telegramsam
Escaping from an Oubliette
Extraterrestrial Biological Entity
Posts: 162
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Post by telegramsam on Oct 8, 2009 17:45:46 GMT
Hmmmm... I don't think I really saw it in the film per se, since Jareth was definitely Sarah's adversary and trying to thwart her attempts at finishing the Labyrinth. I do think Jareth had a definite interest in her but not necessarily in a classically "romantic" way. But Jareth is sexy, regardless. And I don't think Sarah was totally immune to it even if she ended up rejecting him at the end.
Now some fanfic where Sarah is older, I can buy that if it's done well and not in a crappy romance novel/mary-sue kind of way, but as with all fanfic YMMV
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Post by Luthien on Nov 5, 2009 18:06:59 GMT
Ah, Jareth. I love Jareth. I wrote a research paper for my mythology class about Jareth. My professor got a hoot out of the fact that I turned Labyrinth into Serious Business. What we all need to realize is that Brian Froud, a scholar of celtic mythology and renowned fairy artist, had an enormous influence on the movie on all fronts: the script, the look, everything. If you're at all familiar with celtic folklore, then you know how dark the themes are because such is the nature of fairy folklore; it's not for kids. As such, the entire movie is watered down for the children. (Jim Hensen pretty much outright says this in the Makinig the Movie special, when he‘s talking about the battle in the goblin city.) Hoggle is not a dwarf, he is a red cap. Ludo isn't a friendly, goofy beast, he's the maze's minotaur. Diddymus, I've never been entirely sure of, since he doesn't fit into Fraud's world of celtic folklore, but I imagine he is more akin to a kitsune. And lastly, Jareth, the world's charming and dangerously sexy ruler, is a Sidhe. Labyrinth has a huge potential for badness, but they made it child-friendly. There is a reason Jareth comes across as childish, petulant and selfish. There is a huge disconnect between humanity's moral base/social ideals and that of the fairies; in many of the legends surrounding the fair folk and mortals, there is some misunderstanding or insult to the Sidhe caused by blundering mortals who have no idea they've done anything wrong, or visa versa, where the Sidhe thought they were perfectly within their rights to take a baby or a steal a young woman and were outraged that the humans were going after them by digging up their raths (fairy forts/mounds). Humans and the fairy folk just inherently don't understand each other. Jareth seems to behave like a child because, in the eyes of mortals, the fairies are selfish, temperamental, manipulative and mean-spirited. They tolerate not eve the slightest insult, their mood swings are literally things of legend, and they punish morals who transgress upon them with alarming cruelty. Of their positive traits, however, they are creatures of luxury and beauty who love bright colors, fine clothing and they are often seen entertaining themselves by singing or dancing. Unfortunately, their love for beauty also leads them to envy mortal babies, whose chubby softness is the complete opposite of the wrinkled, wizened appearance of a fairy child (which is what's left in the crib of the mortal parents, typically called a changeling), and young women, like Sarah, who are frequently carried off in the night to become fairy wives. It should also be noted that they are also notorious tricksters who will strike bargains and make bets with mortals and lead them through all manner of mind-twisting games -- except that where the fairy's pride is all they have to lose, mortals put their very lives and souls at risk from entering into a contest with a fairy. Despite the fantastic tales of old where the brave hero outsmarts the wicked Sidhe, it is well known that mortals rarely escape these games unscathed, if they escape at all. Labyrinth contains all of the aspects of a classic fairy story. Sarah unwittingly makes a gift of Toby to a fairy king; in exchange for the child, because a fairy cannot accept a gift without giving a gift in return (there is no such thing as a gift in fairy society; there is only trade, and the things traded must be of equal value), he offers Sarah her dreams. Sarah refuses his gift, not realizing that this is an enormous insult to a Sidhe. To balance the scales (and exact revenge, I‘m sure), Jareth gives her an opportunity to win her brother back. What Sarah doesn't understand is that if she loses, she becomes Jareth‘s prize, because again, the prizes must be of equal value and the only thing she has to trade to match the value of her brother is herself. Sarah enters the realm of the fairy and makes it out with her brother and her health because she understands the deceit and trickery used by the fairy and uses it against the obstacles thrown in her way. Jareth didn’t count on her being so cunning and crafty and his lazy arrogance and confidence ultimately leads to his defeat. He attempts a game of seduction and temptation at the end but Sarah is wise to his trickery by then and once again refuses him. A fairy king whose gifts have been twice-refused and who was badly defeated at his own game would be absolutely brimming with rage; a fairy’s pride and ego is enormous and easily damaged and fairies hold grudges for eternity. This girl has made an immortal enemy. Makes for some good fic. Jareth is my favorite character because he embodies everything a Sidhe king should: arrogance, a sense of entitlement, aloofness, pride, ego, beauty, elegance, mystery and sex. I would scream and run the other direction if I ever met him in real life, mind you, because I know what he’s about, but I can respect and adore him from a distance juuuust fine. I have to say, I love this! ;D I'm still new to the whole 'behind-the-scenes' of this film, so I had no idea that Brian Froud was a scholar and fairy artist.
