How Coraline Uses Parallelism to Explore Hidden Desires Within Dreams

In the final weeks of Spring Quarter, I have started to revise and finalize my research paper— tentatively titled Button Eyes and Freudian Ties: How Neglect and Consequential Desire Drives Escapism.

The focus of my research is on the film, Coraline, directed by Henry Selick and released in 2005. I have decided that I will be looking at this primary source and considering its deeper implications on topics such as: childhood, parental neglect, and understanding one's unconscious amongst others.

Essentially, I am looking to present my findings and interpretations of film details, in order to offer personal conclusions regarding the film and to create scholarly conversation. More will be elaborated upon as you scroll through this page on my digital archive, and just for fun, expect my own illustrations of scenes/details from Coraline accompanying this research presentation!

So What Happens in the Film?

(How Coraline roughly appears throughout the film)

An 11-year-old girl named Coraline Jones moves with her parents from Michigan to Oregon; their new home, the Pink Palace, is an apartment complex owned by Mrs. Lovat.

Though Coraline becomes acquainted with her neighbors and the landlady's grandson, Wyborne "Wybie" Lovat— she feels alone and unsatisfied by her new life. Her parents fail to pay much attention to her and struggle to satisfy her needs. As a result, she turns to the dreaming of a better life; she manifests the creation of her own fantasy world, referred to in the film as the "Other World."

The "Other World" appears to be based on reality: her home, neighbors, and parents are nearly identical to their real world counterparts. One major difference sets the two worlds apart— everything and everyone in the "Other World" is the better version of their real life equivalent.

Essentially, the film depicts the protagonist's internal and external conflict resulting from her contrasting experiences between the two worlds.

Important Details and their Significance

Function of the Parallel Settings

Reality

The Other World

As revealed in the illustrations above, Coraline's reality and the "Other World" at first glance appear to be replicas of one another. Upon closer inspection, few details between these two settings set them apart from one another. To highlight two details of setting in Selick's film:

The interior of the original Pink Palace is drab and worn-down; the furniture is old and appears cheap. Versus in the "Other World," the interior is more vibrant and well-kept; the furniture, such as the large wooden dining table, appears to be of good quality and expensive.
How time of day works in the real world differs from how it works in the "Other World." A day typically consists of daytime and nighttime; in the film we see Coraline experiencing both of these times in the real world when she explores the Pink Palace and when she goes to sleep. In the "Other World," we only ever see the time of day as night. Her Other Father confirms that time is somewhat at a standstill by describing a meal as "dinner-breakfast-food," since time is eternally night, there is no way of telling what meal they are going to be having.

Decor and time in both the settings play a huge role in establishing the idea that the "Other World" is but a dream. First, picking apart the idea that Coraline finds her real home to be less than ideal; in a thorough observation in her new home, she finds: leaky windows, a bathroom infested with bugs, and a old rusty water heater. Her disdain towards her living conditions affects the way the "Other World" is manifested; her unconscious desire for a better home reveals itself in her dream when she essentially creates an alternate version of the Pink Palace, but improved and finer furnished. As for time, the fact that the "Other World" is set in eternal night is likely to the allusion that this world is located in her dreams. Dreams primarily take place at night, and Coraline is only able to visit the "Other World" post-falling asleep.

Characters and their "Other World" Counterparts

There are many characters to be dissected in this film, all of them are very interesting with their own unique backstories and quirky personalities, but here I will do a deeper dive on one of the characters.

Coraline first meets Wybie in the beginning of the film, when she is looking for an old well with a "magic dousing rod."

Wybie swoops in on his motorbike and scares Coraline off her feet. Proceeds to ask her questions pertaining to who is she and what is she doing. It takes him a while to finally reveal to her where the old well was... right beneath her, and that her dousing rod was poison oak.

He could have told her about the poison oak in the beginning of their interaction, to either (1) prevent prolonged exposure to the poison oak branch and lessen her chances of developing a rash, or (2) to let her know sooner that her hands will need to be treated for a rash. Wybie's priorities were clearly not her wellbeing, but his own curiousity, since their first interaction consisted mostly of him interrogating her. From that point onward, she finds Wybie annoying and is generally not very fond of his character.

This was a lot of preface, but necessary to set up a comparison of two characters...

Wyborne "Wybie" Lovat

A strange and eccentric character; wears a black trenchcoat and creepy mask whilst riding a motorbike.
Has a hunchback and unconventional body language.
"Stalks" Coraline on multiple occasions throughout the film.
In Coraline's words, "talks too much."

The Other Wybie

Unassuming character aside from the button eyes, a common characteristic of all characters from the "Other World."
He walks with good posture and has clear body language; communicates with his body because he is mute.
Accompanies Coraline to the different spectacles of the "Other World."
Is unable to speak.

