Essay Ques..

Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise.

The exorcist is seen as one of the most powerful horror movies of the 1970s. It tells the story of a young girl who gets possessed by a demon. The main protagonist of the film, was a 12 year old girl: Linda Blair, due to the reason that she was so young, the BBFC had to ensure that it did not have any ‘indecent images’ of the young girl, under the Protection of children’s act 1978. Due to various reasons, such as underage viewing the film was unavailable for up to 11 years, however on the films 25 anniversary, the distributors decided to relaunch the film in UK cinemas.

The slow and tense music in both trailers and the use of low key lighting adds to the generic conventions of the film, which is mainly horror. However they contrast in the way that the new version made in 2004 has more fast paced shots, which creates tension and also due to the development of technology the 2004 version of the exorcist uses many special effects and techniques which they were not able to use in the 1970s. For example the title of the film are different in both trailers e.g. the 1970s version, the text is in red, which could have possible connotations of blood and evil, associated with the genre of the film, and the title slowly appears on the screen. However in the 2004 version, the font is different as well as the colour which is dark blue with black highlights, again connoting evil, and there is an effect of thunder. However, even though the two use different fonts and affects, they still conform to the genre of the film and have similar connotations.

Both texts include a male voice over, this can be linked to the fact that even thought the main protagonist of the film is female, as well as the other characters, e.g. the mother, the director still chooses to include a male voiceover, this shows the dominance of men and links back to today’s society, where patriarchy is suggested to be evident. Similarly in the film, the female is represented as the victim, this links to Gunter’s theory, where her stated that the female characters were more likely to be portrayed as the victim in the film, as well as being weak and in need of saving. This is evident from when we hear the female protagonist crying, and when the priest come, we hear the voice over claiming that “he is the only hope” which clearly suggests that women are in need for men. On the other hand in the new version of the film, we see some male characters being the victims, e.g. in the hospital where the man is possessed which could imply that now roles are changing and that it’s not only females who are victims.

When the 1970s version of the film was released, even with an 18 certificate it was considered as inappropriate, due to reasons such as, younger viewers can watch it within their homes. However the 2004 version was able to obtain a certificate as the film did not have the same impact as it did during the 1970s however it was still considered as one of the most powerful films.