By Aylin Aarhus

When you think of Jim Henson, you probably think of light-hearted comedy. You probably don’t think of high fantasy and the macabre. But those are key parts of Henson’s 1982 film “The Dark Crystal.”

Paul Cote, a senior lecturer from the English and Cinema departments, explored the heavier themes of the film in his talk “Just How Dark Can We Make this Crystal?” It was held on Tuesday in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library and was part of the University Library’s Scholarship as Conversation series.

“For most of human history, the whole idea that kids should be protected from scary things is just nonexistent,” Cote said. “My general philosophy is let the kid decide what they can handle. And kids can usually handle more than we realize.”

The film follows Jen and Kira, the last of the Gelflings – a species almost entirely wiped out on the orders of the evil, vulture-like Skeksis.

The Gelflings must restore the Dark Crystal, a powerful magical artifact that has been broken for 1,000 years, or lose their world to the Skeksis forever.

“This is a world where adorable potato-like puppet babies get kidnapped, drained of their souls, turned into zombie slaves,” Cote said. “It’s a movie where the central protagonist is introduced as the last of his kind, a survivor of a genocide that the film’s villains carried out on his entire species.”

The film includes flashbacks to the mass murder of the Gelflings. Kira’s mother hides her in the hollow of a tree as their village burns behind them, then is grabbed by one of the Skeksis’s henchmen.

John Buchner, a senior lecturer in the Department of Cell Biology, watched “The Dark Crystal” for the first time as a child, and “thought it was really neat.”

“Kids’ entertainment in the ‘80s and ‘90s was way more mature than kids’ entertainment today, right?” Buchner said.

“I think there were a lot of things that I knew before I was 10 that I probably didn’t need to know before I was 10,” Buchner said. “I think that there’s mature meaning, violence, and sexual themes and language that might not be necessary. Whereas kids’ entertainment today, I think, really does help them develop emotionally differently, without having to resort to sensational violence and action.”

Lindsay Inge Carpenter, UMD’s head of research education, coordinates the Scholarship as Conversation series.

As a parent to toddlers, Carpenter says she thinks it can be “useful for kids” to be exposed to elements of horror.

“Sometimes being scared is pleasing, or it’s exciting,” Carpenter said. “It seems like a safe way to have that type of fear, instead of having to deal with bigger, grown-up problems. You get a taste of that through horror.”

Featured Image: Paul Cote presents his talk “Just How Dark Can We Make this Crystal?” to students and staff in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. Photo by Christian Lee.