Some might call this a children's tale or a tale for children; those are the same people who had me read the Greek myths when I was in third grade because those were "fit for children," or the people who have helped render fairy tales into scarce shadows of the originals. But although Muppets abound, the story of Labyrinth is one of finding yourself and of integrating those many selves in order to become a healthier person. The protagonist, Sarah (Jennifer Connolly), is a girl who is very much alone, despite having a family (father and stepmother and little brother); we never see or hear of any friends, and we know she has no significant other, either. Sarah chooses to live in a world of her own creation, of fairy tales, of princesses and goblin kings and ... labyrinths. We open with her acting out a play, "The Labyrinth," and she chooses to treat the rest of the real world in the same way as her fantasy; e.g., she views her stepmother as a stepmother from a fairy tale, and when her baby brother won't be quiet, Sarah's reaction is to give him away to the goblin king of her fantasies.

There is, however, a danger, both figuratively and literally, in putting so much into living in a fantasy: It can in fact become real.

Whether this is merely real to you (leaving you to be viewed as insane by others) or actually real (in a fairy tale sort of way) is a question this film plays with, but leaves unanswered. What is explored is the journey within oneself to become a whole, to face the dark side of oneself, or that which you consider dark, and make a hero's journey back to the real world. Labyrinth is also an explanation of the inner workings of the mind, and it could be argued that every character in Sarah's fairy tale world is really an element of herself.

Then again, you could argue that everyone in her "real world" is an element of herself, too. Or that everyone in our "real world" is an element of ourselves. Or ...

(Smack!)

Just do see the lovely little film, eh?

For more and other views of this film, please see, for instance, Christy's Garden of Mythology.