The Exorcist and a New Kind of American Television Horror

Abstract

FOX’s The Exorcist (2016–2018) tackled a surprising range of American political issues and broke new generic ground with its inclusivity. Inverting the conservatism often associated with its source text and film, FOX’s The Exorcist foregrounded its progressive politics and presented horror where diverse heroes literally fight evil and defeat those demons who would take advantage of personal traumas within the context of America’s vast inequalities. This chapter explores the show’s progressive optimism, demonstrating how its first season grapples with Chicago’s racial and class politics and flips its source material to give more space and agency to women and queer characters, while its second season examines and affirms the strength of chosen families. The Exorcist uses its horror to radically reframe the fight of good verses evil for a twenty-first-century America.

I’d like to thank Damien Picariello for including me in this volume and for his helpful comments on this chapter. I’d also like to thank the amazing organizers and attendees of 2018’s Fear2000 conference at Sheffield Hallam University for accepting an earlier version of this work and giving incredible support and feedback to the project.