Hopefully the comparison made it apparent that the Other Wybie is just a better version of the real Wybie. Again, an aspect of Coraline's reality is improved upon in her dreams— revealing once more that her unconscious desires are manifesting in her dreams. Though she never explicitly asks for a Wybie that cannot talk, her unspoken desire for acquaintanceship or friendship reveals itself, and the Other Wybie is born into this dream reality.

This is just one example of parallelism between characters in the film Coraline. To quickly show off more examples, below is a chart illustrated and organized by myself, provided mostly for knowledge and partially for entertainment purposes...

Sparking Scholarly Conversation

Given enough context, it's time to introduce a scholarly conversation. As briefly mentioned and hinted at before, a large aspect of my research project discusses the topic of dreams and specifically, how unconscious desires are often reflected in people's dreams.

The scholarly conversation that typically surrounds this topic is whether dream analysis is reliable or not. Why do humans dream about specific things? Are dreams really capable of reflecting/revealing our unconscious desires? Are theories about the unconscious reliable and can they really be used to explain human behavior?

In addition to scholarly conversations about the relationship between dreams and unconscious desire, the context of my primary source and analysis methods also introduces topics such as childhood and how people interpret the concept of "escapism."

Essentially, I would like to engage in scholarly conversation regarding the topic of escapism; if indulged in moderation, it is a valuable asset to those that utilize it. However, if escapism is abused and one becomes addicted to certain behaviors associated with it, it could be detrimental. In my research and engagement in this particular scholarly conversation, I reference the article "To Get High or to Get Out? Examining the Link between Addictive Behaviors and Escapism" written by Hannu Jouhki and Atte Oksanen; it has been proven in their study that that escapism has the potential to amplify addictive behaviors— this supports my claim that escapism is linked to addictive behaviors, and that this could be dangerous if the behavior was harmful.

Analytical Methods & Tentative Thesis

Tentative Thesis:

The film Coraline portrays a young girl's experiences of parental neglect and how she seeks relief from reality by dreaming. People engage in escapism because they are unhappy; although popular culture glamorizes escapism, it is important to recognize not only its value, but also its potential damage.

The methods of analysis I chose to employ whilst working on my research include:

Considering the Social Sciences

Psychological analysis of protagonist and character interactions; sociological analysis of possible audience perception.

Film Analysis

Close review of specific film details and elements (dialogue, mise en scène, and others).

Humanistic Close Reading

Attentive and interpretive "reading" or viewing of Coraline's plot. What questions can be asked about the film (e.g. is the "Other World" real or fictitious?) and what stands out?

What's So Interesting?

I have always loved the film Coraline and have consistently watched it throughout my life; with every watch I feel that I am able to view the film in a different light.

At the ripe age of 6, I watched this movie and developed a fear of small doors. As I rewatch the film now, as a barely qualifying adult, I can really appreciate Coraline for its plot and how open it is to interpretation.

I think my approach for this research paper is interesting because it answers a question most people have after watching the film— is the "Other World" real or a dream? Also, because it is inevitable that when discussing the contents of dreams, one must at least consider the topic of the unconscious. The idea that our dreams are capable of reflecting something that we unconsciously want is popularly debated.

Truth be told, I am just very passionate about all aspects of my research; it fits in really well with the this years theme for Humanities Core... worldbuilding! In the film, the protagonist engages in worldbuilding when she dreams and manifests the "Other World."

There is a lot to be unpacked from this film alone, let alone the scholarly surrounding my research. I just felt that my research is well suited for my personal passions and interests, but it also greatly pertains to the theme of worldbuilding, which I have learned much about throughout my year in Humanities Core.

A Personal Message

As I close off this entry, I would like to share one last thing— what inspired me to choose Coraline as my primary source in my research, and simultaneously, my favorite scenes from the film.

I remember sitting in my dorm and stumbling across one of these clips, remembering that it had been a while since I have watched the film, I clicked on play; I recall this was in the beginning of Spring Quarter, when I began to think about potential primary sources. Such a simple scene, yet it has been "memed" many times on the internet— Coraline's dad staring at his computer screen looking lethargic and sleep-deprived. Honestly, watching the clip reminded me of my own state at the time: tired and a little dejected.

But aha! I kinda knew from that point onward that I had to choose Coraline as the subject of my research; I am incredibly familiar with the film and could never grow bored of it, a good thing because I knew I would have to work with it for weeks consecutively. So, special shout out to Coraline's dad for playing a role in my primary source selection! Here is a compilation of his scenes from the film (P.S. if it was not obvious enough, he's my favorite character from the film).

References

Selick, Henry. Coraline. Focus Features, 2009.

Jouhki, Hannu, and Atte Oksanen. “To Get High or to Get Out? Examining the Link between

Addictive Behaviors and Escapism.” Subst Use Misuse, vol. 57, no. 2, 2022, pp. 202–211,

https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2021.2002897. Accessed 31 May 2024.

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