The composition “Other Father’s Song for Coraline” was first heard in the full-length cartoon “Coraline in the Land of Nightmares”, which was released in 2008.
Coraline moves to a new house with her parents, where she finds a secret door. This door, as it turns out, leads to a parallel world. Everything is the same as in reality, only better. Mom and dad are kinder and more fun, but the fact that they have buttons instead of eyes is nonsense. That’s how it seems to Coraline. The girl even thinks about leaving to live in a parallel world, but one day her mother from that reality says that Coraline should stay with them. To do this, she needs to sew on buttons instead of eyes.
Coraline in the Land of Nightmares is a gripping yet creepy cartoon with a unique dark atmosphere.
But what did the cheerful and unpretentious song “Other Father’s Song for Coraline” forget in this “children’s horror”?
I think it adds to the atmosphere even more. Behind the imaginary cheerfulness of the motive lies a frightening subtext. Remember, at the beginning of the article, I said that parents from a parallel reality tried to force Coraline to sew on buttons instead of eyes?
Calling Coraline “peach”, “friend” and “doll”, the “other dad” is trying to ingratiate himself with the girl.
“She’s cute, like the buttons in the eyes of those who look at her”
These lines are about buttons instead of eyes – it’s cute, it’s beautiful. Like, if you make yourself buttons, you will be one of us, you will become “part of the team”.
Based on this, we can conclude that one of the meanings of the song is that you need to be like everyone else. What kind of nonsense sometimes children and teenagers do not go to be “their own” in the company. The most expensive phones, toys, “piercing, like Masha from” 9-A “or” a tattoo, like Seryoga from parallel. But is the imaginary authority among peers worth such victims? Everyone decides for himself. Some people just don’t need it.
But sometimes society begins to put pressure on those who disagree and force them to become “part of the team”. This is exactly what happens in the second half of the song. Seeing that the “daughter” does not agree to affectionate persuasion, the “other dad” simply puts her before the fact: “we will not leave you alone. We will still make sure that you have the same eyes.
It says here that sometimes you can’t run away from pressure from society and fight back. Whether we like it or not, we will have to bend over and become like everyone else in order not to be a black sheep.
And if you dig a little deeper and remember that in fact this song is an appeal from a father to his daughter, then a much more terrible picture emerges.
Where can we run if society presses? To parents who will always support and understand. What do you do when your parents pressure you?
In fact, this song can be interpreted as follows: the child does not and cannot have his own opinion. Like it or not, you need to obey your parents, because they have lived their lives and know exactly what is best. And there can no longer be any “buts” and “ifs”. As parents said, so be it!
And it does not matter at all that the child has his own feelings, thoughts, desires and fears. You can ignore them, because a child is not a person. Children’s desires are often suppressed in the bud by parental authority. And the worst thing in such a situation is that the child understands that no one cares about his opinion, because everything has already been decided for him.
Realizing that everything had already been decided for her, Coraline changed her face dramatically and tried to escape.
But how, and most importantly, where can real children escape from their parents, who crush them with their authority under the “sweet” sauce of parental care?
At the end of the article, I would like to say: parents, listen to the wishes of your children! Children are people just like you, and they also have a voice and a right to choose! Respect their opinions and wishes, allow them to make their own mistakes and learn from them. Get to know their problems and take an interest in their hobbies. As dad said from the cult Soviet cartoon “Prostokvashino”: “That’s when the children will not disappear!” Disappear in bad company, on the Internet or in your dreams of a loving and understanding family that lives somewhere out there, behind a secret door leading to a parallel world.
