Silly - Adj.
1. Exhibiting a lack of wisdom or good sense; foolish to the point of being pitiable
2. Lacking seriousness or responsibleness; frivolous: indulged in silly word play; silly pet names for each other.
3. Extremely stupid
4. Charmingly funny.
Cutesy - Adj:
1. Very attractive or delightly; charming
2. Inspiring awe
3. Very impressive
4. Nifty; stylish; clever
5. Adorable
6. Causing great surprise or wonder
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
The Labyrinth - A tragedy revisited
Labyrinth: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/
If you haven't seen Labyrinth, you're really missing out on a lot in life (if you haven't even heard of it, I am not quite sure that you're human). Most importantly, of course, is that this post will make no sense to you. So. Go watch it if you haven't (or if it's been a while!) - I'll wait.
Now then.
This movie was made the year I was born - which does not explain my fascination with it. I have always loved muppets (and Jim Hensen, of course, was the Supreme Ruler of all things Muppety), and the muppets in this movie were amazing. My favorites would have to be the Chilly Down dancers - you know the ones, they tossed their heads around, and danced in front of an obviously green-screened background. When I was younger and I watched that sequence, I was terrified - these creatures were evil and cruelly trying to yank off Sarah's head and limbs! On rewatching it, I came to appreciate them on a whole new level. They weren't cruel - they were just creatures who had no concept of any other species. For them, tossing around limbs was a fun expression of joy or perhaps friendship and trust - you were able to include someone in your games or dances by tossing limbs around, knowing that yours would always return to you after everyone got a chance to toss it in the air. It's similar to all those trust-building exercises.
So here we have this group of people, spending time in a dangerous land (the Goblin kingdom does not seem to be one of the more predictable or stable of places). They're just enjoying each other, and they find this traveller who chances upon them. As a show of hospitality, they try and include her in their bonding and festivities. She tosses a head - or rather, throws it. It is only then that they seem to turn on her, and it really is only reasonable - they have betrayed their hospitality and pretty much thrown their attempts at friendly inclusion in their faces.
Which made me GREATLY dislike Sarah (I disliked her for other reasons, but this was definitely one of them).
This brings me into the other thing that really bothers me. Jareth, and Sarah's treatment of him. Here is a creature who has grown up all on his own - yes he is surrounded by other goblins, but none seem to be his equal in either rank nor power. He is granted free and total rule of the Goblin Kingdom, but it seems like he has mostly raised himself - there is no hint of mentor or friend in any of his thoughts or interactions.
The goblins that are passably intelligent seem to stay clear of him, and even they are more comically lucky versus actually intelligent. He is the most alone creature in this world.
Now, he hears the call of a young girl - let's ignore for the fact that Jareth appears to be much older than her and is likely even older than that. Age has to have a different meaning when comparing two so different races, so we should grant him a little leeway, and perhaps not consider him to be extremely paedophilic.
Here is a girl, Sarah who seems on the surface, to be a lot like him - he spends his days daydreaming, puttering around, surrounded by idiots who keep bothering him, dealing with the responsibilities that he is bored with (ruling the kingdom, for one). She seems to be dealing with the same issues, though definitely on a lesser scale. He empathizes with this girl, and seeks to help her, as he cannot help himself.
He teases and plays with her, thinking that she is more annoyed that he was able to sneak in and steal Toby, and at first she seems more annoyed than honestly worried. He watches as it becomes clear that Sarah actually loves her little brother, and that is where Jareth gets lost - he had hoped that she would be so grateful to him for saving her from her onerous responsibilities that she might in turn try to help him, and stay with him and keep him company. Instead, she yells and rages against him - when all he ever did was give her what she asked for. He is bound by ancient rules - if she makes a wish, he must honor it, even if she later changes her mind.
He makes it clear as he's confronting her in the end - he truly just wants, needs even to feel loved. Once that fundamental need has been satisfied, he will give her everything she ever wanted. If she would just love him, he would be her slave in all things.
Not only does she not understand this - even when she no longer blames him for fulfilling her wish. At the end, all her goblin friends join her to visit the human realms... and even the goblins who were part of Jareth's court show up. Jareth is now left completely alone - she has even taken those creatures he kept around so that he could delude himself into believing he had people to count on, people who cared for him. Sarah proceeds to chalk it up to a good learning experience, and has gained some good friends, and some fun goblins to hang around.
