How come guys can't share in any of this possession fun?
Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, The Grudge, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Devil Inside, The Innkeepers, The Unborn, ...and on and on and on.
Well I guess at least The Haunting in Connecticut was a guy….
It's easier to portray girls as victims. It's lazy and banal but that's movies for you.
shareIt is actually really common lore that once a female hits puberty, their abilities to be possessed or to display supernatural powers are heightened. The stories behind the "Poltergeist" films mostly include families who start seeing suspicious activity after a young girl begins to mature. It is all urban legend stuff, or at least that's what I've heard.
Not that this film has anything to do with possession, but I think the trend started with "Carrie", because it was a big theme that a young woman has the most anger and would be the most likely candidate for supernatural phenomenon. So a lot of these possession movies (The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Last Exorcist, now The Possession) are probably just products of the trend that has pretty, seemingly sweet young women suddenly turn demonic.
While I agree that there is a theme of puberty related supernatural events, Carrie is about a witch coming into her powers, not possession. What I find interesting is that mostly the girls in these movies are very young (pre-pubescent).
sharetry Dominion Prequel to the exorcist, a guy gets possessed in that movie...
I believe that it has to do with the more edgy, creepiness of it. Think about it, females, throughout literature, have been more or less innocent than males. Males tend to be more violent and fight whereas females tend to be more passive. If a boy got possessed, it wouldn't be as creepy because they would try to fight it and it's not as interesting. The devil, where the demons spawn from, always goes for females because, according to the Bible, the devil is a male. Therefore, it would only make sense if it were a female.
shareBecause the movie-going public is not interested in seeing males getting possessed. Females getting possessed is more interesting. Personally, I would laugh if I saw a male getting possessed.
Actually, there is one movie that came out (1972) just before "The Exorcist" that featured a possessed male and it wasn't bad. The movie didn't have any special effects or makeup but it didn't need any. It's called "The Possession of Joel Delany" and stars Shirley MacLaine and Perry King.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067601
Same reason why almost every time a girl happen to be the sole survivor of a horror flick nowadays, all the strong guys get slaughtered first and the most vulnerable stays alive. A huge cliché nowadays, you can pinpoint excacly who is going to die and who will survive.
TROLL HUNTER
What about the movie The Amityville Horror. T'was a older brother that was possessed by an evil spirit that lived in the house. And when a family moved into the house next, the stepfather got possessed.
Most of those movies that you have there are based on true stories. So how is it "fun" being possessed? Can you tell me that??
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No one was possessed in The Innkeepers. or The Grudge, The Unborn, or Rosemary's Baby.
shareGood point, but I feel it's more effective when it's female for some reason. It just seems more horrifying, I can't exactly say why. In the Exorcist, it's doubly effective as it's a young innocent girl.
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