ParaNorman
You can’t keep a good zombie down in ParaNorman.
Speaking to the dead is preferable to speaking to the living
What’s ParaNorman About?
Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a bit of an outcast. His father thinks he’s odd, his sister calls him a freak, and the kids at school tease him mercilessly. That’s not to say that Norman doesn’t have any friends, it’s just that…they’re all dead.
You see, Norman can see ghosts. He should fit right in, since his home town Blithe Hollow is famous for its witch trials, but the townspeople see him as an oddity. Norman instead chats with his dead grandmother, he pets the dog that was run over by a car. It’s not a bad existence, but it is a lonely one.
One day Norman’s weird uncle Mr. Prenderghast (John Goodman) confronts the boy, babbling about reading a story to someone. Norman tries to put the experience out of his head, but he starts to have horrible visions about a witch hunt and a terrible tragedy.
Norman goes to ask his uncle about the story and his visions but finds Mr. Prenderghast has died. Not a problem for Norman, who talks to the man’s spirit and is told he must read from a sacred text at the town cemetery to prevent disaster.
Racing to the cemetery, Norman opens his uncle’s sacred text only to find…a fairytale. He’s interrupted from reading the story by a local bully, which is when all hell breaks loose. Seven zombies burst from their graves and the town’s sky swirls green.
Can Norman undo the disaster? Is Blithe Hollow even worth saving?
What Makes ParaNorman Good?
On its surface, ParaNorman is a kids vs zombies movie with lots of fun illusions for horror fans. But somehow ParaNorman accomplishes in 90 minutes what David Gordon Green couldn’t in three Halloween movies. It is a movie about how evil feeds on fear, infecting a town as panic spreads. The monsters in ParaNorman don’t think they’re monstrous, they’re just terrified people. But that doesn’t excuse their actions or their monstrous behavior.
And not one person had to chant “Evil dies tonight”!
While it’s pretty easy to guess that the witch Blithe Hollow is so proud of killing didn’t deserve to be hunted down, directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell don’t let anyone off the hook. Part of the problem in ParaNorman is that people don’t understand their own history. They don’t know the real story of the witch and are happy to accept the happy lie that makes them feel good and allows them to not think about the motives of their ancestors.
…sound familiar?
Because the town doesn’t understand its history, it’s doomed to repeat it. When zombies venture into Mainstreet, panic immediately ensues. In their fear, they become people they don’t recognize, people capable of terrible things.
And while Butler and Fell condemn the town, and the ignorance and fear that can lead to horrendous crimes, they also admit that reckoning with history is hardly simple. Norman understands the Witch was wronged. He understands her rage. But the wrongs done to her don’t justify harming a new generation of people. To move forward, people need to deal honestly with each other, make amends as best as possible, and try not to increase the wrongdoing.
It’s not an easy answer, but it is a productive one.
It’s truly odd to think that children’s movies like Zootopia and ParaNorman can have more nuanced discussions on race and justice than something like Green Book. Watch more zombie movies, people.
Beyond being an excellent dissection of how we reckon (or don’t) with our history, ParaNorman is also a beautifully animated film. Be sure to stay through the credits to see a short example of just how much work went into a small scene. Laika Studios has long been an underdog in the animation wars, but while Disney/Pixar gets more accolades, it’s Laika that seems to try to innovate both technically and narratively with every story. If you’re unfamiliar with the studio, you owe it to yourself and your film collection to check them out.
Verdict
A great “beginner” horror movie for kids that think they’re too old for things like Hocus Pocus and are too young for Hereditary, ParaNorman is more than just family-friendly scares. It’s brilliant storytelling that should be unearthed by more viewers.
ParaNorman is rated PG and available to rent/buy on your favorite VOD service.
