Femininity in Coraline

For those of you who have not yet seen the movie Coraline, (based on the book by Neil Gaiman) I do not want to ruin it for you. So I will do my best not to, but for extra measures, maybe you shouldn’t read this post.

Alright, so the movie briefly summed up tells the story of a young girl named Coraline who lives a less then perfect life, whose parents tend to spend most of the time yelling at her, ignoring her, or finding her to be annoying (they must’ve forgotten why they had a kid). Coraline has the most difficulty with her mother, who is all work and no play, and is constantly typing away on her computer instead of doing “Motherly” things. What I want to look at is the different portrayals of femininity in the movie. Our three main examples are Coraline, her mother, and the “Other Mother”.

Coraline herself is a rough and tough little girl who likes playing in the mud and the rain, having adventures, gardening, and exploring. You’ll never see this character in anything other than pants and a shirt, and the occasional rain coat. Although she does not hold herself up to gender role expectations, she does of her mother.

Coraline’s Mother is first portrayed wearing a neck brace because of some unknown accident. She sits behind the computer all day doing her work (which is writing a gardening catalogue) and rarely ever cooks dinner or plays with Coraline. Coraline views her mother as a nagging mother who does not want her to play in the mud, or have any fun at all.

The “Other Mother” is everything Coraline dreams. She’s caring, attentive, and spoils Coraline. She’s rarely seen outside of the kitchen and she’s always either cooking or baking or making something for Coraline. She wears adorable outfits that show off her curves (almost always skirts), she’s well groomed as far as a stylish haircut and makeup goes. (MOVIE SPOILER: she turns into a hideous monster later on)

First I think it’s pretty funny that Coraline, a girl who could be considered a Tomboy, expects her mother to always be able to do the cooking or the gardening. But Coraline herself is actually a good example young a girl. Young girls should know that dresses and skirts and pretty hair and staying clean aren’t always the most fun, and that it’s ok to get dirty, and ok to be a little bit of a tomboy. And you’ve got to think, What with the Director of the movie being Tim Burton and he’s just OH SO GOOD at only doing movies with positive messages for the audience about being a better person (IE Edward Scissorhands: be kind to those who are different / Nightmare before Christmas: don’t try an be something you aren’t etc) That maybe the message behind the (MOVIE SPOILER) perfect “other Mother” who wonderfully matched up to society’s definition of the “Mom” role suddenly becoming a demonic soul sucking beast might just be that not everything society defines as “right“, is necessarily “good.”

{PS: I totally recomend seeing the movie in 3D}