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Authority And Reality In Pan's Labyrinth

825 Words4 Pages

Pan’s Labyrinth shows an interesting mix between the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and the imagination of a child that leaves viewers questioning if the imaginary world is actual part of the “real world.” Throughout these mixings of reality, observers are presented with female characters that come to show that the questioning of authority and reality seemingly results in a positive outcome. Ofelia and her mother Carmen are two opposite examples of this. Ofelia continuously disobeys those around her, and thus, she gets to live as the princess of the underworld at the end of the story. Carmen obeys all that Captain Vidal tells her, so by the end of the movie, she dies completing the captains ultimate dream of having a son. This disobedience stresses the importance of each character questioning the world around them whether this disobedience includes characters needing thinking for themselves or fighting against the Franco regime. Ofelia …show more content…

This is also shown through the rebels who ultimately destroy the base camp and kill Captain Vidal. The Doctor tells Captain Vidal that “to obey without thinking just like that. Well – that’s something only people like you can do,” and the captain and everyone who follows this same line of thinking are the ones who lose. In Ofelia’s death, she could return to her father because of her independent thinking, but for Captain Vidal who was trying to continue the legacy of his father by telling his son what time he dies, he loses because Mercedes states that Captain Vidal’s son will not even learn the real name of his father. Through this, viewers are reinforced with the idea that thinking for oneself is vital to success, but when thinking for oneself, one must consider dangers and the effect on others like in Ofelia’s case with her brother and the Pale

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