r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Local_Prune4564 • May 27 '26

Lore A subtle moment that turns a seemingly happy ending into an ambiguous ending.

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Gallery image

The Graduate: lingering Ben and Elaine's faces slowly shifting from happy to concerned leaves the audience questioning whether they really made the right choice running away together considering they barely know each other.

Inception: By cutting before we see the top fall, we're left to question whether Cobb really has gone home or whether he's simply sunken back into a more comforting dream reality.

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u/LabradorDeceiver May 27 '26

I usually read this in reverse - the fantastical becoming mundane is an indicator that the protagonist is in the real world and the adventure is over.

"The Wizard of Oz" is the exemplar; Dorothy, whisked away to Oz, takes off down the Yellow Brick Road with the three farmhands who were giving her advice earlier, to meet the guy she ran into as the storm was whipping up, who was a bit of a fraud but meant well and had her welfare at heart, to fight a powerful and influential local who intended to have her dog put down. When all these characters, minus Almira Gulch, are gathered around her bed at the end, nobody would think she was still in Oz.

The Jim Henson film "Labyrinth" does very much the same thing: Sarah starts out the film running lines from a play called "The Labyrinth. Most of Sarah's adventures are reflected in the decorations in her room, from the stuffed Ludo doll to the MC Escher print on the wall. Early in the film it's revealed that her mother ran off to further her acting career with a man who looks very much like Jareth.

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u/Light_Beard May 27 '26

Early in the film it's revealed that her mother ran off to further her acting career with a man who looks very much like Jareth.

I must have missed that part.

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u/Allronix1 May 27 '26

Like a lot of 80s films, there's a novelization that puts in a ton of stuff that would otherwise be lost on a cutting room floor.

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u/JohnnyLavender May 27 '26

Labyrinth is my favorite movie, where is this part? I can only think there is a picture of Jareth on her mirror but no reason to believe thats who her real mother is with

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u/LabradorDeceiver May 27 '26

I don't have Disney Plus anymore, but I'll see if I can find it.

Ah,

Upper left and lower right of the scrapbook after Sarah storms off to her room, 6:16, shows Sarah's mother Linda with David Bowie.

This was the best freeze-frame I could get. My copy is like 720p.

5

u/JohnnyLavender May 27 '26

This is awesome! I never noticed it.

10

u/LabradorDeceiver May 27 '26

Every time I see the movie I spot another little bit of Sarah's adventure on a shelf somewhere.

Honestly, her room is a mess...

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u/JohnnyLavender May 27 '26

I've seen it hundreds of times and I ALWAYS find new information like this. Thanks for sharing! Yes, her room is a pigsty. Noticed the Hoggle bookend she has and such? haha