How could I forget, we also saw “Labyrinth.” I probably should have put all these in one post, sorry about that. Labyrinth is excellent. The movie is a classic quest myth starring a smart, brave girl played by Jennifer Connelly. She saves her baby brother. (Take that, “Frozen”!) My complaint is that, besides Connelly’s Sarah, all the characters are male. The puppets are done by Jim Henson and they are wonderful and creative and all male. Actually, that’s not true. There are a couple female Fairies who have no speaking lines. There is one cool, scary female puppet who gets to talk. But all Sarah’s companions are male creatures. David Bowie plays the goblin king and he’s great. Even better, he doesn’t take over the movie, the way someone like Jim Carey or Adam Sandler always does. Check out the poster though– Bowie looks like the star and Sarah looks like a princess. In fact, she is the star and is dressed like that for less than 5 minutes of the film. Most of the time, she’s in jeans. ARGH.
I am seeing these movies because we’re on vacation but also I’m working on Reel Girl’s list for kids 10 and up. “Labyrinth” is fine for younger kids, and I’m going to add it to that list. Anyone of any age should enjoy it. Out of these 4 movies I’ve just reviewed, all 3 of my kids say “Labyrinth” is their favorite.
Reel Girl rates “Labyrinth” ***HHH***
I also loved Labyrinth. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz how the girl’s sidekicks are all male. I will say thought that David Bowie was a huge star at the time so you’d expect him to be prominent on the poster!
This isn’t Labyrinth related, but I wanted to say your blog has really opened my eyes to the lack of female representation in pretty much everything. I notice it all the time in books when reading to my daycare kids. I find myself changing pronouns a lot so there can be more girls. It is pretty sad
Hi evlqueencathy,
Its comments like yours that keep me going. Thank you! Keep up the good work.
Margot
“Actually, that’s not true. There are a couple female Fairies who have no speaking lines.”
Haha. I feel like you can say this about so many movies. Oh, yeah, they totally remembered to include more female characters. They stand in the back or are there for the crowd shots. They aren’t named and they don’t have any lines. Gender equality!
Hi Cat,
YES so fucking annoying
Margot