More of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth; on the significance of Jennifer Connelly (Part Two)
We left Labyrinth at what I described as a transition point in the movie. Sarah is now stuck at the bottom of an oubliette (one of many in the labyrinth, Hoggle will inform us shortly), although Jareth will continue to refer to “the” oubliette and “it” as if there is only one. Was it a script inconsistency, or an intentional reference to the fact that Hoggle is a product of the story while Jareth is the storyteller? Much like many insane Kubrickian hypothesis, I don’t think it matters. As far as the story goes, she *is* in *the* oubliette, and that’s all we need to know. The labyrinth is “full of them,” according to Hoggle, and considering Sarah is dealing with more significant matters than the pedantry of the Goblin Kingdom…it is, after all, only the setting…they may as well all be the same oubliette. And as we have seen, they *could* all be the same oubliette, all leading to same possible outcomes.
Hoggle, who as you remember has been sent by Jareth to lead Sarah back outside the labyrinth, appears in the dark. He mockingly commiserates with Sarah’s situation and tells her he knows a way out of the oubliette back to the beginning. Sarah declines his offer, intending to continue trying to reach the castle. She notices, however, that Hoggle appears fascinated with her jewelry, most of which we can see (now that the camera focuses on it) is colorful and chunky; a child’s play-jewelry. Sarah offers Hoggle her bracelet if the dwarf will help her to the center of the maze. He sniffs at this request, but it’s clear he wants the bracelet. He counters with offering to lead her out of the labyrinth if Sarah gives him the bracelet, which; Sarah points out, he was going to do *anyway.* She tries again: if Hoggle will take her as far as he is *willing to go* toward toward the center of the maze, she will give him the toy bracelet. Hoggle agrees, although he “{won’t} promise nuthin’.” Hoggle picks up what appears to be a wooden door, full-sized, from the floor and sets it against a wall. He pulls the door open to the right, revealing a broom closet. The dwarf closes the door, opens it *to the left,* and a stone passage appears instead.
After an amusing encounter with “false alarms,” warning signs who also audibly try to convince Hoggle and Sarah they are going the wrong way, one of Jareth’s crystal balls rolls out of the darkness on the ground, passes between them, then bounces up into a box held by an unusual goblin-creature. (It’s worth noting the bouncing-in-reverse ball was literally just a short clip of reversed film, but only the bounce…the rolling ball was just someone rolling the ball toward them.) The creature quickly reveals itself to be Jareth, who questions why Hoggle appears to be leading Sarah toward the castle. Hoggle denies the accusation, claiming he was only *pretending* to help Sarah and was in fact going to lead her out of the labyrinth instead. Sarah is, of course, upset by this. But Jareth isn’t done, and the big marker of this segment of the movie is introduced: Jareth threatens Hoggle with being suspended in the Bog of Eternal Stench if the dwarf continues to “help” Sarah. He then asks Sarah what she thinks of the labyrinth; she flippantly responds that it’s a “piece of cake.” So Jareth winds the magically-appearing 13-hour clock ahead by 3 hours, since the labyrinth is “so easy.” Sarah shouts for the final time “that’s not fair!” which produces a signature line from Jareth (although something very keeping with the times): “You say that so often…I wonder what your basis for comparison is.”
This is, of course, a fundamental lesson in maturing from a child to an adult. Or at least within the framework of the story we’re being told. Life isn’t fair; we all understand that. But it’s not just the axiom itself that is important…it’s the basis for comparison. A child may think any number of absurd things are unfair, simply because they didn’t get the outcome they wanted. As you age, you start seeing such comparison as a gradation; and any two comparisons may be more or less fair. From there we pick our battles on whether it’s even worth making a fuss over. Unfortunately, this is still a fairy tale with a bit of a moral, so this clever bit of rhetoric is thrown out in a clever retort but not really explored. I’m sure Terry Gilliam has done something profound with it somewhere.
Jareth ups the stakes further by throwing the crystal ball back into the darkness (then disappearing while they watch it recede). The sparkle and glint of the crystal never quite disappears, and begins to grow and make noise. Hoggle eventually recognizes the approaching cacophony as “the cleaners.” No further explanation is given. We see an approaching tunnel-filling machine of flashing and spinning blades. Only once Hoggle and Sarah escape by breaking through a loose section of wall near a dead end do we see an image resembling that above, showing the goblin-powered machine pass by and smash through the dead end. Hoggle discovers a ladder, telling Sarah it is the way out. She asks how she can trust the dwarf, and we’re given another small lesson: what choice does she have? Stay where she is, which is deadly, and from which she was seeking exit; or try the one Hoggle is proposing?
