The subversive messages hidden in The Wizard of Oz

BBC Reel ^ | July 12, 2019 | Nicholas Barber

[4Runner]

The script scoffs at the idea that power and prosperity come to those who merit them, even when it is dealing with Dorothy herself. She kills one Wicked Witch by crash-landing a house on her, and kills another (Margaret Hamilton) by splashing her with water. In both cases, the killings are accidents, the results of pure chance rather than Dorothy’s bravery or virtue. (Any water-soluble witch who leaves buckets of the stuff sitting around her castle is asking for trouble.) But in both cases, Dorothy is instantly hailed as a conquering heroine, just as the Wizard was when he touched down in Oz. The message is that people will march behind any authority figure who makes a splash, however undeserving they may be. It’s a subversive message in 2019, and it was even more pointed in 1939, when fascist dictators were stomping across Europe.

[MacNaughton]

[morphing libertarian]

I am a heterosexual lover of broadway musicals. : ) Seen most as they tour thru LA OC and San diego.,

Best wishes

[mac_truck]

Ha...now there’s a subversive message!

[MacNaughton]

Excellent! Worth watching again …

Youtube - "Newhart: the last episode, 5/21/1990

[Calvin Locke]

She kills one Wicked Witch by crash-landing a house on her, and kills another ...

Once saw a clipping from a tv listing:

"The Wizard of Oz:

A young girl leaves home, kills the first person she meets, joins up with three strangers to kill again."

[bgill]

Garland had to have her boobs tied down flat.

Always hated the story. Especially Dorothy.

[Salamander]

And drones!

I just watched a show about the See Eye A and their drone technology.

Horrifying.

[Salamander]

That’ll teach you to think.

[Salamander]

That and the horrifying “monkey on your back” anti drug ad in the early 70s.

To this day, even stuffed toys monkeys freak me out.

[Salamander]

LOL!

His obligatory contractual dance routine would’ve been epic.

[hanamizu]

so is he saying fiat currency is inevitable?

---

I don’t know. He was the father of one of my students—I wasn’t his student—so I never heard him explain what he meant. But of course the wizard was all smoke and mirrors...

[Salamander]

Heh.

Good one.

[V_TWIN]

You harley riders are all alike

[Salamander]

“I like turtles”

[Salamander]

My mom felt that I needed to watch it as part of the childhood experience.

Just like Bambi and Old Yeller.

Is it any wonder I’m insane?

:D

[minnesota_bound]

The subversive messages hidden in The Wizard of Oz
BBC says: There is no place like home is subversive.

[Kommodor]

Ick, no thank you. Would have turned the movie into saccharine dreck.

[Paal Gulli]

"...That Judy Garland was in her 20’s gives a peculiar vibe to the film."

She was 16 when filming began and 17 when it ended, Einstein.

[sparklite2]

There was some notion that Oz stood for ounce and had to do with gold. Same theory?

[sparklite2]

The Cowardly Lion would be Albert Brooks;
the Tin Man Bill Hader; and the Wicked
Witch of the West Hillary’s film debut.