The Cassandra Complex

I finally managed to get a copy of Labyrinth last weekend (third time lucky, eh?) and watched it on Sunday. I’d also watched the fourth Harry Potter movie earlier in the weekend, and something really struck me about Labyrinth in comparison to Harry Potter and most other movies these days.

No, I am not talking about the tights on David Bowie … who had to have gone the stocking stuffer; talk about an eye-catching bulge, almost literally in the case of poor Hoggle!

I am also not talking about the hairstyle on David Bowie; it was big and presumably required gallons of hairspray (even if it was a wig), but hey, he’s a goblin king and I can accept the weird hair.

And I am not talking about the special effects. The obvious uses of blue screen are forgivable given the age of the movie.

What I am talking about is eyebrows.

Sarah, played by Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth, is gorgeous. When I was a teenager I wanted to be her – I thought she was a million times cooler than me, and absolutely adorable. (Plus I went through a brief phase of thinking the goblin king was a bit of alright, which shows I was a victim of 80s fashion, same as everyone else.)

I never noticed at the time that she had anything unusual about her eyebrows. But now it seems really obvious.

Here are two pictures; you'll see what I mean (intentional obscure quote of the worm in Labyrinth):

The first is Sarah. The second is Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), looking just as lovely, and about the same age. I wanted to pick a girl the same age and from the same genre of movie, to make the comparison as legitimate as possible...

Sarah's are clearly more natural eyebrows. Hermione's are much more ... cultivated? Waxed or plucked - it doesn't really matter.

Given how eyebrow fashions have changed, it shouldn't come as a great surprise. But (like all fashions I suppose) I didn’t really notice it changing.

I did briefly experiment with eyebrow waxing a few years ago - I had it done about twice. But it hurt, I am a wuss, and the raw lobster look after you get it done that takes a while to fade wasn't for me.

Makes me feel a bit sorry for young actors like Emma Watson. Of course, given how much money she must be making, I suppose I shouldn't feel too sorry!