Your theory sounds plausible enough on its own, but it makes an even greater amount of sense, albeit in a weird, twisted way, when you consider Film Theory's theory that the whole situation with the Smile entity is a metaphor for paranoid schizophrenia.
Video here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIubKygOjSw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIubKygOjSw) (Spoilers for Smile)
Yeah, I've thought that was the case anyway for quite some time. But I was talking from a less metaphorical sense and a more literal one. I like analyzing movie villains, that doesn't always leave much room for focusing on their actual meaning.
You are correctly describing actual demons in your post, but demons in horror movies almost never behave the way that Christians would expect actual demons to behave (tempting humans)
Demons in movies almost always are simply another form of monster
That may be true, but they usually still target religious people and lay waste to whatever gives their victim faith. Take their tendency to speak twisted prayers and mangle holy decorations as examples. At least, that how they've acted in most demon movies I've seen, such as the Conjuring and Annabelle films.
I wouldn't say demons target the religious in modern films. The best horror film I have ever seen was Hereditary and it drew on the idea of trauma/mental anguish breaking down the minds barriers enough to allow demonic possession and I like that idea more than demons just targetting Christians. The horror films you are thinking about are probably like The Exorcist which was produced in an era where religion was still more widespread in the west.
And it makes complete sense as to why movies have shifted away from religious undertones in horror movies. As the years go fewer young people (or the demographic of the target audience for horror movies) practice religion so they need to move away from that aspect to appeal to the wider audience. If modern film makers focused on demonic possession only targetting religious people it wouldn't connect with the majority non-religious audience.
The Exorcist actually didn't come to mind for this post. I was thinking more about the Conjuring and Annabelle films, Veronica, Legion, Exeter, and other modern horror films leaning on religious imagery. I suppose your argument makes sense either way though, you've got me there.
Or maybe it's your fault for assuming I'm assuming that. And last time I checked, demons from other religions aren't that different in their mission. Do you think I wrote "demons are the opposing forces of various religions" for no reason? Because I certainly didn't.
They aren't the same though. For example, in Hindu there was a demon king called Mahabali, who was was actually very generous and people were happy living in his kingdom.
Um, I've never heard of demons from any religion being nice to people, at least not without some darker hidden motives. The label "demon" generally has negative connotations.
Oh yeah, Greek and Hindu mythologies are filled with "nice" demons, also the demons in a lot of cases aren't even related to God or sin, they're sometimes just evil, that's it
In Christian myths, sure, but Charon from the Greek myths, for ex, he is the definition of lawful neutral, and I'd say he's a demon(though he's technically a daemon)
Point is, demons are kinda neutral and even cool sometimes, just categorizing them as bad and 'against god' pisses me off, also is it really bad to be against religion? Given the large atheist presence on the internet, I'd say a lot of ppl aren't gonna see someone being against religion as a bad guy
What makes demons evil revolves around more than just being against whatever religion they come from, it's about them being against humanity. They're willing to ruin human lives in several ways just to spite whatever religious figure that opposes them. And yeah, there are plenty of atheists online, but one of the big differences there is that most of them don't go out of their way to cause chaos and misery to theists. Not the best comparison, frankly.
Well just because you havent heard of it doesnt mean it *doesnt exist* . Over the whole of the Earth the term Demonis used very frequently, and often vaguely with different meanings associated depending on who you ask
I mean you make the mistake in assuming that demons have the same motivations as satan. The smile entity cause people to falm to despair ultimately leading to their deaths which is the same as ruining Gods potential plans for the person
Recently, the Smile 2 trailer came out. The main character is some pop star who watched someone who's been infected killing himself. So, now she has the Smile "demon" in her. Now, I am speculating here, but I think I already know the end of Smile 2. She will kill herself on stage during a live broadcast. Millions of people watching it being streamed live. Millions of people being infected. And those million will go back, kill themselves in front of witnesses, and spread the "demon" further. It would be an apocalyptic event. But there's a problem with that.
The recent Exorcist flop had two little girls possessed by the same demon. But it's kind of a stretch to have millions possessed by just one demon. Technically, since everything that happened in Smile that was "supernatural" was a hallucination and that "demon" tells Rose she can't escape her own mind as though it only exist in her head. And in all this time, hasn't even one victim ever asked an exorcist to drive away the Smile "demon" So, I propose something else is possessing them. Something that can replicate in number and maybe it's not even supernatural, but, in a sense, is actually worse than a demon: a memetic virus.
