Disclaimer: The following is an old Labyrinth fan fiction I wrote for a Labyrinth fan fiction group years. Labyrinth belongs to Henson. Most, if not all, of the Labyrinth fan fiction I am going to post here is at least ten years old, if not older. You will see the original dates they were written placed into these documents. These fan fictions predate the canon of Return to Labyrinth.
To: .
Subject: [labyfic] An Essay by Jareth
From:
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 19:42:48 EST
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A reason for the seemingly reason-less:
An explanation of sorts
By Jareth
This is a psychologically explanatory essay for The Labyrinth
adventure of Sarah Williams by the "psychological malfunction" himself.
This is how I had seen it...
"Anything is possible and nothing is what it seems." As I have said
before...
The Labyrinth as I see is a journey through Sarah's on conceptions of her own
physical reality. I was, I believe at the time, a manifestation of her own
inner desires for her, the Id like being of her consciousness that craves
without consequence. I was for her own self- the self-concerning part that
is always desiring something else, if you will.
All of The Labyrinth is manifested in Sarah's physical reality in one
form or another. In the novelization by A C H Smith based on the screen play
by Terry Jones I had the similar appearance of the man her mother had run off
with a few years before "Jeremy".
I suppose that is what makes my Labyrinth so difficult. It is always a
personal journey. It is like a journey of one's own consciousness and like
the human mind itself, it is ever changing yet ever constant.
I was represented as her darkness or as close as one can get to
darkness in a truly innocent mind. I had to be. Of course I simply had to
live up to her dark ideals and expectations of me. She wanted an antagonist.
That is what I had tried to provide for her.
I see the Labyrinth as a being representation of the ego and
Sarah as being her own super ego in her awareness and judgment of what is
right and wrong, the true self with a sense of personal justice and morality.
I think the Labyrinth is an exploration of her own sense of being. It
is The revelation of the personal evolution of her existence; in other words
she is growing up by the journey of her own conciseness and by the self
revelation involved in solving The Labyrinth and by doing the near to
impossible in defying and denying me.
Now, if something is believed in it can be made real with that
belief. I think that at this time I had wanted to be made a real entity that
could exist beyond Sarah and on my own but I simply could not, because at
this time I may have only been a part of her.
Something can be manifested as real or made more powerful in the
physical reality if it is a shared in a belief by others. The human mind is a
very powerful thing. And is not the world of dreams a shared reality? All
realities are connected by the world of dreams in the unit of consciousness
in all living beings. There are worlds within worlds, you see. . Anything
that can be conceived of within the human mind can be made real if it is
truly believed in and that belief is held by a strong will. It is a wonder
that even I do not fully comprehend all the power that can be held within one
imaginative human mind. The human mind can create and destroy. The
manifestation of something literal from the mental is not really uncommon at
all.
I do not think that Toby represents Sarah's innocence but perhaps he
seems to be symbolically her innocence taken away. He is, I think actually
showing Sarah that she must now grow up and leave the childhood in fact to
the child while still calling upon her dreams every now and again as most
creative human adults often do. "I don't know why be every now and again in
my life- I need you, all of you."
Personally I think the whole Labyrinth was made at this time to be
Sarah's psychological development. My theory as to everything in relation to
The Labyrinth as it stands is...
(I know that I have said this all before but I think I might be right
just be right. I am seldom if ever wrong.)
The Labyrinth is where Everything seems possible and nothing is what it
seems. As I have said before but we should always expect the unexpected...
The Labyrinth as I see was for her a journey through Sarah's on
perspective subconscious speaking of her own material reality. I for her, was
a manifestation of her own inner desires, the id like being of her
consciousness that craves without consequence, the self concerning part that
is always desiring something else. All of The Labyrinth is manifested in
Sarah's physical reality in one form or another. In the novel by A. C. H.
Smith Jareth had the similar appearance of the man her mother had run off
with a few years before "Jeremy".
