I saw Labyrinth as less a metaphor for budding sexuality as it was for emerging adulthood.
Sarah before was a dreamy, whiny, selfish child even though she was 15. The constant claims of unfairness, favoritism, and clinging to the vestiages of her childhood: the dolls, toys, and books she adored when her parents were still married, all contribute to a picture of a young girl stubbornly staying in her neverland while desiring the freedoms of adulthood.
Jareth is truly akin to Byron's Faerie Queen, beautiful, magical, unpredictable, seductive, and dangerous. Sarah does not reject Jareth out of a fear of her sexuality, but softly realizes for all his power, Jareth has no power that she does not give him. Labyrinth follows in the footsteps of the Nutcracker, where the transformaton from girl to woman is made, not by packing childhood into boxes and squaring them away in the closet, but transfiguring them inward into moral resolve and a responsible self. Sarah rejects Jareth because she has grown in her trials within the maze, she understands that freedom without responsiblity is an illusion and all Jareth offers her is smoke and mirrors.
At the end of the flim, Sarah can part and pack up her childhood treasures without any avarice, but still call upon the wonder and wisdom of her early years when she needs them. Had she given in tp Jareth, Sarah would have been reduced. Always caught in an unending dream like the Lotus Eaters, acomplishing nothing, a plaything to Jareth.
I have read very few good Labyrinth fics since most writers see David Bowie's tights and not the themetics behind the movie. They reduce Sarah her preLabyrinth state: wishwashy, dreamy, and hollow despite her experiences. After her bout in the Labyrinth, how could any real life experience cowe or diminish her.
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Date: 2005-06-18 08:16 pm (UTC)Sarah before was a dreamy, whiny, selfish child even though she was 15. The constant claims of unfairness, favoritism, and clinging to the vestiages of her childhood: the dolls, toys, and books she adored when her parents were still married, all contribute to a picture of a young girl stubbornly staying in her neverland while desiring the freedoms of adulthood.
Jareth is truly akin to Byron's Faerie Queen, beautiful, magical, unpredictable, seductive, and dangerous. Sarah does not reject Jareth out of a fear of her sexuality, but softly realizes for all his power, Jareth has no power that she does not give him. Labyrinth follows in the footsteps of the Nutcracker, where the transformaton from girl to woman is made, not by packing childhood into boxes and squaring them away in the closet, but transfiguring them inward into moral resolve and a responsible self. Sarah rejects Jareth because she has grown in her trials within the maze, she understands that freedom without responsiblity is an illusion and all Jareth offers her is smoke and mirrors.
At the end of the flim, Sarah can part and pack up her childhood treasures without any avarice, but still call upon the wonder and wisdom of her early years when she needs them.
Had she given in tp Jareth, Sarah would have been reduced. Always caught in an unending dream like the Lotus Eaters, acomplishing nothing, a plaything to Jareth.
I have read very few good Labyrinth fics since most writers see David Bowie's tights and not the themetics behind the movie. They reduce Sarah her preLabyrinth state: wishwashy, dreamy, and hollow despite her experiences. After her bout in the Labyrinth, how could any real life experience cowe or diminish her.