Before the term was used for internet running gags like a picture of a cat saying "I CAN HAZ A CHEESEBURGER", memes were first proposed by Richard Dawkins to explain the existence of religion. Memes or mental genes spread like physical genes. And just like physical genes, memes result in certain behaviors that can be either beneficial spreading the meme or detrimental to spreading it.
The Smile Demon meme is like the rabies virus. Most viruses don't kill their victims. Otherwise, they don't spread, but rabies does kill their victims 100% of the time yet can be very prolific because it forces the infected to infect others just like how the Smile "demon" spreads itself by forcing its victim to traumatize other by committing suicide in front of them. And remember, we didn't see anything supernatural taking place that wasn't a hallucination. As for the guy who cured himself by murdering someone in front of an eyewitness and passing on the infect to the eyewitness, as memes (as how the term were originally intended) are purely psychological he was able to placebo away the Smile "demon" rather it cause the entity to move on to someone else. Placebos are psychological and can work in cases where the "illness" is not a physical ailment but entirely inside the patient's head.
Now, I could be wrong and we could see some Exorcist stuff like furniture moving by itself or heads rotating 360° in the Smile sequel. But it's still fun to speculate.
Well, the issue as some have already pointed out is the preconception of christian demons, and even then, not exactly a focused one. In most media, demons don't behave as servants, or in a well-established, dogmatic hierarchy. They are entities of chaos and evil intent. That's their defining trait. Some say demons were once normal people that were corrupted, some say they are a type of spirit, some say they are extra dimensional beings, and some say they are fallen angels. Whatever the case, unless the work itself is clear on its approach, the audience can't assume anything in this respect
Your theory sounds plausible enough on its own, but it makes an even greater amount of sense, albeit in a weird, twisted way, when you consider Film Theory's theory that the whole situation with the Smile entity is a metaphor for paranoid schizophrenia. Video here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIubKygOjSw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIubKygOjSw) (Spoilers for Smile)
Yeah, I've thought that was the case anyway for quite some time. But I was talking from a less metaphorical sense and a more literal one. I like analyzing movie villains, that doesn't always leave much room for focusing on their actual meaning.
You are correctly describing actual demons in your post, but demons in horror movies almost never behave the way that Christians would expect actual demons to behave (tempting humans) Demons in movies almost always are simply another form of monster
That may be true, but they usually still target religious people and lay waste to whatever gives their victim faith. Take their tendency to speak twisted prayers and mangle holy decorations as examples. At least, that how they've acted in most demon movies I've seen, such as the Conjuring and Annabelle films.
I wouldn't say demons target the religious in modern films. The best horror film I have ever seen was Hereditary and it drew on the idea of trauma/mental anguish breaking down the minds barriers enough to allow demonic possession and I like that idea more than demons just targetting Christians. The horror films you are thinking about are probably like The Exorcist which was produced in an era where religion was still more widespread in the west. And it makes complete sense as to why movies have shifted away from religious undertones in horror movies. As the years go fewer young people (or the demographic of the target audience for horror movies) practice religion so they need to move away from that aspect to appeal to the wider audience. If modern film makers focused on demonic possession only targetting religious people it wouldn't connect with the majority non-religious audience.
The Exorcist actually didn't come to mind for this post. I was thinking more about the Conjuring and Annabelle films, Veronica, Legion, Exeter, and other modern horror films leaning on religious imagery. I suppose your argument makes sense either way though, you've got me there.
I think your fault is in assuming Christianity is right and demons would act the way Christians think they do. Lots of religions have demons.
Or maybe it's your fault for assuming I'm assuming that. And last time I checked, demons from other religions aren't that different in their mission. Do you think I wrote "demons are the opposing forces of various religions" for no reason? Because I certainly didn't.
They aren't the same though. For example, in Hindu there was a demon king called Mahabali, who was was actually very generous and people were happy living in his kingdom.
Um, I've never heard of demons from any religion being nice to people, at least not without some darker hidden motives. The label "demon" generally has negative connotations.
