Legends and Fairy Tales

Over the past few days, I have been watching a metric fuckton of Labyrinth. Due to this I decided to also watch Dark Crystal again. With this pairing, I feel it is necessary to write something here. Why? Because of the duality of the pair of movies. They are both similar in many ways and vastly different in others. Right now I'm going to be focusing on the duality of the movies, but I think I may do some in depth writings on each individually.

To kick off, there is one obvious similarity to get out of the way. Both are Jim Henson productions. Henson of course was renowned for his vast imagination that he used over the course of his unfortunately short life to bring all sorts of amazing creatures to life. In Henson's hands, mere puppets of cloth and rubber took on a life all their own. Muppets, unlike puppets, are universally recognized as CHARACTERS. They exist as more than a man with a sock on his hand making silly voices. Prior the Henson, Puppets were an extension of the performer's hand. A conduit through which they interacted with the audience. (Or tried to kill them as the case may be with a couple of Twilight Zone episodes) But Henson's Muppets were so much more. They were not merely a conduit for Henson. No, born of his imagination, they came ALIVE. They broke free of those bonds and went on adventures seemingly of their own free will. Far more than the materials they were made of, they were practically human. They had faults and addictions, such as a monster addicted to cookies. They had goals and drives, such as a bear's quest to be a comedian. They even had love, such as the romance of a pig and frog. But while they proved they could exist in our world along with us, Henson also proved capable of bringing world's all their own to life. Both The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth capitalized on Henson and the brilliant minds he surrounded himself with, creating a pair of movies people still fondly remember to this day.

However, the two movies themselves are VERY different in style and the themes they contain within, though they have an odd sort of way that they weave together and apart over their courses.

At the most vague, the two are different story types. Dark Crystal is a Legend of the truest sense. A journey filled with characters and creatures we can barely recognize. They inhabit a world very much unlike our own to the extent that nary a human even EXISTS there. Foreign, near alien characters are used to weave a tale of good versus evil that is vast in scope. A youth guided by prophecy and he fights to save the world is the very foundation story archetype that we see time and again for good reason, it resonates with us. Keyed directly into that inner fantasy of being heroic, doing what's right and ultimately saving everything we know. The villains themselves are as if born of a nightmare. And along the story we see the character confront these terrifying beings and ultimately overcome. It is an excellent tale dealing with how we interact with the external world. Hope and despair. Life and death. Love and Hate. What divides us and what unites us. It is the very definition of what a legend is and should be.

Labyrinth on the other hand deals with a different story type, but just as old. Labyrinth is a Fairy Tale. Similar in style, but different in their aims. A teenage girl from our world with human troubles we all understand if not have dealt with first hand. Transported from the normal world into that of an alien one where concepts she thought she understood are turned upon their head. She does not journey and fight to save the world, but to save her brother. The scope is narrowed and personal. He failure does not result in the end of the entire world, but to her the consequences could be just as dire. This too deals with innate human fantasies, to explore, to experience, to grow. This is the very reason we tell fairy tales to children, in hopes of them learning the lessons that have come before. So they may evolve into their own, be ready to face the things they are likely to face in life, but told in a way that seems bigger and at times more magical. When it comes right down to it, Fairy Tales are very much internal. Intended to help us understand ourselves as much as the world around us. The quests the characters embark on intended as an experience that brings personal growth more than some external reward. (Though certainly not unheard of) They are lessons for life as much as they are tales told to thrill. The villain is no monster but a man. Friendship and rivalry. Choice and consequence. Cooperation and selfishness. Fear and courage. The very journey of life, told in fantastic means. The very core of a Fairy Tale.

The two story styles present a very interesting look at the different ways one core concept of life comes around and around again. They talk about different facets using different means, but both are essentially talking about the same concept, balance.

The Dark Crystal focuses on the Gelfling's journey to reunite the shard of the eponymous object. One of them male, one of them female. The two of them using their individual abilities to right the wrong committed so long ago that created the current state of affairs. The Cystal could not have been made whole if not for the TWO Gelflings. (there's a bit more in the comparison of the two, but that can wait) More than this, what is the wrong that started the whole mess? The UrSkeks. Unable to cope with their own dark sides, they used the Great Conjunction to try and rid themselves of the evil within. However, instead they were split in twain. The urRu, aka Mystics were their light halves, the goodness within them. The Skeksis were the dark halves, the evil they tried to rid themselves of. But of course, giving the evil of your soul personification is never a good idea. They fought, and in doing so, the crystal was cracked. Made lesser than the whole, the same as the Mystics and the Skeksis. Ultimately, the world is saved, not by killing the evil Skeksis, but reuniting with them. The lesson being that good and evil are both necessary in our souls. Only with balance is peace restored. As there can never be peace when you are racked by internal conflict. (Or rather the external manifestation of it, in this case) You must embrace it as a part of yourself if you wish to find peace.

Labyrinth on the other hand deals with the teenager's journey to save her baby brother from the Goblin King. A very straightforward quest ALSO speaking to the need for balance. But where Dark Crystal was the concept of uniting good and evil, Labyrinth is the union of childhood and adulthood. One could be mistaken at first, as I was, that the lesson was to grow up and become an adult. Leave behind those things of old and embrace the new. But on closer inspection i realized it too deals with the concept of balance and unity. Her journey is structured in a way that she learns to become more of an adult than the the childish brat we are first introduced to in the first minutes of the movie. But at the same time not to abandon those important things from childhood such as imagination and wonder. I am seeing that each of the characters of the movie represent one of those childhood shortcomings she must deal with and ultimately unite before she can be happy. (But naturally, I'll deal with the break down a bit later as well) At the same time, there is a secondary concept of Reality versus Fantasy going on. Her Journey is continuously mired from her own false perceptions of the very nature of the things around her. The simple idea being that she is saved by keeping an open mind. Once she understands that not everything is as it seems, she becomes equipped to save her brother. Keeping an open mind, she is able to believe and imagine yet still see things as they are. The balance of the two concepts. And by movie's end, she has grown up, left behind those childish faults but kept the friends she has made. Coming to terms with her brother and, more importantly, herself, she is finally able to find some happiness. She is an adult who retains the strengths of childhood and none of the weaknesses.

Now, I have a LOT more to say on the subject of the two, there are TONS of things I am leaving out but I believe I shall wait and tackle them individually.