In Toys in the Attic, I dwelt at length, with all brevity, about the box in the attic. I suggested that it was two boxes in one…a box that does double-duty. That’s a busy box. Still, I found the Arabic, clearly suggesting the Pazuzu head-totem. Of course, there are so many of these in existence because so many people living in the Ancient Near East relied upon Pazuzu’s assistance for reasons I need not repeat here. So, it’s a pretty poor totem. And there was no Pazuzu head in Regan’s room, much less on her battle shield. The box, or so I believe, was an invention of 1973, a transition marker between the story in the book, and the story in the movie. I must admit that I feel it incumbent upon me to be more precise. Two stories? Sure…but what if there were three stories? Then we need three boxes in one! An already busy box would have to do, not double-duty, but rather…triple duty. How could there be three stories? That’s easy…there is the story of the movie…there is the real story of the book…and then there is the story of the book as it was understood by the reading public. So, that’s three stories. The Arabic box scrawl, and the inseparable connection of the box to both Merrin as well as the Iraqi archaeologist, screams…the story of the book as it was understood by the reading public. What story? Demonic possession…Pazuzu, which is not the same thing as…pizza. I don’t know about Chris, but I like pepperoni pizza. That reminds me, I ordered one about 30 minutes ago! Wait a minute, I just heard the doorbell, it must be the delivery guy.
Regan, sweetie, would you answer the door please?
I had a revelation yesterday. It came to me while listening to one of my favorite songs. And, no, not Nevaeh ot YawriatS…although I must say…there’s no escapin’ it. The song is called Hard Luck Woman…
As is plainly clear, the song was released in 1976, and features excellent acoustic guitar work, with Peter Criss’s compelling vocals. After playing around with the novel, I suddenly understood a word in the song that I never really knew what it was. And when I did, then all became clear to me…
Rags, a sailor’s only daughter, child of the water, too proud to be a queen
It was that first word that, since 1976, seeing how I never bothered to look up the lyrics since I could make out all of them except that one word, I never really knew…what it was. I still wouldn’t have, until, playing around with the book, the vocal burst into my conscious mind, and it dawned on me that that was exactly what Regan’s nickname is in the book…Rags. In the song, although the singer loves Rags, he feels compelled to leave…and that meant leaving her. She is a simple woman, and I suppose that Rags MacNeil was a very simple girl, and, in the book, she is very different than…
That's much too vulgar a display of power, Karras. Too crude. After all, I'm a prince!
The claim about being a prince is not in the movie version of the quote. I think that there is a very good reason why the Prince of the Book couldn’t be a Prince in the Movie. Prince of Darkness? Tempting…very tempting…but, alas…I think not. What suddenly struck me, besides now being able to sing the chorus correctly for the first time since 1976, is something that is said in the book…
But after dinner and the opening of presents, the mood seemed to fade. No word from Howard. Chris placed a call to him in Rome and was told by a clerk at his hotel that he hadn't been there for several days and couldn't be reached. He was somewhere on a yacht.
And:
Thanks a lot for the call on her birthday.
I was stuck on a yacht. Now for Christ’s sakes lay off me. I called her the minute I was back in the hotel.
Oh, sure.
She didn't tell you?
You talked to her?
Yes. That's why I thought I'd better call you. What the hell's going on with her?
What am you getting at?
She just called me a 'cocksucker' and hung up the phone.
So, we know that Chris can be bitchy, Regan has a potty-mouth, and Howard is a…well, let’s just say…a victim of circumstance. I suppose I might add that apparently Howard has something in common with Mrs. Karras...in different places, of course. Clearly, this was no mere afternoon sailing adventure. When Chris first heard about Captain Howdy, she assumed that it was somehow related to Howard. That, I think, in the book at any rate, is the case. Thinking I was clever, I figured that the “captain” part of Captain Howdy derived from the fact that the box in the attic came via airmail…which requires a pilot, or captain. But no! I don’t know for certain what Howard MacNeil did for a living, but, nonetheless, I believe that he was a sailor, and may have been the one sailing the yacht. But that is only in the book, and not in the movie. And so Rags is a sailor’s only daughter! In the book, Captain Howdy is Captain Howard MacNeil. That means that, in the book, Chris is right and Regan has created this manifestation of her father, with whom she converses via the Ouija board. And that works fine, until it doesn’t. I think that Captain Howdy was originally harmless. But then another character in the book appeared, initially communicating with Rags via the Ouija board. And this character quickly took over the character of Captain Howdy; it then turned diabolical. Who did this? That’s simple…I Am No One.
