Labyrinth producers knew exactly what they were doing when they shimmed David Bowie into skintight pants.
Woop, there it is.
Jim Henson. George Lucas. You guys put David Bowie’s wang into a bloody kids’ adventure movie!
We got in a lot of trouble over how tight [Bowie’s] pants were. That was deliberate.
But it wasn’t just incidental shots of the skin tight pants. Bowie’s crotch was put innecessarily front and center in shots. It was emphasised in the way he stood. The lighting – half in light, half in dark – wasn’t just a metaphor for Jareth’s character, it showed off the goods.
Any excuse for a crotch shot
Entirely random framing to include the package
Costume change just made it worse
But… Why? Why so much dong?
Although admitting the pants were deliberately tight, no one has explained exactly why.
I’ve got to make some assumptions here. The producers have said they were trying to make Jareth have the spirit of a rock star – badass, sexy, alluring, and charismatic. The tight pants showing off Bowie’s junk ticked the boxes and the Thin White Duke showed off his thin white duke.
I tried too hard with that one, didn’t I?
Jareth needed to appeal to hormone-laden teenagers. But they weren’t necessarily Bowie fans – their parents were. Cynical me wonders if Jareth’s diddle was put there so mothers would rush out to see the film. It certainly couldn’t hurt that everyone was talking about Bowie’s magic stick. Marketing job done.
But, lets face it, movies aimed at teenagers have been sexualising characters and making them wear revealing costumes since pretty much forever. The only reason we’re still talking about this is because it’s a dude.
#InvestigativeJournalismedIt
“Talk to the bulge”
https://vine.co/v/OxehPwrh2TZ
You know, I never actually clocked the magic stick – EVER – while watching the movie. Both as a kid and an adult. Now I’ve seen it and I just can’t unsee it and I just feel really weird about it all now. Why did I not see it before? Why is it even there? Why is there no padding? Why WHY WHY?
WHERE ARE THE CRYSTAL BALLS? A critical analysis of Bowie’s pants without a mention of the balls… hmm 🙂
You win the internet