Discussing Coraline as a character

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LaughtersMelody
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Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by LaughtersMelody »

I've noticed that Coraline has a couple wonderful picture threads, but I didn't notice much in the way of discussion, and I think she's too interesting a character to go without a discussion thread of her own.

I've been browsing various forums since I first became interested in the show, mostly looking for fan fic, but along the way, I've also seen a number of different opinions about Coraline. Some people seem to view her as only a manipulative, cruel woman who wanted to toy with Mick at every turn just for her own enjoyment. I personally lean more in a different direction (though I agree that she most definitely does have a manipulative streak). But, I am convinced that she really, honestly loved - and loves - Mick, and in many ways, I feel sorry for her.

Given what we saw of her past and her family, I got the impression that she had a very difficult life, wealth or not. I personally imagine that, out of necessity, she learned how to use her looks and her wealth to get what she wanted out of life, and that she simply didn't know anything else. That, of course, left her unsure how to deal with someone like Mick, who is sincere and straightforward. I think that might have been part of why she fell for him, though, because he wasn't like anyone she'd met before. That, and he appears to genuinely make her happy, because the few times she really seems to smile are around Mick.

Essentially, I think Coraline just made repeatedly bad choices where Mick was concerned, but I don't think that all of it was malicious. Not to say that she was blameless, but I don't believe she always purposefully cruel. In my mind, she loved Mick but her poor choices cost her a chance at happiness with him. Everything she did after that was an attempt to get him back, but it only backfired.

But, all the same, for Mick to stay with Coraline as long as he did (even if it was on and off) their relationship can't have been *all* bad all the time. He seemed to really love her, and I think it went beyond physical attraction. Physical attraction doesn't mean much if you're always miserable around the person you're attracted to. I think there had to be something deeper there, that he actually enjoyed her company when she wasn't toying with him. I can't help but imagine Coraline as being very much like she was when she pretended to be Morgan. Mick seemed entirely comfortable around Morgan, once he got over the fact that she was a perfect doppelganger for his (presumably) dead ex-wife.

What do you think of Coraline? What made her into the person - or as the case may be, vampire - she became? Do you think she was sincere in her efforts, chasing after Mick? Or do you think she was just playing a very elaborate game? Maybe some combination of the two?
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by nutmegger911 »

Hey, LM, interesting topic. I don't think any of the characters are entirely good or bad. If they were the show would have been like watching paper dolls - no depth - and folks would not have come to love it like we do.

In the series, most of what we see of Coraline is through the eyes of others. Mick's flashbacks and Josef's comments provide most of the information, and those would be colored by their own views.

The little bit of "direct" Coraline footage we see is conflicted (IMHO). The mind games she played in "The Ringer" were rather elaborate, but then she takes a stake for him when Lance is ready to kill human Mick. That leaves me wondering if she truly loves Mick, or if the whole incident with the cure is just another elaborate plan. Hard to tell. Maybe one, maybe the other, maybe both. :shrug:
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by Lucy »

Poor Coraline....she was set up from the beginning to be the bad girl. (without the dark there can be NO LIGHT)

Yes, she had undeniable odds set against her..... her family was a misogynistic and the deck was stack against her.

She scrapped and fought for anything she got and when she saw Mick all rationale was out the door.

The moves she made were without counsel so her decisions weren't the greatest.

All that being said.....I thank her every day for giving us Mick St John, the vampire......
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by allegrita »

Coraline is one of the most controversial characters in Moonlight fandom, mostly, I think, because she created huge emotional responses--not just from other characters in the show, but also from fans. While much of the early ardor--and venom--has faded a bit over time, we still need to take care to respect all points of view. Now that some time has passed and passions have cooled, I think there's great potential for a fascinating discussion here. We've certainly had many very respectful ones in response to fics that have been written and on episode discussion threads. Hopefully, we can continue in that spirit.

Coraline is one of the most interesting characters to me, and like almost all major characters, she's incredibly richly drawn, with many layers and many (sometimes conflicting) motivations. I believe she did truly love Mick, but I think her background as an old-school aristocrat and a member of a very powerful vampire family tended to make her believe that she was entitled to whatever she wanted, and damn the consequences. She wanted Mick to be a vampire, so she turned him... and it probably never occurred to her to ask him how he felt about the whole thing. I believe that she was honestly shocked and confused that he was horrified by his transformation.

I believe (and I've written it into my Mick-Coraline stories) that Mick's wild streak is what attracted Coraline to him, and what she saw most prominently. Well, that, and his staggering good looks. :melts: I think that whole "throw a chair through the window" thing swept Coraline off her feet, and sealed poor Mick's fate in the process. The problem is, she didn't understand that Mick had a huge streak of "good, decent guy" under that wildness. A good, decent guy who really wanted to find the right girl, settle down in a little house somewhere, and start raising kids. Mick never forgave Coraline for ruining that dream.

