SBG 110: Coraline

ICYMI, Lez Hang Out will be taking a bit of a different direction with our Should’ve Been Gays this season in support of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. While this means you will be hearing a bit less about movies and TV shows for a while, don’t fret, because we can make absolutely anything gay.

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Since September is essentially Halloween Eve, let’s get spooky in here!

This week, Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) talk about Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, a dark fantasy children’s novel published in 2002 and later adapted into a film by the same name. You may be more familiar with the movie than the book, but trust us- the book is somehow even more queer! 

Coraline herself is an extremely queer-coded child. She is always scheming up some wild adventure. Her only friends are literally a talking cat and her super eccentric queer neighbors (Wybie does not exist in the book which is another reason it is queerer than the film). As Coraline explores more and gets to know her gay neighbors, the portal to the other world opens. When she crawls through everything is nearly the same, but different in the way that it is at least 20x gayer and much more appealing to Coraline than her usual world where her parents don’t have time for her and don’t seem to understand her. 

In this other world lives The Other Mother, also known as the Beldam (a drag queen name if we’ve ever seen one). Although The Other Mother is a terrifying nightmare monster, there is something very intriguing and appealing about her to all of the gays with mommy issues (so basically all of us). She gives Coraline everything that her own parents wouldn’t as a way to lure her deeper into her trap. Then, the Beldam throws Coraline into a closet that she has to escape from, the door to which is literally a mirror. The queer symbolism is just leaping off the pages at this point. As Coraline discovers more about the other world and about herself as a result, her real parents go missing, hidden away by The Other Mother. This other world has opened Coraline’s mind to so many wondrous and magical possibilities, but at the cost of her family. She has to learn to reconcile the two versions of her world to save her parents, free the souls of the other trapped children, and ultimately stop the Beldam. 

We know one thing for sure, Coraline Should’ve Been Gay. 

Follow us on the platform formerly known as Twitter: Lez Hang Out (@lezhangoutpod) and answer our Q & Gay questions at the end of every episode. You can also join us on Facebook.com/lezhangoutpod and Instagram (@lezhangoutpod). Find us individually on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida). 

We are so pumped for our upcoming vagaytion to Croatia! If you did not get in on this trip, we apologize in advance for the intense fomo you are about to experience. But, don’t fomo too hard, because we have another opportunity to travel with Ellie and Leigh (and Mermaid Kristin Sparkle!) coming in 2024. If you want to be among the first to know more about our next Trova Trip vagaycation, fill out the quick survey at bit.ly/leztrip. This also helps us to plan even more exciting future trips! 

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