Observations Observations
Meanwhile, back at the Goblin King's Castle:
Back in the Labyrinth:
Labyrinth is certainly a neo-feminist myth. Sarah is not a helpless waif who needs to be rescued. She is her own hero(ine).
The film opens with Sarah pretending to be a princess, we can assume, as almost every little girl has wanted to be at one time or another. She is acting out a play, even though it hardly seems developmentally appropriate for her age. Her best friend appears to be a dog, named for the Arthurian wizard Merlin. He provides Sarah with unconditional love and obedience, something Sarah's step mother must envy.
Sarah's confrontation with her step mother demonstrates the distance between them both physically in the widescreen version, as well as emotionally. Her step mother says Sarah should date, indicating that Sarah has a role into which she is expected to fit. The step mother says, almost as though she were making a wish, that she'd like it if Sarah dated.
Sarah sulks in her room while her step mother uses body language to demand that Sarah's father reprimand her, or at least reason with her. Sarah's father passively replies that he'll talk to Sarah. Yet, when he does so, he avoids mentioning the previous conflict, and wishes her farewell.
Sarah appears to be disgusted by her father's passivity, and may seek the opposite in a mate. Certainly Jareth seems to be quite the opposite of Sarah's father, yet, we know that nothing is what it seems in the Labyrinth.
Sarah notices that her teddy bear Lancelot, named for a knight from the legends of King Arthur, is missing. She becomes furious and storms into her brother's resting place and disturbs him in childish revenge. She claims, "It's not fair" and that she hates him.
When Sarah makes her wish, she is finally expressing a repressed desire, a desire she has denied until now. Her original wish, her improvised rhyme, indicates she deferred her desire to get rid of her brother.
Sarah gives no thought to the repercussions, and the goblins hold her accountable. They have, perhaps, manipulated Sarah, or at the very least, tempted her by providing her with the proper words. Sarah gives into her desire but is horrified at the result. She does, however, take responsibility for her actions, demonstrating her potential maturity.
It may be significant that Sarah said the wrong words with more desperation, frustration, and force than she said the right words. She half-heartedly says, "I wish the goblins would take you away...right now" almost as an afterthought. It no longer has the emotional power that she gave in her recitation of the wrong words.
What is the extent of Jareth's power as Goblin King? The goblins are already in Sarah's house, yet we see the owl break into the master bedroom. Forced entry indicative of penetration and rape? Or too much Freud creeping into this analysis?
Jareth is initially seductive, but shows his revengeful side in response to Sarah's defiance. When Sarah denies Jareth's crystal ball, he transforms it into a snake and throws it around her neck. The Old Testament declares snakes to be the enemy of women, after that whole Adam and Eve thing, and yet as soon as the snake wraps itself around Sarah's neck, it transforms into a scarf. A rather feminine gift, almost an apology, one might think.
The scarf is carried away by a goblin, perhaps suggesting that both Jareth and the goblins themselves have their own agendas. I desperately want to believe that Jareth is human, and that, one way or another, he became Goblin King despite his humanity.
When Jareth transports them to the Labyrinth, he asks, "Do you still want to look for him?" One would assume this is a rhetorical question. He has already brought her to the Labyrinth, and we're given the impression that she cannot turn around and simply go back to her toys and costumes; her parents' bedroom has already disappeared. Sarah is fully Underground.
Jareth behaves as though this is all routine to him and disappears.
Dawn comes to the Labyrinth as Sarah approaches. We see the early indications of the loss of innocence in the prurient scene where Hoggle is urinating into the pond. The sense of routine is amplified when Hoggle recognizes Sarah, "Oh, it's you."
Sarah's next step up the emotional maturity ladder comes when her illusions about fairies doing nice things are shattered. She also demonstrates some displaced anger when she criticizes Hoggle for spraying fairies even after she is bitten by one. She is reluctant to let go of her image of wonderful fairies and accept that they are actually pests.
Sarah also learns greater communication skills while in the Labyrinth. The first is when she finally manages to make it clear to Hoggle that she is looking for the door to the Labyrinth. She learns to be direct and eventually blurts, "How do I get into the Labyrinth?" She is rewarded by an immediate response from Hoggle. He responds with a bit of amazement, dare I suggest *respect*, and asks, "Are you really going in there?"
Sarah asks for help but acts like a snob when she doesn't get the answer she wants. Her progress backslides a bit as she and the dwarf get into a bit of an argument inside the entrance to the Labyrinth.
