What are the implications of the story we are watching? Yes, the girl meets the guy but what does it say about her as a woman? If the guy is a loser, is she choosing someone beneath her? Does this mean the film argues that we should settle for someone instead of holding out for a good man?įor years, Disney has received flack for the deeper meanings behind many of their fairy tale stories. They fall in love and live happily ever after.Īs we get older, however, we really watch for meaning and theme. This princess goes to this place and finds this thing which leads to her meeting that prince. If rewatching Labyrinth taught me anything, it’s how our perceptions, as viewers, change as we age. My answer – Absolutely, but we need to be careful about the messages we want to convey. In a society where we tend to over-pamper our children, this trend in dark children’s films begs the question: Are we sure we should be creating movies like this? Monster’s University is about how, no matter how hard you work, you still might not accomplish your dreams. Up is about a man whose given up on any kind of life after his wife’s death. “What kinds of films did my mother raise me on?”īut the truth is today’s children’s films also deal with dark, mature themes. Since that shocking and slightly innocence-shattering re-visitation of Labyrinth, I noticed additional depth to some of my other favorite childhood films: An American Tail is a retelling of the horrors faced by the Jews escaping Russia, The Brave Little Toaster says all people are dispensable unless you find a way to adapt in a changing world, The Secret of NIMH explores themes involving violent animal testing, My Girl really focuses on how children are affected by grief, the list goes on. So, if we listen to this film, becoming a mature adult means only using sex to have a child? Considering this film was made in the height of the sexual abstinence movement of the post-AIDS scare 1980s, this makes sense, but… as a kid, I saw none of this! Sarah begins the film as a beautiful and innocent young girl:īut she ends the film as a gorgeous young woman who learns to say NO to the walking sex symbol that is David Bowie in order to have a child instead of living a life of fantasy. Labyrinth wasn’t just saying a girl needs to leave behind her childish notions of make believe in order to become an adult – It was also saying a she has to become aware of her own sexual desires and learn to manage them in order to become a mother. Being an educated adult who knew a bit more about the world in general, the film took on a new meaning. “How did I not remember David Bowie’s massive codpiece?”Īnd the more I watched, the more horrified I became. As an adult sitting down to re-watch one of my favorite films, I felt nostalgic and ready to rekindle some lost joy from my youth. The film was then remastered for DVD, and I was able to pick up the film after its 2003 re-release. Then, once technology advanced and the DVD player replaced the VHS machine, I had no way to watch this once cherished film. Once I went off to high school and college, the demands of life in general kept me from rewatching the film with any regularity. What babe? The babe with the power? What power? The power of voodoo? Who do? You do? Do what? Remind me of the babe!”) I went through several VHS copies of Labyrinth, watching and re-watching it, and annoyed my sister and parents by singing its songs frequently around the house (“You remind me of the babe. When this film first came out, the VHS tape player was still a relatively new invention, and I learned the hard way that playing a film too many times could lead to its destruction. Sarah, the young heroine, needed to learn to put aside her childhood notions of make believable in order to become a better sister and a mature adult. As a child, there was so much that fascinated me about this film including the magical landscape with its backwards running clocks, the oddball characters, the stunning visuals, romantically dark musical numbers and a whimsically idealistic protagonist. It was a fantastical coming of age film about a young girl (a then unknown Jennifer Connolly) trying to save her kidnapped younger brother from a Goblin King (David Bowie). When I was growing up, I loved the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth. “Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave.”
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