Since the 1973 release of THE EXORCIST, the demonic possession and exorcism sub-genre continues to be unflaggingly popular. Dozens of possession-themed films have been released in the last fifteen years alone. Most feature a young woman as the victim of the possession, writhing in her own filth, grasping at her breasts, spitting, cursing, and taunting authority figures. Beside her is a man—often a priest, rabbi, spiritual healer, or psychiatrist—and inside her is a demon.
One might think that demonic possession or exorcism films are all about religion; after all, exorcism represents a reconciliation with God. But instead, such films illustrate the fraught relationship between women and sociopolitical power structures, with the woman’s body as the battleground.
This talk will survey possession-themed films that reflect gender-based cultural anxieties around puberty, the trauma of sexual assault, the pathologization of female sexual expression, and misogynstically-motivated psychiatric diagnoses such as hysteria.
Films discussed will include THE EXORCIST, THE ENTITY, SESSION 9, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, JENNIFER’S BODY, THE LAST EXORCISM, LOVELY MOLLY, and SAINT MAUDE.
Patricia Grisafi, PhD is a New York City based freelance writer and educator. She received her doctorate in English from Fordham University, where she also taught courses on horror, the gothic, and representations of mental illness in film and literature. She is the author of Breaking Down Plath (Jossey-Bass), an introduction to Sylvia Plath for middle and high school students. Her cultural criticism has been featured in NBCThink, Salon, The Guardian, Los Angeles Review of Books, Vice, The Mary Sue, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.
