Why Labyrinth is Disturbingly Dirty
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
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The Labyrinth is a masterpiece. A messed up, weird, creepy, but fantastical masterpiece about a young girl who makes a steep bargain with a spicy older goblin king, and has to go through an impossible labyrinth to try to undo it. And it’s weirdly zesty.
It’s a movie you watch 100s of times and think “yeah, of COURSE the middle ageless Goblin King LOVES a spoiled fifteen-year-old. Totally normal!” And then the years go by, and you think there’s NO WAY you remembered that correctly because why would Jim Henson make a movie about a suave tight-pantsed Davie Bowie putting the moves on a near child? And so you rewatch it and YES that IS WHAT HAPPENS and you re-evaluate your whole life, but then think “Wait. Maybe I misinterpreted this love story situation, so get your hands on the novelization of the movie, read it through 3 times, and feel compelled to tell the world that, boggling goblins, it somehow gets even CREEPIER AND WEIRDER!
This is a very deep dive into the messed-up happenings in the Labyrinth movie and book, and why they happen. You’ll never see the infamous ballroom scene with Jareth and the beautiful dress the same way ever again!
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#labyrinth #jimhenson #abitfrank #fairytales
Movie title: Labyrinth
How it lives rent-free in my head and heart: THE Labyrinth 🔮
I know of pan's labyrinth but not quite familiar with this labyrinth.
Yep, the subtext is strong on that one, which is good because you can have a different experience watching as a child, a teenager and an adult!
you are right i remember this movie vaguely from when i was a kid, mom put it on a few times and now im a little weirded out
Labyrinth.
Adding "the" is just silly and unneccessary
there is a manga sequel where the goblin king wants toby to be the new goblin king
I love the way that the fae are portrayed in the labyrinth, the regretful deal, the peach making her forget. I always love it when the fae are accurate and scary.
I mean... I'd normally fight them, buuuuut if they lookin' like David Bowie I wouldn't argue being spirited away
It's legit like all other fae lore from around the world.
Technically they are neither good or bad, they vary. You can look it up, its interesting. But a sinister one is good for the movie.
It's funny when the fairy bites her, and Hoggle acts like it is common sense that it would.
@@theflowerhead agreed I’ve done plenty of research. I was just saying that for the case of this particular fae.
I think Hoggle makes it abundantly clear right from the beginning, when Sarah gets bitten by the faerie:
“It BIT me!”
“What did you EXPECT faeries to do?”
“I THOUGHT they did nice things? Like granting wishes…”
“Shows what you know, don’t it?”
Dang... this definitely hits different post Epstein, Cosby, Nickelodeon etc. This world is so evil.
I find the creep factor of the adult Goblin King appropriate. He is a Fae, so he doesn't have the same morals and/or understanding of right and wrong as mortals do. This works, I think, especially seeing as how appealing fae and other beings tend to be to teenagers (especially in folklore)
Yeah, humans and far have VASTLY different views. Humans are more ingrained in the order of their reality, Far are ingrained in the chaos of their irreality.
@@AmaryInkawult ooh, well said. I like the wording of their irreality
Also to his true age, every human would be shockingly young, so him having zero feel for it and having been alive for times, where 12 and 14 used to be adequate marriage ages for girls....
As an Irishman, I can confirm the Fae are massive JERKS.
or this is a story about something completely different.
In interviews with Brian Henson, he talks about the fact that his father specifically wrote this story as a cautionary tale about young women falling prey to predatory older men. He was a father whose youngest daughter was the same age as Sarah. Given what we know about Hollywood, his concerns make a lot of sense. The fact that so many people think this is a romance has always been strange to me. This is my favorite film and has been since I first saw it when I was 8. I never thought it was romantic.
Yeah, I've seen shippers go into tantrums online when it's brought up that Sarah canonically never loved him like that.
I'm the same. I never saw Bowie's character as a romantic figure: he was a kidnapper and cruelly tormented those below him. I never understood why anyone would think he was meant to be a positive romantic figure, he was clearly a predator
I first saw it when I was 15 and watched it over and over again and read the book around that age. When you also realize Jareth is patterned after her mother’s boyfriend and her mother is an actress (if I recall) who floats in those kinds of circles, it does speak even more volumes. This isn’t a romance and never was. It wasn’t meant to be. All that’s sparkly and beautiful isn’t kind and sweet. Now going to watch this video and going off of memories from nearly 35 years or so ago when I read the book. Maybe this will refresh me a little too.
I never knew this, I learned something new today. Thank you
I believe that. People have romanticized Lolita and that was never the author's intent.
A meaningful and terrifying quote that sticks out for me is "fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." It sounds like so tempting a deal, to have someone powerful be at your beck and call, someone you would love to be with. But like all Fae deals, there is a catch. It is a way of gaining control through subservience, luring you into something much harder to escape. You gain something that could grant all you desire at the cost of your freedom and sense of self. It's full of contradictions and that is the point.
And I always loved that line because of the trap it really is, how tempting it is.
I was in a relationship with a narcissist, he said almost the exact same thing to me. I thought it was so strange. I told him I didn't want him to be my slave. But it was projection in the end, he wanted me to be his slave
Since having left my narcissistic former partner I've always had the sharpest pang of cringe from this line. He never said it so directly that I recall, but it is the reality of what he wanted.@@Aashka_The_Mystic
I love the use of the M.C. Escher style endless staircases to illustrate this Labyrinthine paradox.
I was in my teens when I watched the movie for the first time (it was a couple years after it came out) and I always thought that quote was weird. And weirdly predator like.
Labyrinth is just perfect representation of the Celtic fables of the fey. The goblins waiting for Sara to say the exact right words, Toby being swapped with a changeling, Jareth offering Sara the crystal in exchange for her brother, him offering to give her brother back if she can complete the seemingly easy task of getting to his castle but it ends up being much more complicated than expected, the fact that to get what she wanted all she had to do was ask the worm or others the right questions, the fact that in Irish folklore you never eat food offered to you by the fey, (what happened with the peach is a perfect example of what happens.) and the obviously lopsided deal he offers in the end of the story. (Fear me, obey me, do as I say and I will be your slave) it sounds just like most lopsided deals the fey offer.
Brian and Wendy Froud were involved in all of this. They know more about Fae fables and myths than maybe anyone.
with regards to the deals...if you just listen to the words its not that hard.
As someone who reads a lot of folklore and has for many years; to deal with the Fairies safely just be a good person. They reward those who... How do I put this...? They reward the humble, kind, talented, generous people.
Where people kept getting caught off-guard was, well, because they thought that they were going to get away with what they were doing... And usually it was something self-serving, ie; the Human character was being selfish, self-centered and/or greedy. You get out of bad situations involving Fairies by simply not being greedy and/arrogant. It's the only consistent method that I've come across so far.
Regarding Changelings; I highly doubt that it would be for the very Human reasons cited in the stories... Or the idea that life among Humans would somehow be easier given the descriptions of their own realms. One of these days I'm going to have to write a story, or in Universe fable about it...