Jareth is colossally bored and seems to just want to get this over with. He keeps looking at the clock in an effort to fill up his time. Finally sorting himself out, he sings, "Magic Dance".
At one point, Jareth puts his finger to the side of his nose. This is a British gesture meaning that he's got a secret. This act comes immediate after the line, "What kind of magic spell to use?" as though Jareth's got some secret powers he hasn't shared with us yet.
"Work that magic spell on me
Slap that baby, make him free!"
If this is applied to Toby's impending fate, being turned into a goblin in 13 hours, does this imply that a goblin life is better than any other kind? That ignorance is bliss?
Sarah is presented with challenges which she feels she is not ready to face. As the dead end closes in behind her and she has no other choice but to answer the riddle presented by the guardians of the two doors, Alph/Tim and Ralph/Jim. She is amazed that she has finally figured out their riddle and really does answer it correctly. She congratulates herself, "I think I'm getting smarter". Yet, things not being what they seem is standard operating procedure in the Labyrinth, and she plunges into an oubliette. I worry that this is a negative message; that a person, especially a *girl*, shouldn't take pride in one's accomplishments. That, I suppose, is a very feminist interpretation. A classicist might suggest Sarah was suffering from hybris, excessive pride, and deserved to fall down a hole. It can also be argued that the phrase, "It's a piece of cake" is simply bad luck and should be avoided. I could probably go into an whole other argument there, but I'll type up the rest of my notes while I can still see straight.
The oubliette itself is yonic. I don't know if I'm making up that word, but I don't know any other for it. Let's put it this way. As nearly every girl on the Labyrinth mailing list has noticed, Jareth has *ahem* a phallus, so things, like castle towers and lighthouses and totem poles are described with the adjective phallic. Women are shaped differently, to accommodate phalluses, and their, uh, organs and stuff, are referred to by the Kama Sutra (ancient Hindu porn) as the yoni. Things like tunnels and caves are associated with the female the way lighthouses relate to the male, well, you know. Okay, I promise I'll try to stop being so Freudian...
Moving right along, I think the oubliette is much like the imagery associated with tunnels. Only there is neither an entrance nor an exit. Well, technically there is, as Hoggle says, "just the hole" but I promised I'd go easy on the Freudian analysis :) It's dark and lonely in the oubliette, and Sarah can't escape by herself. She needs Hoggle to help her out, but Hoggle is acting as an agent of Jareth. It would appear that Jareth doesn't desire to "forget about" Sarah, or else he could just have left her there and won.
There are no doors in the oubliette, and no opportunities, until Hoggle comes to her aid. Hoggle pats Sarah's hand and she finally tempts him with her bracelet. Another feminine symbol, jewelry, also happens to be something Hoggle values highly.
As Hoggle leads Sarah out of the oubliette, the False Alarms attempt to deter the two. The alarms are all masculine and foreboding. Jareth's appearance as a beggar seems to come right out of Greek myth. Often gods disguised themselves as mortals to see how humans would treat them. Rewards and punishments were then distributed accordingly. The beggar/king is also a paradox, two opposite extremes.
Jareth appears in the tunnel and threatens Hoggle, who gradually emerges as a father-figure for Sarah. She tries to be brave but it backfires on her. Bad luck strikes again with, "It's a piece of cake." Wasn't that what got her into the oubliette in the first place? Sarah's anger, "That's not fair!" overcomes her fear.
Freud rears his ugly little head again by pointing out that the Cleaners are phallic - they charge through the tunnels underground, unhindered by barriers such as the steel gate that trapped Sarah and Hoggle. The two friends push their way through a side tunnel together and escape. As Hoggle and Sarah climb up the ladder he notes, "You sure got his attention!" And perhaps, Jareth is realizing that there is more to Sarah than meets the eye.
Sarah is unsure if she should follow Hoggle up the ladder but Hoggle points out that she doesn't have a better alternative. Sarah accepts this fact easily and without hostility. At this point she may be beginning to control her anger and frustration.
Hoggle is, after all, a coward, and he tries to bail on Sarah. Now it is her turn to force her will upon another. She steals his jewels (perhaps as in "family jewels" - another phallic reference) and forces him to cooperate.
The Wise Man and his Hat (oh, I swear, I'm not looking for phallic symbols, but when you look at the movie this closely, you can't help but fall over them!) meet Sarah next. The Wise Man observers, "A young girl," while his Hat more boldly announces, "Whoo-whoo!" in a uncontrolled catcall. Sarah's shy smile is her only response to such attentions. It may be a denial of her good looks, or that she simply doesn't realize the beauty she possesses.