There has always been something in the movie that struck me as very strange. We all know the scene where Chris speaks to Regan on the evening before her birthday. We learn that Regan has already started shopping for a new Daddy…Burke Dennings. Chris claims that she loves pizza. Oh, she also claims that she will always love Regan’s father. In the book, Chris and Howard file for divorce. Not so in the movie. In fact, Howard appears one more time in the run-up to the exorcism. And Chris continues to wear her wedding ring. The strange thing occurs right before Regan’s attempt to jumpstart a potential relationship between her mother and Burke. But it does indicate that it was NOT her father’s failure to call Regan on her birthday that precipitated a break with her father. In the book, Howard has a good reason for not calling. In the movie, Chris proclaims that he just doesn’t give a shit, something that Regan overheard. Later, Chris will tell Howard that Regan has gotten over it. Here is the strange scene…
Like so much in the movie, you will never get this clear shot of the magazine that Regan is reading on her bed. Well, you do now because I apparently have too much time on my hands. It is Photoplay magazine, a popular movie fan magazine that was published from 1911 – 1980. This collage is a sample of the covers over time:
These are the covers of the September - November 1973 editions, which shows that Chris and Rags did not make the cover…
I limited this image to only those three months. Why? Because the story, in the movie at any rate, begins on October 31rst, and doesn’t last much beyond the beginning to the middle of November. How do I know?
Trick or treat! I wonder what costume Regan will wear? Hey! Karras went trick-or-treating too! He stopped at Chris MacNeil’s house. Hey Rags! Trick or Treat!
Hmmm…I guess that’s…treat! I think all that Father Karras wanted was a Tootsie Roll.
On the subject of magazine covers, there was clearly a fascination with the Exorcist, though I don’t why, and Linda Blair too.
That’s a nice shot. Another…
Yet another…
Excuse me? What’s with the top, young lady? But still, she does seem to be a wholesome, American girl. That's clear from...
Whoa! How’d that one get in there? Natas won’t like this one bit! Still, I thought I had…oh, here it is…
Now that’s much better. Popular wierdo horror magazines found, not surprisingly, the Exorcist to be fascinating…
This one is interesting…
And this one is just disturbing…
The artwork leaves something to be desired. You want fine art? Ok, here it is…
Mona Regan, I suppose. And I always suspected that the movie would be used to make the unbelievable...believable:
There was one other magazine I had, where is…here it is!
Brought to you by the Tektonikus Literary Industries Company, the Demonic Literature and Fine Dining Guides division. I’m not sure why we combined those two. But I think it best to return to the Photoplay magazine sitting on Regan’s bed.
It features a cover shot of Chris and Regan, and then, the screaming headline…
Big Trouble in the MacNeil Marriage! The Night Howard Walked Out On His Wife.
Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say…
The Night Captain Howard Sailed Away From His Wife.
