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I watched the first two episodes of the TV show "The Exorcist," and I cannot continue due to the heavy use of body horror and "gross out" things in this show. I suppose there are people that enjoy that because you see it in comedy and horror, pretty frequently. At best I can endure it a little but I cannot imagine myself enjoying it. People are so different from each other.
It's too bad because there was a lot to like in this show. There is a particular fantasy/ spec fiction trope of a person being god-touched. They respond to the call and it makes them weird, intense, driven. It makes them into an outsider. The god-given quest might have them suffer greatly. But it will be worth it in order to stop some evil plot and will have a satisfying conclusion. Some books that employ this: Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, "The Curse of Chalion" and "Paladin of Souls" by Bujold, the Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Maybe this is basic hero's journey stuff idk (hey i majored in biology) but, it's enjoyable.
Well anyways, in the Exorcist (show), the god-touched hero is a dreamy priest, Tomás, played by Alfonso Herrera who was in Sense8. His guide on his journey is Father Marcus, played by Ben Daniels, who has these piercing blue eyes and appealing crows feet. The relationship between these two is the definition of slashy. In their first scene together, Marcus keeps his back turned to Tomás, it's so weirdly intense! As the viewer you are like, please turn around, please look at each other. Then in the 2nd ep, Marcus picks the lock to get into Tomás' apartment, starts cooking, and when Tomás shows up he's just like, "hey we're out of eggs." Classic! What I'm saying is that they they are incredible together.
(Ben Daniels is an out gay actor who I'm enjoying in "Foundation", more on that later.)
The other thing I did not like about the Exorcist is the color palette, which is desaturated. It's as if all the color has been half-way sucked out of the world, it's always a gray day. It's depressing to look at!
It's too bad because there was a lot to like in this show. There is a particular fantasy/ spec fiction trope of a person being god-touched. They respond to the call and it makes them weird, intense, driven. It makes them into an outsider. The god-given quest might have them suffer greatly. But it will be worth it in order to stop some evil plot and will have a satisfying conclusion. Some books that employ this: Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, "The Curse of Chalion" and "Paladin of Souls" by Bujold, the Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. Maybe this is basic hero's journey stuff idk (hey i majored in biology) but, it's enjoyable.
Well anyways, in the Exorcist (show), the god-touched hero is a dreamy priest, Tomás, played by Alfonso Herrera who was in Sense8. His guide on his journey is Father Marcus, played by Ben Daniels, who has these piercing blue eyes and appealing crows feet. The relationship between these two is the definition of slashy. In their first scene together, Marcus keeps his back turned to Tomás, it's so weirdly intense! As the viewer you are like, please turn around, please look at each other. Then in the 2nd ep, Marcus picks the lock to get into Tomás' apartment, starts cooking, and when Tomás shows up he's just like, "hey we're out of eggs." Classic! What I'm saying is that they they are incredible together.
(Ben Daniels is an out gay actor who I'm enjoying in "Foundation", more on that later.)
The other thing I did not like about the Exorcist is the color palette, which is desaturated. It's as if all the color has been half-way sucked out of the world, it's always a gray day. It's depressing to look at!
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Date: 2023-08-14 07:05 am (UTC)I was lucky enough to see him on stage playing Jason/Creon/Aegeus in Medea with Sophie Okonedo as Medea -- amazing production -- and it is indicative of how poor my facial recognition is that it took me weeks afterwards to connect the name and go HEY THAT'S THE DUDE I'VE SEEN IN ALL THOSE EXORCIST GIFS.
As you known, Sasha
Date: 2023-08-14 04:07 pm (UTC)I'm not interested in any body horror. But that won't stop me from thinking outloud re: its meaning.
Our day-to-day lives include a lot of horrible things, many of them visible [note 1]. Could the delight in horror movies/comics &c be the fact that it ends? It's controllable? There's a heroic finale?
Cause it sure would be great if we had an ending/control/hero when it comes to day-to-day horror.
note 1: For me, this requires conscious blocking of news in any medium.