Friday, January 6, 2017

Labyrinth


Watching The Labyrinth with a group of like minded folks (David Bowie aficionados) - it spooks me how much this movie for me is an allegory of my own inner neuroses/where i went wrong in life/what 'was stolen' from me/etc. Hard to explain. One day I'll haveto write it all out if only for me.


I"d thought about this a few weeks ago and written notes earlier but for now wanted to jot down some notes/references


it's a big task so will continue later

Questions:

Why does Goblin King want the baby?

Why does love mean taking baby away from her?

WHat if she went for it, baby exchange for magic powers/Mrs Goblin King, what would that look like?

Other readings:

Dedalus Myth

http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Daedalus/daedalus.html

Characters:

Toby/the brother - the vocation, that which requires responsibility, work, humility, inconvenience, subsuming personal short-term desires

Sarah - the ego, the self, the immature self who just wants 'cake and roses' all the time, narcissism, the sense of a 'special destiny'

Jareth/Goblin King - the narcissist fantasy/delusion, the narcissist promise seemingly come true
can also BE YOUR CALLING if it maeks you an unbalanced person (IE Richard Pryor, etc) offers you glory, 'loves you', but at a great price
can also be the UNrequited Fantasy Love a la Natalie Lue

the Goblins - all the psychological traumas, demons, garbage, etc

Hoggle - practical advice

the Worm - to me this silly, humble creature is unexpected inspiration, or 'that little voice' that CAN save you from stagnation/maybe the subconscious

The Doors - the decisions we must make in life with limited info, which sometimes seem fraught

Timeline:

opening - practicing the play "

11ish - "the Goblin King is in love with me" IE narcissistic fantasy/solipsism or
OR alternate interpretation, being blessed/cursed by 'the Muse'

12:03 - "I wish the Goblins would come and take you away... right now" said by the narcissist/immature ego to The One THing that matters in her life

15:03 - "go back to your room play with your toys and your toys and your costumes, forget about the baby ..... [gift that shows you your dreams] this is not a figt for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby ... if you want this, you can forget about the baby"

the baby (IE the life purpose) lies in the Goblin City, so far away, looks miles away 
IE seems impenetrable, far off, guarded by unknown horrors

18ish - "it's further than you think, time is short"

20:22 - S: "its hopeless asking you anything
H: "not if you ask the right question
and the right question was the most direct one 

IE go for what you want, define it, say it, etc

H: left or right?
S: they both look the same
.....
H: you know your problem? you take too much for granted

24:30ish - Labyrinth seemingly goes on forever, never turns, never changes, never switches, and DEFINITELY deosn't seem to be leading anywhere useful (IE the centre, the castle)
IE when we are mired in our problems everything looks the same, nothing seems to change, there does not seem to be any kind of opening, or solution - and sometimes the harder you work, the more you grind yourself into the ground bc you;r'e doing the same old crap due to same old thinking

26ish - "you're not looking right, it's full of openings, there's one right there//// try to walk through it

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM, so you can't TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED"

27ISH - "DON'T GO THAT WAY... if she'd kept going that way she woulda gone to the castle" IE the limits of others' advice, that they mislead either bc
a) gthey don't know where you're going
b) their path in life is not yours

29 - DANCE MAGIC DANCE
meanwhile, the creatures hide the path to the castle from her, by switching the lipstick mark

34ish - "it keeps changing!!! someone's changing my stuff!!! IT'S NOT FAIR"

IE classic 'WHo moved My Cheese" stuff

36ish - doors, what is truth? what is lies? how do we know? It's used for bags all the time

38 - "since I'm pointed that way I guess I'll go down"
IE is this the best way to make decisions, inertia?

39 - "she should not have gotten as far as the oubliette she should've given up by now"
OUBLIETTE = FORGET
"It's a place to put ppl to forget about them"

43 - "don't pay attention to them, you get a lot of false alarms in the Labyrinth, especially as you get closer"

40:36pm stopped in earnest


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comments from elsewhere

Catt Avery so i have been reading so much on situationist and surrealist and the avant garde and they had this thing about the labyrinth and the derive.
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Katie Mulligan plus you can't ever really have too much jareth no matter how hard you try
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Catt Avery its the parable of the fukboi artist boyfriend
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Catt Avery like dont do it grrrl
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Catt Avery like the situationist were awful they pretty much lived off of their wives and lovers
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Katie Mulligan when ur bf is prettier than u will ever be
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Catt Avery and their motto was "never work"
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Catt Avery much prettier
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Catt Avery they though that the ultimate city was where robots did all the work and everyone just sort of wandered around like a giant labyrinth. BUT NO ONE TALKED ABOUT WHO WOULD TAKE CARE OF THE BABAIES. LIKE be an adult.
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Catt Avery like its heroic and its about there being a lot of dimensions to life that you do not see or that you cannot access if you remain in an infantile state where the ego is overly dominant
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Catt Avery or as i like to think of it growing your brains frontal lobe better
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Catt Avery doubly brilliant bevause making the movie allowed him to send more time with his son and adjust himself to be a better dad and i think even learn how to swim
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