Is Robert Eggers struggling with God, or with Hollywood?

Yes, this is another post in which tmatt wrestles with horror-movie theology

Here is the question that I face as I continue to read about the films of writer-director Robert Eggers. Please consider this yet another “Wrestling With Eggers” post.

Here we go: Is it time for me to rethink the fact that, for decades, I have avoided the vast majority of horror movies because I am deeply offended by violent, bloody images?

I mean, as a columnist I had several fascinating conversations with the late Academy Award winner William Peter Blatty, creator of “The Exorcist” novel and screenplay and a very traditional Roman Catholic (click here for a key “On Religion” column in 2013).

The bottom line: I understand how Blatty used the horrors of the demonic to show the reality of the Divine. Here is how he stated that equation for his head-spinning horror classic:

“My logic was simple: If demons are real, why not angels? If angels are real, why not souls? And if souls are real, what about your own soul?"

I told him that I read the novel, but I confessed that I have never been able to watch all of “The Exorcist.” He said that he understood why many people struggle with the images found in horror movies. Some of us cannot unsee what we have seen.

But let me stress: I understood the theological point that he was making. Catholic priests reported that, after seeing “The Exorcist,” waves of people rushed straight to Confession.

Thus, consider this fascinating long quote from a short IndieWire article — “Robert Eggers Envies Medieval Craftsmen, Says It’s Hard to Be Creative in ‘Modern Secular Society’” — that was based on comments he made to Slash Film:

“This sounds super uber-precious, but I think it’s hard to do this kind of creative work in a modern secular society because it becomes all about your ego and yourself. … And I am envious — this is the horrible part — I’m envious of medieval craftsmen who are doing the work for God. And that becomes a way to … you get to be creative to celebrate something else. And also, you’re censoring yourself because it’s not about like me, me, me, me, me, me. So you say, ‘Oh, I got to rein that back because that’s not what this altar piece needs to be.’ Any worldview where everything around them is full of meaning is exciting to me, because we live in such a tiresome, lame, commercial culture now.”

It’s hard to ignore the theological, “signal” material in these words. I know that what he is saying is important.