I was represented as her darkness or as close as one can get to darkness
in a truly innocent mind. Now, please, I am not truly a villain but merely an
antagonist. I only played the villain because that was what Sarah had
expected and had wanted of me to be. "Everything! Everything that you had
wanted I had done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered
before me- I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world
upside down and I have done it all for you! I'm exhausted from living up to
your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?"
Though I must say that I did not think that I really much cared for
that role all that much. I do not think that I could ever really find my way
in to the part, as it were. It simply was not the role that I would want to
take on; it was not what I had wished to be. I only tried and so only was the
image of what Sarah had wanted of me to be.
I do not think you can give me a true personality definition
because I was a psychological manifestation from Sarah's own consciousness or
perhaps the manifestation from all and any such beings as she is, the being
that is conceived from dreamers.
The human mind is a universe whole and entire unto itself. All
these universes, human awareness as a whole, are connected by the realm of
dreams. The key stone to this reality, this state of being has many
manifestations. It had many names and physical appearances. And this may be
where I truly originate from though now I have the past and future and
present that this had provided for me with the ideals of many dreamers who
held a faith from that. I was just one incarnation of such a being. I see
the Labyrinth as a being the ego and Sarah as being her own super ego in her
awareness and judgment of what is right and wrong, the true self with a sense
of personal justice and morality.
I think the Labyrinth is an exploration of her own sense of being. It
is the revelation of the personal evolution of her existence; in other words
she is quite simply growing up. "It keeps changing, what am I supposed to
do?" The Labyrinth I think symbolizes her psychological development. Like the
universe itself, like the human mind it is ever constant yet ever changing
and you can never really turn back. You must keep moving to find the answers
and to learn your lessons of life as Sarah does through her journey through
her own personalized Labyrinth for everything in the Labyrinth IS manifested
in her physical reality. Such a journey to define oneself and to mature is
often quite difficult.
Notice that The Labyrinth is a universe unto itself for it is the
manifestation of one human mind and that truly is boundless. There are worlds
within worlds and yes that can cause it to be a timeless yet solidified
physical reality. You dreamt me in to creation and so I am real but my
history did not start at the moment of your dreaming. I was given a past in
that creation and a present and for myself now with my own will a future.
Notice that everything in Sarah's reality, her Dog Merlin, her toys and books
are symbolized physically or metaphorically in The Labyrinth.
Now, if something is believed in it can be made real with that
belief.
I know that I had wanted to be made a real entity that could exist beyond
Sarah and on my own (Or at least that is how they had made me seem with that
film) but I simply could not, because I was a part of her. "I can't live
within you." Anything conceived of a strong will and believed in can be made
in to the physical reality. A strong belief in something can create as well
as destroy if a belief is lost but if this thing believed in has developed
it's own will and awareness it's existence cannot be denied.
Who knows, perhaps it is you who have make me real somehow. Something
can be manifested as real or made more powerful in the physical reality if
others share it in a belief. The human mind is a very powerful thing. And is
not the world of dreams a shared reality? All realities are connected by the
world of dreams in the unit of consciousness in all living beings. There are
worlds within worlds. Anything that can be conceived of within the human
mind, a universe of it's own can be made real. The manifestation of something
literal from the mental is not uncommon but once such a being holds it's own
consciousness it cannot be denied for it's will alone would sustain itself
but the belief in others would grant it, it's power.
Werewolfism for example, if one studied the occult the belief that
someone can be a werewolf "Lycanthropy". And the actual condition of being a
werewolf is called "Lycanthropy" because the mental sense or belief is so
potent that it can have physical reactions and so the two conditions are
considered almost exactly the same. That is how strong the human mind is. If
something is conceived in shared belief it can be manifested real with and
then from beyond there exist without the need of others. It would no longer
need to live "Within you" as it were.
