Why Was Wybie in Coraline (2009)?

Wow! Quite the response to this video. Some great points were brought up in the comments here and I wanted to take some time to try and address them: https://youtu.be/UMH0dPMPawk

wybie is unnecessary Me: fight me

I'm a feminist and I gotta say...you're really stretching this to make it look like it was sexist, it really wasn't. Wybie was important to tone down the feeling of loneliness the movie had by him being the only other kid her age (ya know, with everyone being either emotionally distant or people she just met) and to make Coraline's flaws clear: She was inconsiderate and kinda mean. To me, this Coraline seems more likable than the one you described in the book, cause she doesn't sound like a real kid at all, and this is in part, thanks to Wybie's presence. Also, I really don't have a problem with Wybie saving Coraline at the end of the movie, she showed great bravery, competence and cleverness when going in to play the game with the other mother, so I don't see that moment as a damsel in distress moment at all. I can't agree with you at all.

I think he's important b/c he's Coraline's connection to the real world. Her parents are absent, she just moved so she doesn't have any friends (i think wybie was the only other kid in that neighborhood), her neighbors are all older than her and when all is set and done, the cat a supernatural element. When she leaves the other world and takes care of the Belldam, the cat is just a cat. Wybie was kinda like a sidekick. They work together to figure out this mystery and get Caroline away from the Belldam. Heck, Caroline started to really question the other world when other wybie was slienced. He's also just a friend. He shows that we all need help, no matter what the gender, on the adventures we have in life and that inturn made the movie alittle bit more real

Wybie was one of my favorite parts of Coraline. With that said, I was hoping this video would go more into like a theory of the importance/significance of Wybie, not just putting down his presence altogether.

But... I like Wybie :(

To me, Wybie represents a point of character development for Coraline. Crucially, when the other mother presents her version of him as mute, Coraline is initially very pleased, but she comes to feel sorry for him and feel guilty for shutting him out of her life. --That's how I see her lashing out in the beginning: she misses her home, her old friends, and she kinda just wants to be a lonely angsty teen all by herself for a bit. I had a similar faze in my childhood when I switched schools; I antagonized some of the kids there simply because they were a part of the new life I didn't want. Coraline's eventual friendship with Wybie symbolizes her acceptance of reality and of change. In fact, I thought from the very beginning that they would make a good fit as friends, and maybe Coraline saw this too, but wasn't ready to accept that moving to the pink palace could have any positive silver linings.

Title: why is Wybie in Coraline Translated title: I hate Wybie because he’s a guy

I disagree completely. Just because Coraline is the main character doesn’t mean that she’s perfect. I think when she’s mean to him it just shows us how human she is. We always talk about when we were bullied as children, but we never talk about when we bullied someone else. (because we always remember when somebody hurts our feelings, but we never remember when we hurt other people’s feelings) And I like that both Characters are a little nasty to each other. that’s a very human, and very relatable to most children. By the way we all need help from somebody at different points in our life. And I think the film beefs up a lot of the interactions with all the characters. Having one extra character just gives her more time to talk to someone else as well as everyone else. Also having someone her own age to talk to in the film makes the story more cinematic. I think it’s fine that in the book she has no one her own age talk too, because we as the reader can get wrapped up in her feelings. But in the film I think it’s important she has someone her own age to talk too. It’s important because the adults ignore her. And even though they claim that the other is crazy he doesn’t ignore her, and he is the only other human who knows the pink palace is haunted. and they are more or less on the same playing field because they’re both children. Which makes the film feel less lonely. I think the Film would have a very lonely feeling with out Him!

But Coraline hating Wybie is literally just her personality in the movie?? She literally hates everything her world. That's why the other mother Alters the other world to fit her liking. The cat says so himself. She finds Wybie annoying because.. They're children. The why were you born insult was just his name. The reason his mouth was sewn shut in the other world was so the other mother could make coraline happy. Yes, the movie was about temptation. You're right. But Wybie wasn't really unnecessary. He knew the territory and it was kind of nice to see the sibling like rivalry twords them. It created a type of comedic break or whatever.

At the start you said that you shouldn't compare the movie and the book, and then you spend the rest of the video comparing the movie and the book

I like wybie. I don't think its sexist that Coraline isnt as "self reliant" in the film as the books, cause in a lot of these cases it would be a lot harder to get information across if it was just coraline talking to herself. Also, I think that Coraline in the film being tetchy, bored, and mean in certain points as well as brave and selfless in others makes her relatable, rather than the somewhat mary-sue-ish character she is in the book. If she was perfect all the way through therewouldnt be any room for character development. Throughout the movie we see her come to be a lot nicer to Wybie which I think is important

I Actuelly found him to be insanely important. He is this comic relief charecter, and when he steps too far out of line he is forced back into it with the stitched smile. Its what helped me to understand the other mother isnt this poor misunderstood creature; she is a MONSTER. And for that I really like him.

Wybie was really important in the movie, it give us an idea on why those pink apartments is Danger to kids. On the contrary I think Wybie is the second most important character of the movie without him it wouldn't work.

Oh no, a male character helps a female protagonists, must be sexism.

wybie is my favorite character tho-

I feel upset cause Whybie was not loved 😢🤧

Wybie is not unnecessary. He was added to make the 18 minutes of his screen time less boring as Coraline (who already has a noticeable amount of talking to herself) would just have had 18 minutes of extra time spent alone on screen. It's not misogyny or whatever you're talking about. It's making scenes a little easier to follow and offering a companion character for our protagonist. As for how she treats him, I can very easily see children of their age saying things like that. Coraline is supposed to hate him at the beginning because she doesn't realize why he's always around and watching her. She doesn't understand his reasoning and thinks he's just a freak. By the end it's more of a redemption in her eyes. It's a 'don't judge a book by its cover' gig. Wybie is honestly a very welcome addition to the film. I'm glad that they added him because a film experience is vastly different than a book experience. It's not as entertaining or interesting to watch a character on their own and it's much easier to follow two characters and dialogue as well; this is very important particularly since this kind of film will draw in a child demographic.

Coraline is an incredibly independent character, she relies on herself so much throughout the film already and adding Wybie definitely did not detract from her. In fact, their banter gave her more flaws (her awful temper, impatience, and distaste for real people) to overcome and, in turn, they strengthened her character and made her far more engaging than the duller Coraline in the novella. Also, how is Wybie mysogonistic? Because he's a guy? Because he helped Coraline? Dependency did not make Coraline weak, it made her human. And how were his interactions ableist? Real people stutter, slouch, and have strange hobbies. Those traits gave him depth and made for an interesting juxtaposition to Coraline. As for Coraline's "cringy" dialogue, it's all a matter of personal taste. But as a teenager only a few years older than Coraline, I can say that yes, young people say mean, unwarranted, and cringy insults when they're adapting to new environments (causing them to be emotionally distraught). Anywho, those are my two cents. Good video for discussion.

That’s not the actual book that’s just the graphic novel the real book is a chapter book