Graphic by Clara Li
Coraline, a 2009 stop-motion animated film directed by Henry Selick, based on Neil Gaiman's novel tells the story of a young girl who discovers a secret portal in the wall of her home and is transported to a magical duplicate of her new house. Originally a film intended for children, Coraline's thoughtfulness, imagination, and magic have drawn many adults' love and appreciation. Almost a decade later, fans are still obsessed. They're digging deep into the plot, trying to unravel every minute detail, attempting to understand the filmmaker's real message. As theorists and critics break down Coraline bit by bit, this film is revealed to be more complex and dark than it appears on the surface.
What was the meaning of Coraline, and why did this movie exist?
Though the message of Coraline can be interpreted in several ways, the most prevalent and compelling theme is how abuse and trauma shapes Coraline as she grows older. Coraline has never had a happy relationship with her parents. She recalls being sexually abused by her father at three and growing up emotionally neglected by a mother who ignored her needs. When Coraline discovers a portal that leads her into an alternate universe, her new, magical, loving parents attempt to alleviate her from her past traumas, as they laugh at her jokes and cook her dinner. However, for many, trauma becomes a catalyst for lucid dreams and illusions where people long to escape reality. With that in mind, the neglect and trauma Coraline endured as young girl could have resulted to her dreaming of the second world, instead of experiencing it as reality. It is interesting how the resemblance between this new world and a lucid dream becomes more evident once examined in hindsight.
Living in a dream.
What if this alternative universe was just a nightmare curated by her subconscious, and there was never a portal leading to a second world because it was her illusion? Caroline's behavior throughout the film is consistent with a psychotic-dissociative cluster, a mental disorder that involves experiencing a lack of continuity between memories, surroundings, and identity. People with dissociative disorders escape reality in involuntary and unhealthy ways, often living in illusions. So, Coraline could be mentally ill, and the alternative world is just an abused and neglected girl escaping to the world of her dreams. Several details in the story support this theory:
False awakening
Firstly, when Coraline goes to bed, she "wakes up" in the same room; essentially, she experiences a false awakening. A false awakening is when the sleeper thinks they have woken up. But really, it is merely an impeccably-detailed dream.
Lucid Nightmare
A Lucid nightmare involves scary and unpleasant content in which dreamers have no control over, thus, they simply witness the unfolding of the dream. As the film progresses, Coraline experiences the unsettling horror of the second world, for instance, her mother morphs into a half bedlam and cockroaches infest Coraline’s house. Akin to most lucid nightmares, Coraline has no control over her situation as she believes everything that happens is reality.
Dreams feel real when we have them, so what's to say that reality isn't just an illusion? Coraline highlights the differences perfectly: Reality is boring and repetitive. Coraline gets used to the repetition of her daily, lonely life and knows what to expect for tomorrow and the day after that. In the start of the film, she is shown as perpetually bored and dissatisfied, constantly wandering around her yard or playing with her dolls, looking for entertainment and excitement. Reality comes with consequences and is shared with everyone, whereas dreams are for the individual. This statement is illustrated in the movie as only Coraline has recollections of the second world, and no one else has a clue. Though it's argued since Coraline falls under the fantasy genre, miracles and magical worlds aren't abnormal. However, these supposed fantasies seem like Coraline's subconscious imagining an ideal world- forming this lucid dream that helps her escape reality, which is something common among victims of psychotic-dissociative disorder.
Credits:
Written by: Malia Ma
Edited by: Lucy Chen
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