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telegramsam
Escaping from an Oubliette
Extraterrestrial Biological Entity
Posts: 162
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Post by telegramsam on Nov 6, 2009 0:04:13 GMT
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Post by Luthien on Nov 6, 2009 0:56:05 GMT
Wow! Now I know who did The Faeries' Oracle I've been seeing! Amazing, thanks for the link!
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BabeWithThePower
Escaping from an Oubliette
The King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl...
Posts: 202
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Post by BabeWithThePower on Nov 7, 2009 18:58:11 GMT
One of the things I love about Jareth is the fact that his entire character is left up to the fangirls ^__^ So here’s my two crystals:
I think he did love Sarah, and did everything in his power to please her, only to realize at some point along the way that this whole “living up to your expectations” thing wasn’t working out. So, he put together the masquerade dream to try to make her forget all the ways he had hurt her (the Cleaners, the snake, just generally being an arrogant prat) and have her fall in love with him in return. Obviously, that didn’t work, but some part of him wouldn’t admit it and he tried to tell her both in the Escher room and at the very end. The end result? He got his heart shattered into dust.
My fanfic Through Mismatched Eyes has all this in much more detail if the short version doesn’t make sense.
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Post by sparkina on Nov 30, 2009 4:33:46 GMT
LOL He definitely looks like he'd rather be raising some hell than be stuck with goblins and chickens!! ;D Helen Perhaps The Gentleman was dreaming of Amlapura or wondering if there was life on Mars or watching for a Starman waiting in the sky :-) (a little Bowie humor there)
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Post by sparkina on Nov 30, 2009 4:41:37 GMT
Well, here are MY two crystals Speaking of crystals, one might think that the crystals Jareth offers Sarah might suggets an engagement ring, but I think that would be also in the context of little-girl fantasy. Like, the princess in the storybook marrying the prince, or like a little girl playing bride
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Post by moulinofmoraine on Aug 8, 2011 17:40:18 GMT
A link to a chapter in a fanfic of mineIf you'll permit me ... Jareth is GodBy Moulinofmoraine I'd put this in Moulin's Musings, but it seemed appropriate here too. This is just a musing, a thought, a concept, so bear with me: Jareth is God. The Boss. The King of the Universe. As you'll see if you peruse my link, I'm pretty much settled on the question: what is Jareth? You see, while I love reading about celtic folklore, my biggest dream is to unite into one universe the entirety of the Henson property list. Thus far, I've come up with a general chronology (however, it must be noted that the fic in the link is supposed to be a darker alt-universe to a previous fic of mine). 1. Jareth is basically the God of the Universe, called the King of the Universe by others (a phrase originating, I think, in Fraggle Rock). He is fatigued from all the constant and conflicting demands. Think about religion today, and how critics of religion claim that God just seems to be a kind of genie, where we simply demand wishes be turned into reality for our benefit. 2. He is torn into three pieces/ablations (continuing with a sort of Abrahamic tradition, where modern Hensonism, as it were, LOL, might have Christian overtones). If you've read my musings elsewhere, I submit that Hoggle is an ablation of Jareth. He represents not Sarah's vulnerability, but Jareth's. That is why Jareth appears to despise Hoggle so. However, in writing this alt-universe fic, a thought came to me: Jareth is also an ablation. He is the smexy powerful fulfiller (and feeder) of dreams. Hoggle is, again, the vulnerable timid one who believes no one truly loves him. To this I add a third party: Maldis of Farscape. Maldis