ParaNorman: A Review

 

According to IMDB, ParaNorman is about: "In the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a boy who can speak to the dead, but no one besides his eccentric new friend, Neil, believes his ability is real. One day, Norman's estranged eccentric uncle tells him of an important annual ritual he must take up to protect the town from an curse cast by a witch it condemned centuries ago. Eventually, Norman decides to cooperate, but things don't go according to plan. Now, a magic storm of the witch threatens Blithe Hollow as the accursed dead rise. Together with unexpected new companions, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the curse. With that insight, Norman must resolve the crisis for good as only he can."

       Be Aware, Spoilers Everywhere.   

     So, this review is wayyy overdue. I saw ParaNorman for the first and only time three Sundays ago with my best friend and a non-expirable CostCo. movie ticket, recently unearthed from the depths of my bedroom... I've been waiting to construct a post about my opinions until I was able to see it for a second time. But alas, the only online streams I can find randomly switch into another language about ten minutes in. The following paragraphs have been constructed from a less-than-crystal-clear recall and a list of fangirly bullet points I made last week.

     To begin, I absolutely adore this film. There is so much to love, between the stunning animation, and the adorable light cast upon the otherwise frightening, and the grand morals of the story. It's what I would call a very mature children's movie. This is both good and bad, depending on who you talk to. Personally, as a teenager with no child and no need for this movie to hold back, I found everything endearing. But ask my coworker about her experience in taking her elementary-aged brother to the movie, and she'll tell you of the discomfort she felt at both the content and language ("Within the first five minutes, 'Hey, what were you watching?' "Sex and violence.' I mean...").

     If I were a parent to a young child, I'll admit, I could see how one would be a bit taken aback by the use of language in the film: we hear such rhetoric as hell yeah, jackass, and a reference to the F-word that would hopefully go unnoticed by a little kid. But really, you're taking your precious baby angel to a film that is blatantly about zombies, witches, and a boy who literally talks to the dead... and wakes them accidentally. And then subsequently lays them to rest... what did you expect, if not a dark twist on the children's narrative?

     Personally, I think this movie is great for a wide variety of ages. There are jokes for the little ones (which filled the cinema with the most adorable prepubescent laughter Sunday afternoon) that I didn't find amusing until they did, and there are lines clearly geared towards an older audience, soaring unapologetically over the tikes' tiny heads. And we were all going absolutely mad during the scene where Norman tries to pry a book out of his uncle's dead hands. Which is why I think this is a great movie-- it's for everyone and talks down to no one. The film knows we can handle it, so you might as well embrace that fact as well.
     My favorite was this little pause in the action where Norman is in the car with his parents, spouting out a ridiculous plan to save the town. His mother encouragingly tells him that it was a great idea. And the father just turns toward the mother and, in complete seriousness, says, "I wish I understood you." It doesn't sound like much when I try to explain the off-beat moment to anyone, but I nearly died in the theater. I missed the next few minutes of the movie because I was slumped down in my seat, trying to stifle hysterical giggles. It was such an insight into their marriage, beyond the current situation; so random and didn't need to be in there and a very adult quip to stack upon a well-used dynamic (you know, in children's movies: the parents who fight a lot, but only as a means of comic relief? No? Okay.), and the delivery was so spot on. Something about it made me laugh out loud-- something I honestly don't do much of in the theater.

     Along the same lines, keep your eyes peeled for horror movie references! The creators are obvious fans of the genre, but as the very first scene will clue you in on, they are not above poking fun at it. And that's just on the front. If you look at it from a symbolic point of view, many of these little horror-movie-throwaways help prove one of the great realizations of the film: What you perceive as frightening is most likely just a misunderstanding.

WHICH BRINGS US INTO THE META PORTION OF THE SHOW.

(But first-- enjoy this clip and be amazed at how much work was put into each screenshot of this movie. Applause all around. I can't even fathom the tedium that goes into each minute of runtime.)

     Though there are a lot of components to this film, I'd say it all comes down to a message of anti-bullying and pro-understanding. And ParaNorman does this by targeting both the bullies and the bullied, and how one can easily be either when presented with a certain situation. How being bullied can turn one, like Aggie, into the monster they once feared. How even the ones who instill fear, like Alvin, the bully who accidentally but still committedly joins the effort to save his town, have more to them than meets the eye. Even our hero Norman is so effected by his past mistreatment that he prefers loneliness, and at times lashes out that those who wish to help him, because they couldn't possibly understand.

     This film tells its audience that hate is derived from the human condition to fear what we don't understand. But it doesn't have to be this way. It's okay to be different, and it's okay to be a bit nervous about those who seem foreign to you. But you can't let your insecurity over the situation drive you to hate and violence. Your gut reaction does not need to be your only reaction! Every person can make the decision not to act out negatively. Every person has the power to seek out a true understanding of an individual, and to accept and cherish the differences they find.

     A post on Tumblr turned me onto the idea that this film is a metaphor for homophobia, which I can definitely see. But at its core, ParaNorman's lessons stretch beyond a single social issue. However, while we're here, let's talk about how revolutionary of a character Mitch is!  