@@bluelunarmonkeytarot8533 Someone impatient or naive would only catch the "what's in it for them" part. Sarah stopping and considering what he says is a sign of how much she'd matured in the labyrinth.
@@ApsaraSilverwing from what i've read tho you can get into hot water w the fae even if you were 'humble' because firstly their terminology is different so you could get into a deal with one without realising it, i read "thank you" for example, locks you into a deal in which they've done something for you and now you owe them something.
the irish don't even say the word fae/faeries thats how cautious they are of them. so i personally wouldn't recommend having any kind of interaction with them, if you see them or they show themselves to you i would not engage. seeing as faeries have different morality to us i wouldn't let them be the judge of my character and give them power to dish out what they thought i deserved lol. they are self serving too.
i would look forward to your story tho, i've loved faeries since i was a child!
I dunno, a Goblin being a creep checks out.
Yeah agreed
Also explains the tight trousers 😅
*Goblin slayer has entered the chat*
He's a pedo creepo in a kid's movie. But hey, it's a prepubescent girl imagining it in goblin form, unaware of how sick older men liking her truly is. So really, it's motivated by her own inclinations. Which is, although strange, somewhat realistic.
@@generallymexican8978 I was just about to make a Goblin Slayer comment. 😂
9:45 Sarah, they behaved that way *because* you were innocent, because they knew they could take advantage of it.
One extra detail that often goes unnoticed in the movie because it is so hidden away in the set dressing: there is a photo of the mom and Jeremy in Sarah’s bedroom… and Jeremy is also played by David Bowie.
I'm going to have a to rewatch until I find that
@@kohakuaiko It's at 10:46 in this video.
@@tomigun5180 I meant in the movie, but thank you for the timestamp.
Yess
Great catch!
My interpretation as a kid watching this was that everything he said or did with Sarah was in the service of getting her to forget about Toby. That all of the seduction was just to make her cave and forget the task at hand. I never considered that he had any genuine feelings for her at all
I thought he was fascinated by her.
Like a kid would be fascinated with new shiny toy.
tbf no adult (and jareth is adult-coded) has ever had genuine feelings for a minor
@@bobob9969 Well, I agree, but there are people who think he was in love with her or something
What I love about this movie is that it can be layered enough to have several interpretations. On a deeper level, we can use it as an allegory for girlhood and growing up. Or we can see it as both allegorical and about Jareth tricking Sarah into forgetting Toby. Then, there’s the added layer of those who want to apply fae lore into the story, and view Jareth as the archetype of fae “stealing”, seducing , deceiving mortal girls/women.
@@ScarletVoodoo the ones who take it all at face value
Nah the book didn't change my view on Jareth. It EXPANDED it. He's a fae, and he acts like it more in the book than he does in the film. Everything was more wild as true fae in the book. Nothing is ever as it seems with beings who hold vastly different views and concepts than you. However, David Bowie was an excellent choice for a film adaptation. He definitely has an otherworldly glow to him. While the film was watered down in terms of shock, he captured what a high ranking fae would actually look like.
lol the book is the adaptation
So, high ranked fae is supposed to wear 80s rockstar hairstyle?
@@jsmith6599 not exactly, it's not just looks with fae. It's about how they act. While some CAN look like an 80s hair metal himbo, others are quite literally trees. Jareth is shown as powerful and quite capable of warping his own realm, that is what I was getting at. The same with the "you have no power over me" scene. Fae only have as much power as you invite them to. And this includes names. Everything is a power tool to a fae. And they ain't shy of abusing their tools. Hence the ball scene, he tried to rob her of that pesky innocence. As much as there are ways of power to a fae, there is also ways to protect against them. He's powerful but also follows his own self imposed chaotic rules. Making him as much a force of nature than a villain. Which in the time of this film's era, Hair Metal had that otherworldly feel to it.
@@jsmith6599 It was supposed to mimic his owl form's plumage.
Jareth: "Hoggle, if she kisses you, I'll turn you into a prince."
Hoggle: "You will?"
Jareth: "THE PRINCE OF THE LAND OF STENCH!"
Someone was clearly jealous
XD
Poor hogs breath..I mean Hoggle.
@@anastasia-fr1gn "Higgle--:
"*Hoggle*😤"
"Yes 🙄"
My fav exchange in the movie
“Oh vould you leeesten to this crrrrrap!”
I think what it boils down to though, is that we're supposed to see the movie much in the same way as the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie (one of the first movies Jim Henson ever saw as a child, and we even see the book in a very early scene). Sarah is a young woman caught between wanting to be seen as a mature young woman, but still holding on to beloved childhood objects.
I remember being pretty much the same way at that age, and I would watch Labyrinth and Legend and Company of Wolves and Ever After on a constant rotation. I had massive crushes on Bowie and Tim Curry in high school lol (and don't get me started on Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy)
It's such a tricky age to capture, but when done well it really resonates for sure! (Also Colin Firth IS the best Darcy)
@abitfrank have you read the first screenplay draft by Terry Jones? It's very different from both the book and the movie, so there must have been a lot of cooks in the kitchen here. I think most of his contributions to the end product ended up being things like the Worm and the Door Knockers.
@@abitfrankamen!
Ha! I saw you in the comments to another video (don't remember what it was anymore, but it's always nice to see a familiar fa-... er, avatar).
Same crushes here too 😅. Especially Mr. Darcy ❤.
In original Fae mythology, the Faeries only live a couple thousand years, so that’s likely why Jareth started to feel his age. He was running out of time, and human souls can help restore their timeline.
In what culture exactly? Also what myths??
In Tam Lin the Faerie Queen pays a tithe to hell in the form of a human’s soul.
@@seed_drill7135 that's not exactly evidence of them aging...
There isnt an original Fae mythology. The stories come from different regions over different time periods and it's not always even clear what creatures are "Fae" as opposed to other mythological creatures.
@@NatashazDean917 ah..so your definition of "the original fae mythology" comes from The 70s
Nice.
My older sister took me to see this movie when it was in theaters. I had a baby brother at the time, and my family structure wasn't much different than the movie. I encountered an older man around the same time, and I discovered a million and one reasons to revisit the "stranger danger" topic with teenagers. My "Jareth" was in his late 20s, and a friend introduced us, so I didn't realize he was still a stranger. My "Jareth" is in prison for life now. I wasn't his first, but I was his last. That's what Labyrinth means to me.
I'm sorry that happened to you, this is why we can't just teach stranger danger alone, we need to teach people how to identify predatory behaviour from family, friends and acquaintances as they are more likely to assault you than a stranger
@@valkyriedarquese All I can say is that when you reach a certain age, the lures aren't candy or clowns, but shopping and adult conversation, hearing, "You're so mature for your age!" is a huge red flag for me when I hear people say it to kids nowadays. That's the line that got me. The "lures" have to do with being seen as intelligent enough to make one's own decisions until it's too late to make any decisions at all.
@@Sarappreciates Yes that's a classic grooming technique, telling victims they're so special and different and mature for their age. I was well educated as a child and that included well educated against all grooming behaviour so I could spot this and turn it back on creeps, but other girls my age? they fell hook line and sinker because their parents and society didnt teach them :(
Nothing?! NOTHING?! NOTHING, TRA LA LA!