has a similar fashion sense. He feeds off of nightmares and fear. His attacks are psychological metaphors, just as the Labyrinth is a psychological metaphor. He also has an arrogant sense of humor, making jokes that would make sense to the character in question. Jareth is the epitome of Sarah's 80s superstar dream guys. Maldis is like a balding, elderly Jareth who prefers Shakespearean clothing while riffing on all of John Crichton's pop culture knowledge from Earth. All three can manipulate reality to their needs. Hoggle can't, you say? How does he always appear to be at the plot-important moment? How does he form doors out of planks of wood? It's understated, but the power is clearly there. This concept forms a nice little Trinity of the King of the Universe: the dreams, the nightmares, and the seeming powerlessness. At any rate, my idea is that the inhabitants of the Universe, sometime deep into the ancient past, perhaps millions if not billions of our years ago, rebelled against the King of the Universe and tore him into three pieces, as they were upset that Jareth/the King could not easily grant gentle and hostile wishes both without nearly tearing the universe asunder. They basically modeled God after their own hearts to get what they want out of life. This left what was left of Jareth, his desire to give us our dreams, lost and lonely, desperate to get away. 3. Eventually, after studying on Thra at some point (the world featured in the Dark Crystal, which has a heavy theme of splitting good and bad from a central origin), he wound up on primitive Earth, long after dinosaurs had become extinct. He offered humans their dreams. However, as humans evolved, they too started to have conflicting notions of paradise. In an attempt to flee having to deal with this fate again (particularly after the first time turned out so badly for him), he created a portal to the "Underground", a parallel dimension where "fantasy" creatures, who were real at the time, could hide from human machinations in relative safety. He also gave up all title and rights to being King of the Universe/God, allowing a giant hairy beast called a Gorg (see Fraggle Rock's "The Tale of Sir Hubris") to become "King of the Universe", which became a rather figurehead position thanks to the Gorg naivety and inability to rule much of anything. 4. In such an exile, Jareth found a bunch of goblins who had no home. Re-inspired, and not particularly threatened by the humble if quirky nature of goblins, he formed the Goblin Kingdom for them, wistful but happy to rule something "easier" on a much more local scale. 5. This was all put at risk by meeting both Mizumi, who simply wanted the power of the King himself, and Sarah, who represented all he had come to despise of humanity in general. While the former didn't succeed in her attempts to take from him, Sarah succeeded in forcing Jareth to show the slightest hint of admiration for the potential of the human race. At the end of the movie, Jareth's owl form rides off into the night sky, the direction from whence he came originally. In the comic sequel, he tries to use Toby to get Sarah to join him in trying for the King of the Universe position again (not blatantly, though Uncle Travelling Matt has a cameo in volume 1, which shows that FR and Labyrinth might be related after all, and in the last volume, Mizumi shares my need to use the word "Hubris" to define Jareth). However, at the sight of her "real" loved ones in danger (both from her world and from her Labyrinth adventure), she balks. Jareth is rather miffed, but begrudingly agrees to accept that some people don't want all that frilly stuff and cosmic power and such. Your thoughts?
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Post by Bezzo on Aug 22, 2011 11:54:14 GMT
Umm....... yeah, I think I see where you're coming from!!! hehe Although, I've never read the Manga comics or watched Farscape so got a bit lost when you mentioned those!! An interesting theory, though. I also love the potential link to Fraggle Rock. Helen
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