In the 1972 monstrous feminine film, TheExorcist, is a film that personifies abjection and what it means to abject something. Abjection is being confronted with the concept of self and others, place where meaning collapses, and things that need to be expelled. TheExorcist does a really good job of portraying what abjection means. In Barbara Creed’s article “ Horror and the Monstrous Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection” she states that the eventual abjection is the corpse in which the body will preserve itself from any bodily wastes such as fees, blood, urine, and pus by getting rid of these matters. It is seen by viewers in The Exorcist when Reagen is constantly eliminating all of these bodily wastes throughout the film. Reagan is abjecting these things as they need to be expelled along with whatever is inside of her. The body is squandering these wastes and protecting itself so the body can continue to live just like Reagan can continue to live when she excretes these things from her body.
Source: Warner Bros, 1972, The Exorcist
(Reagan abjecting her bodily wastes with the demon inside her)
Another way in which The Exorcist relates to imaginary abjection is the idealisation of the abject mother. The child endeavours to break away from the mother in which the mother will not let the child get away. The viewers get a glimpse of this when Reagan tries to get away from her mother. Reagan’s mom keeps a close hold on her as she is trying to become more independent. In the scene when Reagan is in the basement playing with the ouija board by herself Chris follows her down and wonders what she is doing. It seems apparent to viewers that the mother is becoming abject and Reagan is becoming a separate subject. This is also a representation of an archaic maternal figure in which the father is nowhere to be seen just like Reagan’s father is nowhere to be seen. Reagan learning the proper and improper areas of the body known as maternal authority is the procedure of “primal mapping of the body.” Viewers see this when Reagan is masturbating with a crucifix is certainly abject. The demon inside of Reagan has struck upon her the reality that she can no longer total accept God by his power and presence.
Source: Warner Bros, 1972, The Exorcist
(Regan masturbating with a crucifix)
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