What a psychologist sees in a case of child abuse

Rating: 10/10 (24 August 2008)

There are countless mothers who are similar to Chris -- who are on the verge of mental illness; luckily often there is a dad in the house to give the family some stability. In Regan's case there is no father; only empty wealth, which, unfortunately is no substitute. The result is that Regan lives in a kind of hell; slowly asphyxiating beneath the weight of her mother's madness. The Exorcist is a visualization of a psychotherapist's fantasy; it is the ultimate in real horror. This is the horror that children must endure in abusive houses -- not physical but psychological abuse; Regan is the victim of ironic, crushing psychological attempted murder in a posh townhouse.
Father Karras is the psychologist who is called and sees the hopelessness of the situation -- the problem is not the child but the mother, and there is no way for him to get the child out of the abusive household. His fantasy is ultimately to give his own life so that the child can be set free; we see his fantasy become reality in the Exorcist.
Only a few scenes are necessary to establish the dysfunction of the family. Not only does Regan's father, who is a continent away, not call his daughter on her birthday, the mother (Chris) makes a scene about it within earshot of Regan. The mother is in this scene abusing Regan; she is unloading her own frustration at her failed marriage and her helplessness with her own neuroses onto the child. The internal psychological life of a child in Regan's situation is hell; childhood situations like those we see in the Exorcist are the source of most evil in the world.
The father could not be farther away from the family, both physically and emotionally. Do we even hear his name? We never hear him speak, and we don't hear anything from him. As a psychologist, Father Karras asks whether Chris has contacted Regan's father -- at a point in the story when Regan's situation is so severe that it is a surprise, and heartbreaking, when we discover that Chris has not done so. Chris doesn't want to contact the father because Regan is _Chris's_ child. Regan is Chris's psychological teddy bear; she is hers to squeeze too hard and punch in the face whenever she feels like doing so. Though Chris can't help herself because of her neuroses, Regan is Chris's victim in this sad story. Regan is Chris's captive ally in her fight against everything that terrifies her -- which in Chris's case is _everything_.
Some more strong evidence for this interpretation is the scene when Father Karras discovers -- alone -- that Regan's behavior is a cry for help. This is often the case with a therapist in such situations. Chris doesn't see the real little girl in Regan at all; she thinks she does but she cannot. But Karras is tipped off to the real Regan when he is led to the room where he sees the message 'help me'. And he is led to the room not by Chris but by Sharon. Chris is completely blind to the message; Sharon sees hints of it; Karras' genius is that he can see the little girl under the layers of abuse.
Another touch that I found to be genius was how the ringing of the door and phone is extremely loud whenever Chris is around; that is what life is like when you live with people with neuroses. That is what life is like for them: everything that happens in life, even the smallest things, are perceived with terror and fear. People who suffer from these psychological disorders, like Chris, can't help themselves: they reach out to anything they can grasp and hold on for dear life, often squeezing so hard that they find rejection. The irony in Chris's case is that she is a successful actress, but she is still in need of support. Since everyone runs away from her madness -- including her husband -- she channels all her fear, anger and hatred into the only thing that won't run away: her defenseless child, Regan.