Karaba’s Potential Never Fully Realized

by Naamenblog

I recently watched the french animated film Kirikou & the Sorceress on the advice of multiple friends and while I did like it I had issues, specifically with the character Karaba the Sorceress.

Let me start by saying that I love the evil witch archetype that Karaba is part of. In fact, there was a post I wanted to write for this blog that never really came together about one of the first female characters I loved being the Evil Queen in Snow White. It probably says more about my being an only child for 12 years than about Disney that I identified with her. She was powerful and went for what she wanted, how can you not admire that? I mean I’m not advocating sending poison apples to your rivals but her I loved the character if not the actions.

Kirikou & the Sorceress is based on African folk tales and Kirikou is an exceptionally small boy who manages to birth himself and is already wise (and really really tiny) when he comes out. His village has been terrorized by the evil Karaba who has eaten all the men, dried up the spring and blocked the path over the mountain.

So my problem with Karaba is obviously not that she falls in this Evil Witch archetype/stereotype but that there are a couple moments when she seems like she’s going to burst out of that mold but it never comes to fruition.

Warning – Spoilers Ahead

One of the things I really liked about the film was that Kirikou keeps asking people “But why is Karaba so mean/evil/wicked?” and the villagers mostly shrug off his questions. I liked that we were looking at motivations for what she was doing, not just calling her evil. When Kirikou manages to cross over the mountain and talk to the Wise Man, he finds out that Karaba is mean because she’s in constant pain. Karaba was attacked by a group of men who drove a thorn into her back. The thorn is in a spot she can’t reach and she doesn’t want it removed anyway because while she’s in constant pain from it, it is #1 the source of her powers and more importantly #2 she remembers vividly the intense pain as they drove it into her and doesn’t want to experience anything like that again.

So a hint of motivation and backstory…but then it’s never really explored. We now know how to defeat Karaba but I kept waiting for the attack on her to be explained. Why did these men attack her? Why did they drive a magical thorn into her back? Were they the men of the village she’s terrorizing? Oh, I forgot the pain of women doesn’t matter.

My other issue with the thorn is that it robs her character of any agency. At least at Disney the Evil Witches were evil because they wanted to be, they weren’t being forced by some external force. It also ignores the fact that her being angry at men after this was done to her, is a completely valid reaction.

The fact that everything was the thorn and none of it her is further pushed by the fact that once Kirikou pulls the thorn from her back she’s automatically a sweet woman with no hint of magical ability and she’s oh so thankful for the thorn being removed when before she did not want it removed at all.

The other hint of going beyond the mold is when Kirikou asks a boon of Karaba for freeing her from the thorn, discounting the fact that her welfare was never his main concern at all and freeing her was just a side affect of freeing his village of her. And that she didn’t want to be freed of it, he made that decision for her. What he asks for, is her hand in marriage (Just wow, what kind of “You owe me” date-rape, give it up or walk home kind of bullshit is this). Her reply is something along the lines of despite him freeing her she will never be a servant again. I cheered. Then Kirikou talks about how it wouldn’t be like that in his village. She still refuses. So he asks her for a kiss. She agrees. At her kiss he grows into a full grown man immediately. She falls into his arms and they decide to marry. Wha…?

Her objections to marriage are still valid and they somehow just get tossed out the window. Why? Because he’s a handsome man? It’s never discussed. Again because her feelings and thoughts don’t matter.

The fact that Karaba had all these hints of maybe being more than Disney’s evil witch but in the end she just did not live up to her potential makes it worse for me. I left feeling let down, as if I got my hopes up only to see them fizzle out. I’m not saying Kirikou & The Sorceress is a bad film. I actually enjoyed watching it, seeing a lot of African people (albeit animated) portrayed on film without rampant stereotypes, the songs, the visuals and more. But for me it’s more of a rental kind of movie than a buy and re-watch one.

- More blogging by Naamenblog at http://naamenblog.wordpress.com/

Previous: Bits and pieces of singularity conversation --- Next: Definitely Not Safe For Work

Filed under TV & Film, female characters | Comment (0)