Magic and the Supernatural - Lancaster University

52
Fantasy and Myth in Pan’s Labyrinth
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growing up to challenge his position or beliefs. He keeps them in the dark,
unwilling to expose them to the influence of people, or education, or values that
would broaden their experience. 5 Therefore, mirroring the political renegades is the
route that Ofelia takes in the story by resisting and disobeying authority figures
both in her fantasy and real worlds.
Functioning as synecdoche in del Toro’s film, Vidal becomes a metaphor of the
‘Cronus complex.’ Furthermore, fostering a culture of fear enables a father, or a
‘father-figure’ such as Franco, to control his people or symbolically speaking, ‘his
children.’ Just as Vidal is the absolute authority of the small rural community
where the action takes place, Franco is the ‘Titan-monster’ controlling the nation.
One strategy of social control that was very efficient during the dictatorship, and
which is also represented in the film, is the politics of hunger. As in any war, food
would always be a powerful weapon in the battle for hearts and minds. In A Time
of Silence: Civil War and the Culture of Repression in Franco’s Spain, 1936-1945,
Michael Richards explains how the manipulation of basic needs was part of the
Francoist autarchy.
The control and manipulation of food is represented in the film. Vidal imposes
the use of rationing cards to the villagers surrounding the military post where he is
based. The scene when people are in line, holding their card to get some food is
provocative. Vidal makes his subordinates distribute bread while promoting the
regime’s ‘generosity.’ With a piece of bread in hand, the civil guard shouts: ‘This
is our daily bread in Franco’s Spain: Kept safe in this mill! The Reds lie because in
a united Spain, there is not a single home without fire or bread. This is our daily
bread in Franco’s Spain’ Thus, the dictator is morphed into a kind of god, a giver
of life; the bread winner-provider of his country. Indeed a father in charge of the
most basic parenting act- feeding his children, adding only that the children would
eat if they submit to his will.
In light of the ‘Cronus complex,’ I would like to return to the Pale Man scene,
initially mentioned in this essay, as a multiple level reflection of both Vidal and
Francoism. This is, perhaps, the most captivating and cryptic scene in the film
because of its symbolic load. Religious and pagan elements mingle with fantasy
during the almost seven minutes that Ofelia spends is this underworld. No dialogue
is needed; the images speak for themselves. The episode contains all the elements
of a nightmare in which Ofelia is confronted with the fear of being consumed by
Cronus. At the same time, the Pale man scene also symbolizes and reflects the
collective reality of Franco’s oppressive regime.
The sumptuous feast display before the Pale man represents exactly the
opposite: the food shortage that Spain’s fascist regime is enforcing. The food is
there but cannot be touched under penalty of death. Unlike the Biblical tale of the
tempted Eve, who had everything in the Garden Eden, Ofelia is starving not only
for food but also for affection. It is unlikely that Ofelia was properly fed in
Vidal’s household since it is known that Vidal has adopted the rationing card