Book/Movie v. Show

[Meredith Quill]

Compare Here!

[CelticBlackCat]

William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist is one of the best modern-day books written.  Unforgettable.  William Friedkin, director, and screenwriter WPB's film of the same title is the same in the cinema category.  (IMHO)

Comparisons:

B/M:  Chris MacNeil is a single (divorced) mother of one daughter, who is agnostic.

TV:  Angela Rance is a married mother of two daughters, and is a devout Roman Catholic; the whole family attends Church on Sunday.

Location, location, location:  B/M is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.  TV is in Chicago, the Windy City, 700 miles away in a different time zone, but still east of The Rockies.

Two priests:

B/M:  Father Damien Karras is of Greek heritage.  TV:  Father Tomas Ortega is of Mexican heritage,having been born in Chicago but grew up in Mexico which explains his slight accent.  (The dishy, sexy-looking actor Alfonso "Poncho" Herrera is from Mexico.)

Both Wear Hats!

B/M:  Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow)  TV:  Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels)

The counterparts both don fedoras and in the last scene of Fr. Keane in Ep 1, wears all black a la Fr. Merrin.

Music:  Tubular Bells in both movie and TV show.

[Epeolatrix]

Do we know what material the show has the rights to? Obviously it can use material from the first movie, but there are two other novels / films set in the same universe (based on cross-over characters). The show Hannibal had everything except for The Silence of the Lambs, so I was wondering how much of the Exorcist setting can be used.

[RedheadZombie]

I like how diabolically clever the demon is in the book.  And by "like" I mean it really terrified me.   If I remember correctly, it's implied that the demon targeted Regan to get to Father Karras.  At this point, I'm not thinking Casey's demon is overly clever.  I think he turned on her much too quickly.  And whereas Father Karras is more a man of science than God when the show originates, Father Tomas seems to be a true believer, who's being tempted by a woman.  So Tomas isn't nearly as susceptible to the demon, IMO.

What I didn't like in the book was Regan's mother's manner of speaking.  She was a highly successful movie actress, yet she spoke like a teamster.  And I don't necessarily mean she swore a lot, but her slang was so over the top.  I expected her to fart and belch as she barked out things like - whaddya mean?  Ya kiddin' me?  It drove me mad and I actually skipped some of her speaking parts.  It was a deliberate choice by the author because no other character talked this way.  So I greatly prefer the character of Angela, and think that's more along the lines of what Chris would have been like.  I also thought that Chris was an extremely young mother to have already lost a previous child before Regan was even born.  Whereas Angela is a bit on the older side of motherhood.

Another thing I didn't enjoy in the novel was the character of Karl, her house servant.  It's probably because I had already seen the movie so I knew Karl was a huge red herring, but there was way too much time spent on his character.  It was interesting that he somehow became Regan's primary caregiver and diaper changer (which seemed inappropriate), and the demon took particular glee in tormenting Karl.  There's no show equivalent at this point.  I think we're supposed to assume that Angela works full time, cleans that big house, and cooks all the meals.

I'm curious how they will fill out this season, since Casey is already in place for the exorcism to begin.  And maybe that's why they threw in the whole pope, and serial butchers SLs.  I do wonder if they plan on adding a little Roland Doe stuff.  Specifically if the exorcism is unsuccessful at first, and they end up moving Casey to hallowed ground to finally rid her of the demon.  I'm assuming that Marcus doesn't end up dead and Father Tomas dying, so that's a good thing.  I could handle one of them dying, for dramatic purposes, but they'd be crazy to off Marcus.  That man is crazy charismatic, and has chemistry with every character he encounters.

[Epeolatrix]

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And whereas Father Karras is more a man of science than God when the show originates, Father Tomas seems to be a true believer, who's being tempted by a woman.

That's hardly fair to the Jesuits. :-) Karras being a man of science doesn't necessarily affect his belief in God. He's taught to work from the point of view that all mundane options must be explored before accepting a supernatural explanation, but that doesn't deny the possibility of the supernatural. His lack of faith seems to come more from seeing the misery in lives around him and his guilt in feeling too overwhelmed to make a difference. When the demon pokes at his weaknesses, it's with the voices of his mother he couldn't care for and of a homeless man he failed to help. And other stuff too, of course, but I think his loss of faith is in a merciful and caring God, not in God altogether. Does that make sense? I don't know if I am explaining it right.

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She was a highly successful movie actress, yet she spoke like a teamster.

