The Return of the Accidental Exorcist

Editor’s Note: Readers of Dark Matter may recall my friend and mentor J. Todd Greene. The above image is an essential work of his, assembled and exhibited years ago, called “The Accidental Exorcist.” Do you see what I see? We all have our own ways of seeing. Todd’s is one of the great gifts of my life. The Accidental Exorcist recently came to mind as I read Carl Jung’s description of Adolf Hitler (who he’d observed in person): “He is like a man who listens intently to a stream of suggestions in a whispered voice from a mysterious source and then acts upon them….Hitler listens and obeys. The true leader is always led…[He] made upon me the impression of a sort of scaffolding of wood covered with cloth, an automaton with a mask, like a robot or a mask of a robot. During the whole performance he never laughed…His expression was that of an inhumanly single-minded purposiveness, with no sense of humor. He seemed as if he might be a double of a real person, and that Hitler the man might perhaps be hiding inside like an appendix, and deliberately so hiding in order not to disturb the mechanism….With Hitler you do not feel that you are with a man…You know you would never be able to talk to that man; because there is nobody there.” I think Jung’s account pairs helpfully with what Todd had to say a couple of days ago in a series of texts I share them with his permission.

I really think The Babadook is a great metaphor for what is happening. A manifesting of our deepest fears and darkness that we must learn to live with. I think Jung would be sad like we are, but also: this is the way of wholeness. Of course, I don’t want to be enslaved or incarcerated for my thoughts, but we need a face for our collective misdeeds. And here he is.

The Return of the Accidental Exorcist

And: keep the kids away from Uncle Touchy

Sorry for talking so much. I’ll be quiet for a while.

Editor’s Note: Art is analysis. Todd’s is pure gold. That’s Todd and me in the image above. I thank Jessica Eichman for taking the picture.