Coraline: The Film That Taught Me Love

To everyone who knows me, this article likely comes as no surprise; we all knew a Coraline piece would surface sooner or later. Still, perhaps you’ll learn something new about me—something deeper. I’m drawn to vulnerability. The way one describes what it feels like to drink the first sip of a chai on a crisp autumn morning or how as a child they moved the pedals on their bike as fast as they could, wind kissing their face, the moments preceding rainfall. I yearn to explain the unexplainable, to discover the depths of love. I truly believe that love is the force that unites us all, even in subtlety. In the beginning, Coraline taught me about love, now I have the opportunity to share that teaching with you.

It is officially spooky season and Halloween is my favourite holiday! Coraline is by far the movie to watch this Halloween, but honestly, to watch year round. For my 20th birthday this July, my best friend made me an abstract painting of Coraline crawling through the other door: I am forever obsessed.  

In grade 9, I made it a daily ritual: the moment I got home from school, my grandma would lovingly prepare a bowl of cereal for me, and I’d turn on Coraline. Not to mention, I’ve been watching this movie since its release and have memorized every line. I’m waiting for the day a producer bursts into the room, desperately searching for someone to perform a one-person act of Coraline, and I can casually say, “If you really need it, I could do it,” in the most nonchalant voice… because, well, I’m cool like that. But for now, let’s talk about love.

In this story, we have two prominent loves: Coraline & Wybie and Coraline & Family. Hot take: the Coraline & Wybie costume is overdone. We need to dress up as Bobinski or Ms Spink & Forcible. Coraline and Wybie welcome the audience with a friendship that’s wholesome and genuine—annoying, messy, a little wild, yet filled with understanding, resolution, and growth. Additionally, Coraline depicts love for family through her fight to retrieve her parents from the other world. However, I believe there is more to it than you could ever imagine.

Coraline is an 11 year old girl from Oregon and oh my god, did I think she was the coolest kid growing up. She has a wild imagination, embarking on adventures while her parents type away on their robots with minds. Coraline illustrates wisdom and strength along with the beauty that lies within being a child. Beyond this, she loves the ghost children she frees, good food, and tiny creatures like cats and mice. But there’s more! The upstairs neighbour, Mr. Bobinski, owns a jumping mice circus, and man, does he love beets. He loves the circus, his mice, and his conversations with his new neighbour, Coraline. He even loves her enough to warn her about looming danger. Now, what is love then? If Bobinski telling Coraline that she is in danger is love and not just, ya know, common decency, then what is love?

Can love be that simple?

Can’t love be that simple?

Love exists within a smile you share with the person walking by you on the sidewalk. It is a warmth, empathy, and care for the well-being of others. Love is a force that transcends boundaries–a source of all creation, a healing energy, a helping hand. And surely Coraline’s love for her parents, for Wybie, for imagination and play, Bobinski’s love for mice and beets, the cat’s affection for both Wybie and Coraline, and Miss Spink and Forcible’s passion for theatre all exemplify the shared experience of love. Love is a powerful force—one to be reckoned with—and Coraline demonstrates that in her fight to rescue the ghost children and her parents from the Other Mother. However, as the story shows, even such a force can be twisted and used for evil. 

The Other Mother (The Beldam) lures Coraline into her grasp through a doll, a door, and a dimension that intends to provide her wildest dreams. The Beldam showed me how love can transform into greed, manipulate, betray, blindside you, and make you question what you once wished for. I recognize these dynamics often play out in parent-child relationships and romantic partnerships. This idea that through a parents’ provision and care that the child somehow owes them back– a debt that you can never repay –a bankruptcy impossible to declare. Romantic partnerships are a common example of the manipulative use of love, receiving definitions of love or empty words rather than experiencing how it feels. We tend to misplace our worth, our time, our energy, and our lives on people that don’t truly express love in its fullest capacity. Coraline taught me the best thing to do in those types of manipulative situations: get the f*ck outta there.

This film in its entirety embodies the intricacies of the human heart. If you watch any spooky movie for this Halloween season, I highly recommend adding it to your list! And if you have some friends around—or you’re in the mood for a cozy solo date—I’ve put together a mini snack list with treats to enjoy while watching the Beldam’s tricks. Since I have celiac, every recipe I share is completely celiac-safe!

The Ultimate Halloween Watch Party Treat Trove:

The Welcome Home cake

Chocolate Cake Recipe

The Iconic Coraline Cake

Popcorn from Bobinski’s circus

Popcorn at Bobinski’s

Pizza (order from Maccheroni’s Cucina on Main St W.)

They make completely celiac-safe pizza as well as non-gluten free dough for those who can eat gluten.

Maccheroni’s Pizza

Have a happy Halloween and a meaningful Samhain. I shall bring this to a close with a quote by G.K. Chesterton which can be found in the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

“Fairy Tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

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