He really did have the best line deliveries
This is mine, too. 😂
Why does Hoggle have to be so close to his crotch during that part?
Jareth: Higgle...
Sarah: Hogwart!
Hoggle: Hoggle!!
Love that scene, I died😂💀
Its simple for me.
Jareth's interest in Sarah reminiscents that of a mythological god, say like Zeus, eying an attractive mortal and having their way with them.
In some stories, Fairies would also kidnap beautiful mortals and keep them as their kept lovers.
Sarah was just the first to boldly and bravely reject the advances of a powerfully supernatural pursuer.
Hopefully, he learns that's not the way to attract a woman.
Tell that to all the hardcore shippers out there, LOL.
@@imjessietr29 well, not all shippers are right.
Maybe she's not the first. It'd be hilarious if Jareth has to go through this over and over because he keeps getting rejected 😂
@@TheMormonSorceressIt depends on the woman, or the man for that matter. We are all individuals either our own set of desires, & tastes.
Aww, that message about her stepmother always being there for her - and her realizing who is a true parent to her - is really sweet.
It makes sense, too, because the entire mythical world is constructed from her imagination while failing to evolve from her premature state, and Sarah was kind of acting immature to her folks in the beginning.
0:38 that's not what happens. The labyrinth is Sarah's construct, Jareth is there because he's 'safe' - this is the world she creates to confront all her own coming-of-age issues. As Jareth tells her, he's only frightening because she made him that way. As she says, he never had any power.
It's both. It's real AND her creation. It's paradoxical, and that's why it's so good
@@LenaFerrari that raises the question of what 'real' means. All the things she sees in the Labyrinth are things she imagined, based on things in her real life - even Jareth, and time flows differently - she's in the labyrinth for about 5 hours of real time and about 13 hours of labyrinth time. Even though we see Sarah's friends in the room at the end, we don't see anyone else see them... every indication is that they only exist in her own imagination.
@@MichaelJohnson-kq7qgyes thats exactly what makes it all a PARADOX! imaginary vs reality. fun fact: pardoxes are what make the world go round. ever watch the disney cartoon of sword and the stone!?
@@bluelunarmonkeytarot8533I'm glad I'm not the only person who understands paradoxes make the world go round!
Kudos!
I remember Lindsay Ellis reviewing the movie and explaining that for herself and countless other girls, this movie was their sexual awakening. And as a straight man, I see it. Bowie commands your attention every moment he's on screen
I was pretty young when I saw this movie and bowie definitely caught my attention with that cod piece.
@violetdusk1968 there's no cod piece..
It's a leotard and not much else.
It was more than just an awakening in the usual sense for many.
The scenes have a sexually predatory undercurrent to them (especially the ballroom) and you feel like the main character is powerless.
For the majority of the film the only request/order she gives is 'No/stop' but the majority of characters never follow it.
The friends she found along the way give her agency to set boundaries and so she lets them in emotionally- freezing out the ones that won't respect that or try to shift the blame to her for things they did.
This movie was able to show a lot of little girls in a way no parent could ever teach them that by simply existing as an adult- they would need to be on guard from their own Jareths.
I mean, who didn't have a little awakening triggered by David Bowie ?
@lococomrade3488 Well-known fact of movie was it was a cod piece. that tight of pants, you would be able to see the outline of everything.
I think my favorite variation on the movie is a partially filmed ending where Jareth smiles at her while the throws the glass ball at the end. That he was always just trying to teach her a lesson on strength.
👀There's cut footage from Labyrinth around?
My German vhs version had the smile and throw ending, it also looked like his realm was in the ball or the ballroom and it shattered. That's why I never saw it negatively, he taught her life lessons and went away. Maybe it's his favourite game, testing young humans and watch delightful what they do. Like a child watching an ant and putting rocks and sticks in it's way..
Ooooh where can I see it??@@StrangeQuack
@@veronika4870 come over with a vhs player and I rummage through the storage
@@StrangeQuack I think I have two different dvd releases, and now I wish I had something to play them on again so I can see if there's a difference in versions. (I always thought I imagined him smiling, because he clearly wasn't all that upset)
Her baby brother Toby represents her innocence. She decides to give it away, but then changes her mind, thus turning down Jared’s and taking her brother/ innocence back.
I always wondered why the brother was taken. This helps in my head cannon.
I think he represents her responsibilities as an older sibling, which she gives up to prolong the carefree spirit of her childhood.
@@moutinexeidwkei I always thought he was her tie to the mortal world. I was almost Sarah's age in the story when I first saw the movie, AND I had a baby brother at the time. He was like an anchor to home for me when things got stormy.
@@Sarappreciatesalso, faes are just known to take babies, as in this case, to extend their lives
@@Sarappreciates basically you're all correct. Toby's all of those things.
"It's only forever. Not long at all." Only one of my favorite lines. Despite the over all creep factor of this story, I have loved this movie since I was little.
5:11 - I'm pretty sure that she says "You should have dates at your age." This is important because it keeps her age slightly more ambiguous.
Yup.
Meaning she is a teenager. Not a kid anymore but not adult either.
Connelly was what, 15 when she filmed this? I think they cast exactly the right person. Actually all the casting was great, admittedly mostly voiceactors.
I was around 14 when i saw this and i always thought it was a horror film. Sarah acts like a child who was abused and can’t make social connections with boys her own age.
Out of the whole film, the most disturbing element for me was her step mother’s pink canopy bed. And the fact that the father was forced to sleep on that monstrosity.
XD
"Such a pity."
and
"You say that so often; I wonder what your basis for comparison is."
The entire analysis of the Ball Scene now reminds me of Sweeney Todd; how Mrs. Lovette explains what happened to Lucy Barker - Benjamin's wife. The fact that Beadle Bambford comes to her, claiming that Judge Turpin wishes to apologize for his behavior toward her. Beadle takes her to the Judge's house, where there is a Masquerade Ball going on, at which the Judge seizes the opportunity while under a mask, to force himself onto her; and the other attendees of the ball just laugh at the display.
This sends the idea that these Masquerades were done purely for promiscuity; it was most likely that in addition to wearing masks, recreational drugs were also used, and most of the attendees there probably assumed that Lucy and the Judge were just _hooking up._ So it could very well be likely that young girls could fall victim to such a thing at some of these parties.
But in a lot of ways, the book helps put things into perspective for me. Granted, I know that all of this is metaphorical cause it's Sarah's fantasy, but the trick is to figuring out how the jagged pieces fit together in the puzzle.
I like that they give Jareth his own character arc in that he fears he's getting old, which is why he takes Toby - I feel like its a reference to a Manga Sequel that Labyrinth received, that follows Toby as the main antagonist, now as a pre-teen boy. The idea being that in that story, Jareth has named Toby as his Heir and wants him to inherit the throne of the Goblin King. So in a sense, this story is doing the same thing; Jareth wants an heir to raise and mold in his image so that he can retire in peace.
