From lilith@news.dorsai.org Sat May 8 16:19:14 1999 Date: Mon, 9 Jan 1995 21:20:43 GMT From: Lilith Newsgroups: alt.gothic Subject: Re: Labyrinth Now, the interesting thing about Labyrinth (and an awful lot of other otherwise wonderful movies, for that matter) is that it sends some pretty serious mixed messages, but then eventually comes out ostensibly on the side of the "good/normal/mundane"- even if it didn't reall succeed in convincing us that that is the side which Should have won. (The most obvious examples of this are vampire movies which portray the vampire as a sensual, intelligent, exotic, sympathetic character- who has got to die anyhow, cause vampires are by definition "evil") In Labyrinth, we are introduced to Sarah, a young woman stuck in an extremely mundane if not godawful situation. Her father doesn't understand her, her stepmother doesn't terribly like her, and she's stuck taking care of her infant half-brother whom she doesn't seem to have any particular emotional attachment to. It's made clear that no one in her life has an appreciation for her creative imagination, intellect, or beauty. Then, in the miraculous occurence that makes every fantasy story- it's revealed that the King of the Goblins, Jareth, has been magically watching Sarah, and is in fact madly in love with her. Through a Great effort he uses his powers to grant her wish, take away the infant that is the bane of her life, bring her to his kingdom, and declare his love. OK. This is what Sarah has always wanted. (a great understatement) She has been suddenly given the realm of the magical that she had always dreamed of, played at, wished was real. She is offered a place as its Queen, no less! She has a man in front of her who is drop-dead gorgeous, powerful, and completely in love with her. (Nothing at all like, say, the boys at her school whom she has no interest in.) So what does she do? She freaks out, gets all whiny and PC, and says, "OH NO, I've got to get my brother back!" ARGH!! I dunno about you, but ast this point I kinda want to slap her around just a little bit. OK, so the movie goes on for quite a while like this, with Jareth trying to prove his love and what he is offering her, and her insistently rejecting him. The point is attempted to be made that what Jareth is offering is actually illusion. But it doesn't succeed, because the story depends on Jareth, and his magic, and his love, being real. One of the most (to me) philosophically objectionable parts is when Sarah encounters the junk lady, and her room, in the junk yard. It is said that if Sarah clings to the things which she loves (fantasy books, beloved toys), she will become like the junk lady, hopelessly weighed down by superfluous debris. Sarah throws off her things, crying out, "It's all junk! If got to find my brother!" However- it's NOT junk. Her things embody Ideals and Ideas which are more than important- they're what make Sarah who she is as a person! The romantic music box that she chooses to smash symbolizes her Belief in romantic love- it can't be viewed as just a music box. Yes, Jareth is undeniably morally ambiguous. But he's not evil. Most importantly, he's sincere. And he genuinely exists in the realm of high romantic (in the old sense of the word as well as the new) ideals, as most of the other creatures of the Labyrinth do not. So when Sarah "succeeds" in her mission of getting her brother and returning to her boring, mundane life (Incidentally, the fact that Jareth Let her win, and go back proves the reality of his love- he had no wish to imprison her- he wanted her to return his love) it is made clear that Sarah can still use her imagination, and invite or conjure up these beings- but it is made clear that she has: #1, prioritized. As an "adult", these "fantasies" are of only secondary importance. And, #2, she has truly rejected the idea of high romance, and the danger and moral ambiguity that comes along with it. The "cute" creatures are OK to bring into your life, but Jareth must remain outside, rejected, kept out, forgotten- although he still watches and still loves. There's a definite intentional correlation with the Satan figure in Jareth's charcter- the tempter, the seducer. But the movie does not succeed in making him evil, although it ostensibly claims he is. Which, i suppose, is why the movie spoke so deeply to me, even though I disagreed with its basic message. I suppose I'm wondering how other people here feel about this, as it seems to me thast gothic has a LOT to do with NOT rejecting or forgetting the romantic ideals that we believe in- instead aspiring to make them reality in this world- at least in our personal lives. And perhaps dreaming that perhaps someday we would be given the chance that Sarah passed up.