"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,
I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City
to take back the child that you have stolen. . ."
-Sarah (Labyrinth)
It puzzles some people, the possibility that a twenty-five-year-old woman can still derive pleasure and entertainment from watching a children's movie. For me, this guilty pleasure of mine, that I brought over from my (late) childhood, is Jim Henson's Labyrinth.
Especially within the past few years, I have had revived interest in ancient mythology and fairy tales. Perhaps, in a sense, I can blame this reawakening on Disney's release of more feminist feature films such as Tangled and Frozen. Yes, I was part of the generation who was quote-on-quote fortunate enough to have such female / princess role-models as Ariel, Jasmine, and Belle. However, looking back on these characters with adult eyes, were these women truly worth aspiring to?
Ariel taught me to want more. She taught me to be curious of the quote-on-quote world above, as well as to question and challenge authority (especially parents) . . . But she was also a hoarder. And immature.
Jasmine taught me to say "No!" She was determined that she was going to write her own story, to not allow her life to be dictated by the law or her station. She was as ferocious as her pet tiger! . . . But she always seemed to have her pantaloons in a bind.
Belle taught me to love books. She was the 'odd one' in her hometown, yes; but she was not afraid to want the things that she did. She was not afraid to question the status quo, or to discourage the advances of the village 'pretty boy' . . . But she was also nosy and snobbish. And instead of having "so much more than they've got planned," Belle ended up getting married by the end of the film.
In fact, all of the latter mentioned Disney princesses ended up getting married. Much like Bella Swan of the Twilight Saga, these girls' only major triumph was that they got married.
In contrast, Sarah (from Labyrinth) taught me to grow up . . . and to stand on my own.
Meet Sarah
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| Sarah, portrayed by Jennifer Connelly |
At the beginning, she is shown to be a young woman, a teenager, who is holding fast to the fantasies of her childhood while the rest of the world attempts to force her to grow up. Sarah finds adult life, adult things, to be smothering and unfair. But it is this, her struggle to accept adulthood, that can make Sarah such a relate-able and valued character for many a woman -regardless of age.
As the movie opens, Sarah is left home alone to babysit her infant half-brother Toby. Resenting the responsibility, and Toby's ceaseless crying, she 'accidentally' wishes for the goblins to come and take the child away. Realizing too late what she had done, Sarah begs Jareth the Goblin King (played by David Bowie) to return her brother to her. Jareth, who is in love with Sarah, tells her that the only way she can get her brother back is for Sarah to solve his labyrinth. Sarah accepts, knowing that she has only thirteen hours to meet Jareth's challenge before Toby is turned into a goblin.
While wandering around an ever-changing labyrinth, and trying to avoid Jareth's sabotaging tactics, Sarah picks up three unlikely friends: Hoggle the Dwarf, Ludo the Beast, and Didymous the Knight. Like Sarah, the latter mentioned characters also carry a resemblance to Dorothy's companions in The Wizard of Oz.
Lessons Learned
As mentioned previously, Sarah starts her journey through the Jareth's labyrinth as a whiny, immature child. So much so that it can, at first, be hard to sympathize with her. Even Hoggle, upon first meeting the girl, points out to Sarah that she takes too many things for granted.
As her journey deepens, however, our heroine -both through her experiences and friendships -begins to change and grow.
The lessons that Sarah learns are as follows:
Never take things for granted. Sarah, in the beginning, took everything at face value and dismissed it if it did not agree with her ideals. So stuck in her ways was she that Sarah often found herself in even greater peril than before [she started]. It is only after she is poisoned by Jareth that Sarah learns to start asking questions . . .!
Life is rarely fair. One saying that Sarah carelessly throws around during the first half of the movie is "It's not fair!" Only when the phrase / accusation is turned on her (by Hoggle) does Sarah realize the weight and rebuttal to these words: ". . . but that's the way it is."
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| Sarah (Connelly) and Jareth (David Bowie) |
The only person who has power over you is YOU. Such is the greatest lesson, I believe, from Labyrinth. Often times over the course of life, an individual may feel powerless. None of us like the idea of being at the mercy of someone else. Sometimes, however, we feel like we have no choice; we must concede to the fact that other people have power / influence over us. Like Sarah, though, I have come to learn something: Power is given, not taken. The human spirit is the most relentless and indestructible weapon in Creation. As long as one maintains the fire within, nothing can stop, dominate, or destroy you -without your permission.
Without a doubt, my favorite scene in Labyrinth is Sarah's final confrontation with Jareth:
Although the above lesson / scene is vital, there is one last thing that Sarah learns:
Don't be afraid to need your inner child. Although Sarah ends her journey back at home, smarter and wiser than she was before leaving, she knows that she cannot fully turn her back on her childhood fantasies. Sometimes, an adult needs to channel back to his/her inner child. Children have an innate talent for finding magic in the world; they have the ability to see good in everything. As adults, we need to remember how to see magic, to see good, around us and in us. When we stop, a part of us dies. And so does magic.
Sarah, hands down, is one of my favorite fictional heroines. She is the reason that I continue to watch Labyrinth.
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