Was Jareth a Bad Guy?

 

Hear me out.

Labyrinth is movie about a girl who struggles to get her baby brother Toby back from Jareth, the goblin king. Jareth came into possession of Toby, because Sarah gave him to Jareth. She said the right words to have goblins show up, take Toby and send him to the center of the labyrinth, the goblin king's perimeter defense system, filled with trickery, pitfalls, and a set of rules that you soon learn change with the wind. Goblins don't just come and take anybody. You have to really want them to come, and say the right thing, with intention.

Here's the thing, and spoilers. One, it's a kid's movie, a parable with a cautionary tale and lesson learned. Two, the fantastical events of the movie with all the fantastical characters all happen in a dream.

She falls asleep here: … she wakes up here.... If you notice, the characters and setting of the dream are all in her bedroom. This is a trope done before in movies such as Time Bandits. Both movies have a similar beginning and ending, foreshadowing characters that will appear after the main character lies in bed, and then showing the main character in the bedroom at the end waking up but both with a fun little thing that happens suggesting maybe it wasn't a dream after all.

This is not some real world analysis of a man in our reality. This is the case for Jareth from his POV in his fantasy world, a world dreamed up by a girl. Think about it from his perspective. He's minding his own business one day as head of the government of a town of goblins. Then some wishes, truly wishes and demands, not asks, demands that he come take someone away to become a goblin. So he respects this wish and take Toby. He treats Toby well, tends to him as any babysitter would, and eventually he'll even let Toby stay and remain under his care at the goblin city, His appearance might change a little, but look how happy these goblins are!

But Sarah changed her mind, she claims that she can unsay what was already said, and take it back, and that life should be fair. Jareth was under no obligation to give Toby back, but he allows her one chance. She has just over half a day to get to the center and then he'll give Toby back.

Though it is difficult and the labyrinth filled with peril and deception, Sarah advances throughout the maze and meets some friends along the way, some friends, she learns, are not always what they seem, and she is sabotaged by Hoggle who gives her a poison peach, which puts Sarah in a delusion.

A masquerade ball appears and masked ball room dancers dance and reverie around Sarah, who finds herself dressed for the occasion. She dances with Jareth with a romantic curiosity. She learns deep down, she wanted him around to challenge her, to hold her to a high standard and teach her lessons. She is not repulsed by his dancing and even seems somewhat attracted to him, finding something alluring about him. As the lyrics in the David Bowie song go, “don't tell me truth hurts, 'cause it hurts like hell.”

Sarah snaps out of her delusion, and continues her search for Toby. She is sidetracked by one of the many characters who attempt to sabotage her and waste her time. She learns that the trinkets she holds so dearly are merely junk compared to what's really important, like family.

The goblin king tries to prevent Sarah from reaching the center, but she overcomes all the obstacles and by the end has the confidence to face off with Jareth, where he once again gives her one more chance to give in, to let Toby become a goblin and to join Jareth as the eventual queen of the goblin city. Jareth could have kept Toby, but he was a man of his word and by the strike of the clock on the 13^th hour, Sarah had proven her confidence, her gumption, and her willpower, to announce that that Jareth, has no power over her, in any way or any of his shapes or forms, and she wins her brother's freedom and the end of the dream.

She remembers what it was she always wanted to say, but was always subconsciously blocking herself from remembering it, “You have no power over me,” as if to say, all that daydreaming of antagonists trying to trip her up, have no power of her in her real world, where she has more important real world things to concentrate on, like caring for her brother, living with her loving family and getting along with her step mother, and growing up I the real world. “You have no power of me” becomes a line that she'll remember for the rest of her life, something that can be used in her waking life when people get in the way of her ambitions or her dreams.

The characters were merely figments of Sarah's imagination. These characters reappear to promise Sarah that they always can return, any time she needs an escape, as anyone would from time to time, to play, to imagine, to have hope that the world is more than meets the eye. All the characters appear in her bedroom to celebrate Sarah's willingness to call on them when she needs them, even the goblins celebrate this, as Jareth, now in the form of a wise watchful owl, flies away.

In the end, Jareth was exactly as she envisioned him to be, a dream character who she wanted to turn her boring world upside down, with control over time and space, a magical being…... [expectations of him line] a man who held her to her word, gave her valuable life lessons. [spoken quickly...”Sure, a baby is kidnapped, a girl imprisoned against her will, she is poisoned and shot at with goblin cannons”].

But remember it was all a dream. Even though it was a dream, Sarah has learned appreciation for things she took for granted, which wouldn't have been possible without Jareth the Goblin king, who deserves some credit for doing something good for Sarah, serving as the dream character who taught her that what is said can't be unsaid, that you should be careful what you wish for, that her toys and belongings are not that important in the grand scheme of things, certainly not important enough to wish her own brother would disappear, and that you shouldn't take things for granted, time is short, life isn't fair, and that she has the power, had it along, to overcome her personal demons, to face life with all its labyrinthine obstacles, with confidence.

Hats off to Jareth the Goblin king, the dream character, who did a good thing for Sarah, and at least in her waking life, the only reality that matters, … did nothing wrong. 

Full video: https://youtu.be/q1M3i81Ilwc