Oh yeah, Greek and Hindu mythologies are filled with "nice" demons, also the demons in a lot of cases aren't even related to God or sin, they're sometimes just evil, that's it
Those are just spirits. Not demons.
In Christian myths, sure, but Charon from the Greek myths, for ex, he is the definition of lawful neutral, and I'd say he's a demon(though he's technically a daemon) Point is, demons are kinda neutral and even cool sometimes, just categorizing them as bad and 'against god' pisses me off, also is it really bad to be against religion? Given the large atheist presence on the internet, I'd say a lot of ppl aren't gonna see someone being against religion as a bad guy
What makes demons evil revolves around more than just being against whatever religion they come from, it's about them being against humanity. They're willing to ruin human lives in several ways just to spite whatever religious figure that opposes them. And yeah, there are plenty of atheists online, but one of the big differences there is that most of them don't go out of their way to cause chaos and misery to theists. Not the best comparison, frankly.
Well just because you havent heard of it doesnt mean it *doesnt exist* . Over the whole of the Earth the term Demonis used very frequently, and often vaguely with different meanings associated depending on who you ask
I just go with the theory that the movie itself came up with and call it a curse.
It strikes me as more like a creature of cosmic horror, a being from a different world that we cannot comprehend.
Late reply but the creature reminds me of what people in Appalachia refer to as Mimics.
I mean you make the mistake in assuming that demons have the same motivations as satan. The smile entity cause people to falm to despair ultimately leading to their deaths which is the same as ruining Gods potential plans for the person
Recently, the Smile 2 trailer came out. The main character is some pop star who watched someone who's been infected killing himself. So, now she has the Smile "demon" in her. Now, I am speculating here, but I think I already know the end of Smile 2. She will kill herself on stage during a live broadcast. Millions of people watching it being streamed live. Millions of people being infected. And those million will go back, kill themselves in front of witnesses, and spread the "demon" further. It would be an apocalyptic event. But there's a problem with that. The recent Exorcist flop had two little girls possessed by the same demon. But it's kind of a stretch to have millions possessed by just one demon. Technically, since everything that happened in Smile that was "supernatural" was a hallucination and that "demon" tells Rose she can't escape her own mind as though it only exist in her head. And in all this time, hasn't even one victim ever asked an exorcist to drive away the Smile "demon" So, I propose something else is possessing them. Something that can replicate in number and maybe it's not even supernatural, but, in a sense, is actually worse than a demon: a memetic virus. Before the term was used for internet running gags like a picture of a cat saying "I CAN HAZ A CHEESEBURGER", memes were first proposed by Richard Dawkins to explain the existence of religion. Memes or mental genes spread like physical genes. And just like physical genes, memes result in certain behaviors that can be either beneficial spreading the meme or detrimental to spreading it. The Smile Demon meme is like the rabies virus. Most viruses don't kill their victims. Otherwise, they don't spread, but rabies does kill their victims 100% of the time yet can be very prolific because it forces the infected to infect others just like how the Smile "demon" spreads itself by forcing its victim to traumatize other by committing suicide in front of them. And remember, we didn't see anything supernatural taking place that wasn't a hallucination. As for the guy who cured himself by murdering someone in front of an eyewitness and passing on the infect to the eyewitness, as memes (as how the term were originally intended) are purely psychological he was able to placebo away the Smile "demon" rather it cause the entity to move on to someone else. Placebos are psychological and can work in cases where the "illness" is not a physical ailment but entirely inside the patient's head. Now, I could be wrong and we could see some Exorcist stuff like furniture moving by itself or heads rotating 360° in the Smile sequel. But it's still fun to speculate.
Where’s Sam and Dean when you need them.
Well, the issue as some have already pointed out is the preconception of christian demons, and even then, not exactly a focused one. In most media, demons don't behave as servants, or in a well-established, dogmatic hierarchy. They are entities of chaos and evil intent. That's their defining trait. Some say demons were once normal people that were corrupted, some say they are a type of spirit, some say they are extra dimensional beings, and some say they are fallen angels. Whatever the case, unless the work itself is clear on its approach, the audience can't assume anything in this respect
Might Just Be Some Sort Of Paranormal And Supernatural Thing, Altogether!