Standing against evil; Some principles I've discovered...

Hello everyone, and welcome to another installment of the Nightcrawler Experience!
Sorry this one took so long to get up. As you can see, it's a big one.

I don’t plan on talking about horror- related stuff very often on this blog, but this entry is an exception.

Now, while ‘The Nightcrawler Experience’ is itself a family- friendly blog, the same cannot necessarily be said for some of the movies, TV shows, etc., that I’ll be talking about. Though, each time I’m about to look at something that maybe kids might want to stay away from, I’ll post a disclaimer similar to this one.

In this case, the topic is standing against evil. I’ll be looking at three examples from pop culture relating to people facing real, demonic evil, and how they react to it.

            The first example I’ll be looking at is a pretty well- known 2007 horror film called ‘Paranormal Activity.’ This “Found Footage” horror film I am selecting to help show what NOT to do when facing evil. It centers around a couple, Micah and Katie, who purchase a video camera to document strange occurrences that have begun happening in their house. It turns out that the source of these occurrences is an extremely malevolent demon who has followed Katie off and on since she was little.

Now, in horror movies, it is quite common for there to be at least one character who is not terribly bright, but Micah in ‘Paranormal Activity’ takes this to a new level; He is a complete buffoon in pretty much everything he does, he never treats the situation with the seriousness it clearly calls for, and he causes things to escalate rapidly. At times he even deliberately TRIES to antagonize the spirit (i.e. Early on, one of the first supernatural occurrences seen is their bedroom door slowly creaking one way then the other by itself while they’re asleep; Micah, upon discovering this, says something to the extent of “Ooh, a creaking door. Is that all you got?” Unsurprisingly, the entity starts to up its game after that).

They bring in a psychic to try and help, and while he of course offers very little help (As further evidence of how this shows how NOT to react to such a situation, they contact a psychic, yet it apparently never even occurs to them to contact a priest or minister), one helpful suggestion he gives is that they NOT use a Ouija Board or any other means to try and contact or communicate with the spirit; Halfway through the film, not only does Micah pick up a Ouija Board for that purpose, but he gets probably the scariest- looking Ouija Board I’ve ever seen (The result of this is one of the film’s subtlest yet scariest scenes, in my opinion). All throughout the film, Micah stubbornly insists that he’ll handle the situation and he is in control, which at one point leads to Katie snapping at him, “No, you haven't been having any progress, and you're *not* in control. *It* is in control, and if you think you're in control, then you're being an idiot!” Unsurprisingly, things don’t end well for the young couple, largely the result of Micah’s ignorance and pride.

As a second example from pop culture relating to people facing supernatural evil but helping to show a little of how to overcome it, there is a horror anthology TV show for kids called ‘R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour.’ There was an episode of it a few months ago entitled “Long Live Rock & Roll,” which concerns three teens who’ve formed a garage band. It mainly centers around a boy named Holden who acts as the band’s vocalist and lead guitarist, but at the start of the episode he’s not doing so well in the latter of the two roles. He insists it’s due to his guitar being a cheaper model that can’t stay in tune, but the others in the band think the problem may in fact be him not having the right talent for lead guitar.

Feeling upset over this, Holden meets a man known as “Sir Maestro,” a British rocker type who physically resembles the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. Sir Maestro has just opened a music store in town and offers to sell Holden a magnificent guitar that Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia, and Kurt Cobain had all used at some point in their careers. Its price tag is way out of Holden’s budget, but Sir Maestro says that he can have it on the conditions that Holden return to play for Sir Maestro at a later date, and sign a lengthy contract to finalize the deal. Eventually, of course, things start going bad, and it becomes clear that Sir Maestro wants Holden to play for him forever, as his eternal slave. The closest it comes to Sir Maestro revealing who he truly is (As if it wasn’t obvious already from how much of a “Deal with the Devil” vibe we got from the first half of the episode) occurs later in the episode when Holden notices something odd about his new guitar, asks Sir Maestro who he is, and the sinister store owner replies, “I’ve been known by many names over many thousands of years, but lately I prefer ‘Sir Maestro.’”

