Coraline as the Seductive Muse/Femme Fatale

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Cinemama
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Coraline as the Seductive Muse/Femme Fatale

Post by Cinemama »

(edited to add: please read the General Info post if you haven't already...)

Ahhh…Coraline.

Some of us don’t want to read this, but I really want to write it. Coraline’s character is who got me delving into all of this Moonlight character analysis in the first place, because I was amazed at the visceral reactions everyone is having. I’m telling you, our writers must be thrilled by the response to this character (both negative and positive). A writer couldn’t ask for more!

Let me start by saying that I’m not going to discuss the full range of this Seductive Muse/Femme Fatale archetype, just the parts that we’ve been shown that relate to Coraline. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been as much material for her as for Beth and Mick, so it will be sketchy. Maybe I can fill in as they give us more…

And let me add that I don’t mean to ruffle any feathers. I love Coraline as a character, and mean her no harm. These are merely my opinions as they relate to character archetypes and how Coraline may or may not fit into them. I do, however, make several snarky comments, so try to take it in the light manner in which it is intended.

The seductive muse will make a perfect vampire, because one of the things she fears most is aging and losing her sexual appeal. I feel certain that when Coraline was turned, she considered it a gift. So she would have considered this a gift for Mick, as well. But her femme fatale side is the part of her that decided it was a good idea not to ask him first.

The seductive muse will frequently choose a creative career, and Coraline chose photography for Morgan’s cover. This effectively allowed her to satisfy her creative side while keeping an eye on Mick and Beth. Plus, it’s good to have a legitimate excuse if someone catches you pointing your camera toward them.

When Coraline meets Mick at the outdoor restaurant in Fleur de Lis and tries to insist that he have some food (oops…that was kind of cruel, now that we know it was really her), and he claims to be on a special diet…you all know the line. “Yeah, you and everybody else in this town. Body image freaks.” This is completely the seductive muse talking. She would have a very healthy body image, and it makes sense to me that she would be critical of people who are overly concerned about it (in a sort of unhealthy way).

The seductive muse is going to have a killer wardrobe, and dress more stylishly than most of her compatriots. I’m flashing on Coraline’s red dress at the flashback party, and also on Beth’s shoe envy while breaking and entering.

This archetype is just not going to have a lot of girlfriends. Most women will not like her much, but I have to add that she won’t like them much, either. (Hence the high level of animosity toward her on fansites.) She’s very unlikely to ever have a BFF, but if she did it would be another Seductive Muse. (Enter Cynthia!)

The men, however…well, I’m going to quote Josef from Fleur de Lis: “Coraline has been many things to many people…most of them men.” But I have to add that this aspect would be considered dark, because usually if this archetype is being many things to many people there is probably some sort of pretense or deception involved.

It can be difficult for others to know if the femme fatale is telling the truth. In The Ringer Morgan tells Mick that Beth said he was ‘the best’. Mick replies, “Oh, she did, huh?” with just a smidge of challenge to his tone. It’s not clear what this was about, but I really got the impression that Mick didn’t believe her. Beth looked puzzled by his response and replied that she’d said it several times, actually. There are several other instances during this episode where Mick questions whatever Morgan has said, indicating that he doesn’t believe her. By having Mick not believe what she says, the writers cause the viewers to not believe what she says.

She has a real knack for getting men to do things that are not what they would normally do. Don’t we all flash on Mick hurling that chair through the window (that Gladiator!). And here are the words Mick used to describe his ‘intense affair’ to Beth: “Like a fever…like an infection…it burns you up…makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

This leads us to Hank Mattolla. She convinced this man who was in a relationship with a lovely young woman to murder his lover. We can’t be positive how she did it, but the clues tell us that Hank was near death from acute pancreatitis when Coraline promised him eternal life in exchange for a few favors. Sacrificing this young woman for nothing more than messing with Mick’s head is beyond evil. But in true femme fatale fashion, she’ll do anything to get what she wants. Burn down a lovely old hotel, kill a young woman, turn a four-year-old into a vampire. Even though we haven’t seen everything she’s done to Mick in the past, the fact that he instantly felt that Coraline would stage this whole thing just to mess with him tells us that this type of behavior is nothing new for her.

And now I’ve gotten to the touchy subject of how Coraline has been written. Sorry, but she walks mostly on the dark side of her nature. Most of her traits that are on the heroic side, or Seductive Muse, are superficial qualities, such as wardrobe choices and creativity. When I use the word superficial, I mean that these are not the deep, driving forces of her nature. They are present, but they are not her primary motivation. Most of the things we’ve seen her do come from the villainous side of the archetype. And the things Mick and Josef say about her also fall on this darker side.

