coraline

The basic premise of Coraline is a familiar but appealing one: lonely, neglected girl encounters a strange new world in which her courage and willingness to sacrifice for others is tested, leaving her, in the end, with deep appreciation for ordinary life and relationships. Not, in many ways, unlike Miyazaki's Spirited Away, Pan's Labyrinth or even Pleasantville.

It also reminded me of C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters in that the maniacal "Other Mother" studies her victim's lives, especially all the things they perceive as "bad" in order to lure them through an entirely fake but fabulous "dream life" (complete with perfect parents, perfect food, and perfect friends that behave exactly how you want them to). The sweetest thing about the fake life? It's completely tailored to your preferences and esteem--your name in lights! Your name sung by singing, flying, fantastical creatures! Your name and beautiful images of you everywhere! Of course by the time you realize that this dream life is a sham, it's too late--you have become a ghost!

Which left me musing over the wisdom of St. Francis of Assisi:

“Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.”

It's no small thing, to be grateful for ordinary life and ordinary relationships.