In class, we have learned about how The Wizard of Oz is a metaphor for westward migration, and many of the things involving it. It cannot be doubted that many of the things in the movie are really representing something else. All of the characters respresent a person, or a group of people in America during this time period.
The first example is in the title of the movie. Oz, is just a way of representing a measure of gold or silver, which is an ounce. The yellow brick road is a metaphor for the gold standard, which was supposed to be the proper path for the country. The Emerald City is green, because it represents the greenbacks.
Dorothy represents an average farmer who is forced from her home by bad conditions, and must move to the city for more opportunity. The Wicked Witch of the East represents industrialization, and the major corporations. The munchkins represent immigrant labors of the East. The Wicked Witch of the West, represents all the problems that are associated with the West. The last witch, the Good Witch of the North, stands for liberalism of the north that ended slavery.
The Scarecrow represents agriculture, and the average farmer who lacks intelligence. The Tin Man represents industry, and the average industrialist, who lacks heart and humanity. The Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan, who comes across as powerful, but cant really do anything for himself.
All of these things dont exactly relate to any current events, but they strongly relate to a time period in the United States. This movie stronly represented everything that went on during this time, and criticizes many things, and people that were involved.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Well,
Tommy i hate blogging too! However, great blog! Wizard of Oz is a really boring movie,in my opinion. The movie sets a perfect example of populism though. You gave an excellent description of what each character represented.
Hey, I enjoyed reading your blog. You stayed on the track. However, you should add your own insights about the movie and provide examples of how the aspects of the Wizard of Oz represented each part of the Westward migration. I agree with your symbolisms such as Wicked Witch of the East representing the industrialization and the yellow path representing the gold standard of the US economy. Nice organization within the blog. Nice job! Keep it up.
I really agree with you because this is the same thing that I thought. I thought that it had to be more that just a silly children's book, because everything in the movie represented something from that time period. I like how you went through and described all of the characters from the movie and showed what they really represented. good job. :]
This was a very good blog. I learned that the Emerald City is green because it represents greenbacks. I believe the film supported populist’s beliefs because, it represents big corporation and industrialization with the metaphor “ The wicked witch of the west”. And another major populist ideals the film support is silver is the key for the American economy to become better. In the film it shows the silver shoes was the key, to solve the problems Dorothy (Represents average farmer) encountered.
tom great blog. but i agree with you to i hate blogging but we have to do it for our grade. the wizard of oz was a boring movie until mrs. garber explain the meaning of the movie. then it had me really thinking. but it also set a example of populism like jaz said. but overall your blog was great to read.
I loved your blog!
I hate blogging tooooo!
Anyway, i like that you went into detail and explained everything like g money would do.After you hear all this, it makes the movie much more interesting. You gave great examples of how it connected to populism!
GREAAAAATTTT BLOG BUDDDY!
Post a Comment