The picture I chose comes from the legendary, horror film, The Exorcist. In fact, this Academy Award winning film is popularly known and referred to as “The Scariest Film Ever Made.”
This picture shows the classic scene in which the possessed little girl does a 360-degree head twist. In the movie, she then proceeds to spider-walk on the staircase. Needless to say, I think this has to be by far one of the scariest movies I have ever seen!
When assigned this assignment, I thought about the images that I had collected over the years of the devil. This one came up immediately, especially this particular scene from the movie. I feel as though it is engraved in my memory. When I think of satan, I see this image. Consequently, I think the image I chose potrays the “evil other” beautifully. It obviously made quite the impression on me!
In one of the other blogs for this class, I analyzed the movie poster of The Exorcist. To give a quick recap again for those you who didn’t read it, the movie is about a young girl, Regan, that is possessed by demons. A priest is summoned to perform an exorcist on her. Well, I guess the title is somewhat self-explanatory. 
It is the epitome of good vs. evil.
Personal
My personal reaction was fear and suspense throughout the entire film. I don’t think there is one movie that I actually jump around while watching it like I do in this one. I first saw the original film when I was a young girl and couldn’t sleep for about a week. It was re-released in the theaters with enhanced special effects when I was in high school. Once again, it scared me like crazy! I don’t think you can ever be a “big girl” for this movie!
Personally, I felt sorry for the little girl while being horrifically scared of her all at the same time. I never thought compassion and repulsiveness could be two mutually exclusive feelings! I was definitely siding with the priest, though. I wanted him to help her get rid of the demons.
Historical
The movie is based on the 1971 novel, The Exorcist, by WIlliam Peter Blatty. I did not know this, but I just discovered some fun movie trivia about the movie that would fall under the “historical” sub-code of this analysis. I guess one of the most famous scenes in the movie and the shot used in the posters (refer to my earlier blog to see it! ) and the cover od the DVD/VHS was inspired by the 1954 painting “Empire of Light” (“L’Empire des lumières”) by René Magritte. This image can be seen at the top of the blog next to the picture of the little girl.
Another fun, “historical” movie fact is that when the film was first released in 1973, it caused mass hysteria. There were people screaming, fainting and paramedics being called to theaters. This is what made the film one of the most controversial films ever made.
The plot of the movie takes place during the 1970s.
Technical
The photo is a high-key lighting photo. I am suprised actually that low key lighting was not used. Regardless, I am impressed it still manages to provide an eerie affect. I feel as though the knocked over lamp and the corner of the dangling frame serve to be graphic vectors pointing toward the subject of the photo, the possessed little girl.
I think it is weird or ironic that the possessed little girl is wearing white, a color that symbolizes putiry and “goodness” (righteousness). In my last analysis of The Sixth Sense the boy was always wearing red. Red is a more common color in horror films. In The Shining red was a huge symbolic color too. Maybe the directors were aiming at showing the conflict between good and evil? How she is a mixture of both?
The lighting in the picture is very concentrated on the little girl. Like I said earlier, the photo definitely uses high-key lighting and utilizes a vairety of graphic vectors.
I feel as though the signifier in the scene is the color white on a “demon-girl.” The signified is the contradiction of good vs. evil upon the little girl. The denotation is that a little, innocent girl is possessed by satan. The connotation is the war of good vs. evil or innocence vs. corruption (sin).
Ethical, Cultural, Critical
The ethical side of the movie is that it colorfully depicts what religions such as Catholicism believes in regarding good and evil. Ethically, some religions may see the film as being offensive to their religion since they are utilizing their beliefs as entertainment. While on the other hand, they may also want people to see the dangers of sin.
Morally, the viewer is going to be on the priest’s side. He is the image of “goodness” combating evil. He is the “savior” of the little girl. He is “good” and the demons possessing the little girl are “evil.”
The critical view is the unique, contradictory visual cues involved in showing the message of good vs. evil. I think movie critics admired this film for a reason! I would like to read even more up on it!
This was a good choice for this assignment because it is such a historically scary movie. I have personally never been able to sit through the film for the reason. I liked that you included the image of the girl with her body twisted around. This is a symbolic image for the film and one that everyone, even those who have not seen the movie, will recognize. Good Job!