"It’s that thing that happens with girls at that age who can pull off an illusion that they’re an adult is then they end up with a struggle of what happens when an adult man starts to respond to you. Well, everyone in the audience is uncomfortable with that, that kind of has to be true. And it’s scary for her. And that’s the important part about it that I think my dad was trying to do there, but also all the way through is, ‘What’s going on here? At first here’s this Jareth, he’s the Goblin King. He’s scary, he’s a bad guy, he’s got my little brother,’ and then this weird tension comes in with, ‘Yeah but he’s also masculine, I’m attracted to him. He’s male, I’m female, but I’m a child. I wanted to be an adult, I don’t want to be an adult if that’s what it means.’ That is tough and delicate material that you have to, you know, work with carefully. And also extremely important, I mean it’s also a big part of any young teenager’s life, is they’re starting to figure out sexuality and their urges and all that and… And it’s scary. And you can step wrong if you’re not careful how you tread, and ultimately, you know Sarah as a character because Jareth keeps saying, “Come on, come on, come on. I’ll keep going with you.” And she is the one who makes the mature choice."
— Brian Henson, “Journey through the Labyrinth: Kingdom of Characters” from the film, “Labyrinth”
