a pox!

Went to see Drag Me To Hell. I was pretty cautious about going to see it because I don't like scary movies, but friends insisted it would not be scary-scary, but ridiculous and over-the-top, a-la-Evil Dead. It IS ridiculous, and it was fun to see it in the theater with a few drinks under our belts. Also it's very amusing to order tickets: Drag me to hell, please!

Despite the fact that its just a silly movie with some over-the-top "horror" gags, it nevertheless put me in mind of some serious thoughts, surely out of the purview of the film-makers (or, perhaps, exactly what they intended, who knows?)

My first reaction was (the Special K classic) a feminist reading. A young woman, on enacting the first rotten deed of her life - turning down an old gypsy woman for a loan - in an effort to make herself more appealing for the assistant manager position at her bank - gets damned... TO HELL! See, she gets punished for defying the cultural norms for women by exhibiting behavior both ambitious and not generous and kind. In the course of being cursed (to hell) by the gypsy, like, a gazillion things get pushed and thrown up into her mouth. Well, believe me, I could go on and on. Insert your own interpretation of the repeated image of the tortured young woman with all sorts of things forced into her mouth...

Second reaction was well, if you'll permit me a foray into religious talk - the movie is silly and ridiculous, mainly because the threat (that she's being, literally, dragged to hell) is not, presumably, pernicious, being, presumably, a myth. I have only recently decided that I don't believe in hell, and, honestly, used to take the whole thing fairly seriously, so, for me, it was actually quite interesting to see the subject (eternal damnation) treated lightly. Un-believing in something, it turns out, is a long process. Another subject on which I could go on and on, but maybe best not on the ol' blog.