Upon reaching the surface, Hoggle announces he will go no further. Sarah both begs and tries to shame him to no avail. Finally she seizes her plastic bracelet from his wrist and teases him momentarily as he tries to grab it back, when she sees that they are much closer to the castle now. Taken by the sight, she ignores Hoggle until hearing him grouse “it’s not fair!” A switch toggles in her brain and she responds quietly “No, it isn’t. But that’s the way it is.” She questions the best way to continue on when a creature that appears to be a wizened old man with a nesting bird as a hat, or even possibly growing out of his head, approaches. This interaction, setting aside an important aspect of the Bog of Eternal Stench introduced by Hoggle while they were climbing, sums up the situation. Sarah asks the creature (and his talking head/hat) if they know the way to the castle. The answer? “Quite often young lady, it seems we’re not getting very far, when in fact… … …we are.” Indeed.
(As an addendum, the head/hat asks for a donation for the advice while the now-apparently-sleeping wise man produces a beggar’s cup. Sarah starts to deposit the plastic bracelet she reclaimed from Hoggle, but on his protests she removes a ring and places it in the cup instead. But does *not* return the bracelet to Hoggle.)
The next part of the movie is comprised of Sarah consolidating allies for her final challenge while facing the ominous, overshadowing threat of the Bog of Eternal Stench. The Bog is first introduced as a threat to Hoggle, who then explains the basic premise to Sarah while they climb from the oubliette. Yes, it smells bad. In fact it is the worst smell you could ever smell. But that’s not the bad part. The worst part of the Bog is that if you ever get *any* of it on you, you will stink for the rest of your life. You can’t get it off. You will be forever tainted with the smell.
It’s “growing up.” It’s “becoming and adult.” Once you abandon childhood and become an adult, there’s no going back. It’s permanent. No matter how awful it is, you will never get the stink of adulthood off of you. This is, metaphorically, Sarah’s final warning. If she persist, if she keeps trying to be a grown up and do the responsible thing, she won’t get to be a child anymore. Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny (drink).
Sarah and Hoggle hear some kind of beast roaring. Hoggle immediately runs away, even fighting Sarah off. They had discussed her profession of friendship; a concept Hoggle is only marginally familiar with. He finds being Sarah’s friend novel, but clearly resents the implication that the friendship bonds him in some way to Sarah…feelings Jareth will take advantage of. On hearing the beast’s roar, Hoggle renounces the new friendship as he runs away. Sarah encounters a situation that mirrors and reverses her encounter with Hoggle and the fairies: a large, hairy goblin is suspended in a rope trap from a tree as three smaller goblins torment him with spears. While she feels strongly that ending the monster’s torment is the right thing to do, she fears the beast, yet suspects his appearance belies a friendly nature. She isn’t given any direct reason to suspect this beyond the situation where the giant goblin was being assaulted by other goblins, but is clearly meant to recall her assumptions at the beginning of the movie. Thankfully, and predictably, the giant hairy goblin is named Ludo and immediately welcomes Sarah’s friendship.
Sarah then has to be assertive and a bit mean to a door in order to continue through the forest. No riddles this time, no puzzle-solving. She just picks a door and does what’s necessary to open it. Certainly the labyrinth hasn’t played by the rules before this, but that’s not the point, is it?
Sarah and Ludo continue through the forest. Before long Ludo falls through the ground, seeming to have disappeared in an instant. Sarah spots Hoggle not far away and calls to him for help. Despite a few cuts to a wandering Hoggle dismissing Sarah and her promises of friendship, he instantly turns to run to her aid, only to be stopped by a sudden Jareth. Jareth sarcastically plays along with Hoggle’s claims to still be trying to lead Sarah out of the labyrinth, then hands Hoggle a crystal ball, which turns into a peach. He instructs Hoggle to give her the peach to eat instead of leading her out of the labyrinth. The Sunday School parallels are obvious…if the apple tempted the man to sin, then a peach for a woman. Wait, sin? Where did this come from? Surely we’re just reading our own thoughts into this.
Hoggle is concerned the peach is meant to hurt Sarah: “I won’t do nuthin’ to harm her.” Considering the fear he has shown of Jareth, this defiance speaks well of his growing character. Jareth mocks his affection for Sarah; what could a young girl like about a “repulsive scab” like Hoggle. Oh, did she say you were…friends? Predicting what someone else said in a particular situation can be a deflating experience, but it’s always twice as effective in a story where you can use the exchange to demonstrate power. Jareth threatens Hoggle with the Bog again; then adds an afterthought:
“…and Hoggle…if she ever kisses you, I’ll turn you into a prince!” “THE PRINCE OF THE LAND OF STENCH!!!”
With that the upcoming themes are firmly established. Yes, we are now talking about “mature” relationships. Having failed at scaring Sarah away from growing up, the Goblin King will now tempt her with the next distraction of the soon-to-be-grown child: interest in the opposite sex. While the peach may be a bit on the nose, I suspect it carried less weight in the early 80’s than it does now. But a second application of the peach and its implications are introduced in this scene. Traditionally a kiss by a princess turns a frog into a prince, of course; but this is also intertwined with the Disney fairy tale presentations of princes kissing princesses to wake them from magic spells. And surely that’s why you would give a fruit to a princess you wish to stop; to magically entangle them.
