Dark Crystal Theory

Actually, this was posted on Spill.com, but as I was amazed this just sorta popped up on that movie reviewing site, and I've thought this exact thing for a long time, I thought I'd share something I symapthize with but didn't write.

http://my.spill.com/profiles/blog/show?id=947994:BlogPost:2744075

It's interesting, but it's also wrong. Skeksil is a manipulative, power-hungry jerk who cares only for himself. The whole point of the split between races is that all of the good went into the Mystics and all of the bad went into the Skeksis. Even when a Skeksis does something that can be perceived as good, it is done with the ultimate motive of gain for the Skeksis - everything else is incidental.

It's interesting to read "The World of the Dark Crystal" and The Dark Crystal novelization. They both give one incite into the Skeksis politics, that one cannot get passively watching the film. If you look really closely, you'll see little feuds between characters and subtext, but it doesn't go very deep.

I've always loved the work print of the film. Look for the funeral scene. (Off topic a bit, but still). You can see the political feud between the Chamberlain, the General, and the High Priest, told in very, very subtle movements. It's brilliant.