Coraline

Is this my soul....oh gods

Now if you are anything like me, you aren’t easily impressed by children films. My generation is the last to grow up in the “Golden Age” of Disney, where there was actual originality in the kid’s movies, or at least the pretense of originality within it, not just an endless series of sequels reusing the same jokes in a desperate attempt to get cash., so we tend to be much more sympathetic to kids films, because we fondly remember the films of our youth rather than the current generation’s memories of money grubbing dribble. Ever the contrarian, I tend to be even harsher on kids shows then most people are, and so I tend to feel angry when watching them. I’m also not a fan of Tim Burton. He has made some really good stuff in the past, and he should be commended for it, but I don’t really go “Oh my god, its Tim Burton”, especially after his horrible Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/Michael Jackson rip off film. So it is with rather stunned pleasure I present to you my Coraline review, saying that not only is it “Not bad” its actually a legitimately “Good Movie”. I’m going to generally assume you know what is going on for this review.

Coraline is an animated film, but unlike most that we imagine, its going for a totally different imagery. The set feels very much like Wallace and Grommet Clay animation, except with a far more darker them to it. The landscape has this great surreal creepy feeling to it, giving the world a very nice sense of being haunted or spooky”. The people are rather out of proportion, but there movements are really well done, it makes them resemble dolls in motions while still looking human enough to be sympathetic. I actually like the main character’s blue hair, which is saying something because I tend to be against freaky colored hair in general, so this says a lot. The story does have this great doll theme going for it, as the scenes which involve people being created are really cool in design. The “Otherworld” deserves credit too through, both for its normal image, but also in how it falls apart until nonexistence and unreality.
The story is something you can pick up from the trailers, so I won’t bore you, but what shocked me was how adult the themes were. I mean, the story is basically talking about abuse, neglect, and the dangers of domination power relationships. Coralline’s parents are neglectful and have skewed priorities, with there daughter not being on the top of those. However the dynamic in the “Other world” touches upon a lot more darker themes, which can see in the trend of feminine imagery. Before going into that, I will like to say that I really like that the movie had a strong female protagonist. And not strong in the sense of “oh look at her, she has a spine, but needs a male character to help her” way that Disney likes to do (Damnit Snow White), but Coraline is always the most dominate character in most of the scenes, and feels actually legitimately strong willed. Going off that, the Beldam (a term I actually knew before watching this….which is crazy), is the main villain and ultimate controller of the “other world” (as opposed to the Other Father, who is little more than a puppet). So the movie is very much focus on a female perspective of things (wow that sounds patronizing doesn’t it?) which I think is really cool. The other mother, apart from being a giant spider monster, is dangerous in her relationship to Coraline, as she can be seen as a metaphor for both a kidnapper and as an abusive parent. The kidnapper angle can be see in her angle in getting Coraline’s love, and seems to be the more obvious metaphor, so I’ll get it out of the way quickly. She puts on a façade, appeal to a child’s need to be dotted upon, to draw her in, then destroys her after drawing her into her web. Yeah, that angle is a little obvious. But the abusive parent angle I think is interesting. The Beldam wants more than anything Coraline’s love, but not love in the conventional sense, but love only so far as to boast her own ego. She demands submission in return for favors and treats, and while she is generous with her gifts, its all part of a ploy to fulfill her own neediness. While she is kind and “loving” to get Coraline’s trust, she also demands a total submission from her child, and when Coraline tries to assert herself in any way, she begins to lose herself. The Beldam wishes to have a love more to the form of worship, and in doing so drains her victim’s personality, and eventually there lose, reducing them to ghosts of there former selves. This is think is a reference to abusive parent relationships, not in the traditional sense of the word (or how people traditionally imagine it) through domestic violence, neglect or fights, but more in how a domineering mother can really ruin a child’s life, just through dominating there child’s life. Coraline is neglected by her real parents, who mean well, but her imagination still exists. Her real mother has that mitten conformist scene, but eventually gives in and allows her have the mittens, while her “Other Mother” hopes to completely stifle her creativity. Also how many abusive parents simply want to be love, but don’t understand or don’t care about a child’s need to exist outside there parent and have there own personality. The spider’s web is a trap in how the Beldam is dominating every aspect of the child’s life, with her standing in the middle.
Abuse themes aside, there are a lot of sex and birth imagery going in there, particularly with the two actresses…..yeah if you’ve seen the movie I don’t need to explain that part. But there is a cool scene when she is trying to get the soul of the cocoon and the umbilical cord/womb imagery later in the movie. So watch out for those, you will have a blast (long passage, the well, the garden, what does it all mean). But honestly, it is a really dark, at least as far as kids films go, and I mean that in a good way, in the sense that it has obviously been deliberately thought out and planned to be disturbing, in a sense that who ever made it really put a lot of effort into it and really cared for it. In this current age of endless mediocrity, it is nice to see somebody who actually cares for his work. ( But in short, it was a really good movie, shockingly so considering what I expected, and I will really recommend it. If you aren’t a kid movie fan, then I recommend you watch it as an adult movie using childhood as a them. If you love kid movie, then it is as good as Wall-E, lets leave it at that.
from
EE