Then there's Sarah. Jareth is intrigued by her because she can defy him. She's too old to turn into a Goblin like he can do with Toby, but she's also too young for him to seduce and keep her - whether it be as a consort or maybe even make her into his queen, so that she can produce heirs for him. It's like you said; she's so young that she hasn't really experienced those kinds of things as of yet.
So this explains the ball scene. It's fascinating to consider what Jareth is doing. In the movie, without the context, we can only infer that he's doing it to try and distract Sarah long enough to run-out the clock. But with this context, you realize that Jareth was trying to get them _both._ Not only was he trying to run-out time so that he could keep Toby, but also that he was trying to keep Sarah as well. The ball was meant to corrupt Sarah, and introduce her to the world of the lascivious, thus awakening those urges within her. If she had succumbed, then Jareth would have power over her and he would have won.
It doesn't really change how I view the ball scene cause I more or less saw it in a similar way already; but it gives me more context that I can appreciate. It also somewhat explains why Jareth seems forlorn when Sarah makes it to the castle and he confronts her in the MC Esher staircase room. He wants her to stay because he believes they can create something beautiful together, but at the same time, he knows that she can't stay; she is not corrupted and he is powerless to corrupt her. And I think part of his sadness comes from the fact that because he is so corrupt, he cannot entice her to stay. Therefore, literally, he and Sarah cannot exist in the same world.
Excellent analysis! Have you seen the official video of As the World Falls Down? I think it is a true fit for your ending sentence. 😊
His monologue at the end was very music a desperate last-ditch effort, especially as she's reciting the play's lines and ignoring him.
Those magic pants held nothing back.
Pants! Magic pants!
Um, no, i've seen the movie.And they're definitely holding something back.
That accidentally sock really changed the vibe.
Did that thing have its own credit in the movie? 😮😅
@@SchizoGeniuspants magic, pants magic pants magic, pants magic put that magic spell on me!
“You have no power over me.”
Also, I’d really like it if you were to consider a Creepy Origins video on “Bluebeard”, please.
Shes already talked about Bluebeard
@@RiveroftheWither , I know she’s brought him up, but I don’t think that she’s discussed his origins. Plus, she has read the original fairytale.
Guilles de Rais
It doesn't change anything for me. He is fae and they are hundreds of years old. Known to lure humans of all ages off. They can be tricksters, and a peach wiping the memory is pretty normal also. Lore says partaking in fae food or drink is basically like a memory wipe or long drug trip where you lose all sense of time.
I've known since I saw the movie as a young child that it was a fae kidnapping a human....or trying to. That actually appealed to my child self. I'd have given anything to have had the chance Sarah did when I was younger than the character Sarah.
It was the escape from my childhood hell. I was actually obsessed with fae because their stories usually involved kidnapping humans and leaving them in a trance, basically making them numb. Always sounded better than what I was living through. 🤷♀️
So there's really no change other than the book adding the mom's bf ick factor. That I'm glad wasn't overly covered in the movie.
But any story with fae and humans the age gap is huge. Bigger than a humans life expectancy to begin with. Hell, they look like 5 and be 1000. So the fae part doesn't creep me out.
Edit: favorite quote...
"Things aren't always what they seem in this place, so you can't take anything for granted." From the Ello worm
And song lyric
"It's only forever, not long at all."
As a kid watching this I understood why Jim Hansen did this. The Goblin King represented that weird combination of power and authority and danger that parts of our culture encourage young woman to be attracted to and instead of giving in and her love "changing him" (which is unrealistic) the young girl in the story rejects the allure, a healthier option. I get exactly why he would want that narrative told.
I've always seen the movie as following the "Man versus Self" plot; after all, everyone, from the Worm to Jareth does everything Sara ASKS them to do, even if what she ASKS isn't what she WANTS. It was a story of a little girl in a teenager's body maturing emotionally into a young woman in a teenager's body.
The book, from what I've learned in this video, sounds like it is a blend of "The novelization of the film" and "Rewriting Lolita into the fantasy genre."
The book was the original idea for the story before they changed it. There's a video of it online. Bowie even had a double role as the mum's boyfriend.
@@keanucool6723and it’s very clear in the photo on her vanity. It wasn’t a rewriting of anything, right? But it gave more explanation.
Its not re-writing lolita, it also explores that maturing comes with romantic and sexual awakenings; and that adult men are often predatory to young women and girls.
I wouldn’t say labyrinth re-writes Lolita at all, Lolita being written from the view of Humbert Humbert, where in that novel we read the distortion of the kidnapping and exploitation of Delores through her abuser’s eyes-he calling her Lolita, his ‘nymphet seductress’ not the person she really is, the 12 year old Delores. Very much not a coming of age story, as Humbert would want us to believe, but a cautionary tale showing the illusionary power of predators to hide behind pretty words to spin their abuse as conventional romance. What they do is so horrible to look in the eye that the people around them take their word at face value. And maybe the similarity lies in that what’s being presented to us is a fantasy, however the person constructing it wouldn’t be analogous to Sarah, actively wanting the reader to also take on his accounts of events.
I always liked Sir Didymus and his cowardly steed Ambrosius
He reminds me of Basil Brush.
My understanding is the goblin kingdom is a reflection of the real world - I haven’t read the book in a really long time but I’m sure there’s a description of Jeremy wearing essentially what wearing what we see Jareth in - the story is her essentially working through teenage stuff, her attraction to her mothers boyfriend etc
You remind me of the babe (what babe?)
Babe with the power (what power?)
Power of voodoo (who do?)
You do (do what?)
Remind me of the babe
I saw my baby
Trying hard as babe could try
What could I do ?
The writers of screenplay novelizations often bring their own interpretations to the story, and I don't think you can get this one from the movie itself.
If you lay aside the distraction of Bowie's tight pants, the message is more that he is there as the opponent/guide that you find in some versions of the Hero's Journey. He is like Cerridwen in the tale of Taliesin, or Merlin in The Once And Future King, who provides challenges for the Hero/ine to encounter and grow through.
One part of the challenge may be sexual. However, there is another way of interpreting the ballroom scene. It is the false distraction of frivolous romance. Just because Jared is the masculine focus for this, it does not mean that he is interested in Sarah from a sexually predator's point of view. The words that he utters in the final conflict reveal that he is there to test her and he is at least partly aware of his role.
There is no love story in this movie; Jared exists as an archetype. There is no reward for him. If Sarah loses, he has failed, and she will go on into a future of insipid immaturity. This encounter is a sort of divine intervention, designed to deflect her away from a life of petty selfishness. Looked at from this angle, Jared is a heroic being, who seizes the opportunity of Sarah's cry to the goblins to teach her a valuable and life changing lesson.
so basically from this angle, The Labyrinth would serve a sort of ""modern"" variation of a Grimm fairytale. A dark challenge set to teach the protagonist (often a young, naïve child) a lesson to nudge them in the direction of maturity
@@itsClaptrap I think the 'Hero's Journey' aspect of this makes it less of a push towards conformity and more a source of empowerment. There is very much a sense of Sarah discovering her powers as she makes her way through the Labyrinth. In other tales, the ending amounts to rebirth. Most obviously with Gwyddion, who is consumed by Cerridwen and is literally reborn as Taliesin. And the hero/ine often comes forth as a person of special purpose after their transformation, even if in Sarah's case it is just a step towards becoming a more fully empowered woman.
