Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Favorite Fictional Character (2)

You remind me of the babe.
What babe?
The babe with the power.
What power?
The power of voodoo.
Who do?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of the babe.

Labyrinth has been one of my favourite movies since I first saw it back in the late '80s. The fantasy world that the moviemakers created was unforgettable; just ask anyone who's seen the film. The characters were all so unique and individual that you could overlook the (at times) cheesy acting and just enjoy the beautiful world on the screen. Well, I guess the Bog of Eternal Stench wasn't that beautiful, but you get the idea.

When I was younger, I thought that Jareth the Goblin King was kind of creepy. He scared me. The bulge in his tight spandex pants scared me. But he was oddly enigmatic, too. Was it any wonder that Sarah was in danger of losing herself (and all she held dear) to him?

Of course, half of the charm of this character came from the actor who played him. There may have been more handsome actors who could have been cast, but David Bowie, with his rather fascinating looks, was just right for the role. Plus, he could sing. Labyrinth has some great music, and Bowie made the most of it. Who could forget the ballroom scene with its beautiful song that played as masked dancers swirled about in a crystal ball, all while the main character was in danger of falling victim to the Goblin King?

So Jareth is one of my favourite fictional characters. Now that I'm older, and he doesn't creep me out so much, I'm better able to appreciate how important he was to the story.

The Favorite Fictional Character meme was started by Ryan G. at Wordsmithonia.

7 comments:

  1. Oh, I need to watch this again! I haven't seen it in ages. That's so funny, because the first thing I thought when I saw this post was "the bulge!" I think he scarred a lot of us, our Mr. Bowie.

    Also, this is random, but my Captcha is "gumbike"...where do they get these?

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  2. I love Labyrinth. I tell you till this day I still quote it. It's how I use to get my baby sister to behave. By promising her if she quieted down she could watch Labyrinth again.

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  3. Love your opening...now of course it is stuck in my head though. This was a great movie! Bought it on DVD (finally!) a few months back to add to my collection. I agree with you on Jareth's creep out factor...as a child, yeah, that was pretty creepy...but so were some of the other characters. (the crazy shaggy red ones that pulled themselves apart, for one!) Great post!

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  4. Great choice! I love David Bowie so much. Plus that movie totally rocks.

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  5. LOL, I remember that crazy chicken hair and the trick he did with the ball, rolling it up and down his arm.

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  6. omg the goblin king is my fave ever tooo!!!!!! i love the labyrinth and this post was very well written about david bowie's role. excellent.
    -Robbin

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  7. I'm so sorry I didn't stop by sooner and see who you picked last week but I've been crazy busy and my commenting on other blogs has suffered for it. This is a great pick form one of my favorite movies. My son, who is 6, loves this movie and at times can't seem to get enough of it. Great choice!

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