The Junkyard in "Labyrinth"

“Labyrinth” is a great film in so many ways it would be impossible to cover them all in a normal, 300-wordish long post. Among the many good aspects, however, is a powerful message delivered near the end of the film.

Sarah spends the whole movie on a mission to correct a mistake she made at the beginning. She is out to rescue her baby brother from the Goblin King. However, she eats a magical fruit that causes her to forget her purpose, and she is transported to a giant junkyard. In the junkyard Sarah meets a little old lady carrying an impossibly large pile of trash who helps Sarah find her own bedroom. There she finds all of the treasures she has collected in her life. Little toys and knickknacks that seemed so important to her once, but somehow don’t seem right anymore. The old lady keeps bringing more and more things to Sarah, piing them upon her back until Sarah remembers her quest and breaks the spell.

This is an altogether unsubtle picture of the materialism that has trapped Western Culture today. We have forgotten our purpose in life and have replaced that meaning with stuff. Junk actually.