#labyrinth meta

[mswyrr]

Love this article on Labyrinth

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Have you ever seen The Labyrinth (1986) ? If so what’s your thoughts on it, mainly regarding what it’s supposed to symbolize

I have.

I mean, it's pretty in your face what it's meant to symbolize. It's a coming of age story for Sarah about her growing up, taking on both responsibility and accountability, having a sexual awakening, and learning to let go of her childhood (but still have some fun).

There's references to things all over the place (lot of Escher, so much Escher) but it's pretty clear what the whole thing's supposed to be about under the hood.

[uncleboghunter]

any one notice that as labyrinth progresses, sarah goes from being called 'little/young girl' to 'maiden/young lady' to 'young woman'

[nofearofwaves]

In which I explore Sarah's coming-of-age story in everyone's favorite muppet movie, Labyrinth!

[goblindragon-blog]

Jareth Meta - The Half King

This is sort of a continuation to this other meta I wrote, I'll address here a lot of things I've mentioned there, so maybe you should read that one first.

I've always asked myself, as I mentioned before, how Jareth ended up being Goblin King, but some days ago, while I was getting my thoughts in order, another idea came into my head.

Several times on the other meta I've pointed out that Jareth felt out of place, felt different and weird because he didn't fit, because he disliked how his life was. Even if he felt different, he wasn't that much "out of place" as goblins were in comparison to other faes.

But what if, in fact, Jareth is different? What if he is half fae/sidhe and half... Human?

At first, when I started to ask myself why Jareth became the Goblin King, I assumed that he was bored, Jareth is easily bored, as we saw during the movie, so it is quite possible right? He wanted more than following the rules and looking like a decent noble, right?

So I thought he felt "out of place" because of that, other faes would certainly judge him for not fitting and he would find comfort in other places.

But what if the judging came before? The same way it always came before for other "low class" creatures like goblins and such.

I suggest this: Jareth isn't full fae or full sidhe, he is a half fae/half human. 

I've seen plenty of fanfics saying how humans feel extremely attracted by faes, and at the same time how humans are more fertile than faes, that is hard for faes to stand a pregnancy. I couldn't find any source for that statement on tales about faes, still, it's something at least part of the fandom seems to accept.

Assuming the fae parent, for some reason (better chances, Jareth having magic, Aboveground not believing in faes, the human parent is dead, etc) took Jareth to the royal court, how do you think he was received? Even if his fae parent is King or Queen, Jareth is still a bastard, and not only any bastard, but one who came from a human. 

Depending on which scenario we imagine Jareth's parents met, the fae one could have accepted Jareth's existence or mistreated the bastard child, but regardless, the other faes around him would mistreat him anyway. The other kids would see him as different, filthy, weird, human. Maybe he heard other nobles saying that his place was on the Aboveground.

And that's how Jareth grows interest towards "rejected" races and on the Aboveground as a whole. Maybe, this place is the one which is going to accept him. But Jareth would soon find out that faes don't exist in the Aboveground, so he would be still an outcast.

Jareth then, as I pointed on the other meta, visits the Labyrinth and identify himself with it, they are both seen as weird and maybe ever dangerous, a threat somehow. If he is an outcast, he is going to be he king of them. Besides, he could also have realized during his life that the court he lived in would never fully accept him as king, because faes see humans as less (although it's not said in canon, it's an accepted fact on the fandom), so he needed to find a place that was going to accept him. Also, if the other faes fear the Labyrinth, Jareth being it's king is like you saying to your bully "You can't beat me now, see what I can do? I am stronger than you"

Which would also explain why he watches Sarah, because I doubt that the beginning of the movie was the first time he saw her (and the Labyrinth book? Ha, you don't fool me).

As I said before, he identifies himself with Sarah because they both feel like they are different. Maybe in Sarah he sees someone that, even though is part of a world which doesn't believe in creatures like him, could accept him (although how could she with the whole 'steal my brother' moment? But this is another thing).

Some things in canon that could support it: Jareth keeps Toby with him almost the whole time, yes he might be bored with the goblins and Toby was a "change", but if faes despise humans, why would he even care about the kid? Also, Jareth could be seen as extremely similar to a human (yes, I know, no way of casting an alien to play his role on the movie, but you got my meaning), if it wasn't the eyes and the clothes/glitter, he would look like any other human (much like Bowie's appearance in Underground music video)

I mean, not that I completely disbelieve my first meta, I accept and like both (or any other theory really, having so little in canon makes us free to come up with a lot of interesting things), but Jareth being half human gives a whole new dynamic to his character which I find interesting.

