Laughing Screaming is a collection of essays and studies of individual movies that examines the relationship between a public wanting to laugh and scream at the same scenes in movies. Particularly relevant in The Exorcist, William Paul dissects specific scenes and responses such as the vomiting scene. He takes a rather Freudian approach and expresses that the “gross-out”, as he terms it, is in fact a mechanism of regression for the viewers.

Paul believes that violence is acceptable when it adds meaning to the film and viewers allow themselves to believe that the revulsion has purpose. The difference in gross-out aesthetics is that it works against meaning in favor of spectacle. Having established gross-out as a means for expression in film, The Exorcist contains scenes in which the vulgarity can be almost viewed as slapstick comedy, according to Paul. However, they merit some legitimacy in the fact that they are tied to religion.

In the vomiting scene, the projectile both attracts viewers to watch it and repels. However, the context of the action causes viewers to identify with Regan and her hardships, where Paul argues that people regress in the film. This process then allows for the gross-out scenes to be an acceptable, and even important, part of the film. Paul’s detailed assessment of the factor that drew people to the film is a unique perspective to understanding The Exorcist, using both psychology and aesthetics.