And Jareth, in the owl form he uses in the human world, flies away, all alone.
If you haven't seen Labyrinth, you're really missing out on a lot in life (if you haven't even heard of it, I am not quite sure that you're human). Most importantly, of course, is that this post will make no sense to you. So. Go watch it if you haven't (or if it's been a while!) - I'll wait.
Now then.
This movie was made the year I was born - which does not explain my fascination with it. I have always loved muppets (and Jim Hensen, of course, was the Supreme Ruler of all things Muppety), and the muppets in this movie were amazing. My favorites would have to be the Chilly Down dancers - you know the ones, they tossed their heads around, and danced in front of an obviously green-screened background. When I was younger and I watched that sequence, I was terrified - these creatures were evil and cruelly trying to yank off Sarah's head and limbs! On rewatching it, I came to appreciate them on a whole new level. They weren't cruel - they were just creatures who had no concept of any other species. For them, tossing around limbs was a fun expression of joy or perhaps friendship and trust - you were able to include someone in your games or dances by tossing limbs around, knowing that yours would always return to you after everyone got a chance to toss it in the air. It's similar to all those trust-building exercises.
So here we have this group of people, spending time in a dangerous land (the Goblin kingdom does not seem to be one of the more predictable or stable of places). They're just enjoying each other, and they find this traveller who chances upon them. As a show of hospitality, they try and include her in their bonding and festivities. She tosses a head - or rather, throws it. It is only then that they seem to turn on her, and it really is only reasonable - they have betrayed their hospitality and pretty much thrown their attempts at friendly inclusion in their faces.
Which made me GREATLY dislike Sarah (I disliked her for other reasons, but this was definitely one of them).
This brings me into the other thing that really bothers me. Jareth, and Sarah's treatment of him. Here is a creature who has grown up all on his own - yes he is surrounded by other goblins, but none seem to be his equal in either rank nor power. He is granted free and total rule of the Goblin Kingdom, but it seems like he has mostly raised himself - there is no hint of mentor or friend in any of his thoughts or interactions.
The goblins that are passably intelligent seem to stay clear of him, and even they are more comically lucky versus actually intelligent. He is the most alone creature in this world.
Now, he hears the call of a young girl - let's ignore for the fact that Jareth appears to be much older than her and is likely even older than that. Age has to have a different meaning when comparing two so different races, so we should grant him a little leeway, and perhaps not consider him to be extremely paedophilic.
Here is a girl, Sarah who seems on the surface, to be a lot like him - he spends his days daydreaming, puttering around, surrounded by idiots who keep bothering him, dealing with the responsibilities that he is bored with (ruling the kingdom, for one). She seems to be dealing with the same issues, though definitely on a lesser scale. He empathizes with this girl, and seeks to help her, as he cannot help himself.
He teases and plays with her, thinking that she is more annoyed that he was able to sneak in and steal Toby, and at first she seems more annoyed than honestly worried. He watches as it becomes clear that Sarah actually loves her little brother, and that is where Jareth gets lost - he had hoped that she would be so grateful to him for saving her from her onerous responsibilities that she might in turn try to help him, and stay with him and keep him company. Instead, she yells and rages against him - when all he ever did was give her what she asked for. He is bound by ancient rules - if she makes a wish, he must honor it, even if she later changes her mind.
He makes it clear as he's confronting her in the end - he truly just wants, needs even to feel loved. Once that fundamental need has been satisfied, he will give her everything she ever wanted. If she would just love him, he would be her slave in all things.
Not only does she not understand this - even when she no longer blames him for fulfilling her wish. At the end, all her goblin friends join her to visit the human realms... and even the goblins who were part of Jareth's court show up. Jareth is now left completely alone - she has even taken those creatures he kept around so that he could delude himself into believing he had people to count on, people who cared for him. Sarah proceeds to chalk it up to a good learning experience, and has gained some good friends, and some fun goblins to hang around.
And Jareth, in the owl form he uses in the human world, flies away, all alone.
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