[goblindragon-blog]

Jareth Meta - The Goblin King

One thing that has always made me curious was: Why the hell Jareth is the Goblin King? He isn't a goblin, you imagine a Goblin King would be maybe this huge Goblin creature (like the one from the hobbit?), but not, well, Jareth.

Although never actually said in the movie, it is accepted by the fandom that Jareth is a fae, also the movie provides clues to that: He probably is far older than what he looks, he has magic, he steals children, he is a shapeshifter...

I've been reading about faes and a lot of places put goblins as a "type of fae", being fae a generic term. Thanks to this fic, I've seen a term I didn't know before and that could be used to describe Jareth: "sidhe"

In Irish Mythology, the aos sí(older form: aes sídhee), pronounced "ess shee", are a powerful, supernatural race comparable to the faeries or elves of other traditions. They are variously believed to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans.

If we assume Jareth is a sidhe, why in hell would a kind of fae like himself, in which everything points to be a "superior" kind to goblins, put himself as their king?

(Before I go any further, I would recommend people to read that fic I've pointed before, since it brings a lot of interesting questions about Jareth and other characters. Although I recommend, the meta here isn't related to the fic, so no need to read it to understand this post in case you are wondering, I just recommended because I liked it :D. The fic is quite heavy, so tw for: torture, food, mention of rape, abuse)

I've always seen Jareth as someone who does what he wants and gets what he wants, being Sarah probably the only exception so far. We can clearly see during the movie that Jareth becomes bored and even annoyed with the Goblins.

I doubt being the Goblin King is some kind of "punishment" he put himself into, or that someone did it with him. I totally believe he is there because he wants to. Which raises the biggest question: Why would he want to be the Goblin King?

It's well accepted by the fandom that Jareth comes from a really powerful family, if not the main family from the Underground. He is from noble birth, no one doubts that. We can all picture a young Jareth learning how to act as nobility and how to rule.

I think he got bored.

I think he hated it, he hated having to play a part he was expected to. I can totally picture Jareth looking through his window and wishing he was something else so he wouldn't need to do all those things.

I think young Jareth would lose himself in adventures and books to run from his reality, isn't this pretty much what a lot of people do when they think they life is boring?

I also can totally see him watching others, like, let's say, the goblins. The goblins can do anything they want, of course, they are treated like children and 'low class' for it, but maybe, for a person from who was expected everything, maybe he saw on the goblins something as freedom, something interesting.

And most of all, I can totally see Jareth being seen as "weird" by other faes, therefore, feeling he was out of place.

I have a lot of theories of how the Labyrinth came to be, but regardless, if we accept this young, adventurous Jareth who wants to run from his duties and the boring life he has, we could see him arriving at the Labyrinth. A place that changes by itself with a bunch of weird creatures? I bet even among the faes, it's considered a dangerous place. But Jareth isn't afraid, he thinks it's interesting, he thinks the Labyrinth is misunderstood, just like himself.

Maybe he was the first to get to the center of the Labyrinth, maybe he synced his magic with the Labyrinth's magic, maybe the Labyrinth itself gave him the power. Regardless, Jareth found in the Labyrinth the only place he wanted to rule, a place like him, for "out of place" people, like him. 

If the Labyrinth is alive and the creatures living there know it, they wouldn't have problems accepting Jareth if the Labyrinth accepted it. And let's face, a Jareth who hates what he is supposed to be, proud as he is? He wouldn't lose the chance to prove to everyone that he isn't just weird, that he conquered his own kingdom, the one everyone was afraid, the one with creatures everyone despised.

If we assume all of this, that Jareth used to watch others to distract himself from everything, couldn't he just cross the line between the Underground and Aboveground? We know he can, otherwise he wouldn't be able to steal the children. 

Then, on his journeys, he see this girl. A girl who, much like himself, escapes from her own reality with books, pretending she is in somewhere else...

We know what happens next

(I also have another theory which relates to this one talking about Jareth and his relation with humans - You can find it here)

[houndstar]