The Marked Ones, which is the latest instalment in the long-running franchise Paranormal Activity, is about a group of Latino youth whose investigation into cult activity in their housing complex leads to revelations about witch covens and demonic possession, culminating in a battle for their souls.
In Supernatural, brothers Sam and Dean Winchester (played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) fight against all manner of supernatural beings in an apocalyptic story involving demons, angels and a battle for Heaven. But do these supernatural tales hold truth in the real world?
“They exist. They’re active. They have no power. (But) they have influence,” said Fr. Peter B. Coughlin, pastor of St. Andrew Roman Catholic Church in Hamilton, Ont.
In The Marked Ones, the demon takes possession of its victims and gives them a small measure of power.
“You still have free will… the most common entry points for demons are fear and trauma, and if I can give you an image, consider yourself as a walled city, with towers and turrets,” said Coughlin. “You have defenses… for the enemy, you can throw down the drawbridge and say ‘come on in,’ that’s direct sin.” He says “the enemy can sneak in and stay quiet ’till they can bring others in… when they become strong enough, there can be an eruption.”
In The Marked Ones, when the protagonist, Jesse, searches for the truth of what happened in the room where a witch lived, he begins to develop strange abilities, including being able to commune with a demon. Jesse’s mother is said to have died some years prior, after having been involved with a group of witches, who had “marked” him for possession.
It is worth noting Jesse chooses to keep exploiting and abusing his newly gained powers. He becomes incredibly selfish and petty, becoming very possessive himself, much like the demon infesting him. This is, surprisingly, a very Catholic point of view. It was through a desire for power over people that Lucifer fell, and it is Jesse’s meddling with the demon’s powers and his consultation with it that make it easier to take hold of him. His grandmother, a devout Catholic, does her best to prevent him from communicating with the demon. The character is a bit out of touch with modern times, but her faith is portrayed as a positive force.
But the portrayal of demons is uneven in the film.
As Coughlin states, demons are not able to simply “take over” a person and cultists are not able to “mark” people in this way.
“Can Christians be possessed by demons? Yes,” he said. “You can be on the straight and narrow, but a part of your life can be under demonic control. You have given control over to the enemy. It is not being taken over by a demonic cult… they can only influence you and trap you. They can’t just take over. The enemy can harass a person by fear… the fear can be an open door for the enemy to come in.”
While a demon cannot directly possess someone, the film is otherwise accurate in terms of what can invite a demon in. Coughlin says cult practices can open a door for “the enemy” to come in. “Once you’ve given him space, he can come in, he’s got control,” he said.
Michael Johnson, director of RCIA at St. Andrew, translates the public’s fascination with demons as people’s desire to relieve themselves of accountability.
“We like the idea of things being purely evil or purely good external from us. We don’t like to think we could be good or evil,” he said. “We like the idea that something can take control of us so we aren’t responsible.”
As for angels, they are recurring characters on Supernatural. The series’ portrayal of angels is inconsistent at best — granted, a great deal of artistic license is taken, as evidenced by the mixing of religious traditions in the writing, in addition to the show’s fictional licence. Some are presented as heroes, like the angel Castiel (a name not present in Scripture), who later takes on human form. Others are presented as both harsh and judgmental of humanity, such as Gabriel, who seems to fulfill his biblical role as messenger of God very seldom, or outright malevolent, such as Metatron and Gadreel. Those last two angels are not mentioned by name in the Catholic tradition — they are Judaic or Islamic in origin. Gadreel’s role in the show is gatekeeper of Paradise, and he seeks to avenge his loss of respect following the incident with the serpent in the garden of Eden. Angels taking on human form is common in the show, what with Samandriel (an angel named only in Manichean heretical teaching) in a previous season.
“An angel is a pure spirit. I would say with free will, intelligence, but mostly they are messengers of God. Now, they may have different roles and functions, for instance, the guardian angels watch over and protect,” said Coughlin.
Among the archangels, Raphael is a healing angel, Michael is the warrior angel who cast Satan and his minions out of heaven, and Gabriel is the messenger who appeared to Mary at the Annunciation.
“Angel means ‘messenger of God.’ They are a separate creation of God prior to the creation of the human race,” Coughlin said.
In the end, while there may be a dearth of good representation of the Catholic faith and angels and demons in the mass media, it is possible that with public interest in future there may be a series that is more scriptually accurate.
Biblical information on angels and demons is available online from The Catholic Encyclopedia, as well as in the following Bible passages: Tobit 11:15, Luke 1:26-39, Luke 8:30, Luke 10:17, 2 Peter 1:19 and the book of Revelation.
(Johnson, 21, is a third-year concurrent education student at Glendon College, York University.)