Movies, comic books and stories were all so real and vibrant. The television shows that I watched fondly as a child, some of which, still carry great memories of joy and love, are all now goofy, cheesy, poorly acted, weak storyline disasters of film.
What happened to my sense of wonder and joy? I try to compare the programs I watched as a child to the shows that my grandchildren watch now in an attempt to validate the time I spent glued to a television. I believed they were the greatest cartoons and shows to ever be made.
I hear myself saying “What happened to cartoons?” knowing that the cartoons of my childhood were soooooooooo much better and entertaining. Watching Looney Toons or Tom and Jerry dance across the screen was so much more than a bunch of kids in their PJ's with lame stories and ludicrous lines that are guaranteed to irritate.
To validate my belief, I found some of the cartoons of my childhood and in great anticipation of the joy felt in my younger years, watched several episodes. I was more than disappointed to find out just how bad they were. It was a total let down after believing my memories of these great cartoons were of epic proportions.
At that moment I came to a realization, it was the pure unadulterated joy of childhood that makes cartoons so great. We lose the ability to appreciate the senseless and impractical nature of cartoons as we grow older.
There are movies, however, that I fell in love with as a child that I still watch and love to this day. One of those is The Wizard of Oz. I have met people who love it and some that hate it; I stand firm in the first group.
As a child, I fell in love with the pure mystery and madness of the movie. It went from black and white to color; it had talking animals, witches, flying monkeys and a whole list of other things that make a young person’s mind go wild.
Growing up, one of the three television stations — yes three, that is all we had and if the president was on we were screwed — would air The Wizard of Oz on their family night of programming. The whole family would come together and watch TV and share the joy and love that families have.
Nowadays, you’re lucky to have two of the same family members watching the same YouTube channel. I would watch the story of Dorothy and Toto unfold in this magical world of dreamlike wonder and get completely lost in my own imagination.
As an adult, I still watch with childlike awe as the story develops in front of me. The same magical feelings arise as they did when I watched it for the first time.
There are also times in life you realize that the pristine childhood joy and wonder gets replaced with other, more adult forms of joy and wonder. The story went from enchanted and magical to a rock solid L.S.D. trip of impressive magnitude; it's still enjoyable just in a different way.
I now believe the writer of this tale of misery and despair was high on some extremely powerful hallucinogen and was relaying his ‘trip’ to the rest of us, rather than believing that there is a magical world of greatness and wonder.
As I was working toward my degree we were instructed to analyze many different movies, cartoons and other media for their hidden meanings or hidden metaphors to the story.
“What is the writer trying to tell us and what is this character trying to portray?”
Psychologists seem to believe that everything has hidden meanings and underlying reasons for their existence. What is the archetype of the individuals and how does that play on the archetype of the other characters?
Me in Psychology Mode: The curtains were blue because blue symbolizes his sadness and the author specifies the curtains because he is fearful of going outside. However, his agoraphobia is only a mask for his unconscious desire to marry his mom and kill his dad as per the "Oedipus complex" (Freud 420).
Furthermore, the blue curtains are a materialist commodity; he has curtains because he feels objectified by bourgeoisie society, and the curtains are there to protect him from Hegel’s dialectic. He is a slave to society, and … Bla - Bla - Bla — Yakety Schmackaty!
Me in Author Mode: The curtains were blue because they were fricken blue. (Only I didn’t say fricken). I just write what makes me happy and entertains me and my audience. There doesn’t always have to be an underlying reason for anything — but what do I know?
When L. Frank Baum wrote ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, I believe he was doing nothing more than attempting to entertain with his wild tales of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodsman, Cowardly Lion and their friends on a journey of discovery.
When the screen adaptation of the Wizard of Oz debuted in 1939 I'm sure it was the intent of the screenwriters, directors, and actors to portray a movie that was just as spectacular and entertaining with no hidden messages.
When asked to assess this particular movie, I realized that if you look beyond the acid trip that unquestionably must be there, there's a metaphor that has changed my way of approaching life and this disorder.
Go with me on this one, as we dive into the depths of The Wizard of Oz; well actually it's more like the Reader's Digest or possibly, Shawn’s Digest version. Read along as we run through a three-hour movie in three minutes.
