Thanks to The Exorcist: Believer
for sponsoring today's video. Hello, Internet! Welcome to Film Theory, the show that'll turn its
head around 180 degrees for any scrap of lore. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to get dark. Okay, so it's not really all that
rare of an event here on the channels, but you know what is a rare event? Us talking about one of the scariest, most
influential horror franchises of all time, The Exorcist. In case you don't know this one, these films check
off all our main criteria for a banger episode: Kids, check. Possessions, check. And that's the list. The original Exorcist back in the day was a very important movie because it legitimized
the horror genre for mainstream audiences while also giving the chiropractic
industry its first ever viral video. Oh, just felt that one. It also gave a much-needed boost to
the pea soup makers of the world. Mm-mm-mm, tasty. And now this year, a new chapter begins. The Exorcist: Believer, releasing
in theaters on October 6th. In this new movie, two teenage
girls disappear for three days, and when they're found, something's changed. They act strange. Their
personalities are a bit darker. And their parents eventually realize that, in true Exorcist fashion, they've
been possessed by a demon. In their terror and desperation, they seek out the only person alive who's
witnessed anything like this before, Chris McNeil, mother to Regan from
the original story 50 years ago. So already you're dealing with a tried-and-true
premise, except this time, it's multiplied by two. Truly, teamwork makes the dream work,
even in the realm of demonic possession. But then The Exorcist: Believer decided
to take it another step further. While the original 1973 was predominantly written from a Catholic perspective on
demonic possession and exorcism, Believer brings in the
perspective from multiple faiths. Catholicism, for sure, but
also the Pentecostal Church, the Baptist Church, even
root medicine from Africa. As Chris McNeil says in the new movie,
exorcism is one of the oldest human rituals. Every culture, in every country for as
far back as history has been recorded, has a ceremony to dispel negative energies. And that right there, that is really cool. Having the new movie feature exorcisms
across different belief systems, it not only educates the audience
on multiple faiths in a fun, this-doesn't-even-feel-like-learning sort of way - something that, you know, we always
stand on the theorist channels - but, it also opens the door to
some intensely scary entities. So, I wanted to do a bit of
a thought experiment today. What if we take things just a little step further? The first movie featured Regan getting possessed
by the Mesopotamian wind spirit, Pazuzu. Now, this newest movie's demonic
entity is introducing another Mesopotamian spirit known as Lamashtu, daughter of the Sky God, and
often depicted alongside Pazuzu. They're kind of like total besties,
with Lamashtu causing nightmares, attacking pregnant women, and
corrupting bodies of water. In short, these characters aren't just being possessed by your regular
old garden variety Satan, they're very specific demons from
a very specific time and place. So if suddenly the doors open
for bringing in other faiths, what is the biggest, baddest possession entity
that we could face in a future installment? What are some other demons
and spirits that could make their silver screen appearance
in a future Exorcist movie? And which of them would present
the biggest challenge for any would-be Exorcists looking to bring them down? Because sometimes holy water
and crosses just aren't enough. Basically, I want to know who would be
the final boss of the Exorcist films. Hold your crucifix close and
start praying, loyal theorists. The power compels ya to keep watching. Also, right off the bat, I
want to say that what we're covering today are real faiths held by real people with an incredible amount of nuance,
detail, and regional difference. I want to make it perfectly clear
that this is a very top-line, surface-level discussion that's meant to be fun, while sparking some creative
interest in spooky stuff. We just think it'd be cool to see some of these
spirits and their faiths represented on screen. And, of course, when that would happen, the
filmmakers would consult people of those faiths to ensure that everything is authentic. I just want to flag that since, you know, this is a short online video that's
touching on religion and faith. So just keep that in mind as we roll forward. The first faith I wanted to
bring in here today is Islam, considering it's one of the most
practiced religions on the planet with nearly 25% of Earth's
population identifying as Muslim. And while not all Muslims believe in
exorcisms, or ruqayah as they call them, there are plenty of stories that
have circulated throughout the faith. For instance, there was one story from 2021
that involved a married couple in Jakarta moving into a home haunted by
evil, the wife becoming possessed, and the couple turning to three
Muslim experts to perform an exorcism. So what could potentially be
doing the possession here? Well, within Islam, there are
spiritual creatures known as jinn, probably better known by their other name, genies. Yeah, you heard that right, but hold
your Robin Williams there, friends. These are not your typical celebrity
impersonating blue wisps of smoke. In fact, there are many different types
appearing across hundreds of different stories. In the Quran alone, there are
