The Beast Caged Within : Once Upon a Time's Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold

Rumbelle Fan Vid by rnlaing.
Music : "My Body is a Cage," Peter Gabriel's cover of the song by Arcade Fire
Footage : from ABC's Once Upon a Time, Skin Deep Episode

Be warned, certain passages of this video are very difficult to watch due to graphic violence.   I've tried to keep this blog upbeat and positive.  I realize this post could be considered dark, and out of step with the rest of this blog.   However, Hidden Passages is also about the things I want to remember, and Rumple's Transformation is going to be something miraculous!  He's not there yet, but I believe he will get his happy ending--even if I have to write it myself!

It's no secret that Once Upon a Time (on ABC)'s Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold is a very complicated character.  His complexity makes him an interesting and compelling anti-hero.  I just can't look away.   He is The Dark One, so he's supposed to be Evil personified, but there's Light in him, too.  He is capable of Love, we've seen glimmers of it ...   And that's what keeps me coming back : The Hope that he'll turn his life around and finally be happy.

In the Skin Deep episode that aired in February 2012, we saw a soft and vulnerable side to Rumplestiltskin / Mr. Gold, as they retold the story of Beauty and the Beast, with Rumple/Gold cast as Beast (masterfully played by Robert Carlyle).  We also saw a frightening scene where Mr. Gold is beating the bejeezus out of another character who he thought had tortured his true love.   This is the first time we see the here-to-fore mild-mannered and quiet Mr. Gold reacting so violently.  It's taken me several weeks to come to terms with this scene, as Rumple / Mr. Gold is my favorite character on the show.  The torture scene turned my stomach when I first saw it : It was supposed to make viewers uncomfortable.  Rumple / Mr Gold has endured many harrowing and horrible things, some of his own making.  For all that, I want him to be happy.  I want him to make decisions that bring him happiness.  Beating someone up like this seemed like a giant step backwards.

In his rage, Mr. Gold yells, "She's gone! She's gone forever, and she's not coming back!   You had her love, and you shut her out!"  On one level, he is graphically directing this anger at Belle's father as he beats him.  On another level,  Rumple/Gold has been doing this to himself ever since he let Belle go so long ago.   That's why it's so heart-breaking.  Rumple had Belle's love; but he shut her out, and he's been beating himself up ever since.

He may also have been thinking about his own son, Bae, being a father, and not doing right by your own kid.  Another life-changing betrayal in his life.  He has a lot of "stuff" to work through.

This particular fan vid at the top of the post, by rnlaing, masterfully captures Rumple's darker feelings about his situation.  This dark side has been haunting me for months--even though I love the Hope side of the Rumbelle story, too.   A few months ago, I posted some happy little Rumbelle Beauty and the Beast romance vids.  But it wouldn't do the story justice without this darker side, too.  For any of us on the brink of a relationship (and even in the midst of relationships), we all have to face some of this dark stuff that holds us back and threatens to keep us from our own happy endings. 

"My Body is a Cage" as a song and fan video is an accurate reflection of Rumple/Mr. Gold's feelings, frustrations and predicament.  The song also gives hope [See the full lyrics here.] :

My Body is a cage that keeps me from my Love
My mind holds the key ...

As The Dark One, aka Beast, Rumple/Mr. Gold feels that "No one can ever -- ever love me."
That sentiment may be built into The Dark One Curse, and what he needs to do to keep and maintain his Power.  But I would argue that he felt unlovable when he was plain old pre-Dark-Curse Rumple, too--isolated, powerless, dirt-poor, lonely, scared.   He struggled with fear and anxiety in those days, being dubbed the village coward. 

Belle says, "Love is layered."  (Boy did she pick the right guy if she was looking for layers!)   There certainly are a lot of layers to this story, this character.   Every action, every reaction can take on multiple meanings.    Belle says to him, "You think you're ugly. That's why you keep all the mirrors covered."   On one level, she was right--His appearance did indeed change after he became The Dark One (green skin, black fingernails, gold sweat, really bad teeth).  On another much more practical level,  he kept the mirrors covered because he was trying to prevent Evil Queen from spying on him though the Magic Mirrors.   Then again, maybe he was still mourning the loss of his son so many years ago ...

"And since then ... you've loved no one ... and no one has loved you?"  Belle says to Rumple.   Again, heart-breaking to hear this because it's been centuries.  Rumple may have also felt like he was no good for anyone, or that his occupation as Dark One was too dangerous for anyone to ever get close to him.  He couldn't have anyone stealing his secrets.   Or maybe Love was just too painful for him in the past, something for other people, not him.  So for many reasons, he built walls around him and kept people and Love at a distance.

Now we know [See The Return episode, Season 1] that long ago, after betraying his own son, he vowed to love nothing [no one] else, that he would devote himself to finding his long-lost son.  So when Belle showed up, he really wasn't expecting to find Love.  True Love's Kiss from Belle was enough to break the Dark Curse if he had let it happen, if it had been his choice.  Now we know that he still needed those Dark Powers to find his son.    That was his first priority.  Still, we can see the joy on his face to see that she actually came back after he let her go ...  Hope! Sigh!

I picture him listening to a lot of 9-Inch Nails.  Eeesh!  I've been there, too.   Grateful for the experience in that dark passage, but also happy to have learned the lessons and moved past those dark years.

I found this video of Stephan Lambiel skating to Art Decade's version of "My Body is a Cage."  It's a mesmerizing performance! I wonder if Lambiel was thinking of Rumple/The Beast as he skated?  Or does he have his own cage(s) to escape, as a competitive figure skater?  


Most of us do make our own cages, but the Hope is that we hold the keys to set ourselves and our spirits free.  That's why the song is so powerful.  Enjoy!