Coraline: a break from indie film

Non-indie theater: 2009
I took Catalina to see Coraline last week and we both loved it. However, it was way more creepy, crazy, and scary than we had expected! Does that equal bad? I don’t think so. AND it was rated PG (I think more for the overweight, big breasted stripper than the scariness) so take your very young child there at your own risk.

We got into the pretty crowded theater, and as usual with animated movies, it was packed with young kids (mostly girls) who were chatter-chatter-chattering through the previews and even into the beginning of the movie. After that though, there was quite the silence through the rest of it. Myself, I was unexpectedly horrified and completely creeped out by what was happening, I can only imagine what the kids were thinking… (“She wants to do what with WHAT? WTF!!!”) Because that’s what I was thinking.

And at first I thought maybe this was too much, too much horrifying ideas for young children. But when that movie ended, Catalina was not the first one to break out in applause, and she turned to me and exclaimed, “AWESOME! I LOVED that movie!!!” That seemed to be the overall opinion of all the young girls in the audience.

And I thought back to Grimm’s Fairie Tales, and even the old Disney movies. Kids love horror. They love The Scary. I think dealing with The Scary on screen helps kids figure things out in real life. I’m not talking Freddy Kreuger, I’m talking Evil Stepmothers, dealing with the death of Bambi’s mother, the horrors that happened to Dumbo’s mother, the atrocities in Pinocchio, and even that wicked Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys.

I don’t have the educated knowledge to explain WHY kids love this stuff, I just think back to my own love of those books and movies, and how overall those movies were so so so so SOOOO much better than a lot of crap that is out now. The Scary, and the dealing with The Scary, is what makes these movies great. The Scary is there in real life for every child – there are really Wicked Stepmothers and even Wicked Mothers, there is really death and loss to deal with, and there are really drugs and alcohol and circuses and hunters out there. Maybe reading these Grimm tales and seeing things played out on screen helps kids deal with things themselves.

I don’t know. I’m getting waaaaay too far into this. I’m just saying: This movie brings The Scary, so be prepared. But also be prepared to love it along with your kids. Also, the movie is technologically stunning, and we didn’t even get to see it in 3D. Catalina did this weekend when she saw it again at another theater and she said it was “AMAZING”. But I have heard that after this week there will be no more Coraline 3D because the stupid fucking JONAS BROS will be taking up all the 3D theaters.

People please. Take your child to see Coraline before the Jonas Bros come to a theater near you. Jonas Bros = Crap, Coraline = The Awesome.

Of course Coraline is now available on Netflix, Blu-Ray and Instant Video!

(If you want Jonas Bros, look it up yourself.)  🙂