Orientalism in Drag me to Hell

Drag Me to Hell is a 2009 American horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi. It stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long and Lorna Raver. By put my opinion first, I like this movie because during I watched it, I was getting involved on it from started to end, and I was scare, screaming, and fear become one. I think the director has successfully made all the features perfect, fully satisfied me as audience, I really enjoyed it. In my opinion, this movie has proved that western people broke the concept of rational in believing superstitious; some issues in this movie are used to make this point as I am going to elaborate below.


To start the idea, I begin to introduce first issue that is a thing which believed as “holly thing”. it can be seen in the first scenes, The settings of place take In Pasadena, California in 1969, a young Mexican couple rushes to the home of medium Shaun San Dena. Their son had stolen jewelry from a group of gypsies and since then, has been complaining of seeing and hearing things not of this earth. San Dena tries to help the boy in a seance, but she and the boy's parents can only watch in horror as the boy is thrown from the balcony by an unseen force before being pulled into Hell by demonic hands. From this part, it proves that the gypsies which initially the word was used to referred to the Romani people, who first appeared in England at about the beginning of the 16th, and here they beliefs the irrational as use their jewelry as something “holy thing”, to be compared in Indonesian people who dominantly by people who beliefs in “holy things” such keris, Batu ali, etc. which believed those are giving magical power to the owner. From this, I pull a line that western (gypsies) basically have same perception with eastern (Indonesian) beliefs in irrational thing.

Then, three is the issue of cursed which experienced by Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), she is a loan officer in Los Angeles. One day, Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), an elderly gypsy woman, asks for a third extension on her mortgage because she is struggling with economic problems due to an illness. To prove herself to Mr. Jacks, Christine, against her better judgment, denies Mrs. Ganush the extension. In desperation, Mrs. Ganush prostrates herself before Christine, begging and kissing the hem of her skirt. Christine panics and shoves the woman away, shaming her in public, as security guards escort Mrs. Ganush out. That night Christine is attacked in her car by Mrs. Ganush. After a violent struggle, Mrs. Ganush removes a button from Christine's jacket and uses it to place a curse on her. Mrs. Ganush disappears, leaving the cursed button with Christine. Because Christine disappoints Mrs. Ganush (gypsy), she got cursed along her life.

Thirdly, they believe in paranormal. Christine's boyfriend, college professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long), takes her to a coffee shop to comfort her. On the way home, they pass a fortune teller's store, and Christine insists they go in. There, they meet the fortune teller Rham Jas (Dileep Rao), who tells Christine that she has a dark spirit upon her. Christine consults Rham Jas again, who tells her that the spirit haunting her is actually a demon called the Lamia, and that she is to be tormented by it for three days before being dragged to Hell to burn for eternity. Horrified by this revelation, Christine sacrifices her pet kitten in hopes that it will satisfy the Lamia. In this part we can see that they try to solve the problem by meeting the fortune teller and doing his suggestion.

Throughout the movie, I can conclude that the concept of orientalism which is said western beliefs about philosophy that they are rational and the eastern are irrational is not fully can be accepted. For some cases, the western is in one line with the eastern, they beliefs in irrational thing such as superstitious.


Sinta Dien Wulandari-0608222