It's creepy that Jareth's character blended protective and possessive behaviors in such a way that it is difficult for those who don't know to identify which it is, and easy to confuse possessive and manipulative with what is truly not protective behavior.
Strange, this must be one of those differences between men and women that kicks in from a very early age: seems like I hear this sort of thing from a lot of young women, not just about 'Labyrinth', that there's confusion about how romantic a character seems to them that, to me, was always pretty clearly predatory and creepy. As a guy, it never crossed my mind at any point of seeing this movie so many times since the '80s that the Goblin King was anything BUT exactly the sort of person people were talking about when they would say "Don't talk to strangers!"
Incidentally, there is no baby in the story: he's a metaphor for childhood innocence, which the girl is wishing impulsively would be taken away from her, only to have second thoughts as the story progresses and she matures a little more, escaping just by the "skin of her teeth" . I wouldn't quite have caught that much in my first few viewings as a kid, but I definitely understood there was a little more to what was going on than was being presented on the surface. I never noticed or remembered the "Jeremy" character, but yeah, the identification with "Jareth" fits!
I always understood the movie to be not a love story - that never crossed my mind - but instead a movie about two different roads toward growing up which the main character could go down, one of them far more tempting and pleasant on the surface than the other, but not at all a healthy sort of maturity - and part of reaching a more genuine maturity would come with realizing the difference, and the main character learning to tell the difference and make wiser decisions is the heart of the story.
Whatever - no, the Goblin King is NOT a misunderstood good guy in a romantic story, and he's not there to be rescued or fixed, he's absolutely the story's villain in direct conflict with the story's main character, and to be avoided and resisted or beaten by growing up and growing strong and independent enough to tell when he is being deceptive, manipulative, and seductive - it really surprises me how easy that apparently is to miss!
You should check out over the garden Wall. Trust me I think you would really enjoy it.
Lol yes
Omg yess such a lovely cartoon and love the storyline 🥰🎃🐦🐸
Every Autumn time I marathon this with a big cup of tea and a knitting project! Such a cozy show.
Oh yes, such a beautiful story, 😊 I know she's going to love it
bro i'm pretty sure she has
A few months ago Cinema Therapy did a video on this movie. Normally their content is great, analyzing characters and stories in movies and relating them to things like therapy, self-worth, and self-growth. But their video on this movie wasn't very good. They didn't like the movie, so they just kept making fun of it. In particular, they kept going on about how Sara and Jareth's relationship was not real love, it was just creepy and illegal.
The backlash was significant, however. Everybody pointed out to them that was the whole point of the movie. Jareth is the villain. Villains do villainous things, after all. And everybody pointed out that the movie was about Sara's self-growth, learning that this was not a healthy relationship.
I'm glad that I stopped watching them before they did that movie. Can't remember which one it was, but it was so obvious that they uploaded the best parts only to Patreon, since the YT version was very bland and the analyze wasn't very analytic at all. Which was sad because it was a great movie/character which would be perfect for their type of analyzing.
Doesn't surprise me if they have gotten even worse, I'm sad to say. How could they miss the point of this movie that bad?
Labyrinth is an insane coming of age/sexual awakening story. I'm happy I havent read the book. The ball room description reminds me of the Theater of Vampires scene in Interview with a Vampire and how the humans are so enthralled.
I'm surprised the weird sequel book series didn't have another Jareth/Sarah romance angle.
Interestingly enough, Jareth is (at least in my interpretation) much like Armand, who wanted Louis to be his companion because he felt disconnected from the world, being an old vampire or something like that... long lives tend to take a toll in the mind it seems...
If you mean the return to labyrinth manga yeah it did. Sarah just realized that they both had responsibilities and that if they ran off together Labyrinth would collapse in on itself. But it was still there, hence the kiss scene.
It also reminded me of vampires--the focus on blood, both the baby's and Sarah's.
@@jokerlyzermedia6603This movie has a MANGA ?
@@Nameless-ny8nk yeah! Its actually intriguing. Everyone returns! And Jareth LITERALLY crowned Hoggle prince of the land of stench 🤣
David Bowie in this film... Hooo boi, is it hot in here for anyone else?
Oh he DEFINITELY made the temperature rise 🤭
his "ever expanding spandex" 😋 🍻
unironically my bi awakening frfr...
I read the "romance" in this movie the same way as the "romance" in Phantom of the Opera. It’s not a good relationship, and you,re supposed to root AGAINST it.
The impression I always got was that Jareth is meant to be her teenage fantasy version of her mother's boyfriend, whom she had a crush on, the whole adventure being a dream.
I once bought a really cringy book called Nerds, Geeks, and Dorks or something like that which explained movie and comic references as well as gave advice. (It was a weird book) I'll never forget that the section on Labrynth was about how being a female geek could be difficult (the book mostly referenced guy geeks). The quote I will never foregt was "like Sarah you have to remember your not just the babe your the babe with the power". I think about the quote a lot when in sketchy situations because while being female comes with challenges we can choose say no and remove ourselvesfrom dangerous or preditory situations (if other people respect that decision is another thing unfortunately).
Labrynth has always been a deeply feminist movie for me in that way. Sarah has power, but unlike other films its not a sword or spells but her right to choose, and that's so powerful.
Sorry for the rambling response I'm just glad someone else has seen this movie in the same light.
You should do the never ending story book version. That is so much darker and I have been ruining childhoods with those revelations since I read it in middle school. I love the movie even more for having read the book even if it never reveals the true villian
The rock-biter's name has been randomly just inserting itself into my thoughts for decades now thanks to that book. I've literally worn out two copies. ♡
I remember kid's movies being way edgier and scarier back in the '80s. In many ways, that's a good thing IMO, because many children are forced to grow up fast and often don't have friends their age to breach such grownup subjects with in order to explore, leaving them to feel ostracized from both their own age group and adults that may be able to help. But, much like the old fairy tales, the stories can delve into the unnerving aspect of things that kids don't always have the vocabulary or lived experience to frame into the kind of questions that they may or may not fell comfortable asking to their parents or other trust-worthy adults for answers.
Yes, some of the content for kids in the '80s was pretty dark, but still extremely tame compared to the original versions of the old fairy tales that were used to warn children about the real and disturbing dangers of the world around them, albeit in the form or shape of monsters. A good way to frame the real monsters of our lives. There are some good real-world comparisons to the baddies of those old stories. Some might find them a bit much for kids, but, then, so can be their own real day-to-day lives, out in the world, or sadly, even at home.
Aligory is a strong teaching tool for sensitive subject matter. And, some subjects are a litle too harmful to just come right out and explain outright. These illusive tales can help open some windows to let in the air, to see if the discussion needs to be had, now, or can be left to discuss at a later time.
And, the memories of these stories can linger, so that if a child finds themselves in a questionable situation in the future, they have something to compare and make some connections that might otherwise not click in a moment of judgment. The need to shelter kids from some realities of life can be a hindrance to their growth, ability to learn, and ability to protect themselves, and kids understand a lot more than some parents give them credit for. Letting them be a little scared is ok. Some kids need to learn a little fear to keep them from getting into situations they shouldn't be in.
