To see oneself in buttoned eyes.

 

I just finished watching Coraline, a movie by Henry Selick - also known for directing The Nightmare Before Chrsitmas – and I must say, I loved it. I’ve been wanting to watch this for a long time: I am a hugh Burton fan, and If Henry Selick worked with him, that’s enough for me. I must admit I adore watching animated movies and feeling like a kid again.

 

However, I don’t thing this is a kiddie movie. First of all, it has a dark side, I would even say sinister.

Basically, Coraline moves to a new city, she is bored, her parents ignore her and she wishes they were different. But as the saying goes, “be careful with what you wish for”. It came true: she goes through a small door in her house, and meets her “other mom”: she cooks her breakfast for dinner, gives her presents, everything she wanted. Her “other dad” also seems perfect at first. However, both have buttong for eyes. Which I don’t think is a minot detail: she cannot see her reflection in their eyes, she does not see what object she is for the mom.

 

(Scary, isn’t it?)

Maybe this is just a coincidence, but it was very interesting to me how the other father is seen riding a mechanical praying mantis – an insect who, after copulation, the female bites off the head of the male (sexy, right?). For me it goes in paralell with the devouring mom: the other mom swallows a key, one of the characters mentions that she might “eat Coraline”, and by the end of the movie de “other dad” is completely emasculated and subdued to the females desires.

It felt exactly like the mouth of the crocodile Lacan talked about: there needs to be a “stick” (the falus) that stops the mother from devouring her child, which is, at first conceives as an object meant to complete her. If we don’t come to this world as an object of desire for someone, it’s impossible for us to become subjects. But we mustn’t stay attached to that alienated position, our mother (or whoever plays that role in our lives) must know when and how to let go. It’s not about loving too much or too little, it’s about just enough. As Winicott said, the “good enough mom”.

I digress. Back to Coraline.

Another theme that is very present is desire. She believes she can have happiness in that paralell world, but she finds that is not so: to be complete is an imposibility, if don’t lack anything, we desire for nothing, and what would drive us to live then? I wish I always have a desire to drive me.

I had a lot of thoughts while watching the movie… I’ll update this later if I remember!! But to sum up: watch it, if any of what I said makes sense or if you think I am totally delusional, let me know!