Drag Me To Hell, An Addendum

I have mentioned in the previous post that the main character, Christine is from a Southern town and is trying to fit in the Californian lifestyle. From that perspective, it is possible to say she is an ‘other’ herself. Her boyfriend’s parents, particularly his mother, has a lot of prejudices against her, deeming her a farmer girl and judging her because of her background. Hence, Raimi brothers are trying to gain the audience’s sympathy for Christine by positing her as a likable, ordinary, unpretentious girl. The real ‘enemy’ here should be the ‘Western’, elite, capitalist class represented by the Bank manager, and to a certain extent by Clay’s parents, which forces Christine to conform to their values, and which pushes her to the frontline, by making her confront a poor – and easily dislikable – gypsy woman. Christine’s sin, then, becomes her ambition to fit in to this world of capitalistic order, leaving her ‘simple’ background behind. What is criticized in Drag Me To Hell, is ultimately the American dream of class mobility, and a greed for success that knows no limits.