     Near the end of the film, when he non-chalantly mentioned his boyfriend, my best friend and I both kind of freaked out. We tried to high-five, but that just evolved into this strange form of clapping in an otherwise silent theater. I even missed Courtney's response to the rejection, because I was too impacted to keep myself focused on the movie. I just remember telling my friend, "I think I'm gonna cry," and the promptly bursting into tears. Which was certainly not the reaction the creators were expecting, I'm sure, but that tiny little detail struck me as SUCH A BIG DEAL that I just couldn't keep it together.   

      

    After returning from the theater and searching through the 'ParaNorman' tag on Tumblr, I found this really great article that you should check out: "The Thing About Mitch (You Know, Mitch, The Jock from ParaNorman)". As pointed out by this lovely author, the throwaway joke about the long-sought-after love interest being gay is typical, but that that fact that it appears in a mainstream children's movie isn't. And I think this tiny addition is really great because 1) Mitch isn't a stereotype, gay for the sole purpose of constant comic relief, 2) He is out and obviously doesn't see it as a big deal, and 3) Mitch's plotline isn't hinged on his sexuality. All of these points really bring home the message that being gay isn't a big deal. The movie doesn't think so and neither should you. Even Mitch is what the mass would consider "different," but after all we've been through over the last 90 minutes, hopefully no one would dare voice hate over it.         

     This is one of the many reasons why I don't understand how Tumblr hasn't grabbed hold of this movie and abosultely lost its head over society's and the media's progress. I suppose that comes with the poor box office rakings... But on the brighter side, because of this movie's unpopularity, public controversy has not been stirred over the "issue." Which also screams to a little kid watching this movie that being gay is not call for a national outcry. So that's nice.

     And as for the message board referenced in the above article, I have one thing to say: 

Congratulations, you missed the ENTIRE point of the movie. The one that the writers set up for an hour and a half and spoon-fed into your ignorant mouth. Really?? REALLY?! Also, is it really that hard to talk to your kid about the world? Because from what I've seen, they have a hell of a lot of questions. You are a parent. This is what you signed up for.

     Also, people who refer to being gay as a "personal" or "lifestyle" choice make me feel a bit queasy, but I guess the homophobic are just different from me, and I have to unfortunately accept those differences. If they can keep their hate to themselves, I can keep my disdain for them chained up as well. Even if they mostly don't...  

     ANYWAY BACK TO WHAT I WAS SAYING. It's actually good that I pushed reviewing this movie for a few weeks because yesterday, I heard an Ezra Miller quote that I think really relates to Mitch as well as Miller's own character: "Now that we 'allow' gay people into the movies... you see them as either tokens, where it's like, 'Oh hahaha he's so gay,' or they're a victim. And they're a helpless victim. And that's the common..." Seeing as Mitch is neither, I like to think of him as a step in the right direction. Sure, the emergence of his sexuality is pretty much a joke, but it's not meant as a jab toward homosexuals. And Mitch isn't victimized by the world, when I guess he easily could have been, considering the overall message of the film. He could have been made an example of. But he wasn't. The effect was all subliminal. Or one could see it as unrelated to the anti-bullying campaign throughout the movie, which is great too. Mitch isn't defined by his sexuality, he is just a person, as he should be. And he is a confident person, which is great... even though he's kind of an idiot, and he admits that he is definitely not mature, and his bodily proportions don't make anatomical sense. Haha. It's all good, it's all self-loving, it's all sex positive. 

      I have certainly been lurking too many social justice blogs lately, but I think that's a nice perspective to have on these characters and this story. But as stated above, I don't believe this film limits itself to addressing homophobia. This movie isn't for one specific topic-- it's an analysis of how humans react when presented with outsiders that they find threatening, and how that carries into a million aspects of life. It's about human nature. This goes from being teased at school, to being condemned to death for a power you cannot control.

     Which is why I think the zombies in this movie represent how people perceive those who are different. How, without even taking one look at how a being actually is, we jump to violence and misdirected anger because we feel threatened.  From childhood, we are taught that zombies are evil. They are the object of countless horror stories, and our favorite future-instigators of the apocalypse. Upon first sight, every human's first instinct would be to 1) run from the zombies, or 2) kill them. But in the reality constructed by this film, these creatures weren't out to hurt anyone. The zombies weren't on a quest to chomp down on some delicious people brains... they just wanted to go back to sleep.
     Self-defense is a person's first reaction. But as I stated above, it doesn't have to be your only reaction. Take a moment to assess what is actually happening, and let go of your pre-conceptions. You don't know everything. I don't know everything. Which is why an open mind is the key to success in this world. The lessons of this film are a challenge to all of the Bible-thumpers who grew up hearing about the "abomination" that is homosexuality (in which case, I encourage you to read it more carefully), to all of the racists who were taught by family or society about the superiority of one skin color, to all of the self-hating teenagers who were bombarded from childhood about the perfect way to look, or the perfect weight to achieve. What we have been conditioned to think is not always correct. Not all of the zombies you've been conditioned to fear are actually dangerous. Not all of the people you've been encouraged to reject are very dissimilar to you after all.
    
     If you take anything away from ParaNorman, let it be that, if you are ever attacked by a few-century-old curse and need to save your town from certain peril... or maybe if you're just maneuvering your way through the average, boring day... an open mind and the acceptance of unexpected help are your best weapons.