Is there any possibility of redemption for Coraline? I personally feel that there is always a chance for redemption. But it’s up to the writers. And in this universe they’ve created, the writers are gods. Now that I’ve seen The Mortal Cure, Coraline has at least demonstrated a desire to atone for what she did to Mick. Even so, he ultimately didn’t trust her motives. When Lance and his sidekick attacked them, Mick’s instant take was that Coraline had set him up to be killed. Again, we haven’t seen everything she did to Mick in the past, but this reaction from Mick assures us that it was bad. Very bad.

Then we have what would seem to be a contradiction in that Mick trusted her enough to slice his arm open and try the compound. I believe this stems from Mick wanting that cure so badly that he eagerly puts his distrust aside. He wants it so badly that he doesn’t bother to find out many details about it. And he wants it so badly that he would risk his life for just a chance at this temporary cure.

Taking the steps to redeem yourself does not mean that others will forgive you for your past actions. And the sad truth is, in true femme fatale fashion Coraline has been the instrument of Mick’s destruction. I can see an ongoing, undeniable attraction and connection between them, possibly desire overpowering reason, but never an actual reconciliation. That said, I can certainly see Mick the Protector saving her from this predicament she’s in, provided he gets information as to where she’s been taken. Heaven knows he fought valiantly to save her from Lance even though he had no vamp skills. The question I see for the immediate future is this: Will he be willing to give up his precious time as a human to save Coraline?

I MUST add now in hindsight…clearly they didn’t go the way I thought they would with this dilemma for Mick…but our Mick the Protector did give up his precious time as a human to save Beth.
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Archetypically speaking, of course...

"Thank God I am Jung and not a Jungian." -Carl Jung, in his opening remarks to a group of Jungians.
news
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Re: Coraline as the Seductive Muse/Femme Fatale

Post by news »

Cinemama wrote:The seductive muse will make a perfect vampire, because one of the things she fears most is aging and losing her sexual appeal. I feel certain that when Coraline was turned, she considered it a gift. So she would have considered this a gift for Mick, as well. But her femme fatale side is the part of her that decided it was a good idea not to ask him first.
Ah...since Lance stated: You turned this ungrateful mortal without his permission, and without our blessing, then I'm certain permission on Mick's part would have never been asked. I was never comfortable with the statement I've given you the greatest gift I can give. I've tried thinking this through, as you've stated on numerous occassions and will probably always be uncomfortable with it. That's the psychology student in me that rears it's head is all. ;)
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Cinemama
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Re: Coraline as the Seductive Muse/Femme Fatale

Post by Cinemama »

news wrote:
Cinemama wrote:The seductive muse will make a perfect vampire, because one of the things she fears most is aging and losing her sexual appeal. I feel certain that when Coraline was turned, she considered it a gift. So she would have considered this a gift for Mick, as well. But her femme fatale side is the part of her that decided it was a good idea not to ask him first.
Ah...since Lance stated: You turned this ungrateful mortal without his permission, and without our blessing, then I'm certain permission on Mick's part would have never been asked. I was never comfortable with the statement I've given you the greatest gift I can give. I've tried thinking this through, as you've stated on numerous occassions and will probably always be uncomfortable with it. That's the psychology student in me that rears it's head is all. ;)
Hello, old friend! Just guessing here, of course. I think she didn't ask him because she knew he would refuse to be turned if asked. I can imagine that he would have been horrified if she'd asked, much like he was horrified by being turned. It is very like a femme fatale character to put her own wants above his.

But to her credit, I do think she believed that once she had turned him, he would come to appreciate his situation as much as she did. (Sort of like getting your toddler to try broccoli. It's sooo good for them, if you can just get them to accept it...) I think she was ultimately shocked and disappointed that he didn't relish immortality, perpetual youth, and the power that came with it.

I can't quite get my head around it, either, because it's like I'm saying her motives were pure. And in a way, they were. But what makes them not pure, in my opinion, is that tiny nagging question, "What if he doesn't want to be a vampire?" that she ignored.

Making an irreversible decision on behalf of someone else is a very femme fatale sort of act. So when I say I think she truly considered it a gift, it is with full realization that Mick did not. To quote him after she explains that she's given him a gift, "You've made me into a monster!"
Image
Archetypically speaking, of course...

"Thank God I am Jung and not a Jungian." -Carl Jung, in his opening remarks to a group of Jungians.
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