Chris was a creation of her time, though. A 1970s actress could be more of a personality and still have a career. This was at the height of the independent movie era, with new kinds of actors and acting styles. She was also based in large part on Shirley MacLaine, so my guess is that Blatty patterned her speaking style accordingly.

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I also thought that Chris was an extremely young mother to have already lost a previous child before Regan was even born.

I don't remember this, but Ellen Burstyn was in her very early 40s when the movie was made, so Chris having lost a child before Regan isn't that far-fetched. It could mean anything from a miscarriage to losing a very young child to an accident. You're making me need to re-read the book now!

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Specifically if the exorcism is unsuccessful at first, and they end up moving Casey to hallowed ground to finally rid her of the demon.

Maybe the convent? Since the nuns there are already going a bit 'off-book', they might be the only ones willing to accept an exorcism on their grounds.

[And thank you for your thought-provoking post! I have a lot more reading to do.]

Edited October 18, 2016 by Violet Impulse
Having trouble posting

[RedheadZombie]

So Angela is Regan, interesting.  I like it, but it looks like they're committing character assassination on Chris.  As much as her character drove me crazy in the book, she was absolutely devoted to Regan.  She protected her at all costs.  There's no way she would have exploited Regan - for any amount of money.  Plus, she was a successful actress.

Regan's friend was "Captain Howdy" in the book, and I don't recall any little red bird.  I wonder if the switch was to buy another minute before outing the secret.

I pretty much hated that they took one of the most iconic moments in the movie - the priest standing in the fog and streetlight - and turned it into Regan's mom.  That was just wrong.  I was all excited wondering who the new priest was going to be. 

We're supposed to think that the "she" the demon wanted was Regan, but what if it's her mother?  In the book, it was revealed that the devil (didn't Father Karras conclude it was the actual devil, not a demon?) only used Regan as a means to get to Father Karras.

The demon's voice isn't cutting it for me.  But if I think of, "what an excellent day for an exorcism", I'm completely creeped out.  https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=what+an+excellent+day+for+an+exorcism&&view=detail&mid=6372CC5217EB2E857D556372CC5217EB2E857D55&FORM=VRDGAR

[Mu Shu]

Yeah, the demon voice is pretty bland.   I can't even watch scenes from the movie anymore, it's just too creepy.  That spider crawl in the remastered version messed my head up for a long time.

[Epeolatrix]

The little red bird is probably a reference to the clay bird sculpture Regan made that she kept on her windowsill. Didn't Kinderman find part of it under the defenestrated body of Burke Dennings and that's how he knew Burke fell from Regan's window?

Most people say it's a visual tie to the statue of Pazuzu, but there's no reason it couldn't be (now) that Captain Howdy appeared to her as a bird at first. Weird, but maybe.

[Edited to add: The bird statue looks more red in other images from the film.]

Edited October 22, 2016 by Violet Impulse
to add reference photo

[CelticBlackCat]

Thanks for doing the research and enlightening us about the bird.  :)

[CelticBlackCat]

I just watched the original 1973 movie last night online, and Kinderman had found a clay figure that Regan had made which was a tortoise, and she kept her artwork on her windowsill (proving that Burke Dennings was thrown from Regan's window and not just fell down the stairs).  At first the clay figure looks like it's the Pazuzu figure that Father Merrin had brought back from Northern Iraq on his dig at the beginning of the film.

[starri]

I have my Exorcist III blu-ray in my hot little hand.  I'd forgotten how good George C Scott's performance as the world-weary Kinderman is.

[RedheadZombie]

Isn't Exorcist III based on Blatty's novel, Legion?

[starri]

Yep.  The director's cut that's included also uses that title.  Unfortunately, a lot of the restored footage comes from videotape transfers that aren't very good.  It's a bit jarring when scenes cut between them.

[CelticBlackCat]

I also watched The Exorcist III after the Regan movie.  Nothing compares to the original, IMHO.  The Legion is about the Gemini killer (based on the real-life Zodiac killer) and Jason Miller is in this movie (I know he died in The Exorcist, but did he really?).  Written and directed by WPB.

[starri]

Miller and the extraneous priest are removed completely from the director's cut.

[RedheadZombie]

Here's a question for all who have seen the original movie.  I have never understood the significance in the movie, when possessed Regan reacted to tap water, with the famous "it burns!  It burns!".   Father Karras presented it as holy water, but he later told Chris it was normal tap water. 

I'm sure a case could be made that the demon was trying to convince Karras that Regan was faking, but he'd already shown off with the drawer opening and speaking backwards.  And when the water was tossed, possessed Regan contorted in pain, and strange voices were heard.