Things worsen when Holden’s two bandmates learn about Sir Maestro’s store and purchase new instruments of their own for similar contracts. Determined to save his friends, Holden returns to the store where he finds his bandmates playing their new instruments in a trancelike state, and challenges Sir Maestro to a guitar duel to try and win his and his friends’ souls back. At first, Holden barely holds his own against Sir Maestro’s impressive guitar skills, partly because one of the terms of the contest was that Holden has to use his old, out- of- tune guitar rather than the new one. It appears Holden may lose the contest, but just then, he gets an idea; He approaches his friends, who are still playing in their trancelike state, and reminds them of the good times they’ve had playing together in the past. This snaps them out of Sir Maestro’s spell, and they provide Holden with musical backup and a nice boost of confidence, which he uses to hold out and win the contest. The good guys get their souls back, Sir Maestro vanishes back where he came from in defeat, and Holden realizes he doesn’t need a new guitar to be a better player, as he and his friends close out the episode with a catchy victory song.

I find this episode of ‘The Haunting Hour’ to offer part of a solution for how to face evil. Holden humbles himself, and realizes that he can’t overcome Sir Maestro on his own. He appeals to his friends by reminding them of what’s truly important (Their past friendship and experiences in playing together) so they can have a positive memory to snap them out of Sir Maestro’s spell, and by relying on them for musical and emotional backup, he gains the strength needed to face Sir Maestro and emerge victorious. The only thing missing was relying on God and His strength, but considering this is a kids’ tv show, it’s not surprising that part was left out.

The final example I’ve found on responding to evil, which I think does the best job of showing how to respond to it, is in the 2013 horror film ‘The Conjuring.’ Based on the true story of a case from the files of paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren (Whose work also inspired ‘The Amityville Horror’), it centers around a family that moves into a new house where very strange and often quite frightening things begin happening. It soon becomes clear that this house has a very disturbing history and is inhabited by a number of spirits: Some that are relatively harmless, but others that are extremely hateful and dangerous.

In desperation, their mother Carolyn goes to the Warrens for help. First, she sits in on a lecture they are hosting to ensure they are on the level, then afterwards she asks them to do what they can to save her and her family. Things ultimately come to a head when the most vicious of the spirits possesses Carolyn and tries to get her to murder her youngest daughter. Lorraine first helps to get her to stop by reminding Carolyn of a very happy memory she had with her family, to appeal to the humanity still left in her. This distracts the possessed Carolyn long enough for Ed to get to her and finish performing an exorcism, calling out the evil spirit by name and loudly calling on the name of God to get it out of her. It works, as the spirit leaves and Carolyn’s life and soul are saved.

As I said, I think ‘The Conjuring’ offers one of the best pictures I’ve seen on how to respond to evil. The family was humble enough to realize they needed outside help and to ask for it, and Carolyn first checked out the Warrens for herself to verify that they could be competent and trustworthy. A powerful, positive memory with a lot of love and devotion behind it is used to help the possessed Carolyn remember the kind and loving woman she still has within her. Lastly and most importantly, Ed calls on the demon by name (As Jesus did when driving Legion out of the man in Mark 5), and calls on the name of God to drive the demon away and free Carolyn and her family from its dark control.

While obviously most of us won’t be confronted with demons or devils, the fact of the matter is, we can still see evil all around us in everyday ways. Crime, substance abuse, domestic abuse, gossip, apathy; All of these are forms of evil that we as Christians are called to stand against in one way or another. I think we can learn at least a little about how to confront it from the examples I just cited. Avoid Micah’s mistake in ‘Paranormal Activity’ of being so proud and stubborn as to think you can handle it on your own. Like Holden in ‘The Haunting Hour: Long Live Rock & Roll’ and Carolyn in ‘The Conjuring,’ humble yourself enough to admit you need help, and seek it from those who you know are trustworthy, which is near enough to what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 6:2. Again like Holden and like Lorraine in ‘The Conjuring,’ cling to positive memories as a way of remembering what’s important. Lastly, like Ed in ‘The Conjuring,’ whatever you must do, do it in the name of God, and keep your desire to serve Him at the center of all that you do. By following all of that, I think we can stand against whatever evil the world may try to throw at us.

That’s all for now. I should have another entry ready for the Nightcrawler Experience in the next couple weeks. Until then, take care and God bless!