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THE WIZARD OF OZ |
Interpretations of the 1939 Movie |
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Lynette Carpenter argued that the MGM's classic 1939 movie of The Wizard of Oz shows the influence of world events at the time of its production. The conflict in Europe and the Pacific was widening in the late-1930s, but most Americans wanted to avoid getting involved in the Second World War. It was not until after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, that the United States declared war on the Axis powers. The movie's message, "There's no place like home", is not emphasized as strongly in Baum's original book, but reflects the isolationism of the time. Carpenter points out the liberties that the MGM film took with Baum's original story, inventing Dorothy's conflict with Miss Gulch and her decision to run away from home. This allowed the film to idealize Kansas and to emphasize the virtues of remaining at home. Carpenter suggests that the politics in Oz are simple: democracy as represented by the Good Witch of the North and the Wizard of Oz, and totalitarianism represented by the Wicked Witch of the East and Wicked Witch of the West. Glinda tells Dorothy, "The sooner you get out of Oz altogether, the better you'll sleep nights."
[1] Francis MacDonell argues that the movie is an allegory of New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt's program of social welfare to combat the widespread hardship of the Great Depression in the 1930s. The man primarily responsible for injecting this political message into the film was lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, who was a socialist and supporter of Roosevelt's policies. Harburg had written the lyrics to "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" which served as an apt anthem for the Great Depression. Despite the involvement of many other artists in the film, Harburg had considerable influence in shaping the story. In an interview in the Washington Post just before his death, Harburg stated, "the Emerald City was the New Deal." MacDonnell points out the resemblance between the Wizard and FDR, suggesting that the main accomplishment of the Wizard was restoring the confidence of Dorothy's companions, much like the Roosevelt administration faced the challenge of restoring confidence to a beleaguered nation. [2] |
Oz and Sexuality  |
| Notes | ||
| 1. | Lynette Carpenter, "'There's No Place Like Home': The Wizard of Oz and American Isolationism," Film and History 15 (May, 1985), pp. 37-45. | |
| 2. | Francis MacDonnell, "'The Emerald City Was the New Deal': E.Y. Harburg and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," Journal of American Culture (13 (Winter 1990), pp. 71-75. | |
What Is The Wizard of Oz Really About? |
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