29 different mentions of jinn, but records of their existence actually
date back to pre-Islamic Arabia. Jinn, in general, don't tend
to be innately good or evil. Instead, they tend to have free will and can
thus decide on their moral course of action. That said, there are a few in the stories
that are explicitly called out as being evil. The Ifrit, for instance, are beings
of fire coming from the underworld. There's also the Shaitan, evil devils that
lack free will but work to tempt humans to sin. And these jinn are known to possess humans,
though the reasons can vary drastically. It could be as simple as the human offended
them or the jinn just wanted to cause trouble to them falling in love with the human
and wanting to be loved in return. Sometimes even spirits aren't
immune to toxic relationships. So that's what we're dealing with. But if we're truly going to identify
which is the final boss of exorcism, we need to know how to evict
these guys from our bodies. Modern strategies for dealing with jinn
amount to reciting verses from the Quran. Nothing too extreme there. According to Georgetown University
Associate Professor Amira El-Zein, pre-Islamic Arabs would use a
combination of beads, incense, salt, and necklaces made from the bones and
teeth of animals to frighten jinn away. Again, pretty easy stuff to come by. According to one study, which looked across various exorcisms
performed by Arab Muslim healers, they found that exorcisms tended
to be divided up into three stages: step one, remove all distractions,
including music, jewelry, and pictures; step two, cleanse the room and try to communicate with the jinn about their
reason for the possession; then finally, step three, recite
the Quran and ask the jinn to leave. And yeah, that is basically it. Not to be too reductive here, guys, but
jinn, honestly, they're pretty casual. Clean up the room a bit, you talk about their
problems, and then you ask them to go away. They just need to be heard, guys. They want a vent, you know? And interestingly enough, I saw this
theme pop up a lot across my research. In the story of The Fisherman and the Jinni,
part of the famous folk tales from 1001 Nights, a fisherman finds a bottle containing an Ifrit. The Ifrit threatens to kill the fisherman, but the fisherman manages to
negotiate a peaceful resolution that gets both the fisherman
and the jinn what they want. Seriously, an exorcist negotiating with a jinn, and both parties walking
away with a win-win scenario. Sounds more like a conflict
resolution meeting with HR than the big final bad of
some spooky exorcism story. So what other cultures have a rich history of
demons and possessions that we can draw from? Well, next up on the world tour is the
Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, a faith that holds a lot of reverence for
nature and the spirits that inhabit it. Many Shinto practices seek to communicate
with and appease those spirits, so you can already see how this
might fit in with an exorcist story. See, in Shintoism, everyone has a Reikon, similar to the Western idea of a spirit or a soul. However, when someone dies suddenly,
their Reikon can struggle to move on, instead transforming into a Yurei,
similar to the Western concept of a ghost. The Yurei are often driven
by very powerful emotions: revenge, jealousy, love, sorrow, and it's through resolving that emotional conflict
that the spirit can finally be laid to rest. Another interesting option here
is appealing to the spirit's ego. I found one story where the
12th century Emperor Sutoku died and became a vengeful spirit haunting his court only for them to exorcise him
by treating him like a demigod. This calmed him enough that
his spirit ultimately departed. So yet again, we get
ourselves an exorcism scenario that's less about throwing holy water at a child doing crab walks on the ceiling and more about having a cup of tea with someone
on the couch to talk about their feelings. Not exactly big screen-worthy stuff. But while we're busy having
tea and cakes with the Yurei, there is another class of supernatural entities that could lead to far more
unique forms of exorcism. Those are known as the Yokai. And though the word can
translate literally to demon, they're not really demons in
the Western sense of the word. Instead, they're more like spirits that
represent natural parts of the world or phenomenon that can't be explained. As such, there are hundreds of different Yokai, each with their own personality. For example, Tsukumogami are possessed tools ranging from futons and mirrors to shoes and jars. While other Yokai, like Kitsune Fox Spirits, have been known to possess human beings and cause them to take on the
physical characteristics of a fox. So, how then would an exorcist
deal with these Yokai? A sort of general term for a Shinto
exorcism or purification is Harae, which is meant to cleanse one of their
sins, bad luck, diseases, and guilt, along with exorcising any spirits possessing them. One common way of doing this: water. Water, and especially fresh, clean water, is believed to have purifying properties that can wash away evil and restore balance. We're talking things like washing hands, pouring water over the body, rinsing out your mouth. Basically, you're treating the
Yokai like a case of COVID-19. Stay healthy and hashtag stop the
spread of mischievous spirits. That said, there are other more
elaborate ceremonies known as Misogi that can be used for
particularly stubborn spirits. These feature participants