Now as for did I really love her or not…
I did love her if one were to take the songs were sung "As the
world falls down" and "Within you" as being the truth of the character that I
am. For in most stories of this type songs of that type are expressions of
what the character is truly thinking and or feeling. Perhaps the ball was
initially to be a seduction and distraction but I see it as being as Edgar
Allen Poe once wrote "A dream within a dream" and perhaps this was a shared
dream between Sarah and myself. It seems s for the way I so intently involved
myself with the crystal orbs before said sequence and by the expression on my
face as I was rejected in the ball. I, being such a creature that I am,
would exist within a dream. And I would do this just as I could in this
reality or any other realm of being for that matter. Therefor I was totally
aware in the ball room scene as Sarah, perhaps more so in that I am the
master of that realm and Sarah had been made to forget her initial task at
hand of rescuing her half brother.
I must admit now that I was astonished at Sarah's tenacity when she
had made it to my final challenge of The Escher room and our final
confrontation. I had never seen someone; it seems with so much courage.
Everything, everything that I had done I had done for her. I may very well
have been in love with her for I had needed her to make myself manifest. I
wanted her to believe in me so that I could be made real and would no longer
have to live within her as it were.
I do not think that you can say that I am a human being per-say
in that I exist in said reality of the universe inside of Sarah's being. For
all human minds are universes unto themselves but I does hold clearly human
qualities. I do feel anger, lust, desire, boredom, frustration, obviously
with the "Magic Dance' number and there is why I do feel love.
I think that the incarnation of myself that you to see in the film
is actually the byproduct of Terry Jones' screenplay and David Bowie's song
writing and performing talents. If not for the songs then the Jareth that you
would see might be a totally different creature then the Jareth that you have
all grown to love and have helped to make manifested.
In fact David Bowie had rejected to do many films because he refused
to play a true villain. As said in "Stardust, The life story of David Bowie"
by Henry Edwards and Tony Zanetta -out of print since 1986 David Bowie had
taken on the role of my character but refused to play a villain. I think
that David Bowie saw me as being an antagonist but not really as being a true
villain at all.
There are many old legends of a goblin king very similar to the form
"Jareth" in Labyrinth, all different manifestations of myself. There is the
old Charles Dickens short story "The goblins who stole a sexton" and there is
the poem "The goblin market" by Christian Rossetti or it may have been Emily
Dickenson, I forget which at this particular moment. I do believe that it
had been Christina Rosetti. I believe that it was this charming young woman
who had once said "Who has seen the wind, neither you nor I, but when the
trees bow down their heads the wind is passing by,"
There is the old fairy tale "The princess and the Goblins" also under the
title "The goblin princess".
Maybe I was and or is real and a belief in me is what keeps me alive
and powerful, for the realm of dreams is a reality of it's own. I do not
think that I really need to tell you if this is true or not.
Maybe I was and or am real and a belief in me is what does keep me
alive and powerful, for the realm of dreams is a reality of it's own. I'm
psychotic, you all should know that by now but what is sanity anyway but an
ideal sate not unlike perfection itself. No one is really truly sane.
Everyone has problems. Anyone who says otherwise, who claims to be totally
sane is either a fool or is lying.
Who knows? Perhaps you all make me real somehow by your belief in
me and in placing so much value in to your priceless fantasies. You gave me
depth, a personality, a style, a past, a present and now even a future.
Though I can remember as far back as one thousand, one hundred and thirty
four years that past I do not think would have existed without your faith in
me. I suppose that what I may be trying to say here in now is simply thank
you. There I have said it. Don't think that you will find me saying it
again any time soon.
"You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, I
thank you all, but it's been no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise, I consider
it a challenge before the whole human race and I'd never lose,"- Freddie
Mercury the former lead singer of the music group Queen, with the song "We
are the champions"
Now after thirteen years of silent obscurity after the creation of that
film I felt that it was time I set the record straight as it were. And it
was time a few words needed to be said and I have said them and I am not
likely to grant it that you might hear them again anytime soon.
Yours always,
Jareth, The Goblin King
Counter signed:
Raven-
Jareth's personal assistant, and public opinion manager and moderator.
(This is the sort of employment one gains if you find that you cannot solve
The Labyrinth)
PS, I did not lose my mind. I just misplaced it. That's all. By any chance have
you seen it?