I think The Labrenth did a pretty fantastic job of addressing some very adult concepts that are unavoidable for someone, especially young girls coming of age. One could argue that 15 is even a little too late for some girls to be warned about the intentions of boys and some men in this day and age. Knowledge is power, and girls need to know what to look out for by the time they're 11 or 12... sadly.
It's like we've fallen back to the olden days when young girls were married off to rich land owners at the age 10 or 12, only it's not only an arranged marriage, but, any random creep out there who might try to take advantage that they need to be afraid of today. Some humans have always been monsters. That's why such dark stories even exist.
Ok but hear me out . . . If David Bowe shows up at my house in that outfit, I may have to go with him 😅
I think when the older character creeping on a character much too young for them is a monster of some kind, like a vampire or a "Goblin King", the creep factor is sort of the point. You get the sense that the bad guy is still a bad guy, despite being charming (seductive) toward their young victims. That whole "seduced by the Dark Side" deal.
I only have a problem with it if its a Twilight situation and the grown werewolf crushing on a newborn infant is supposed to be one of the good guys 😂
"The Strange, hot, faery man." I cackled.
Finally, someone gets that it is a coming of age story and that the Labyrinth was created by Sarah's mind, which is why a sequel should not have any of the original characters, because she already grew up. We would need a new protaganist and their subsequent mind world to navigate. This is also my all time favorite movie ever. I love the Fierys.
If you look closely, Sarah’s mom is dating a character played by David Bowie in the movie, you can see the photo on the mirror and some in the scrapbook.
In the scene when she is in the pit with all the hands holding on to her. Who else had the thought that maybe one of them might try something inappropriate with her? At first I thought I might just have a messed up head, but after hearing all these excerpts from the book, I’m started to rethink that.
One of them kind of does. One of the hands resides under or almost right on her breast
To this day that scene makes me uncomfortable. You are not alone. My daughter also feels the same way.
yes
as sadly we see foten when females surf a crowd: many take advantages.
Helping hands, or an eternal fall into the abyss. The choice is yours to make sweet child, & she chose down!! 😂
@@bryanmiller8604 I loved the behinds the scenes for that and Brian Henson explaining the idea they were going for. That and him explaining the intricacies of the eyes in the animatronic puppets.
My favourite quote from Labyrinth: "Smell... Baaaad!"
Mine was when they break out into that song.
You remind me of the babe. WHAT BABE!?
My mum loves this movie so much, and it rubbed off on me to such a degree it made me a Bowie fan and it's a big nostalgic mood for me. Seeing the book passages certainly makes it more overt, I already had questions about the themes in the movie.
I'm still enchanted by the ballroom scene though, I even want to dance to the song when I marry my girlfriend. I think the fact it sold the fantasy to me makes me question a little bit about myself, but when viewed as a commentary of the fantasies of a teenage girl I suppose it on some level makes sense that I was at the time, and in some ways still would, be willing to accept it. It's a bit conflicting.
"Come inside and meet the missus" - Just a worm
Its been one of my all time favorites since I was 5
So I've read the book too and I see it a bit differently as regards to Sarah & her step-monster. Sarah was not spoiled and selfish, she was mentally and emotionally abused by a step-monster and a father who didn't love her. Who saw her as trash. They wouldn't have noticed if she was gone. If I had been in her place and treated as poorly as she was, I would've told Jareth that I would stay under the condition he returned Toby since that was the only child step-monster and her "father" (and I used that term loosely since his one scene in the book proves he didn't care one bit about her) loved.
That's kind of how I saw it as well, when I saw the movie. But I haven't read the book yet. Still I think I agree more with your interpretation.
You realize that the point of the entire story is to be careful what you wish for? How each time Sarah complained that something wasn't fair, it was in fact very much fair, and usually the result of what she asked for? Aside from her mom walking out on her, Sarah's world only seems unfair because she is a teenager and therefore has little control over her circumstances, but that doesn't mean she's being treated unfairly (again, aside from her mom leaving.) Sarah was most certainly not abused in any way, either in the book or the movie. Not sure which Labyrinth movie you watched...
They really should’ve included that in the movie
@@reb9719 Neglect is a form of abuse.
@reb9719 they watched Disney movies where every stepmother is horrible. They are in the same fantasy world as Sarah.
This movie was a revelation into my Aroace self. In high school, my friends had a retro movie night and thought the goblin king was super hot, yet I thought "oh cool, its David Bowie". That's when I thought, "What are they seeing that I can't?". It felt like were in on a secret I wasn't allowed to know and for a time I thought I was broken that I couldn't experience such a fundamental human thing. It wasnt until 9 years later that I found the term Aroace, and everything clicked into place.
At 27 now, nothing has changed. To this day, I've never experienced love or lust like most women, never dated, never kissed. However this doesn't mean I'm naive or innocent, if anything, being an outside observer has given me a unique perspective of the darker side of reality and helped keep my friends out of danger when they've become blinded by love or other things that sound too good to be true.
I'm glad you were able to find the language that helped you realize you weren't broken for not being like your friends.
From what I got from the movie, Labrinth, is that it's exactly how a JRPG trope is done. Especially for the fact that it's essentially a dungeon crawler where the main protagonist is more or less a teenager where they have to fight the final boss (the Goblin King) in order to save her baby sister. Then the book is even worse and I had no idea that the Goblin King is a disgusting weirdo who again is making the moves on the main protagonist. Which again is pretty weird as the player/view of said video game/movie but it's kind of common in JRPGs where the "final boss" was basically the main protagonist's ex or something.
Fae folk are not bound by the same code of morals as mortals. If there's anything disgusting, it's her mom's boyfriend Jeremy. Also Jereth is very very old in comparison with a human, and it really wasn't so long ago that it was common for a girl to be married off at a very young age. At 15, she would almost be considered a spinster in some cultures. But they would certainly not be making movies like this nowadays...
@@m.scottmcgahan9900 I never said that the behavior was disgusting in my comment. I just thought it was weird and I also said that in many JRPGs the main antagonist (final boss) would have/already had made moves on the main protagonist knowing full well that on average they're 15-18 years old. I just said that it was kind of weird because in some games it made it seemed like the final boss can't get over the fact that the main protagonist broke up with them or rejected them, since you know they're evil and all.
@@deannal.newton9772 "I had no idea that the Goblin King is a disgusting weirdo"
@@m.scottmcgahan9900 Sorry about that and yes, he is indeed a weirdo. Similar to how Bowser is fixated on Princess Peach or how the main villian in Final Fantasy 9 is obsessed with Princess Garnet. I didn't say that the situation itself was disgusting, I said that the Goblin King was a disgusting weirdo on how he treats others and why he kidnapped her baby brother.
But that's the plot of the book she's reading and Jareth is using the story as the plot of his own adventure. Had she been rehearsing literally any other fairy tale, the plot would have been different.
