Kathy Shaidle on The Exorcist

Kathy Shaidle of Relapsed Catholic posted a link to a column she wrote several years ago about the movie The Exorcist. She is an amazing writer.

Enjoy:

When the movie first came out, the Vatican II reforms were almost ten years old. The Catholic Church had thrown out the Infant Jesus of Prague with the holy water, trashing centuries of "superstitious" bells & smells overnight. "Hey kids, eat burgers on Fridays! Let's split this medieval pop stand and blast into the twenty-first century!"

All too much, too soon (and way too "Protestant") for millions of Catholics who declined to board Spaceship Folk Mass. So Hollywood stepped in and did what it does best: giving the people what they want.

The Exorcist provides all the crucifixes, dog collars and cassocks you can stand. THRILL to the powerful poetry of an ancient religious rite (that Vatican II tried to get rid of)! SEE a grown man praying the rosary!

And the goosebumps don't stop there. One critic called The Exorcist, not so much a horror film as a Western. Sure enough: when those two priests gravely mount the stairs to Regan's haunted bedroom, I can almost hear a banjo plucking "Do not forsake me, O my darlin' ..." Puts a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.