Coraline was more forgiving of Mick than he was of her. She may have turned him, but he burned her (he thought) to death! To me, that forgiveness shows two things--she truly did love him, and she was a much more pragmatic person than he was. On the other hand, she really did seem to enjoy tormenting him with her mind-games when she came back into his life as Morgan... and she had no qualms about sacrificing people in service to those games. Then again, Josef does the same thing, and Mick doesn't blame him for it one bit. :shrug:
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by wpgrace »

Whoa Alle! :clapping:
Great points all... At least from my perspective. :snicker:

I have to admit, I was always puzzled by the extent of the hate directed to Cora. Yeah, she was the bad girl, but most shows have someone who is morally ambiguous and the hate-extent was just a bit shocking to me, particularly as allllll the charries in ML had both some dark and some light to varying degrees, as NM said. None of em were pure.

I think, in part, Cora was the bad girl cos Mick wanted her to be. He played at being a bad boy and Cora bought it, or loved him so hard she pretended to anyway. But when he woke up a vamp, he realized he'd been a minor playing in the big leagues. Too late. I think THAT in part was a result of his era... Girls couldn't really be dangerous to a hip, buff dude, right? They are neither that strong nor that smart... unless they are a vamp. :winky: So he liked blaming her. He refused to share any of the blame. She was too eager to have him to really prep him. He was too cocky to see any warning signs.

I think she loved him literally to death, and was willing to face hers to save him. I think he loved her too, and always would to a certain extent... She clearly still moved, intrigued, fascinated, rattled, and held some sway over him right up to her own staking in TMC. But Mick grew up over those 50 vampy years, and the fast life isn't what he wanted when we met him. Not anymore. He wanted to try and play house. And he wanted to do that with Beth.

Would that be his eternity? I kinda doubt it. I am one who cannot see him turning Beth. For various reasons. So I always kinda figured he'd end up with Cora again some decade or century into the future. They got a bond. To me, his reactions to and around her were just so heightened. I don't think they're really done. But I do think a time out with Beth would help him to adjust to what he'd been fighting. I think Cora may even suspect that. She never tried to hurt Beth. Even after Beth staked her. She forgave. Humans are SO emo, after all. :laugh:

But the bottom line for me has always been, if I were a vampy vamp and I got a crack at that boy? I cannot claim I'd have behaved any better. He was just too tempting, y'all. :devil:
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by Lucy »

wpgrace wrote: But the bottom line for me has always been, if I were a vampy vamp and I got a crack at that boy? I cannot claim I'd have behaved any better. He was just too tempting, y'all. :devil:
I so agree with you......
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by Ella713 »

Lucy wrote:Poor Coraline....she was set up from the beginning to be the bad girl. (without the dark there can be NO LIGHT)

Yes, she had undeniable odds set against her..... her family was a misogynistic and the deck was stack against her.

She scrapped and fought for anything she got and when she saw Mick all rationale was out the door.

The moves she made were without counsel so her decisions weren't the greatest.

All that being said.....I thank her every day for giving us Mick St John, the vampire......
Yeah, I agree with Lucy. Coraline could never see the big picture in life, she only saw what she wanted at that moment and it caused her to make all the wrong choices again and again.
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Re: Discussing Coraline as a character

Post by allegrita »

One thing that struck me about Coraline is that Mick said she was a good sire to him. She taught him how to survive as a vamp, and without her help he never would have made it. (For him to admit that--however begrudgingly--tells me that she really did do her job as a sire!) I agree that she made a ton of mistake where he was concerned, including the incredible mistake of not getting the Duvalls' permission to marry him, and then the other, even greater mistake of stealing the Cure from her family and thinking she could get away with it!) :gasp:

Grace described Coraline's effect on Mick above, but Mick's effect on Coraline is equally interesting to me. I think it must have been a huge shock to her that she fell so hard for him, and she was off her game with him in a big way. She gravely misjudged his reaction to being turned, and he never forgave her for not giving him a choice. But despite his fury and despair at what she had done--despite the fact that he never forgave her for taking away his humanity--she did her best to do right by him. She had a sense of responsibility to go along with her passionate feelings for him. And although she went about it in a pretty heartless way, her attempt to kidnap Beth was a misguided attempt to make him happy, to give him a version of the "ideal family" that he so desperately missed.

That episode with little Beth was a wonderful illustration that Coraline didn't think like a human, and that she didn't think humans' feelings were worth considering. That was the main theme, to me, of The Ringer as well. Coraline had no qualms about teasing and tormenting Mick, and she obviously viewed humans as unimportant pawns in her game. She killed a woman and staged a huge hotel fire, just so she could mess with Mick's head. But then again, Mick had a definite double standard where Coraline was concerned. He blamed her for her cavalier treatment of humans--but Josef was just as bad about humans, with his talk of the food mouthing off to the farmer, and Mick never blamed him for it.

There's no denying that, in the end, Coraline sacrificed herself for Mick's sake. She let Lance stake her and take her back to "him." That speaks volumes to me of the love she felt for Mick. What a shame we never got a resolution to their relationship. :sigh:
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