ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how it was the intense media attention following the film's release that created a number of problems for Linda Blair. It explores how her roles changed, but the theme of healing dominates her career and life. Her so-called 'abnormal' childhood that involved being hounded by the media and fans alike can be viewed as relatively normal for a celebrity who has appeared in a major box-office success. Linda Blair was forever labelled as primarily a horror star, despite important forays outside the genre, as we shall see. There is also, embedded in Blair's career trajectory, the notion that through certain narratives of trauma, whether in fiction or in real life, healing can occur, redemption narratives being key to celebrity culture in general. The chapter focuses on this aspect of childhood and celebrity, through an examination of the extent to which her work in The Exorcist and subsequent child-star status framed her career.