The Wise Man appears as a patriarchal figure. He is helpful, but at a price. For a hint to solving the Labyrinth, Sarah must sacrifice her ring, a symbol of completeness and unity. She spares Hoggle's jewels only after his protests. It would appear that she hasn't completely lost her sense of fairness.
The Hat replies, "Gracias, senorita," an interesting comment, seeing as how unlikely he would be to happen upon a Berlitz Spanish phrase book in the Labyrinth. There have been many questions raised by the lack of language barriers in the Underground; why is it that everyone should speak English? More puzzling, how would the Hat happen to pick up a few bits of Spanish? Another hapless traveler such as Sarah? Perhaps there is a curious "Babel fish" effect upon the whole Labyrinth, allowing any speaker of any language to understand anyone else. How then, do we account for Ludo's incomplete sentence structure? Does anyone besides me care? I suppose the most logical, and simple, explanation is a kind of Babel fish or universal translator which accounts for the lack of language barriers. Even *I* understand what the Hat said, and I've never, ever studied Spanish. I shall now shut up on this topic.
Hoggle's cowardice overcomes his greed, and he leaves Sarah as she rescues Ludo from the goblins. He is, like every other character she has met, male. He is at first scared of Sarah and shows this by growling at her. Sarah comforts him and calms him down. He remains her companion and friend, until he is taken from her against his will in the Firey Forest.
Ludo seems to be the most underdeveloped character in the film. He doesn't say a whole lot, and what we know of him we can only infer. I would guess that his horns are for mating purposes (dammit, Freud, won't you just die or something?) much the way a rhino's horn will attract a mate (or poacher as the case may be). They don't appear to be vicious or long enough to be used as a defense. His teeth are overall flat, indicating that his species is an herbivore. My guess is that his fangs are really the only defense, aside from his size and roar, which he possesses.
Ludo shows his playful side as Sarah converses with the door knockers. Reinforcing the male-dominated themes in Labyrinth, both door knockers are masculine figures. Ludo playfully holds one door knockers' ring in his mouth in imitation.
We pull away from Sarah and Ludo and hear Hoggle muttering, "Get through the Labyrinth! Get through the Labyrinth! One thing's for sure, she'll never get through the Labyrinth!" We can see in the widescreen edition the rock carving of Jareth's face that he will later stand beside in the "Bosom Companions? Friends?" scene. Here we see Jareth jealous of Hoggle, and his resentment that it is Hoggle Sarah calls to for help. Jareth indirectly gives Sarah a peach; he cannot tempt her directly, so he forces Hoggle to do it for him.
Sarah loses Ludo in the Firey Forest and must confront the Fire Gang alone. He again, Sarah confronts being which appear male. This is my least favorite scene in the entire movie because I find the Fireys more of a nuisance than a danger. I suppose their wild quality would indicate an uncontrolled chaos, but their gang mentality makes me uneasy. Sigmund is asking me to mention that their behavior is suggestive of gang rape, as they try to take off Sarah's head without her consent. He also wants me to mention that the removal of limbs implies castration. Keeping in mind of Terry Jones "Running Goblins" I think Freud is right on this one.
Sarah is rescued by Hoggle a second time; she kisses him in thanks, partially consummating the sexual tension preeminent throughout the film. Our heroes experience the negative repercussions of the sin by getting dumped into the Land of the Bog of Eternal Stench. We are also confronted with a dangerous suggestion; that Sarah is not allowed to make her own sexual decisions. Her step mother wants her to date, and Jareth doesn't want her kissing dwarves. Both the stepmother and Jareth appear as controlling figures who exert their moral code on Sarah. Furthermore, we may draw a parallel with Sarah's father being controlled by his wife at the beginning of the film when the stepmother says, "She treats me like a wicked stepmother in a fairy story no matter what I say." The father's only reply is that he will talk to Sarah, which he doesn't really do.
Sarah and Hoggle are hanging onto a ledge trying not to fall into the smelly bog, and even the mere mention of Sarah's kissing Hoggle sends Jareth into a rage. When Sarah asks Hoggle why he's upset, he explains, "You kissed me," and the ledge falls out from beneath them. I would suggest that Jareth was showing the both of them who's in charge.
