Rhea Hayman on Labyrinth
Labyrinth is the movie that showed me how important a role creativity plays in helping us lose ourselves in a story.
I’m so excited about this month’s interview as I got to talk about Labyrinth, a movie I covered early in June and had never seen before. I dove deep into the themes I picked up on in the film, but for my monthly newsletter, I got to get another perspective from a big fan of the David Bowie, Jim Henson, and George Lucas collaboration.
I’ve been following Rhea Hayman (also known as Movie Hag) on Instagram for a while now, and I admire her interpretations of different films. I think many could agree that the film industry and film fans can sometimes come across as pretentious. They often criticize and belittle movies that aren’t serious enough while only praising the ones that fit their standard of what a film should be.
For me, I like all different kinds of movies, and I don’t think any should be considered more important than any others. What I admire so much about Rhea is she dedicates her platform to talking about what she calls “cheesy movies,” and she doesn’t mean this in a bad way. I love her passion for films others might not consider “serious” because it’s a reminder that all films matter and all films have had an impact on someone’s life, even if it wasn’t the general public. I think that’s pretty much the concept of a cult classic.
That’s why I’m so excited I got to have this conversation with Rhea about the cult classic fantasy fever dream, Labyrinth.
Hi Rhea!! Thank you so much for doing this interview with me. First things first, can you introduce yourself to Movie Monday subscribers and tell them about your career and passions? Thank you so much, Gina! It is really special for me to discuss movies with you. Growing up, I missed out on a lot of stories. Stories in the form of books were fine, thankfully, but stories in the form of movies were not allowed. Naturally, I'm now obsessed with them and have spent the last couple of years watching movies from the first decade I missed—the 90s. (But this year I have integrated 80s movies as well.) I've noticed these movies are causing me to question why I stopped doing so many things that I used to be passionate about, like going to the library, collecting physical media, or buying a magazine subscription.
I have been slowly integrating these things back into my day-to-day life, and though I am definitely nostalgic and passionate about nostalgic things, I don't think nostalgia is the only driving force here. It's more likely just a bad case of, "you are what you eat." I learn about the Dewey Decimal System while watching Party Girl—now I can't wait to go to the library. I see a dusty diner in When Harry Met Sally—now I'm thinking about hot apple pie with ice cream on the side. So, you can imagine I have a lot of nostalgic passions right now because I've been watching a lot of nostalgic movies.
I particularly love your Cheesy Movie Monday series. What inspired you to start that, and what aspects do you think qualify as cheesy? I think what inspired me to start Cheesy Movie Monday was the realization that though I love movies, my favorite movies are cheesy movies. For me, "cheesy" is not a negative word. I think something a lot of cheesy movies have in common is that they can be very over the top. Over the top is risky. It's big. It's loud. It gets your attention. It's a big swing, and though sometimes it's a miss when it hits, it then has the potential to land somewhere close to *iconic*.
You had given me a few options for movies you wanted to cover, but I specifically wanted to talk about Labyrinth because I know it's one you're really passionate about. What do you love so much about fantasy/cult classic films? I think the number one reason I love fantasy films so much is because of how immersive they are. Not that other genres can't be immersive, but I'm especially inspired by the type of creativity required to make a fantasy film immersive. Labyrinth is the movie that showed me how important a role creativity plays in helping us lose ourselves in a story. So many fantasy films don't go far enough. In that case, you start to see the threads and you can usually tell when someone chose the first fantastical creature that came to mind.
That takes me out of it, but with Labyrinth, I was able to completely lose myself in the story and in the world which allowed me to properly escape. Cult movies are similar because one thing they all have in common is a lack of initial widespread appeal. Sometimes that's because they are subcultural or go outside of social and moral boundaries and sometimes it's because they're just too risky. That means the creators probably weren't held back by safe choices and because of that there's a good chance the fictional worlds and creature design are going to be so weird and so unlike anything we've ever seen before they in turn become incredibly immersive.
This was my first time watching Labyrinth, but it still felt nostalgic because it reminded me of a lot of old movies I would take out of the library or a video rental store when I was a kid. Do you feel like Labyrinth has a nostalgic element, even for viewers who have never seen it? I didn't grow up with this movie either, and I know exactly what you mean because it felt familiar to me too! Though I absolutely love this movie, it is not exactly timeless. At least not when it comes to an overall look and feel. It is actually the movie that inspired me to break out of the 90s and try a movie from the 80s. I had just watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and had fallen so in love with the practical effects that I went looking for more, and that bunny trail led me straight to Labyrinth.
When you recommended Labyrinth to me, you mentioned that you felt there aren't many films about young female characters grappling with what it's like to become a young woman. When I watched the film, I felt the same way. I touched on this in my Labyrinth newsletter, but could you elaborate more on your own perspective?
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