According to to Minty Comedic Arts video on the movie, there was an unused script in which Jared would give Sarah an ultimatum. She should stay and be his queen as he'd rather have that than a little goblin prince. Supposedly she called him a miserable creep, punches him in the face and kicks him in the shin. In this version Jared was actually a goblin and this loss of standing due to her resisting his charms causes him to revert into a snivelling little goblin form who says "why does everything happen to me".
Woo! Another Minty fan in the wild
I have so many thoughts about the movie. I've never read the book. But I think a lot of the insinuated scenes definitely make me feel differently as an adult than they ever did as a teenager who was mostly oblivious to the world and hadn't been subjected to the way older men can prey on young girls.
As a teen, I simply considered it a great dark fairy tale and swooned over Jareth like everyone else, because who wouldn't want a very powerful and hot fae king to lavish them with attention and promise them their dreams if they just feared them, loved them and did as they said?
As an adult, I find it to be an extremely well told story of a young girl wanting to be seen as a grown woman but also still just a child who isn't ready for that yet, and how she comes to terms with her life, her own naivete, and how others will use her innocence of both the world and physicality against her until she's willing to stand up for herself and take her power into her own hands. And using an imagined world where all the obstacles she encountered were her own machinations and she was never in any real danger was a great way to safely explore it while still getting the point across that growing up is filled with mixed emotions and perils that can have some very confusing and, often, unwanted experiences.
So, I was only slightly younger than 15 when this movie came out, and David Bowie had a resurgence of popularity in 1982/1983 with "China Girl" and "Let's Dance" where he found a whole new crowd of teenage girls who loved him, and if I'm entirely honest this is why a lot of us went to see this movie. There were also young kids who went to see it, as well, but they were like "Jareth, who?" We all loved the idea of Bowie as Jareth, from his fabulous hair to his outfit to his famously compelling eyes. We thought he looked like an elf king. I'd like to tell you we were creeped out by the movie, but we weren't. We all thought it would be cool to be admired that way. So, I think the intention of the movie was to show him as a cautionary tale and promote the idea of taking control of your own destiny and not being taken in by an older man, but they chose the WRONG guy for that message. They should have chosen some normal handsome dude instead of someone with Bowie's particular charisma at the time. I watched this again as an adult and I was a little taken aback, to be honest. I remembered it as my fevered teenage brain filling in all the hormonal subtext, but nope.... not really. Watching it as an adult who hadn't thought about David Bowie in a number of years, I was properly put off. This is why they do focus group testing now. :D
You just proved that Bowie was perfect. Adults were supposed to be screaming that this is wrong - and why the pre-teen girls didn't get creeped out- or at least not too creeped out. Charisma was the key, not physical attractiveness.
@@KnugLidi Yes, definitely. Good eye contact and charisma goes a long way.
Wait, a girl that wants to live in imagination and doesn’t want to grow up gets whisked away by a magic man who also kidnaps her younger brother??? Is Labyrinth the alternative to Peter Pan?
Peter Pan is its own can of worms. cripes
@@caucasoidape8838Don’t ever tell Peter you want to grow up! ☠️
I always had a thing for Jareth (NOT David Bowie) and I feel no shame. But then again I always had a thing for older guys
without the novel, which i didnt know about til now, i always had the idea that not only is jareth old and bored, but that age and boredom are infecting the rest of the goblins as well and they're savvy to the fact that its because of jareth. but they're all still afraid of him at the end of the day because he's their king. even needing prompting to laugh during magic dance
i always kinda interpreted the final song of jareth's "within you" as him trying to hold on to power, to maintain the illusion, but at the end of the day he knows he's lost sarah.
"You'll never see the infamous ballroom scene the same way again."
Me (in horror): Is it an orgy?
When the valse (waltz) was introduced to France, the joke was "why bother with the music?".
I'm dead.. 😂😂😂
i think its a great lesson for modern age , The little red riding hood of the 20th century .
I have always loved Labyrinth, when I was a young child I did not pick up on a lot of the darker metaphors when it came to awakening sexuality. However, as I got older I started to think that the Labyrithth was about female puberty and the overwhelming, confusing, terrifying yet beautiful wonder that comes with it. I also picked up the feeling of accepting the changes from childhood to adulthood and how as people we want to grow up fast but also want to cling to the innocence of our childhood.
anyways loved the video.
The ballroom scene always scared me because I always felt the dancers were really screaming under their laughter 😮
it was meant to make you feel lost, confused, and helpless in a sea of mocking strangers who, you're right, might not want to be there either
Return to Labyrinth said Jareth ruled the Goblin Kingdom for 1300 years, so at this point, Sarah could be a hundred years old and he'd STILL be way older than her.
i was wondering if anyone was going to mention Return to the Labyrinth! I loved those books.
Seeing David Bowie once again is ethereal. I love your content since 2017 ❤
There's a fan theory that all of the goblins the goblins are just children disfigured by age. They are past children given up by other "Sarah"s. His aging placed into the children but also magical lands keeping them alive perhaps even being kept alive by Jareth so the aging/disfiguration doesn't revert back to him.
Also Sarah being hebrew for Princess might be more important. So when Hoggle asks "Who are you?" She replies "Sarah" he responds "That's what I thought " could be more of a recognition of oh of course the mortal allowed in is another Princess. After all kings would be trying to court a Princesses and it's obvious she isn't his first target.
thank you for also catching the meaning in her name and Hoggle's reaction
I previously thought the ending with Sarah inviting her friends to her room was a rushed metaphor for regressing into her childhood, rather than growing up. But your video gave me some deeper insight.
If what you say is true, Jareth and the obstacles he throws Sarah's way are a metaphor for the memories of her biological mother, and the glitzy glammy world she abandoned her family for.
By that logic, the friends Sarah made could possibly signify Sarah making peace with her stepmother, and understanding she's not the wicked step-parent she paints her as.
Yes, i think it's also that you can grow up and mature and still have childish joy and love but in a more balanced way
Sarah always loved fantasy and playing pretend. The Labyrinth friends at the end mean that although she goes through self maturation, it doesn’t mean she has to let those things go completely. 😊
Labyrinth is a story about that critical moment right before adulthood. To where sarah tests her bounderies. Experiencing the possibility of advances from an older man is testing her. See if she's ready to be an adult.
Always stopping before anything ever got too far. Sarah always realized shes not ready on her own.
Jerrith made everything a choice and allowed sarah freewill.
I wouldn't put any more into the film than what is presented.
I’m a linguistic anthropologist and I loved this analysis of labyrinth. Many don’t want to discuss such subject material in relation to children’s media so thank you for your courage and wisdom.
