Was Drag Me to Hell About An Eating Disorder?
By
PsychReel
In this blog, we will cover the movie Drag me to hell, discuss the representation of eating disorders in it, emphasize the eating disorder storyline of the movie, discuss Christine and all about her eating disorder, and also answer frequently asked questions.
Was Drag Me to Hell About An Eating Disorder?
Yes, Drag Me to Hell is a movie that depicts a story of a young girl who has an eating disorder known as bulimia and this is depicted in the movie through the use of supernatural and horror-related elements.
The movie shows how an eating disorder can become a curse in one’s life and even lead to the death of a person if left untreated.
Let us explore that in the further sections.
Drag Me to Hell: A movie on Eating Disorder
Drag me to hell is a 2009 horror film directed by Sam Raimi. When loan officer Christine Brown declines an elderly lady’s request for a loan extension, she is cursed by Lamia. Christine’s life is turned into a living nightmare after she gets cursed.
Some viewers have suggested that Drag Me To Hell is not a horror film, but rather a story of a farm girl with an eating issue who starves herself to fit a certain image and then starts hallucinating and becoming insane. With a few exceptions, it appears that you can watch the entire movie from this perspective and understand everything.
What are eating disorders?
Eating disorders refer to a group of psychological conditions that have an impact on the way one views their body, perceives their health, and is preoccupied with food, weight, and body shape.
Signs of an eating disorder
- Making excuses for skipping meals or not eating
- Adopting an excessively limited vegetarian diet
- There is an overabundance of focus on healthy eating.
- Obesity-related anxiety or moaning
- It’s common to hear people talk about losing weight on a regular basis.
- Regularly inspecting yourself in the mirror for perceived flaws
- Regular use of large amounts of sweets or high-fat foods
- Using nutritional supplements, laxatives, or herbal products to lose weight
- Excessive exercise
- Calluses on the knuckles caused by vomiting
- Tooth enamel loss, which could indicate a pattern of regular vomiting
- Leaving the table to use the restroom
- Consuming substantially more food in a meal or snack than is considered reasonable
If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.
Story of a girl who struggles with her weight
Several times throughout Drag Me to Hell, the spectator is told that the protagonist, Christine, used to be overweight. She stares wistfully through a window at baked goods at first, and a woman later remarks that Christine used to be a huge chubby girl.
Christine’s self-esteem concerns are at the focus of the film, especially in the first act. We, the audience, assume that the filmmaker’s references to her previous weight problem are an attempt by the filmmaker to explain her timid insecurity, given she is plainly a thin and attractive girl during the events of the film.
In reality, there are numerously hidden (and not-so-hidden) visual indicators that Christine suffers from an eating problem and obsesses over food on a regular basis.
Christine and her family history of eating-related issues
Christine Brown, played by Allison Lohman, acknowledges that her mother had an addiction, and we see an overweight photo of Christine as a child in front of a sign that reads “PORK QUEEN” at one point in the film.
She doesn’t want to develop a food addiction. She has no desire to follow in her mother’s footsteps. She is listening to a recording to correct her southern accent at the start of the film. She has no desire to be a country girl. She has a terrific partner and is working her way up the corporate ladder at a bank.
Why does Christine avoid food in the movie?
She avoids eating because she is frightened of becoming obese and disgusting. According to the belief, she’s merely dreaming everything and there isn’t a terrifying creature from hell. Because she’s hungry, she imagines the old woman’s scary fingers tapping on the desk when it’s actually the other banker.
She passes out in her automobile early in the movie and crashes into a slew of other cars in the parking lot. The bank employee never followed her; she made everything up.
Christine has clearly progressed from her shameful past, yet she is still not good enough in the perspective of those around her. Her supervisor and coworkers are slamming her for a promotion, and her boyfriend’s mother wishes he was seeing someone else, trying to set him up with other dates right in front of Christine.
Christine and her perfectionism: Recipe for an eating disorder
Her misery is therefore poured into becoming the perfect woman, one who can check all the boxes that she now feels she is missing, and she attempts this impossible endeavor through bulimia.
The only aspect of her life over which she has complete control is her food, which she then takes to terrifying extremes in the search for happiness and success.
The movie also uses symbolism. For example, Mrs. Ganush’s visit can be interpreted as a foreshadowing of Christine’s future self if she does not cease causing injury to her body.
Ganush is the accumulation of bulimia symptoms, with broken, yellowed nails, damaged skin, and stringy hair, and a vision of what Christine will become – hence her attempts to deny the old woman and push her out of her presence and mind: she ignores her symptoms because ‘just a little longer can earn her a promotion.
Curse on Christine
The Lamia’s curse on Christine (who bears the same name as a woman cursed to unhappiness and dining on flesh in Greek mythology) is a physical manifestation of her inner demons: it is aware of her disorder, which she desperately tries to conceal.
It fights her in the kitchen, turning her culinary tools against her, appearing silhouetted with pig hooves, and throwing up her own cat in defiance of the ‘meal’ it is fed.
Of course, vomit is an important part of this idea, as Raimi repeatedly shows instances of oral fixation.
