How old is jareth in labyrinth

Story spoilers for it start below. Ad — content continues below. It goes behind the scenes to show what Jareth was up to while Sarah was arguing with door knockers and getting down with the Fireys. As a framing narrative, Jareth tells baby Toby a story about another young woman who fought her way to the Goblin Castle to take back a stolen child. Deep in gambling debt with nowhere to turn, Albert accepted a magical deal from the Goblins, who want him to live in their realm.

The Owl King who rules the Labyrinth, is ancient, say the Goblins, and needs an heir. In Europe, Albert had an illegitimate son with a taverna linen maid named Maria.

When Albert finally ran out of money and options, he made the desperate decision to return to England and leave Maria behind, knowing that his cruel father would never accept her. She begged the Owl King, who relented and struck a deal: she has 13 hours to solve the Labyrinth until her baby son becomes one of them forever.

However, there's a big difference in these two experiences, namely that Atreyu is a youth, and Jareth is very much a grown man. As an adult, it's downright creepy that the filmmakers suggested even a hint of romance between Sarah, who's only 16, and Jareth, let alone the prospect of marriage. There are laws against such a union in many parts of the world, so it's deeply concerning that such a courtship was perfectly acceptable in the eyes of Hollywood—though recent events may provide some unfortunately disturbing context on that subject.

Top it off with the fact that Jareth has Hoggle feed Sarah a roofie-laden peach, and the whole thing seems even more sinister through an adult pair of eyes. Blink and you miss it, but all of these works are on the shelves of Sarah's reading library in her room. You might not catch the shout-out as a kid, but once you've read the source material, the parallels are pretty obvious.

Labyrinth , for the most part, follows the same formula that many classic fairy tales do, depicting Sarah's rite of passage out of childhood and into adulthood. At the start of the film, Sarah—our heroine—lives with her loving father and wicked stepmother. She's a precocious girl who finds solace in toys and books, which some may consider childish. But her world is turned upside-down when, after complaining to forces that apparently were listening, her baby brother is kidnapped by the villain, Jareth; he then challenges her to win him back.

This forces Sarah on a hero's journey through a mysterious and dangerous labyrinth, and eventually to the court of the goblin king himself. After a host of obstacles, tests, and missteps, Sarah eventually secures Toby's release after defeating Jareth and breaking the spell that he's cast. And while she may or may not live a happily ever after, order certainly is restored to her life, and the battle has been clearly won.

So while Labyrinth sure seems like one of the most unique and bizarre movies to have come out of the s, its structure is actually much more traditional than you'd probably ever realized.

The sexual innuendo and symbolism in Labyrinth is pretty blatant if you have your eye out for it. Once Sarah casts off her white gown and leaves the human world, she's no longer in pure, virginal territory.

In fact, phalluses are everywhere. There's the obvious case of Jareth's aforementioned pants, for one. And he's either playing with a handful of crystal balls or wielding a scepter throughout the film. Then there's the promise of a "love injection" in the lyrics of the song, " Underground. Even Hoggle has his junk out when he and Sarah meet, as he's urinating into a pond. If you took a psychology course in college or have an appreciation of the work of Carl Jung , maybe you picked up on the idea that the labyrinth is actually a reflection of Sarah's subconscious mind.

For one, the labyrinth is surreal in many ways, as dreams are, and many things are not what they seem. Sarah finds that doors are not where they appear to be—and where they should be, they're missing.

Also, many of the objects in her room—an MC Escher poster, a wooden marble labyrinth, and a statue of Jareth—are all found in some way in the labyrinth, which is further evidence that it's all a creation of her mind. And Jareth represents the looming possibility of sex, with his imposing stature and intimidating bulge. If only all of our subconscious minds were so interesting.

Jennifer Connelly was only 14 years old when she stepped into the role of 16 year old Sarah, which is fairly young — certainly pretty young to start dating in earnest. But Sarah's stepmother seems to have no issue with it, and in fact wishes Sarah would show some interest in the prospect, just as she did at her age.

She says so in their only conversation together in the film. As a kid, you might miss how unsettling it is for a mother figure to push a young girl into the shark-infested dating pool so soon, but as an adult, it's pretty cringe-worthy. In an attempt to put to bed, once and for all, a subject that is very close to my heart — I am going to explain that burning question; who is Jareth, and why has he got a massive penis bulge? The poster child for teenage angst, Sarah Jennifer Connelly is struggling to come to terms with her new family dynamic.

Fed up of babysitting, she wishes her step brother Toby would be taken away by the goblins in a fit of pique. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Jareth Bowie rocks up to take Toby away. The truth behind Jareth is revealed in the opening scenes of this musical masterpiece, for those who are clever enough to spot it or for those who analysed the film shot for shot as part of their dissertation.

Labyrinth may have initially been viewed as a simple fairytale fantasy film for children to enjoy, but with mature eyes this message soon transforms into a coming of age caution; one filled with sexual tension. This re-reading affect is a common trait amongst fairytales, whose subtexts ripen with the reader and offer an alternative moral on life.

Sarah is a teenager in a state of arrested development, unwilling and unable to view her life as anything other than a fairytale.

This really is a thing, and Jim Henson really put it there for everyone to see. I sense a massive Elektra complex occurring behind that massive… you know. That penis bulge is starting to make a bit more sense now, huh?

With that massive revelation settling in the dust, can we jump forward to when Sarah goes to the masquerade ball after Jareth essentially date rapes her? Sarah is placed inside an ostentatiously Freudian masquerade full of dripping candles, oversized noses and giant wands as Jareth teases her with his presence. One masquerade baller can be seen to rampantly stroke his oversized nose at Sarah, perhaps offering her some tips for later in life….