As they say at theme parks across the world, "Keep your arms and hands inside the ride at all times, hold on and have fun!"
We are only going to discuss six of the characters in the movie: Dorothy and Toto, which, for all intents and purposes are one character; the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, Wicked Witch of the West and the all-powerful Oz himself.
Dorothy and Toto find themselves transported to the Land of Oz after a tornado dropped their house, landing on the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. The ruby slippers that the sorceress owned were passed to Dorothy but the Wicked Witch of the West wanted them.
After a battle of words and threats, the Wicked Witch of the West departed in anger leaving us with one of the most iconic and well-known phrases in movie history —
“I'll get you my pretty and your little dog, too.”
Dorothy followed the yellow brick road after receiving counsel from a bunch of really strange little people that seem to be truly down to earth and trustworthy. — Right?
Their advice, go and see the wizard he is all powerful and he can tell you how to get home; doesn’t sound sketchy at all.
So being the naïve, trusting person she is, (Kansas — nuff’ said), Dorothy starts on her way to find the Emerald City and the all-powerful Oz. On her way, she finds the Scarecrow—not the evil Batman Villain but almost as creepy.
The Scarecrow only wants one thing, a brain, (which I believe is what most men want.) She says to him in song, “I'm off to see the Wizard the wonderful Wizard of Oz.” If he can help me get home he surely can give you a brain. And off they go singing arm in arm. — Yeah, we've all been there.
The Tin-Man is the next companion to join the group. He was left out in the rain and was rusted solid but with the help of a trusty oil can that just happened to be sitting there, he was able to move once again.
His only wish is a heart so he can feel love. Dorothy explains that they are on their way to see the wizard and he should accompany them. If the wizard can get her home and the scarecrow a brain, he can give the Tin-Man a heart.
Once again they’re off to see the wizard, (You finished the song in your head didn’t you?) when they come across the Cowardly Lion.
He feels scared and all he wants is the courage to be the king of beasts that he is supposed to be. You guessed it, we're off to see the wizard, he is going to help us, and he can surely help you. And down the yellow brick road they go.
The Wicked Witch of the West puts obstacle after obstacle in front of them. There are flying monkeys, trees that come alive and grab them, and a field of poppies that put them to sleep (drug reference, who'd of thought?)
They persevere and end up in the Emerald City and at the castle of the Wizard. They meet Oz for the first time and are in fear and awe of his power. Oz, however, denies them their wishes stating he wants something from them first.
Oz demands the witch's broomstick. “Bring me her broomstick and I’ll grant your wishes.” The four companions formulate a plan and go to the witch’s lair only to be captured and taken to the tower.
While in the tower they are tormented by the witch and her evil minions to get Dorothy to give up the ruby slippers, but she stands fast and doesn’t give them up.
The witch, reaching her wits-end, decides that she is going to burn the scarecrow in hopes that it will force Dorothy's hand and she will give up the slippers.
After placing her broom into a flame she moves it towards the scarecrow when astonishingly there appears a bucket of water, Dorothy throws it at the burning broom, dousing the fire and soaking the witch in the process.
Lo and behold, like she was made out of sugar, she melts from the liquid, which gives us the second most cited line in the film.
“I’m melting, I’m melting, what a world, what a world.”
The fellowship grabbed the broom and returned to the mighty and powerful Oz to receive their gifts. When they arrived the second time they approached Oz with the broom, “Here is your broom now give us our wishes.” As they stood in excitement, the wizard once again denied their most fervent desires.
At this point I want you to pause for a moment and think about why he would deny them? Why wouldn’t he give them what they desired when he promised to do so after receiving the broom he asked for?
The answer is that he really didn’t have any powers at all, he was just a man. The Oz that they saw was just a theatrical performance by a man behind a curtain. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
He couldn’t give them the things they desired most because he had no magic at all. He did have one power though; he had the ability to show them that they were already smart, loving and brave and all they needed was a way to prove it to themselves. The things they wanted most were already inside each of them.
Whatever it is that you are looking for in life, whether it is love, education, health or any other wish, all you need to do is look inside yourself. You cannot rely on anyone else to give you what you desire most; it is within you already.
SP
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