Labyrinth Analysis Part 2- The Meat and Potatoes

Now that Sarah started her journey, she is interacting with this strange fantasy world. Sometimes it is wondrous, sometimes it is frightening, and sometimes it is lacking in sense. The first character she encounters, just outside the Labyrinth, is a goblin named Hoggle.

At this point, I am going to throw in crazier interpretations. So let’s pause at Sarah’s meeting with Hoggle and throw in the one that will reappear the most. Labyrinth is a film with strong Feminist subtext. Was this intentional? I do not know. But let’s take a closer look. First, Sarah is a female protagonist who is both dynamic and strong-willed. She stands up and does the heroic thing. She fights the Labyrinth when everyone else tells her it is impossible. She becomes a leader. Her goal is not attaining a man, but saving a life. The film portrays the element of romance connected with Jareth  as a trap. (But we will elaborate later).

                Second, the world of the Labyrinth, especially the goblin city, is a patriarchy. It is a world where men are dominant and women are subservient. The goblin population is, for the most part, male. The city features a fountain where one of the statues urinates into the pool. Jareth’s tights confirm his male-ness and power over everyone else. He later criticizes and mocks Hoggle for feeling empathy for a girl. His sings his first song, “Dance Magic Dance” at Toby. It is a fun number about the spell that will turn Toby into a goblin. The ingredients for the spell include “slime and snails/puppy dog tails.” This is an allusion to the nursery rhyme “What little boys are made of” that glorifies rigid gender roles. This time, the goblins emphasize these elements so Toby will lose his humanity. They will make him a monster (that is, a misogynistic male).

                 

                How does this connect back to Hoggle? When we first meet him, he is urinating. After that, he sprays female fairies with a phallic object to dis-empower them. But, it is Sarah’s friendship that gives him a change of heart. While Jareth abuses his power over Hoggle, Sarah treats him as an equal. She might be a girl, and an enemy, but her companionship treats him as an equal. His empathy and value for friendship wins him over, and he converts to her side.

The film comments that patriarchies are built by men “out male-ing” and intimidating those below him in order to be at the top. On the other hand, the visiting woman, calls those she can trust her “friends.” She respects them and sees them as equals. Her “feminine” way is the better way. She takes care of them them just as much as they take care of her, making her their unofficial leader.

But Sarah’s journey is not pleasant all the time. She is in an environment full of different twists and turns. There are many ways to interpret the Labyrinth itself. But the one I will be sticking the closest to is that it represents adolescence itself. In her book, "Labyrinth", she imagines it as a wonderful, magical paradise. It is more beautiful and interesting than her suburban reality, much like how children romanticize adolescence from a distance. They think teenagers are “cool” and wish to be like them. When they reach adolescence, reality hits them. It is unpredictable, filled with tricky illusions and many puzzles (such as the two guards). She must make difficult choices, and encounter characters of questionable trustworthiness. She must meet trials, temptations, goals, friends, enemies, and so on. When you think you have it all figured out and it looks like it is easy, then all of a sudden, some disaster will hit you. The film illustrates this with the “piece of cake” running gag. Whenever a character says something- usually the Labyrinth, is a “piece of cake”, some disaster strikes. When Sarah says it in the forest, Ludo falls through a trap. When she says it in the oubliette, time goes forward, giving her less time to complete her quest, and that’s just to name a few.

       Earlier in her journey, after she figures out the puzzle, and answers it correctly. But even though she made the right choice, she still has to face difficult consequences (sound familiar?). Sarah falls thought the tunnel of “helping hands”, which is literally a bunch of hands pulling her down, into the oubliette. Oubliettes come from the Renaissance period and were torture dungeons for political power. In literature, they represent cruelty, and tyrannical power. So here, Sarah is facing the “heart” of tyranny, having reached the “belly of the whale” step in the traditional Hero’s journey. If we are going to go with the Freudian angle, then since the oubliette is circular and cave-like, it can be a vagina symbol. If this is the case, it marks the beginning of Sarah exploring her sexuality. Its dark, damp, she goes down there by hands touching all over her (a reference to masturbation), it’s frightening and unknown. Once Jareth confronts her and threatens Hoggle, he takes the crystal dream ball and throws it into the dark, summoning a “cleaner.” 

The cleaner is conical shaped and full of spikes and other pointed objects, and goes through the tunnels, rushing toward Sarah and Hoggle to run them down, and tear them to bits. This cleaner could be an allegory for rape since it is painful looking and forcing its way through the tunnel in order to destroy the heroine, and is summoned by the character representing adult sexuality and patriarchy. When she and Hoggle finally escape the cleaner and emerge outside, they are surrounded by bushes and greenery, which could represent pubic hair.

But sometimes a canoe is just a canoe and a cave is just a cave. If so, then the oubliette can represent something much more northern in the body; the womb. Up to this point, the Labyrinth has left the immature Sarah frustrated and stressed. To solve it, she must be ‘reborn.’ This is why she faces in the oubliette with all of its damp, dark ferocity. Once she emerges, her character makes the most changes, and she learns to accept what she cannot change and what is in her power to change. She also learns the importance of friendship and looking after people (or rather, puppets….living things) other than herself.

Her friends, Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didimus, are there for spiritual support. But she learns several lessons through them. They represent the new friendships and loyalties she is learning to value as a burgeoning adult. Each represents different characteristics; Ludo is naiive, kind-hearted strength, Sir Didimus is impulsive gallantry, and Hoggle is cynical and hesitant to companionship. Each one is a piece of a whole; perhaps they are sides of herself she must balance to get mature power. As a group, they complete each other. She sees through them and makes sure that they are well-off and equal (she asks after one if that one is missing, and she calls them all her “friends”). She learns how each one ticks and appeals to them (calling Didimus “noble sir” after asking for his permission).

But although she has already braved many parts of the Labyrinth, she has a long way to go. Some elements are trying to use her own conflicting desires against her...