense to me.
6. UNRESOLVED MYSTERY-A day or two after we finished watching the show, I realized a certain question was never answered. I won't give details. I'll just say it was a question of whether a tragedy was demon-caused or psychological-caused. At first I felt it was kind of a mistake not to address the issue. But after I thought about it a few moments, I liked that they kept it open-ended. Sometimes it's nice to let the audience make up their own minds.
Well, that's my list. For now. I might write more later. Or maybe not. I tend to obsess about a show for a few days, and then my heart attaches itself to a new show.
Our new show right now is Dark—that German show on Netflix. So far, I'm not very attached. But we've only watched two episodes. Hopefully I'll get more into it soon.
I've also been also watching The Originals, that show featuring vampires who used to be Aussie mermaids.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
