The Dark Crystal: A Story of Deep Healing
Everyone has a few nostalgia laden favorite films from their past. As a child of the 80s, some of mine were The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and, of course, The Dark Crystal. Jim Henson’s fantasy epic from 1982 is coming into something of a revival since Netflix will be releasing a 10 part prequel series this Friday. To prepare for the series, I revisited the film this week for the first time in a decade. While I remembered the high fantasy elements, it’s only as an adult that I see past the adventure of the plot to its underlying heart.
For those unfamiliar with it, The Dark Crystal follows the story of a Gelfling, Jen, one of the last members of a race murdered because a prophecy says a Gelfling will kill the land’s ruling class, the Skeksis. The Skeksis live in a castle that houses the mystical Dark Crystal. They use the crystal to cheat death and have extended their lives for almost a thousand years. An upcoming celestial event, The Great Conjunction, will supercharge the crystal and allow the Skeksis to become immortal, if, that is, Jen is unable to repair the Dark Crystal by returning its lost shard.
Sound complicated? It is. To add to the basic plot, you have a cast of Mystics (the ancient antithesis of the Skeksis), Podlings (small scavenger creatures that are being enslaved), Kira (the only other surviving…
