Hassan F.

Ghuloom BS Psychology Humanities

CORALINE

(Synopsis)

Coraline is girl who moves into a new apartment with her absent-minded mother and
father. Her parents are busy writing gardening books and do not have much time to talk
to or otherwise pay attention to Coraline, so she takes it upon herself to explore her new
surroundings. After checking out an abandoned well in the woods, and meeting and sort
of making friends with a pesky kid named Wybie, Coraline explores the rooms in her
new home and discovers a tiny locked door basically hidden from view. Coraline, being
an inquisitive child, goes through the doorway and follows a passage to a house that
looks strangely just like her own home. There is even a mom known as Other Mother
and a dad called Other Father inhabiting this Other World who is mirror images of her
own real parents but with one major difference: Other Mother and Other Father have
buttons for eyes. These big black orbs reveal nothing of what is going on within Other
Mother and Other Father's heads, but their words and actions indicate they love
Coraline. Other Mother and Other Father want Coraline to stay with them in their world
where they promise to lavish love and attention on her in ways her own parents have
been neglecting to do. At first Coraline's absolutely captivated by these strange people
with button eyes who feed her delicious full course meals and really listen to her,
something her parents haven't done in quite a while. But as she spends more time in
this Other World, Coraline sees the evil behind the button eyes and false smiles. Other
Mother informs Coraline that she may stay there forever; all she has to do is sew
buttons on her eyes to match those of her other family. Creeped out by the prospect,
Coraline tries to go back to her real home, but she is trapped. When Other Mother
shows her true self, Coraline fears that she may have lost her real family forever.
Coraline was then helped by a black cat and she saw three other kids spirits asking for
help. Those kids were trapped inside the magic world by the other mother. Then
Coraline battle with the other mother who’s true form is a spider. She then rescue her
parents and live a happy life with them and their neighbors.
 CRITIC

The heroine in the story, Coraline, just wants to be in a place where everybody knows her name, and
they're always glad she came. She finds just such a place in her "other world," but Coraline is smart
enough to know when something is entirely too good to be true. This captivatingly creepy tale set in a
magnificently whimsical, and at times terrifying, animated world tugs at the heart strings and draws
viewers in as Coraline tears herself away from the alluring facade of the "other world" and bravely fights
for her less than perfect reality. On its artistic merits, the movie is amazing, but is it good for kids?

The answer to that question partly depends on the kids. The film contains several scenes that would likely
be frightening, even terrifying, for young children. Surprisingly, the 3D effects do not add much to the
fright factor. Things don't jump off the screen as much as I expected, but many of the characters are
down right creepy, and Other Mother turns into Mommy Dearest from the crypt or something. The movie
also contains ghosts of children whose lives were eaten up by Other Mother. If your kids are at all prone
to nightmares, this movie will definitely give their imaginations some disturbing new material, and the
happy ending isn't bright enough to overcome all of the dark and scary imagery leading up to it.

In addition to numerous scary scenes, the film contains a shocking view of a ridiculously large breasted
old woman wearing nothing but jewels on her breasts and a very small jeweled bikini bottom. Now  that is
scary. Additionally, the phrase, "My God" is used pointedly by Coraline, and she also engages in name-
calling, using words such as "jerkwad," "wuss-puss," and "psycho nerd."

Coraline - Content Overview

The following lists a few of the most prominent examples of possibly offensive content in the movie
(may contain spoilers):

Violence (Medium) 
- Other Mother turns into a gaunt, scary woman and throws Coraline into a sort of cell where she cannot
escape. 
- Coraline throws a cat at Other Mother. The cat tears her button eyes off. Other Mother turns into a
spider-like monster and tries to attack Coraline. 
- Other Mother does not like Wybie's "long face." Later we see that she has sown a creepy smile on him.

Sex/Nudity (High) 
- We see an old woman with humongous breasts showing cleavage. Later, we see her nude except for
some jewels on her chest and a small bikini bottom. (After several minutes, we see that this was just a
costume as a woman unzips it and steps out of it.)
- One neighbor man wears a tank shirt that exposes his hairy belly and hairy shoulders. In one scene, he
falls off a balcony and lands with his crotch dangerously close to a sharp pair of clippers.

Language (Medium) 
- The phrase "My God" or variations is used several times. 
- Name calling words such as "jerk," "stupid," "stalker," and "wuss-puss" are used.

Alcohol/Drugs (Low) 
- A man is referred to as being drunk (we never see him drink).

Bad/Disrespectful Behavior (High) 
- Coraline often punches her friend Wybie while talking to him. 
- Coraline is happy when Other Mother "fixes" Wybie so he can't talk. 
- Coraline throws a cat at Other Mother. 

Scary Scenes (Extreme) 
- The scenes listed under violence may be particularly frightening for young children. 
- Other Mother turns from being overly affectionate to being creepy and mean. She tries to keep Coraline
trapped. We see the frightened ghosts of 3 children who warn Coraline that Other Mother sewed the eyes
on them and ate up their lives. 
- Several scary plants, fake humans controlled by Other Mother, and other creatures try to attack Coraline
and keep her from finding what she needs to escape.

Sad/Unsettling Scenes (Medium) 
- Coraline's parents ignore her and dismiss her as they try to work. She is very saddened by this. 
- In one part of the movie, Coraline fears that her parents are gone forever.

Coraline - Discuss the Movie

After watching Coraline, children may have questions about the following topics: ghosts, parents ignoring
their children, haunted houses, magic and magical items, water witches, pet animals being stuffed and
kept after they are dead. This move is positively, absolutely creepy and not what I'd call a PG movie by
any stretch of the imagination. The eeriness starts from the very beginning as some unseen figure
dismantles and disembowels a doll in the process of creating a new one. It then moves to sinister-looking
button-eyed parents, sewing buttons into childrens eyes, and an unnerving monster ""other"" mother who
tries to drag the heroine back into the mother's horrible world. I didn't mention the remains of the girl's
friend in the other world hanging from a flagpole. This is NOT a movie for children.