Quote:
Originally Posted by Valhalla
While I find that topic interesting, and something I'd like to read about (too bad the book as a whole was a bust), I don't have the brains to discuss it. I always assumed women were usually the possessed characters because the writers were just going along with the classic idea that a big strong male character needs to save a damsel in distress.
|
Oh, I'm sure that's part of Hollywood's motivation. For the real life stuff though, the Church has held from the witch burning times that women are spiritually weaker and more vulnerable to the Devil, so more likely to be satanist/witchy/possessed.
The one dude in the book who got possessed so far just coughed and belched when the priest hits his head. The priest says he is possessed by a mute demon (?) which is particularly dangerous. The women just cough, and one woman is only suspected of being possessed because she has headaches that doctors can't fix or explain. And yet, according to the student priest, "where faith decreases, superstition increases."
I think this foray into the gender dynamics of exorcism has led me to believe that anti-Vatican II Catholics are really, really weird.