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It’s true Oz was shown to have a woman in every town, thus the behavior that pushed Theodora over the edge. But the choice to go all the way to evil over it was all Theodora, not to mention the choice to hero worship him from the first minute they met, and to decide their one night together meant they were forever. Theodora is well established as being a kind of crazy all or nothing girl.

Actually given that she hero worships him even before deciding she was in love with him, she pretty well set herself up for a crash even if there are no hookups. Oz is bound to let her down eventually, even if he isn’t deeply flawed. Look at his relationship with Glenda, she too has extremely high expectations of him when they first meet, and he lets her down also. But she doesn’t fly into a rage, she doesn’t bite the apple to become evil, she shames him a bit and then helps him find his core of good.

It’s “necessary” for exactly why you don’t like it. It’s a transparent stereotype that’s well understood by the audience, even a young audience, because it’s a standard Hollywood trope. How do you show a guy has character and loyalty issues in less than 5 pages of dialog? Multiple women. Add him being sorry for the hurt he’s caused (one closeup of sad face) and you’ve established he has a core of good that keeps being overridden by his bad instincts. Transparent stereotypes are very useful in movies because story telling time is short and these stereotypes can be referenced quickly, audiences are familiar with them, they give tons of fake back story for free (it only takes us 2 girls to know Oz is a ship in every port guy), and they inform us what to expect (as soon as he meets Theodora we know he’ll let her down, as soon as they hookup we know there’s a breakup coming). It’s easy story telling, not necessarily good, but it give you room for other stuff.

I would have liked Raimi (the director) to do more Raimi in the movie and less Disney. But Disney was paying the bills, and given the money it made their decisions were right, even if it made the movie kind of disappoint me.

It’s true Oz was shown to have a woman in every town, thus the behavior that pushed Theodora over the edge.
Okay, that's all I was saying. Theodora at her age hadn't gone all-in for evil. It was the evil 'if you will' nature of the man she was exposed to that pushed her over the edge. I'm not trying to take advantage here, because you do touch on this differently in your next sentence.

But the choice to go all the way to evil over it was all Theodora, not to mention the choice to hero worship him from the first minute they met, and to decide their one night together meant they were forever. Theodora is well established as being a kind of crazy all or nothing girl.
This is actually a good argument to make, because it clearly depicts a character flaw in Theodora. There is one problem with that though. Society more often sees weak flawed women as victims. Flawed men, not so much. He took advantage of her. Flawed men as depicted in Oz are judged, but flawed women like Theodora are encircled, sympathized with, and embraced. Circle the wagons...

Actually given that she hero worships him even before deciding she was in love with him, she pretty well set herself up for a crash even if there are no hookups. Oz is bound to let her down eventually, even if he isn’t deeply flawed. LOL< I am so tempted to talk political figures here, but I won't. Theodora is shown to have a seriously under-developed social skills set of tools. No doubt about it. As unrealistic as she is, I agree that he will let her down.

Look at his relationship with Glenda, she too has extremely high expectations of him when they first meet, and he lets her down also. But she doesn’t fly into a rage, she doesn’t bite the apple to become evil, she shames him a bit and then helps him find his core of good. Well, to be honest Glenda isn't offered the apple. She is the healer here, the super good girl that transitions men into a good person. Guy bad, girl vulnerable, girl a molder of men, to change them into a better person. Interesting stereotypes... Feeds a certain mindset IMO.

It’s “necessary” for exactly why you don’t like it. It’s a transparent stereotype that’s well understood by the audience, even a young audience, because it’s a standard Hollywood trope. How do you show a guy has character and loyalty issues in less than 5 pages of dialog? Multiple women. Add him being sorry for the hurt he’s caused (one closeup of sad face) and you’ve established he has a core of good that keeps being overridden by his bad instincts. I'm not convinced he is ever sorry for what he has done. Instead of revealing him to be sorry, I think they show a sour-puss face, and then him doing it all over again. It actually reveals more of his craven nature, than a truly caring core. At least that's how I see it.

Transparent stereotypes are very useful in movies because story telling time is short and these stereotypes can be referenced quickly, audiences are familiar with them, they give tons of fake back story for free (it only takes us 2 girls to know Oz is a ship in every port guy), and they inform us what to expect (as soon as he meets Theodora we know he’ll let her down, as soon as they hookup we know there’s a breakup coming). It’s easy story telling, not necessarily good, but it give you room for other stuff.
I agree with your thoughts here.

I would have liked Raimi (the director) to do more Raimi in the movie and less Disney. But Disney was paying the bills, and given the money it made their decisions were right, even if it made the movie kind of disappoint me.
I couldn't comment on that. I don't follow directors much, so I couldn't comment on his other films unless I looked them up. I was ultimately left wanting a bit more. I don't weigh the things I touched on here as a make it or break it facet on the movie over all. They are simply observations, my consideration for how these stereotypes impact young minds. I think most people will like the movie, but I do think they could have done better. Can't put my finger on it exactly though.

Thanks for the discussion.