Christine is continually fighting objects that are trying to push their way down her throat, including Ganush’s own regurgitated embalming fluid and used handkerchief, which represents her connection with food.
The presence of blood in these sequences increases as the film goes, demonstrating the severity of the internal damage inflicted on Christine.
When she actually tries to eat cake at her boyfriend’s house, a judging eye emerges in the desert, following her every move. She struggles to swallow, instead of choking on the dessert in an unpleasant demonstration of her own rejection of eating, after forcing herself to eat it despite her loathing.
She eventually coughs up a fly, which might signify the degradation of her body or even her disgust at herself for actually swallowing the stuff after having previously rejected it so strenuously.
When she eats or doesn’t eat, the aggravation of her inner conflict between keeping herself alive and achieving the flawless image of perfection is always in flux.
Eating disorder depicted in form of a ghost: Drag Me to Hell
Food plays a significant role in the majority of hallucinations. Christine is attacked by the spirit whenever food is presented on TV.
She is always in the kitchen when the ghost visits her home. She sees the spirit as a shadow of Pig hooves when she locks the ghost outside of her room.
According to certain studies, purging or not eating creates a nosebleed, which “her sick mind sees as large, as she links it to the curse, although deep within she’s ashamed and terrified they’ll find out about her eating disorder.” She has dreams that she is being vomited on, yet it is she who is throwing up in her bathroom.
Conclusion
Christine’s sole chance to save her soul from the Lamia is to force the cursed button-down Mrs. Ganush’s throat, which she fails to do. Her eating disorder is a curse, and she tries to fix it by repeating the precise behaviors she needs to avoid, and as a result, she is cursed for the rest of her life.
Christine’s final image depicts her deteriorating into a skeleton as she fights death. It’s the only outcome her actions could have ever achieved in this sped-up and dramatized version of events.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): Was Drag Me to Hell About An Eating Disorder?
What are eating disorders?
Eating disorders are significant illnesses caused by uncontrollable eating habits that have a negative influence on your health, emotions, and capacity to perform in crucial areas of life. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder are the three most common eating disorders.
The majority of eating disorders entail obsessing over your weight, body form, and food, which can lead to unhealthy eating habits. These habits can have a big impact on your body’s ability to get enough nutrition. Eating disorders can injure the heart, digestive system, bones, teeth, and mouth, as well as cause other health problems.
Eating disorders are most common in teenagers and young adults, but they can occur at any age. With treatment, you can revert to healthier eating habits and, in some cases, reverse major food-related issues.
What are the types of eating disorders?
Anorexia nervosa is a potentially life-threatening eating disorder marked by abnormally low body weight, an acute dread of gaining weight, and a skewed sense of weight and shape. Anorexics go to great lengths to maintain their weight and shape, which can have a substantial impact on their health and daily activities.
Bulimia nervosa nervosa, also known as bulimia, is a serious, sometimes fatal eating disorder. Bulimia is characterized by episodes of binging and purging in which you sense a loss of control over your food. Bulimia patients generally restrict their food during the day, which leads to increased binge eating and purging.
How to diagnose eating disorders?
Signs, symptoms, and eating behaviors are used to identify eating disorders. If your doctor suspects you have an eating disorder, he or she will most likely conduct an examination and order tests to aid in the diagnosis. For a diagnosis, you may need to see both your primary care physician and a mental health expert.
Typical assessments and testing include:
- Examination of the body. Your doctor will most likely examine you to rule out any other medical disorders that may be causing your eating problems. He or she has the option of ordering lab tests as well.
- Psychological assessment. Your ideas, feelings, and eating habits will almost certainly be questioned by a doctor or mental health expert. You can be requested to fill out psychological self-assessment questionnaires as well.
How to treat eating disorders?
The treatment of an eating issue is usually done in a group setting. Primary care providers, mental health specialists, and nutritionists are usually on the team, all of whom have experience with eating problems.
Treatment is determined by the type of eating disorder you have. However, nutrition education, psychotherapy, and medicine are usually included. If your life is in danger, you may need to be admitted to the hospital right away.
How to cope with eating disorders?
Make these measures a part of your daily routine to increase your chances of success in resolving your eating disorder:
- Stick to your treatment plan – don’t miss therapy appointments and attempt to stay on track with your eating plan. Follow your doctor’s advice for exercise and physical activity.
- Consult your doctor about vitamin and mineral supplements that are right for you. If you don’t eat healthily, your body is unlikely to obtain all of the nutrients it needs, such as vitamin D or iron. However, it is generally suggested that you acquire the majority of your vitamins and minerals from diet.
- Refrain from weighing yourself or checking yourself in the mirror on a regular basis. This could simply fuel your desire to continue with your bad habits.
- Avoid isolating yourself from supportive relatives and friends.
What are the signs to look out for an eating disorder?
- Preoccupation with food, weight, and body shape
- Avoiding eating/ restrictive eating/ eating too much
- Indulging in compensatory actions to balance the eating like vomiting, laxatives, excessive exercise, etc.
References