Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a “parable on Populism”? UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ

Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a “parable on Populism”?

UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ

The Wizard of Oz has been used for years in many political cartoons.

People find various symbolic meanings and they can adapt the story to

current events.

Bush asks the Wizard of Oz for proof of Iraqi weapons

Artist: Edward Smith Date: 2003-01-10

Wizard of Oz, Paul Wolfowitz, reveals truth about Saddam's WMD

Artist: Kirk Anderson Date: 2003-06-04

Henry Littlefield took it one step further in his article “The Wizard of Oz: Parable on Populism”

But first, a little background on The Wizard of Oz…

L. Frank BaumThe Author of The Wizard of Oz

In favor of many Populist movements

Political views may have influenced writing

Helped produce a musical which was the premise for the

1939 MGM musical

What is Populism?

Populists in late nineteenth century

America wanted to help the common people

They advocated measures that would help

farmers and laborers

They supported the free coinage of silver

The Populist metaphors can be found in…

•Settings

•Key Objects

•Characters

KANSAS IN THE LATE 1800s

Farmer discontent and Populist politics were

concentrated in Kansas

Suffering from a drought—many farmers

going through hard times

Farmers wanted the free coinage of silver to

help them out of debt

•Shown in a sepia wash

•Dorothy wants out— “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”

Silver is measured in ouncesBright and colorful “Oz”= ounce

THE EMERALD CITY

•Main political city of Oz

•Symbolizes the national capital, as well as paper money

CYCLONE

•Cyclones used in many Populist political cartoons

•Some pamphlets compared the depression of the 1890s

to a cyclone

Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East, and she gets…

The Ruby Slippers

•Originally silver

•Changed to ruby because of color technology

•Symbolize the power of the silver movement

The Yellow Brick Road

Represents balance between silver and gold movements

Journey on road is dangerous—gold standard might not be wise

DOROTHY

•Common people

•From a Kansas farm

•Does not see the power of slippers

at first

THE SCARECROW

Represents farmers

Farmers thought to be ignorant—looking for a brain

Shows common sense throughout the story—has always had a brain

Shows belief that farmers were not as ignorant as wealthy people thought

THE TIN MAN

•Industrial workers

•Wants a heart—dehumanized

•Physically strong, hollow inside

•Stuck when the found him—workers

felt trapped in an economic rut

THE COWARDLY LION

•Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader

•Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some

•Possessed courage all along

WICKED WITCH OF THE EAST

Stands for wealthy people of the East favoring gold currency

Symbolic of big businesses and corporation who also wanted gold standard

Dorothy kills her—defeats people who wanted gold currency

WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST

•Personification of harsh natural forces of west, such as the drought

•Dorothy’s main adversary—present throughout entire story

•Uses nature to hurt Dorothy and friends

•Poppy field

•Flying monkeys

She is killed by water, just like a drought

THE WIZARD

•Represents leadership during the depression

•Government seemed powerless

•Uses hot air balloon (as did many cartoons)

•Wizard is from Kansas, like Dorothy

ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE THEORY:

SOME SAY…

•Baum was not really a Populist supporter

•The metaphors are purely coincidental

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOOK AND MOVIE

•Silver slippers changed to ruby

•Glinda changed from Good Witch of the South to the Good Witch of the North

Is the movie musical still a populist metaphor?

There is still plenty of evidence that The Wizard of Oz is in fact a “parable on Populism.”

So the choice is up to you. Next time you watch the musical, look past the magic and color of the movie to find deeper

meanings and metaphors.

Then make up your mind—is The Wizard of Oz just a fun, harmless musical fantasy… or is it

something more?

Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/oz/

MGM Pictures: The Wizard of Oz

REFERENCES

http://thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com/cmp/photo.htm