So let me just talk about the movie Labyrinth, and I'll show you why this is one of the best films ever made.

The first source of conflict we see in Labyrinth is between Sarah and her stepmother. Sarah is very much a petulant child, and tends to escape into worlds of fantasy, and it's very clear that it's because she's unhappy with her home life. Question is, why?

Sarah's room is full of things. She flies off the handle at her baby brother playing with one of her dolls. So she's not from a family that is financially struggling, clearly. In fact, this idea is later revisited. Pit a pin in this.

Sarah's mother is an actress. Look at the scrapbook - Sarah loves her mother.
Big news - her mother is an actress. This clipping is from a playbill.
Why is that important? Well, it explains her family's evident wealth, but also explains something so very, very important...

The first time we see Sarah, she's in a park. In costume. Reading lines from a book. Not just a book. Not just a book - the book of the film. And not just any kind of story. It's a play.
Sarah wants to be an actress. That's her dream, her ambition. Just like her mother.

We don't see her mother in person in the film at all, but she's a massive shadow over Sarah's life and her absence is the source for her unhappiness.
Now, the book she reads at the start of the film is so extremely important, because it's literally the script of the film. Really.

Like, when Sarah says "I wish the goblins would come and take you away", it works. Why does it work? Because she knows the words to make it work. How does she know them? Because she's read them in the play.

Now that we know that actors and actresses are extremely important in this story, look at who Sarah's mother was romantically involved with. Yes, that's David Bowie in the photo.
Ever wondered why the Goblin King looks human? Brace yourself. Here's my first huge bombshell.

The reason that the Goblin King looks human, and not like a goblin at all, is because that's how Sarah sees him. Subconsciously, she has cast him as the most attractive man she can imagine; the suave, handsome man who took her mother away from her.

So now let's look at the part of the film that I love - the relationship between Sarah and Jareth. Or as I like to think of it, one of the best depictions of a truly awful romance in film.

So on one level, Sarah is trying to rescue her baby brother. This conflict echoes the ideas of motherhood, which again links Sarah to the character of her mother, forcing Sarah into adopting the motherly role. Again, roles; playing a part. Yes, like acting.

In those two roles, Sarah and Jareth are rivals. The film plays with that throughout the film, until the ballroom sequence. Before then, Jareth's barbs at Sarah have elements of flirting but never overt romantic tones. The ballroom scene is Jareth's declaration of desire for her.

But if there's a romantic angle, why do I say that it's an awful, terrible relationship?
Because Jareth tells us.
He throws an entire army against her. He tries to trap her in dreams. And then he demands her love. When she doesn't give it, he mocks her.

Even after he's subjected Sarah to all of these tortures, made her run through a labyrinth, stolen her loved ones, fought her at every step, he blames her for it. "You did this; see how you've hurt me. I've done so much for you!" Textbook abusive relationship comments.

The thing is, the film knows this. This isn't Twilight; it's not going to give this pair a happy ever after. Sarah has to get away and survive this.
That's why the means to defeat Jareth has to be the same way you escape real-life abusers.

Like, there are so few pro-feminist films that truly embrace the idea that abusers are weak, fragile creatures who don't truly have any power. There's a few, but not many. That's why films where the heroine turns away from their enemy are so important, and why we need more.

So, Labyrinth is a film about a story. It has characters who are actors who play the parts. Let's look at the three companions who travel with Sarah, and do you notice anything about them? Do they remind you of another three companions who travelled with a girl in a fantasy tale?

Yep.
And heck, they even have a dog.
You can draw parallels between the companions in Oz and the ones in Labyrinth too; try it, it's quite fun.
But here's an interesting and unusual twist...

Just as in Wizard of Oz, the characters linger on in the real world; but the reason that they do is different. Let's discuss that.

Sarah's room is 'backstage'. Everything is the Labyrinth is in here. See what you can spot next time you watch it. In this screenshot you can see the Escher stairs that Jareth traps Sarah in, and Ludo. In other shots there's Sir Didimus, the Fieries, the Ballroom, Hoggle...

Remember that Sarah, at the start, escapes into fantasy to escape the pain she feels. By the end of the film, she's healed.
But the characters remind her that 'should you need us', they are there.
Fantasy and wonder never goes away. Dreams don't die.

And you can carry them with you in your life. Always.