Well, probably not. Oh, he also walked out on his daughter. Now Photoplay was basically a tabloid, so the story about the troubles between Howard and Chris was probably written in a sensationalistic way, with plenty of rumors, gossip, and salacious details. When Chris enters the room, she takes the magazine away, and playfully scolds Regan by asking her why she is reading it. Regan simply says that she likes to read it, and Chris objects that it makes the 12-year-old look too mature, laughing while she says it. Now it is only me, but I would think that this sudden separation involving her parents would be rather traumatic for Regan…that would be a much better reason to take away the magazine, and then have a heart-to-heart discussion with Regan about it. After all, if I was separated from my husband, I wouldn’t want my daughter learning a bunch of nonsense about it in a fan magazine. That doesn’t happen, and instead, Regan pivots to…Burke can come along with us tomorrow. The implication here, if Howard’s failure to call Regan on her birthday is the real reason for suddenly sailing into total disorder, at least in the book, it can’t be in the movie, based on this scene and my analysis of it. In fact, Howard’s failure to call is not relevant in either the book or the movie. And Chris keeps in touch with Howard in the movie, although, apparently, and unlike the book, he does not keep in touch with Regan. But even before the Captain pissed Regan off on her birthday…she seems to have already forgotten about him.
Where’s her father?
In Europe.
Have you told him what’s happening?
No.
Well I think you should.
What is particularly interesting about this exchange is that shortly before Karras entered the study…
Chris is on the phone. Now, it is the case that while Karras is walking downstairs with his special new recording of Regan’s backward vocals, we can hear Chris talking on the phone. Barely. Simply watching the movie, you will make out very few words, and you will have no idea with whom she is speaking, or what she is saying. I will confess, which works well seeing how a priest is present, that I had to listen to this over-and-over-and-over until I made out everything that Chris was saying…
No, I’m like a…it’s seclusion
No, I’m just exhausted from work.
Um, she’s, she’s over it.
She just needed a little time.
I don’t want to talk about it…ok?
Ok, I’ll talk to you…I’ll call you as soon as it’s over..alright?
No, I’m just, I’m really, I’m going through something, and I just have to…
No, no…no, no…there’s nothing.
Hey, thanks a lot.
Bye now.
I originally misinterpreted this dialogue, due to the fact that it took me an endless amount of time to finally make out the two lines at the beginning. There is no question that she is speaking to Howard. Regan has gotten over the fact that he didn’t call her on her birthday, and it just took a little time. The seclusion mentioned in the first line is not Regan’s seclusion…it is Chris’s seclusion. In other words, Howard has read that Chris disappeared from public view during the filming of the movie that found itself in need of a new director. She tells him that it is because of overwork. That is a lie. And she fails to mention the fact that Regan is in a very, very bad way. That means that she didn’t lie to Karras, who walked in just as she was finishing the phone call. Unless, of course, Howard knows…but it seems clear that he does not. Why? Because of the sentence…
Ok, I’ll talk to you…I’ll call you as soon as it’s over..alright?
…Chris is not referring to the exorcism, which I originally assumed she was. That was incorrect. It is very strange that Chris is still in contact with Howard, and even though they discuss Regan, Chris isn’t telling him the most important thing. By…as soon as it’s over, I think that she is referring to this thing she is going through that has caused her to take a break from filming. Why be in contact with Howard yet say nothing about what’s happening to Regan, which Karras tells Chris is exactly what she should do? The only reason that comes to mind is that if she does tell Howard, he will probably fly, which would be faster than sailing, home to be involved. Chris wants to prevent that. Why? Well, if there is some plot to kill Regan, Howard being on the scene would completely ruin such a plan. Better to tell him after Regan is dead…if that’s what is really going on. Or Chris is simply not too proud to be a queen and would rather talk about herself than talk about Regan. But I think that she is trying to hide the situation from Howard. And! I also think that she has every intention of getting back together with him. Stupid question time...
Do you keep any drugs in your house?
No, of course not! Nothing like that.
Are you sure?
Of course I’m sure…I don’t even…
…smoke grass.
Now just how stupid is the doctor? I mean, he’s had gallons of Regan’s blood. He’s even done spinal taps, giving him some of Regan’s spinal fluid. He’s been running all kinds of medical tests. Yet it isn’t until now that he decides to ask Chris about dope? If she did keep drugs around the house…would she be honest about it? Why not just test Regan for drugs? And given the bizarre behavior that caused Chris to bring her to Dumb Doctor to begin with, I would have thought that testing Regan for drugs would be one of the first things he would do. Oh, another good test would be to check her for signs of sexual abuse. If he was too incompetent to do the former, then I’ll bet he wouldn’t do the latter.