The next encounter is Sarah and the Fireys, which could be interpreted any number of ways. Drugs or promiscuity would be the heaviest, but you could also see the Fireys as representing pure, wanton, aimless, destructive, fun. The Fireys’ detachable heads easily represent homogeneity of thinking, “Chilly Down” is in the main an upbeat party song; yet the introductory music is in a minor key with a descending, tolling, bass progression…a rock-style Imperial March (drink). It should be noted however that one of the final clear lines uttered by the Fireys as Sarah throws away their heads in order to escape is “you should know to destroy your own head!” This sounds very much like a standard 80’s drug-use message. Like, if you weren’t there, this is *exactly* the kind of line you would hear 10 times a week. So there’s that.
Hoggle rescues Sarah, but they don’t get much chance to recover as over Hoggle’s protests, Sarah kisses him on the cheek. They immediately fall through the ground (again) and into a slide meant to deposit them into the Bog of Eternal Stench, just as Jareth promised. One begins to wonder if it only worked this way because Hoggle *believed* it would, but that’s getting back into some level of meta that doesn’t help.
They are rescued by Ludo, but still in the midst of the bog. Sarah spots a bridge leaving the bog ahead. The bridge is guarded by Sir Didymus, who is described as a goblin in the script but is clearly a fox (puppet) in the movie. The character is primarily used for laughs, but one “grown-up” lesson is applied here: Sir Didymus has given his word none may cross the bridge without his permission. While Hoggle makes threats, Ludo ends up engaged in a protracted fight with Didymus which ends in a draw. Despite Ludo earning Didymus’s respect, he has still sworn none may pass without his permission. Before everyone can gear up for another fight, Sarah simply asks, “Well, then. May I have your permission?” Didymus, seemingly confused that anyone would just *ask,* tentatively agrees, and they move on.
This leads to possibly the most famous scene of the movie. When Sarah mentions being hungry, Hoggle almost regretfully gives her the peach to eat. As it begins to affect her, Hoggle runs away damning Jareth and himself. Sarah falls asleep, entering a dream world dressed in an elegant white ball gown with elaborate decorations in her hair. She is confused, but seems aware that she is searching for something. Jareth enters made up like a prince. The other guests all appear as similarly-attired humans wearing goblin masks. Jareth, in his own goblin mask, watches Sarah search the indistinct room before removing his mask and approaching her. She is immediately drawn to him, seemingly fascinated by him. This part of the scene all plays out during the introductory segment of Bowie’s “As The World Falls Down.” Matching the lyrics to the movie is an essay of it’s own, so I’ll just move on to the point of the scene as a whole.
Many elements of the story come together here. While the “princess dancing with the prince at a ball” story is representative of the storybook pretend-play life Sarah wants, this is also a fictional Sarah…Sarah as she *would* be as the princess meeting the prince. Not the little girl playing make-believe in the park. Sarah’s intense interest in Jareth is only one part her fascination with her evil foe the goblin king, but the goblin king *without* the goblin mask. This is a princess meeting a prince in the Disney sense of the concept; you know, first comes the ball, or the non-consensual kiss, or the murder of the evil whoever…then comes marriage. Jareth presents to Sarah and alternative take on her dreams: if you want to grow up, well *here* are some of the benefits of growing up.
And this is the part of the movie that I’m not sure would have ever even existed if David Bowie wasn’t cast as the Goblin King Jareth *and* Jennifer Connelly didn’t grow up so much so fast between casting and filming. Even if the scenes were largely the same, I suspect the strong sexual overtones present in the movie led Jim Henson to bring this element out a bit more. You can tell which scenes in the movie were filmed earlier and which were filmed later. Sarah is “made up” differently throughout the movie, and it doesn’t match the timeline of the film itself. And honestly, I don’t think they consciously changed it; I think she just looked different at the end of filming than she looked at the beginning. And I do want to be clear…this is me making best guesses about why certain things are depicted the way they are. I have never found truly insightful commentary about the filmed version of Labyrinth. It’s all standard Hollywood “he was great, she was great, the script was great, Henson was great, the experience was great, and nothing means anything.”
And yeah, there is some ugliness that needs to be confronted here, as well. This scene is sexual; it is very hard to argue it’s not. Not only is the character of Sarah underage as far as consent goes in this scene (for Americans, anyway), Connelly was as well. Beyond that, you can also argue that this scene is…well…a r*p*. Mentally and emotionally, of course; not physically. But Jareth uses a magical agent to induce sleep and a dream in which she has a form of sexual encounter with Jareth. The point of the encounter is for Jareth to exercise influence over her actions and decisions.
Not to make light of the situation; but…I’m not saying it’s aliens, it just looks an awful lot like it has green skin and antennae.
Hey, remember what I said right at the beginning of the first post? Yeah, this will be finished up in the THIRD installment.
See you next week!
https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=58186