Now abitfrank if you want a sick, twisted, and dark story about Alice from Alice in wonderland where she survived a house fire that killed her family mysteriously and the event left a mental scar in her psyche that she is committed to a Victorian mental asylum where she suffers from vivid mental breakdowns where she travels to wonderland in her mind where she becomes a knife slashing bad ass to reclaim her her mind and save the inhabitants of wonderland from a gory evil thats trying to break her mind and leave her as a empty husk in a gothic setting that touches the themes of guilt, mental and physical abuse, mental illness, and a bunch of unspeakable evils then you should cover the American McGee's game series "Alice American McGee's" the first game and "Alice Madness Returns" the second game made in the 2000s and 2010s its a very interesting take on the Alice formula and you would have hours upon hours of things to analyze all the little details they added to the game worlds to really sink you in not to mention the art styles and the toy like weapons and dresses that changes on the environment but it was going to have a third game called "Alice Asylum" made in the 2020s but EA cancelled it even after American made a design bible for it that goes over everything he was going to do with it which it feels like a graphic noval alot of people were so disappointed and sad that it got cancelled. I thought this might be something that you would like to cover don't know if already heard of it but I've been watching you for awhile and you never brought it up i don't think, I would love video's on it but understand if you don't but I love all your analysis videos really gives me new perspective's on all the media you cover 🍄🐰🕳️❤️♣️♦️♠️🐛🦋🌹☕🎩👗🔪⚰️
My fav game!!!!!!!!
I love the art from those games so much. family friend had the original and I remember being so engrossed in the lore stuff that came in the box (like the doctor's journal about her)
How do we spice up this erotic fiction movie? *Henson appears from no where* "I have an idea..."
Well, that certainly wasn't an amazingly mundane and literal summary of the blindingly obvious whilst also managing to miss the actual point at all.
The dynamic between Sarah (the protagonist) and Jareth can be interpreted as having unsettling undertones. Jareth's obsession with Sarah and the way he tries to control her journey through the labyrinth can raise questions about power dynamics and consent.Many of the creatures in the labyrinth are designed to be both whimsical and unsettling. Characters like the Fireys, who can remove their own heads, and the various goblins can evoke a sense of discomfort due to their strange appearances and behaviors.
Oh I was waiting for this, specifically as someone who watched it for the first time as a kid well after most people forgot about it (mid 00's).
Now i've got to rewatch it... Maybe also The NeverEnding Story and Flight of the Navigator while i'm at it.
I loved labyrinth when I was little, and i totally didn't understand the difference between 15 year old Sarah and 40 something David Bowie, obviously they were both adults, so nbd 😂. It was on vhs, so once that kinda went out, I didn't see it for years, until my friend and i decided we needed to watch it again one Halloween. That was eye-opening 😂
The book definitely adds a creep factor, but it was always there. You were just lost in Bowies charm, which is fitting, as his character was a Fae.
Oh, my favorite quote has always been "you have no power over me!"
There is also the manga which explores the future of the baby in the movie being all grown up and brought back into the labyrinth to take over as Jareths replacement as the goblin king.
You should check it out as it's super interesting
I think it's the best movie that ever confused me as to who it was trying to attract.
The lyric "it's only forever" is my favorite lyric of the whole soundtrack. And the sound track is my gym Playlist. I use to imagine my self in Sarah's place, which was first inkling that I was gay at a young age. But in will say I've read the book and I think it fixes some of the plot points that I didn't understand as a child. Imagine if you will that ever one of use has had something like this as a life lesson at 15. Which my mother says that's the end of innocence for everyone one.
You know I always had a theory that Jareth was actually a lot younger than he appears. After all he behaves exactly like a teenage boy of the 80’s and it’s been implied that he’s not human but rather a member of the fair folk. Not to mention his infatuation toward Sarah lasts even after she becomes a grown woman if the sequel manga is anything to go by, so he’s not exactly only interested in teenage girls.
So maybe his aging process is faster than a human’s.
Maybe in reality Jareth actually is around the same age as Sarah but his lifespan is shorter than hers and his obsession with making her his queen and Toby his heir is because he doesn’t have very long to establish his own family and legacy.
A man can still be predatory without being a pedo.
Honestly, I never saw it like this till I got older. I had a massive crush on Jareth as a kid, but I guess it shows it worked. I still love Jareth so much. This was such a great video as I never read the book, but I want to. There's a really good fanfic called "That William's Girl" where Sarah is an adult with a toxic family and Jareth is more monster/fae-like. It's so good and I really recommend it!
I have a theory that owl at the start and end of the film is the only magical creature. It arrives, creates the whole labyrinth world out of Sarah's issues, imagination and the things in her room in order to teach her life lessons or bring her from childhood to young adulthood. Then packs it all away and leaves job done. It could be Jareth, who took on Bowie's face from the photo on Sarah's mirror or he could be an illusion too.
The owl is definitely Jareth. Look at his costume design. The hair looks like the head plumage, his eyeshadow mimics owl face markings.
I love this video! P.s. sorry if everything I say doesn’t make sense I kinda ramble. i think it does good as a coming of age story, I think this was to show Sarah how horrible adults are, showing her growing up isn’t what she thinks it is, and how weird Jeremy was. Another thing is the movie has a few deleted scenes that are available on RUclips where jareth smiles after she says he has no power, insinuating that he was proud of how much she grew.
omg i was so excited when i saw you posted!!! i missed your videos✨️🫶🏼
There was BOOK?! WHY DID I NEVER KNOW THAT THERE WAS A BOOK?!
Sarah is the protagonist, not Jareth, therefore I have always viewed this movie as the fantasy of a teenage, coming of age girl not the fantasy of a middle aged man in midlife crisis. It is certainly less creepy viewed in this light, and I think many of the scenes make more sense. As for the book, I have never read it so I cannot comment.
Agreed!
Ah yes… Jareth with the “magic pants”… ehhhemmn…I mean dance 😂😂😂😂😂😂
The very first edition of the script had her jump off the ledge in the Escher “within you” scene and land in Jareth’s bed
where did you hear that
I remember I was a kiddo under the 10 when I watched this on tv...it was scary at the time and all these purity/innocence symbolism flew way over my head. Now I guess I have to rewatch it and being creeped out again but now in a different context.😮
Its been one of my favorites since I was 5, other kids thought I was weird for liking it.
I think that the whole appeal of Jim Henson´s productions is that they have layered messages: children will focus on something, while adults should be getting something else. My issue is when those symbolisms, as you say, flow over ADULTS' heads. Too many grown ups think this is a sweet romantic story, or blame Sarah for perceived offenses Lol.
@@Aalisrocklist Maybe it's because I've been watching it for almost 3 decades but I at least get all the symbolism of coming of age/sexual awakening, growing up too fast vs not growing up at all, the dangers of adult men preying on much younger women, etc.
i remeber first reading the book was such a wonderful experience for me because it completely enhanced the movie for me! i already loved labyrinth, but the content of the book gave me a new look into sarah's psyche and made me understand her so much better, solidifying her as my favorite character in the story!
I think the book only enhances it and makes Jareth's intentions that much more insidious and creepy. It's the age-old trope of feeding off youth to ward off mortality (as if doing so will stop it entirely).
The whole thing being a perfect example of how abuse victims escape into fantasy to cope with what happens makes me love the book even as I commit to never reading it.
she's fifteen, he's immortal. a running theme in stories, films and books. got to say, love love love this film, because its so unsettling and disturbing, but on the right side of delightfully bizarre . sarah becomes a fantastic heroine, and she dismisses the goblin king, despite him being david bowie. saves her baby bro. most 'kids' films in the eighties were edgy btw. maybe the nuclear threat had something to do with it. great video x