I was gonna take Regan to Europe.
Not because the Dear Captain was there…I suppose. And we know that Regan’s used-to-be-daddy has a lot of money! Fast-forwarding to Regan overhearing Mommy speaking ill of Daddy.
Hello? Yes, this is Mrs. MacNeil.
Operator! You have got to be kidding! I have been on this line for 20 minutes.
Jesus Christ! Can you believe this? He doesn’t even call his daughter on her birthday, for Christ’s sakes!
Maybe the circuit is busy, says Sharon.
Circuit my ass! He doesn’t give a shit!
Operator don’t tell me there’s no answer, it’s the Hotel Excelsior in Rome! Would you try it again?
We all know the old saying…when in Rome, do as the Romans…stay at the Hotel Excelsior!
Maybe the Romans have got something there!
Not too bad, but it’s not nearly as big and beautiful as my new living-room.
A nice room…I guess…if you’re slumming it.
With a little bit of work it might be an ok hotel...though not up to my standards. But bear in mind, if you are in the mood to bitch, and call Rome, you might find the circuits busy. I think the operator just doesn’t give a shit!
Before moving on to the conclusion of this short essay, at which I will make one more comment about Dear Howard, I would like to emphasize something about Father Karras. I have often accused Karras of being mentally ill…a sick priest. I’ve also said that he is highly susceptible to suggestion…he has a hysterical nature, and thus he sees Regan do all manner of things that, in the context of the Artificial Reality of the movie, she does not do. He sees the head-spinning gimmick after being told by the detective that that was how they found Burke at the bottom of the Stone Stairway. He hears Regan talking to him in the voice of his mother. He sees Regan take the bodily form of his mother. And other things. Looking at the book, it is made clear just how ridiculously susceptible he is to suggestion…make the suggestion, and Karras enters into a psychotic state instantly. By way of background, Regan is, in the book, in far worse physical condition than she is in the movie. In fact, in the book, she has lost all bladder and bowel control. Combine that with her constant vomiting, her bedroom must have stank beyond tolerance. And that fact is commented on in the book. Rags, having realized just how hysterical Karras is, manipulates him constantly…determining even his perception of reality. There is no better illustration of how disordered Karras’s mind is than this exchange…
Abruptly a strong, new stench assailed Karras. It was an odor like...
Sauerkraut, Karras. Have you noticed?
It does smell like sauerkraut, the Jesuit marveled. It seemed to be emanating from the bed. From Regan's body. Then it was gone, replaced by the putrid stench of before. Karras frowned. Did I imagine it? Auto-suggestion?
Ok, you don’t have to like sauerkraut. And I did! Before reading this. Did Regan eat a bowl of sauerkraut that disagreed with her? Better out than in? No. Even the biggest Anti-Sauerkrautists among us do not confuse the smell of excrement, urine, and vomit with some people’s ex-favorite topping for their hotdogs. . Still, Karras once again pondered the smell of sauerkraut…
He lifted his head and eyed the phone. Frank. Call him off? He picked up the receiver. There was no answer and he left word for him to call. Then, exhausted, he stood up and walked slowly to the bathroom. He splashed cold water an his face. "The exorcist will simply be careful that none of the paitent's manifestations are left...." He looked up at himself in the mirror. Had he missed something? What? The sauerkraut odor. He turned and slipped a towel off the rack and wiped his face. Auto-suggestion, he remembered.
Auto-suggestion? Regan suggested it. You either smell sauerkraut, or you don’t. And sauerkraut doesn’t smell like Regan or no one would eat it. And both Karras and Dyer are familiar with the smell…
How's the loafer? asked Dyer as Karras spread a napkin on his lap.
Who's a loafer? I'm working.
One lecture a week?
It's the quality that counts, said Karras. What's dinner
Can't you smell it?
Oh, shit, is it dog day? Knockwurst and sauerkraut.
