"Coraline", Part 2: Scary Gender Expressions and Scarier Mothers

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“Coraline” (Part 2) | 10

Welcome back to part two of our discussion on the children's horror movie "Coraline". Tonight, we’re drawing on the works of Judith Butler, Barbara Creed, and Sigmund Freud to explore its themes of gender, power, and the uncanny.

In this episode, we’ll talk about how the introduction of a male character in "Coraline". raises questions about the need for a male presence in female-driven stories.

We’ll also take a look at the way gender is portrayed (and performed) in the Other World and the real world, and what that might tell us about the expectations and fears surrounding traditional gender roles.

And finally, we’ll examine mothers in horror. Why does the Other Mother scare us, and why are scary mommies a horror genre trope?

Key moments

• 1:22 – La Belle Dame sans Merci
• 4:24 – Recap of last week's episode
• 5:28 – Coraline and Oedipus
• 7:46 – The Cat
• 9:58 – What's the point of Wybie?
• 13:55 – Gender norms in "Coraline"
• 19:01 – Scary mothers in horror

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