Just had to make the boy the hero

Ok listen. I see what you're trying to say and how you are defending the movie but you are obviously looking at it much differently then me. As this is a fictional animated film, I am not arguing about what would have happened in reality. Granted, I did say that I believed that in a situation where she had just emerged from another universe successfully saving her parents after a number of different dangerous tasks, you'd think she could have been able to finish the deed herself. Anyways, I'm trying to speak purely cinematically. It has nothing to do with Coraline being exhausted or - you think you would have mentioned this - most likely suffering a concussion after her fall or how about some kind of shock or emotional scarring from her ordeal? Nor does it have to do with your mother or Hitler? I don't even know how or why you tied that in. I see what you're trying to say but I have to come to the conclusion that your are massively overestimating the significance of Coraline as a film or you just chose a very irrelevant explanation. It's just about as irrelevant as your insistence that Coraline rescuing her dad is a flaw in my argument. I know he was rescued and he was a male but it isn't about that. Not every person is given equal importance or strength of character in a film. He played his part which was to be a caring but neglectful parent. Then there is Wybie who is the underestimated but surprise hero who swoops in and saves the day.

First, I'd like to mention that in the books, there is no Wybie and Coraline is able to save herself. So why is it necessary in the film? Well, the most apparent reason is because it works to build dramatic suspense and tension. Coraline is being dragged by the hand back to the door, the Other Mother is slamming on the door, trying to break free, and there seems like there is no hope for our protagonist. What will she do? The members of the audience hold their breath but have no fear! Her knight in shining armour comes to save her. By the way, that was an obvious play on the knight in shining armour cliche. He rides in on the bike (his horse) and his odd face mask (armour) and saves the girl in distress.

That scene is really all about setting up an 'intense' climax for the film. In the book, where Coraline tricked the hand into falling into a well, probably just didn't satisfy the need for a theatrical climax. It has nothing to do with reality; it's all about theatrical choices. It still could have been done with just her but audiences enjoy seeing the knight save the damsel. They also eat up the romance sparking between the two. It's not a good story if love isn't involved.

That, finally, brings us to the matter at hand which is Wybie saving Coraline. Honestly, I have no time to get into the feminist film criticism that I could because there is simply too much to say. Coraline actually had both a female protagonist and antagonist which was great and, although I'm not asking for a flawless main character, it would have been great if Coraline could have saved herself. In the end, no matter what people who say 'it's just a film' want to think, these types of actions in films do have real life implications. While you say that Wybie saving Coraline does not undermine all of her work to save her parents, which I agree with you, I still believe that it implies that she could not have done it without him which is very crucial. Don't think of it in the context of the film but on a larger scale. Yet again, the female needed the male to appear at the end and save her.


P.S. Sorry about the quality of this post. My original post never made it through as my internet decided to conveniently freeze when I pressed post... I didn't have the time or effort to re write it properly which is why I didn't go into detail with what should have been the most important part of my argument.