So Karras’s comments about auto-suggestion are strange, when you mix Regan’s vomit, diapers, and breath together in a closed room, and you walk in and think it smells like sauerkraut…something is wrong. And not just auto-suggestion. Methinks you might just have a sick priest.
Brought to you by the Tektonikus Table Foods and Condiments Company. The smell will bring you back for more!
And what of the story? Not the story in the movie…not the story that people think they find in the book. Could the answer be in the…numbers? It is odd that shortly before his death, and during a break in the exorcism, Karras finds himself downstairs looking at a photo album. So we know it’s important. There is, perhaps, an important clue which is not so hard to find. Here it is…
His gaze shifted to the album. He walked over and looked down. Candid photos. A young girl. With a pang, Karras realized he was looking at Regan: here, blowing out candles on a whipped-creamy birthday cake; here, sitting on a lakefront dock in shorts and a T-shirt, waving gaily at the camera. Something was stenciled on the front of the T-shirt. CAMP... He could not make it out.
I was thrilled to find out that the author made use of the same….three dots…when writing. Oh, dear. I have been known to use this device as well. There is one difference…I complete the thought, or so I try. I don’t let the three dots simply trail off, or suddenly end in a rather abrupt statement that is like a giant, flashing…. And, sorry…a giant flashing…neon light, which screams…THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT...more loudly than Chris screams into the phone at Howard…or the poor operator in Rome. It is clear that the picture is important…indeed, or so I think. Most important is the number. What number? Oh…that’s not as easy to make out. But I shall attempt to do so. What about this mysterious camp? Well one did come to mind. Of course, I can’t look at the picture in Chris MacNeil’s photo album. But I’ll do my best. Perhaps Sharon can help…
Hi, Chris, how'd it go?
Pretty blonde in her twenties sitting at the table. Sharon Spencer. Fresh. From Oregon. For the last three years, she'd been tutor to Regan and social secretary to Chris.
I was thrilled to see the use of, not just three dots, but incomplete sentences too! Ok, so Sharon has been around, in the book, since Regan was 9 years old. That is important. Oregon is referred to twice in the book. This is the second time…
Oh, I know how to do it, interjected Sharon. My mother ran a nursing home up in Oregon.
Yes, the mystery medical team in the story…book version that is, was actually Sharon…from Oregon…Oregon Sharon. So with Oregon in mind, one might be tempted to think of Mt. Hood. And if one did that, one might end up at…
Camp Howard! And the number game! I think that Regan had her 9th birthday at Camp Howard, with her creamy birthday cake and not so mysterious t-shirt. If that is a fair assumption, then in the picture, and in the book, we witness two of Regan’s birthdays. It is my position that in the story in the book, Howard not calling Regan on her birthday was NOT what set off the sudden change in behavior that began on the day following her birthday. No, what set off the sudden change in behavior was the occurrence of the birthday itself.
If Regan’s real Daddy wasn’t quite so important, what about her new Daddy…Burke Dennings? Who killed him? In the book, I mean. Who did that? That’s obvious…I Am No One. Why? What happened? I think it was similar to what happened in the movie. Dennings was downstairs pouring himself a drink. Then he heard a terrible fight going on in Regan’s bedroom. He rushed upstairs to help. Throwing open the door he saw…two people…fighting. One of them was Regan. The other prided himself on not being seen. He could take possession of Regan, but I think that he could also appear in his own right…as a separate entity. How do I know that? Because! The detective saw him…for a split-second. In one of the better written scenes in the book…
When he'd entered the passenger side of the squad car, Kindermann fumed and looked back at the house. He thought he saw movement at Regan's window, a quick, lithe figure flashing to the side and out of view. He wasn't sure. He'd seen it peripherally as he'd turned. But he noted that the shutters were open. Odd. For a moment he waited. No one appeared.
Don’t let lithe fool you. Thin...and quick…a brief flicker in the corner of your eye. That’s the only way you can see him, although I’m sure he prefers to be seen by no one other than the Piglet.