dressing in special white garments and gathering in sacred places
like shrines and waterfalls to chant, meditate, and pray away the Yokai. The possessed person is immersed in cold water to cleanse away any impurities
while the rituals perform, which involves a lot of clapping, bowing, and prayer to try and
drive out the possessing demon. But if that's still not enough, well, thankfully, there's
tools of the trade to use if things become more confrontational. These include the Ofuda, a sort of talisman made from paper or cloth meant to keep people and places safe, the Gohei, wooden wands with zigzagging paper streamers representing the presence of the divine, and the Katana, a traditional Japanese sword
symbolizing power and strength, allowing the exorcist to cut
through negative energies. An exorcist with a sword, huh? Put that one on your next
blockbuster movie poster. That is awesome. However, across all my research, there was one spirit that truly stood out as the biggest and baddest of the bunch, one that appears to be far more violent and far more fearsome than the rest. The definitive final boss of any exorcist story hailing from Native American folklore, specifically coming from the indigenous peoples of the plains and Great Lakes, I'm talking about the Wendigo. Now, the thing about the Wendigo is that they have been
misappropriated to heck and back by a lot of mainstream media, so what is with the Wendigo exactly? Well, the Wendigo is, traditionally speaking, a spirit of winter and a symbol of the dangers of selfishness. It's often said to be a malevolent spirit which sometimes chooses to possess human beings, invoking feelings of insatiable greed and hunger. Probably the most iconic trait of the spirit is that it causes the victim to turn cannibal. Despite their depiction as creatures similar to werewolves or
yetis in a lot of pop culture, according to most native legends, the physical form of the Wendigo is actually very human-like, oftentimes with hearts of ice. Some describe the Wendigo as having bodies entirely made of ice. They're gaunt and emaciated, so hungry for human flesh that they've chewed their own lips off. Whenever a Wendigo would eat another person, they would grow in proportion
to what they just consumed so they could never truly be full. It also means that over time, Wendigos grow to be gigantic. So, how does one become possessed by a Wendigo? Well, there's actually a few methods. You could be specifically cursed by a shaman, you can encounter a Wendigo in your dreams where it follows you into the real world, or probably the most common method I've seen floating around is that it's punishment for
some sort of dishonorable act, breaking a major taboo, like resorting to cannibalism
during a time of starvation. So, what do we know about
exercising a Wendigo spirit? Well, here's the thing. In almost every case I could find, you can't. Once someone becomes possessed
and transformed into a Wendigo, there's no coming back. This isn't a sit down on the couch and talk about your feelings kind of possession. A quick mouth rinse with water ain't washing this one away. The solution in the stories that I read was to kill the possessed so they can't continue their
cannibalistic murder rampage. It is that hardcore. In short, the Wendigo is a
spirit that cannot be exercised, which, honestly, is pretty darn horrifying. Even more horrifying, though, is that this isn't just something
that exists in folklore. It is a real thing. There's actually a modern psychiatric condition that borrows its name from these stories. It's called Wendigo Psychosis, and it's characterized by an
intense fear of becoming a cannibal while suffering from intense
cravings for human flesh. First off, that right there, that could play really well
in some sort of exorcist story with the Wendigo spirit. Maybe some of the characters are
suffering from this Wendigo psychosis without actually being possessed, mixing in a bit of mystery as to
who's the one truly in need of help. But diving even more deeply into the psychosis, I did find treatments of the
condition in some Kree folklore. Here, they ate fatty animal
meat and drank animal grease in an attempt to drive the
psychosis out of the patient. As the stories go, some of the people who are treated this way would allegedly vomit up ice
as part of the curing process. Given that the Wendigo, the spirit of winter, is supposed to have a heart made of ice, a pretty easy connection to draw there. Maybe the curate is literally throwing
up the ice heart of the Wendigo. So in total, across our spiritual battle, we have talk about your feelings, wash your hands, throw up a heart made of ice. I think I know which on that list is going
to be the most difficult to accomplish. Wendigo wins the exorcist battle hands down. At this point, you could
probably tell Chris McNeil was 100% right in The Exorcist: Believer when she said that every culture on Earth
has purification rituals like exorcisms, each as intricate and unique as the last. Just from these three cultures alone, we have wildly different spirits that
can all possess you in different ways with markedly different strategies of exorcism. And that was without even touching on the faiths that were represented in The Exorcist: Believer. But that's because you should
probably go see it for yourself when the film comes out in theaters this Friday. I certainly know I'll be there, hiding behind my hands. These movies are scary, man. But until then, remember my friends, it's all just a theory. A film theory. Aaaaaaaand cut.
