A long time ago, in a galaxy that’s probably pretty familiar, my friend DC insisted on taking me to her house to watch a silly little kid’s film called Labyrinth. I loved this movie, and quickly set about to writing an analysis of it. Labyrinth opened the doors to my appreciation of other fantasy movies--The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride, The Neverending Story, and the movie upon which the following analysis is based, Legend. I rented Legend, since I had heard that it was well-liked among Labyrinth fans, and figured it was worth a go. If I liked it, more’s the better; if it sucked...hey, it was 90 minutes of Tom Cruise, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time. :) I was fascinated by the preponderance of mythology in the film, especially Greek and Christian myths, and mentioned the possibility of creating a companion to my Labyrinth analysis to DC. She immediately embraced the idea, and insisted I write the durn thing. I happily obliged, and the result is therefore dedicated to DC, for her enthusiasm and support. Thank you DC; I couldn’t-a done it without you. :)

To begin with, let’s open Pandora’s box...metaphorically speaking, of course.

Pandora, as the legend goes, was the first woman the gods created, sent to bring delight to men. With her was sent a box full of the evilest, deadliest plagues imaginable...sin, death, pestilence, disease, despair, etc; things that were never before known to humanity. Pandora was told to never open the box, due to the horrors mentioned. Out of curiousity, she opened it, and released all of the evils onto the world. Quickly she closed the box, trapping the one remaining thing: hope. This is why all of the other evils are fleeting, while hope still remains.

Lily represents the Pandora of ancient myth. Jack brings her to the unicorn, telling her that it is sacred and never to be touched. Lily, of her own volition, goes to the unicorn and touches it, upon which their world is blighted with cold.

During the snowfall, all of the land’s inhabitants are frozen in place--effectively frozen in time as well, since no change occurs. This implies that staticity is something to be abhorred--that it is, in fact, equivalent to evil, and change is the only response to life. There must be change, or all is death. The Sleeping Beauty routine aside, winter is also a time for non-growth in and of itself.

The entire film greatly mirrors Star Wars in its themes: Light vs. dark in an ongoing struggle, with either one emerging the victor at various times. There is no clear-cut “winner” in Legend, since although Darkness is seemingly defeated, at the end we are given a hint that he’s not gone for good, and never will be. The light needs the darkness to exist, since that is the balance of things.

Then there is the symbolism of the clock in the opening scene right before Lily greets Nell. It is an old-style clock, almost like a cukoo-clock, with a skeleton forever chasing a girl in a never-ending circle. As Lily looks at it, the clock is frosted over as a portent of things to come.

“T’was beauty led the beast to bay.” This is an old theme, of wildness being tamed by and even seeking tranquility. It’s sort of the opposite of a moth being drawn to a flame.

Interesting concept that Darkness puts forth of his element being “corrupted” by the light! Puts a nice twist on things to let the baddie tell his side of the story...he’s not entirely wrong in his perception, and it’s rather pitiable in a way. It’s like the tale of the scorpion and the swan...he can’t help it, it’s in his nature to be evil. Unlike Jareth (whom I’m sure you’ll accuse me of drawing similarities to), he was not created by a mortal for that purpose. He also does not hold any regrets about his evil status or depraved actions. However, neither is it his choice. As Lily put it, he’s an animal, and it is just how he is. He is Darkness; nothing more, nothing less.

Lily’s sure picked up some bad habits...ruining laundry, snitching food from tables. And she lets the woman who “looks on [her] as a daughter” believe it’s fairies and accidents, yet she’s still supposed to be so pure and good? She later indicates further potential maliciousness by willfully disobeying Jack after he tells her not to go near the unicorns. No wonder Darkness took a fancy to her. She has the seeds of corruption within her already.

The scene of Lily being tempted by Darkness’ fruit is reminiscent of Persephone eating the fruit of Hades. Because of this, Persephone is trapped into a dual life of seasonal change, spending half the year with her mother Demeter (the spring and summer months), and the other half with Hades in the Underworld (fall and winter). Also, when one of the unicorns is “dehorned”, night falls...another reference to the duality of life.

The entire film is very reminiscent of the story of Adam and Eve. Two innocents, untouched by evil or the knowledge of such, are immediately thrown headfirst into the possibility of being responsible for the corruption of their entire world, when the female member of the duo goes against “the rules” and meddles with that which is said to be sacred and untouchable. However, in the end everything is made right again, which is more than can be said for the fate of Adam and Eve!

Come to think of it, Jack is sort of cast in a Christ-like role, with his faith and purity constantly tested by temptation (the fairy taking on Lily’s form attempting to seduce him) and doubt (Lily seemingly switching sides when he sees her with Darkness). At one point Darkness even claims that they are brothers, that they provide a counterpoint to each other. This would hint that one needs the other to survive. Does this imply that Jack is, in fact, immortal? It certainly would explain a lot!

For this to be true, it would mean that Jack embodies Light to react to Darkness. “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” Jack not only represents light and goodness, he is Light. In this role, he would conceivably be forever fated to battle Darkness, much like the Christian concept of requiring Christ in one’s life to battle Satan (a metaphorical concept applied quite literally in this film).

Okay...at this point Jack has been given the mantles of both Adam and Christ. Jack has some very big shoes to fill! :)

And then of course, we have the grand tradition of the villain revealing his/her weakness to the hero(es) when he/she thinks he’s/she’s had his/her moment of triumph. C’mon... “Sunshine is my destroyer”? How more obvious can you get? And you just know from the way that shiny necklace is displayed so prominently at the beginning of the film, that it will have a major part at film’s end.

How prophetic-endy...the villain is destroyed by the very power source he was seeking. And he is then plunged into the darkness from whence he came. La-di-dah.

The opening scene is indicative of coming cold, interpretative as evil, to forest. Minor frost (and steam coming from the breath of various woodland creatures) hinted at forshadows later blizzard.

Why is Oona trying to wake up Brown Tom to complete the mirror trick? She’s full-sized...about the same height as Jack, in fact, and he is shown steadying a mirror all by himself. Why can’t she do it herself?