An Unexpected Connection: Labyrinth and... Hannibal
Last week a Labyrinth throwback crossed my Tumblr dash and- well, you know that thing, that fannish thing where everything relates to your main fandom of the moment? I've been in enough fandoms by now that I enjoy it, but recognize it's the sort of thought process that may be the product of a biased viewpoint. So while the Labyrinth gifset was giving me flashbacks and my brain was going, "Hannibal!" I was all mmmm-hmmm and ready to dismiss the connection but oh wait, hold on a minute. At the time I noted that it was, in retrospect, priming me for my love of Hannibal several decades later, and left it at that while my brain worked on nibbling around the edges of that thought.
Today, not surprisingly, full clips from YouTube have appeared (RIP David Bowie) and have really been cementing that association for me because, goddamn, do they have a lot more in common than you would expect. The ballroom scene is both iconic and an excellent example - Sarah's hallucinatory fascination concurrent with a deep unease that slides into panic. Jareth's obsession, manipulation, and gas lighting. Sarah's vulnerability of youth becomes Will's vulnerability due to mind bending encephalitis as his fever rages. The ostensibly unequal power play. And Hannibal certainly has all the morals and capriciousness of the goblin king.
I was 10 years old when Labyrinth was released - within the target audience - and it was a formative influence. Apparently even more that I realized before this week. I suppose it's no surprise that of the few Labyrinth fics I've read, my favorites are always the ones where Sarah later takes control of the influence she wields and ends up being the more dangerous out of the two of them because of it.
Crossposted to Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)
Today, not surprisingly, full clips from YouTube have appeared (RIP David Bowie) and have really been cementing that association for me because, goddamn, do they have a lot more in common than you would expect. The ballroom scene is both iconic and an excellent example - Sarah's hallucinatory fascination concurrent with a deep unease that slides into panic. Jareth's obsession, manipulation, and gas lighting. Sarah's vulnerability of youth becomes Will's vulnerability due to mind bending encephalitis as his fever rages. The ostensibly unequal power play. And Hannibal certainly has all the morals and capriciousness of the goblin king.
I was 10 years old when Labyrinth was released - within the target audience - and it was a formative influence. Apparently even more that I realized before this week. I suppose it's no surprise that of the few Labyrinth fics I've read, my favorites are always the ones where Sarah later takes control of the influence she wields and ends up being the more dangerous out of the two of them because of it.
Crossposted to Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ♥ Blue :)