The Theme of Obedience in Pan's Labyrinth
El Laberinto del Fauno
Obedience is a recurrent theme in El Laberinto del Fauno, discuss at least two examples and what they represent.
In El Laberinto del Fauno, Guillermo del Toro uses the theme of obedience to illustrate and condemn two repressive components of fascism: patriarchy and the coercion of free will. This essay will look at two examples of obedience in the film which reveal the abhorrent nature of these aspects of fascism and the importance of resisting them. These are, respectively, the relationship between Captain Vidal and Mercedes and Ofelia’s refusal to compromise her own integrity.
The obedience which Mercedes demonstrates towards Captain Vidal is extremely significant in the film as her dutiful submissiveness is a façade, one which the Captain fails to suspect as a result of his misogynistic ignorance. As she is a woman, he perceives her to be weak, dependent and ultimately inconsequential and thus cannot conceive of her disobeying him. As Paul Julian Smith states, ‘in its stress on a world of women…wholly separate from that of men, Pan’s Labyrinth is clearly commenting on gender relations. Captain Vidal…embodies masculinity so exclusive it barely acknowledges the existence of the feminine.’ Indeed, it seems that through Vidal’s apathy towards the female characters in the film, del Toro is condemning the gender hierarchy which existed in Francoist Spain. Timothy Mitchell has argued that ‘in Franco’s Spain a monolithic unanimity about the proper place of women prevailed because the Catholic Church, the Falangist Movement and the Nationalist Army shared a coincidence of ideas about gender.’ Similarly, Nathan E. Richardson maintains that the regime created ‘dubious identities based first and foremost on none other than sexual division [which] proceeded to designate strength and weakness along a sexual axis.’ Throughout the film, the dialogue exchanged between Vidal and Mercedes is illustrative of this patriarchal dynamic. In response to the
Obedience is a recurrent theme in El Laberinto del Fauno, discuss at least two examples and what they represent.
In El Laberinto del Fauno, Guillermo del Toro uses the theme of obedience to illustrate and condemn two repressive components of fascism: patriarchy and the coercion of free will. This essay will look at two examples of obedience in the film which reveal the abhorrent nature of these aspects of fascism and the importance of resisting them. These are, respectively, the relationship between Captain Vidal and Mercedes and Ofelia’s refusal to compromise her own integrity.
The obedience which Mercedes demonstrates towards Captain Vidal is extremely significant in the film as her dutiful submissiveness is a façade, one which the Captain fails to suspect as a result of his misogynistic ignorance. As she is a woman, he perceives her to be weak, dependent and ultimately inconsequential and thus cannot conceive of her disobeying him. As Paul Julian Smith states, ‘in its stress on a world of women…wholly separate from that of men, Pan’s Labyrinth is clearly commenting on gender relations. Captain Vidal…embodies masculinity so exclusive it barely acknowledges the existence of the feminine.’ Indeed, it seems that through Vidal’s apathy towards the female characters in the film, del Toro is condemning the gender hierarchy which existed in Francoist Spain. Timothy Mitchell has argued that ‘in Franco’s Spain a monolithic unanimity about the proper place of women prevailed because the Catholic Church, the Falangist Movement and the Nationalist Army shared a coincidence of ideas about gender.’ Similarly, Nathan E. Richardson maintains that the regime created ‘dubious identities based first and foremost on none other than sexual division [which] proceeded to designate strength and weakness along a sexual axis.’ Throughout the film, the dialogue exchanged between Vidal and Mercedes is illustrative of this patriarchal dynamic. In response to the
Bibliography: Del Toro, G., Guardian Interview at the National Film Theatre, El Laberinto Del Fauno, dir. Guillermo del Toro (Warner Bros., 2006) Del Toro,G., quoted in ‘Pan’s Labyrinth Film Review’ by Mark Kermode, The Observer, 4 Novemeber 2006 Del Toro, G., ‘Entrevista a Guillermo del Toro’ by Javi Araguz, 2006 http://www.fantasymundo.com/articulo.php?articulo=467 [14 January 2012] El Laberinto Del Fauno, dir. Guillermo del Toro (Warner Bros., 2006) Keene, J., Fighting for Franco: International Volunteers in Nationalist Spain During the Spanish Civil War (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2001) Richardson, N.E., Postmodern Paletos: Immigration, Democracy, and Globalization in Spanish Narrative and Film, 1950-2000 (London: Rosemont Publishing, 2002) Smith, P.J.,‘Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno)’, Film Quarterly, 60 (2007), pp http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/fq.2007.60.4.4 [12 January 2012] Kam Hei Tsuei, The Antifascist Aesthetics of Pan 's Labyrinth, Socialism and Democracy, 22 (2008), pp [ 1 ]. Paul Julian Smith, ‘Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno)’, Film Quarterly, 60 (2007), p. 6 [ 2 ] [ 3 ]. Nathan E. Richardson, Postmodern Paletos: Immigration, Democracy, and Globalization in Spanish Narrative and Film, 1950-2000 (London: Rosemont Publishing, 2002) p. 33-34 [ 4 ] [ 5 ]. Paul Julian Smith, ‘Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto Del Fauno)’, Film Quarterly, 60 (2007), p.6. [ 6 ]. El Laberinto Del Fauno, dir. Guillermo del Toro (Warner Bros., 2006) [ 7 ] [ 8 ]. Guillermo del Toro, Guardian Interview at the National Film Theatre, El Laberinto Del Fauno, dir. Guillermo del Toro (Warner Bros., 2006) [ 9 ] [ 12 ]. Guillermo del Toro, ‘Entrevista a Guillermo del Toro’ by Javi Araguz, 2006 http://www.fantasymundo.com/articulo.php?articulo=467 [ 13 ]