The only way out of the BOES is by way of a bridge, guarded by the noble Sir Didymus. During Ludo's battle with Sir D. Hoggle greases by Sir D. and races across the bridge, leaving Sarah and Ludo behind. His cowardice is stronger than Sir Didymus' honor. Here it would seem, good isn't stronger than evil.
Sir Didymus first appears as an enemy, and certainly an obstacle. I continue to wonder how Sir D. came to be the guardian of the bridge. His responsibility to it dissolves as the bridge collapses. His new task is to take care of Sarah and rescue her and aid her on her quest.
Hoggle rejoins the group and tries to ditch the peach, but Jareth won't allow it. Jareth appears rather sinister while watching Sarah and her friends in his crystal. Toby is sitting on his lap and seems to represent a trophy now, instead of a plaything as he was in "Magic Dance".
Sarah is overwhelmed by the peach and can't cope with the new experience; she isn't ready for this development. Jareth is calm and calculating while arranging the ball.
Hoggle runs away in shame and Sir Didymus and Ludo don't realize the danger Sarah is in.
Sarah is very out of place in the ball. Jareth admits to himself in "As the World Falls Down" that he loves Sarah. They are, indeed, strangers till now.
Jareth confronts her in the dance, but she doesn't trust him. Jareth is upset and hurt at her rejection of him and her fleeing the ball at 11 or 12 o'clock.
The sky is dark, and Hoggle is in the junk city. Jewish word, what is it, that's like hell, but not quite the same concept. The meaning is something like being far from God's love, and Hoggle must feel that he's very far from Sarah's love.
As Sarah's ballroom breaks up, she falls into the trash heap like a discarded object. Here, Sarah meets Agnes, the Trash Lady, the only female character in the Labyrinth, aside from some of the dancers at the ball. Agnes leads Sarah back "home", or rather a facsimile of home to tempt her to forget her responsibilities. Agnes is burdened by things she can't get rid of. She tries to trap Sarah the same way, to weigh her down so Sarah can't move forward.
Sarah finds the Labyrinth book and starts to see things as they really are. Ludo and Sir Didymus come to her rescue once she begins to free herself. They resume their journey to the Goblin City.
As they enter the Goblin City they are met by Humongous wielding an axe. Phallic spikes rise out of the ground, erecting an impenetrable barrier that Sarah cannot break. She can only go forward and face Humongous. Here we see that Ambrosius is the only coward, and Sir Didymus is incapacitated without his steed.
A goblin brings news of Sarah's fate. Jareth seems unconcerned yet perhaps pained as the goblin specifies, "the girl who ate the peach and forgot everything." Jareth's reply, "What of her?" seems to show quiet regret.
Hoggle redeems himself by defeating the giant. He has put himself in danger and earned Sarah's forgiveness, Ludo's friendship, and Sir Didymus' respect. He enters the Goblins City and has the pride to say, "It's a piece of cake." So begins the goblin battle.
Sir Didymus is separated from the others, and I can imagine his horror at witnessing Sarah participate in the battle. I'm sure he would find it horribly inappropriate. They are reunited and enter the castle. Here again, they must part, for Sarah must face Jareth alone. Her friends need to be needed and offer their support.
Sarah enters the Escher room and Jareth appears below her, almost as a mirror, or foil figure. Shortly after, he even approaches her as though she were a mirror and passes through her. She ignores his pleas of, "I can't live within you," his best attempt at confessing his feelings for her. He offers her a crystal then immediately withdraws it and rejects her. He sincerely can't live within in her; all this is killing him. One could imagine that Jareth doesn't want to be who he is - perhaps for the first time - but he has a job to do and cannot escape it, despite his desire to do so.
In desperation, Sarah jumps off a ledge to reach Toby. She is taken out of time it would seem. She gently floats to a solid surface after the break up of the Escher room. In their final confrontation, he tempts her one last time. Sarah is very strong during the confrontation, and Jareth tries to reason with her. Sarah is incredulous when the King points out how generous he's been with her. He is both angry and desperate, but Sarah is unwavering. Jareth retreats and continues to plead, "Just let me rule you and you can have everything that you want." Jareth is hurt at her final rejection. It is debated frequently whether his disappointment is that he's lost Sarah, or that he's lost the game.
Sarah returns home to find Toby safe. As her friends come to say good bye, she realizes she still needs them and invites them to stay. Even the goblins and Fireys are included in the offer, and now hang out and party. She does, after all, "need you. All of you." And yet, the white owl remains outside her window, isolated and alone.
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