A brief introduction: Carl Marx (1818-1883) was the father of the communist party. Drop Dead Fred is a 1991 film about a woman whose mother wants to get rid of her imaginary friend. Marxist critical theory is a literary analysis which compares a text to the problems faced during industrialization.

In the story of Drop Dead Fred, the main character, Elizabeth, moves home after a particularly tough break up with her husband. As soon as she returns to her childhood home, her old imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred, reappears on the scene. Elizabeth is unable to hid or explain his existence to her mother, who, years before, banished Drop Dead Fred from their home and told Elizabeth that she would kill Fred if his name was ever mentioned again. As the story progresses the mother nearly succeeds in going through with her former threat, and almost kills Fred by feeding Elizabeth anti-psychotic drugs. Fortunately, Elizabeth naturally out-grows her need of Fred, and he is able to find a home with the daughter of Micky Bunce, a childhood friend of Elizabeth's.

Quite clearly, Drop Dead Fred himself is a symbolization of an age before industrialization. He is what occurred naturally, before the harsh realities of life were impressed upon Elizabeth. He is simple and only works for one person at a time, much like the cottage system that was prevalent before the advent of the factories that characterize the industrial age. Fred is not interested in satisfying the masses, he only exists to provide a mental shelter from an abusive parent for Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's mother, and the anti-psychotic drugs are symbolic of the age of industrialism. They seek to eradicate that which was the norm, and instead of concerning themselves with the individual, they try instead to do what is socially acceptable, and most palatable for the masses. Her mother, like capitalism, is more interested in keeping up appearances than looking out for what might be the right thing for Elizabeth.

Elizabeth represents the struggle of the working class. Torn between the old ways and the new, she is a victim of circumstance. She is forced to decide if she should stay loyal to Fred(the cottage system) who has been good to her, or if she should embrace adult realism (capitalism) . Throughout the film she struggles with which world view she needs to take in order to be a sane individual.

Micky Bunce, who supports Elizabeth during her inner turmoil, is an obvious representation of Friedrich Engels, one of Marx's friends and confidants. His ability to keep an open mind when dealing with Elizabeth's problems is obviously a testament to Engels' loyalty to Marx. Bunce is against any changes that will deeply affect Elizabeth's well-being, because he realizes that the supposed sanity of an imaginary friendless existence might not be as good a thing for the individual who looses the friend as it is for the general public who does not like to see people running around talking to people who do not exist. While Bunce doesn't do anything as radical as co-write the Communist Manifesto, he does accept Elizabeth as she is, crazy as a loon.

In the end, Elizabeth decides that she can exist without her imaginary friend, and while this is sad, one must remember that she gave up Fred out of her own free will, and was not forced into it by mom and the anti-psychotic drugs. Not all is lost, since Drop Dead Fred is not killed (as he would have been had Elizabeth taken the last pill as instructed) but moves on, and into the life of another child who needs him. This is a simple explanation for the advent of artesian outlets, in which hand-made crafts are available to those who are willing to the outrageous sums demanded for products that are not mass produced.