{"product_id":"battis-jes-its-only-forever-labyrinth","title":"Battis, Jes - It's Only Forever: Labyrinth","description":"A wild, intimate, and political deep dive\ninto Jim Henson's 1986 classic starring\nDavid Bowie and its cast of lovable,\ngender-defying goblins.\nIn the 40 years since Labyrinth's release, Jim Henson's cult classic starring\na menagerie of goblin puppets, the conversation about it has only grown\nlouder. Fans are still holding viewing parties and masquerade balls, and\ncreating memes inspired by David Bowie's sardonic and sexy goblin king,\nnumerous Etsy crafts, and even a Japanese video game. But what makes\nthe film so enduring, beyond its technical mastery and clever script, is\nhow it presents childhood as something dangerous, heroic, and even\nqueer.\nIT'S ONLY FOREVER explores Labyrinth as an '80s time capsule that both\nreflects and challenges its era, offering its young audience an alternative\nto conservatism and soulless economics, at a time when U.S. president\nRonald Reagan ignored the HIV\/AIDS crisis, pushing queerness further\ninto the shadows. As Sarah, played by a teenaged Jennifer Connelly, faces\ndown the king and his destructive whims, she exclaims, “You have no\npower over me,” and in that moment she is everyone who has ever felt\nmarginalised, who has instead turned to the goblins over social and\npolitical toxicity every single time.\nFrom the costuming to the twisting plot, this classic example of 1980s\nfantasy shows us that the magic and comfort of childhood never need to\nbe discarded as we are forced to enter a world that may very well seek\nto destroy us. Instead, Labyrinth reveals a universal and beautiful truth:\nthat our strength comes from what we have always known ourselves to\nbe – beastly, loving, and wildly joyful.\nJes Battis is a queer autistic writer and teacher, and the author of The\nWinter Knight (ECW Press, 2023), the Occult Special Investigator series\n(Penguin Random House), and the Parallel Parks (Penguin Random\nHouse) series (as Bailey Cunningham). Their work has been shortlisted\nfor a Saskatchewan Book Award and a Sunburst Award, as well as the\nRalph Gustafson Poetry Prize. The Winter Knight was featured in the\nCanada Reads 2024 competition and won both an Independent\nPublisher's Award and an Indie Foreword Award. Battis teaches queer\nand trans studies, medieval literature, and representations of\ndisability\/neurodiversity in pop culture at the University of Regina. They\nlive in Regina and spend time with family in Vancouver.","brand":"ECW Press,Canada","offers":[{"title":"Paperback Book","offer_id":51089145528598,"sku":"RMX-64327","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0839\/7750\/2998\/files\/011e9825d542063acd316276bcfcbf3c.jpg?v=1773156693","url":"https:\/\/resident-music-uk.myshopify.com\/products\/battis-jes-its-only-forever-labyrinth","provider":"Resident Music UK","version":"1.0","type":"link"}