MovieChat Forums > The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) Discussion > Poll on which version you believe: demon...

Poll on which version you believe: demonic possession or mental illness?


Votes please! If you want to add a rationale for your answer, great!

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Mental illness
reason: There is plenty of medical evidence documenting these and similar symptoms in various patients. Conversely, there is no evidence whatsoever for a devil, satan, lucifer or whatever superhero people come up with when something happens that they don't understand.

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I believe demons are more likely to attack the mentally ill. They are weaker. So believe it was a combination of both. Mental illness and possession.

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But which part of the symptoms can't be explained by mental illness or other natural phenomena?

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If you're going by the film, the viewers saw the evidence, but the court didn't. It was a demonic infestation defense that lost in court, with time served as the sentence.

If you're going by the real story that inspired it, then I don't know. I'll yield to other views on that one.

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[deleted]

excellent signature! i love creepshow. :)

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

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Mental illness.... which is why the legal team was so bad.... they should have focused on the fact that exorcisms do work most of the time. But not because they cast out demons, but because of the power of suggestion.... they should have just focused on that very valid reason, even if it was a lie, lol...

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Mental illness. Just as with Anneliese Michel.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

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I know demonic possession is real, and if we're using just the film as the basis for determining whether she was possessed, then I would say yes, she was.

This film, along with the Exorcist, treats demonic possession seriously and in a respectful way in terms of the victims and those trying to help them.




This is a faithful saying...Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

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I think in the context of the film, demonic possession but in the real case on which it was based, severe mental illness. Apologies if that's a bit too much of fence-sitting but like someone else mentioned- we know more than the jury does and witness the things that the barrister for the defence and the priest go through as well...

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