The Wizard of Oz is possibly the most famous movie in the Western world. Can you imagine how it must have been for the people sitting in that theatre at the first showing, watching the story in black and white as, all movies were at that time? Then suddenly the screen is transformed by a new process called ‘
techno color’ into an incredible world of vibrant images? What an amazing moment it must have been for that audience. The Wizard of Oz has always been seen as a metaphor for the human condition; a reminder that we have all we need, to be whole, if we will only recognize it. We are so often fooled by ‘The Man’ behind the curtain who makes us fear our circumstances and fool ourselves into thinking we are powerless against the mighty forces we encounter. It was thanks to a little black dog; ‘Toto’ (who I always think of as 'to do') who pulls back the curtain and reveals the truth. But there's a whole other dimension to the story that you may not know. It was certainly news to me. 
L. Frank Baum was the editor of a South Dakota newspaper at the turn of the Century when he wrote the Wizard of Oz series of books. He was a great supporter of the Presidential candidate of the time: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925). Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz as a metaphor of Bryan’s attempt to put the Country on the silver standard and take the power away from the small group of Industrialists who controlled the Country by possessing most of the Gold. Alistair McConnachie wrote an article on this in 2001 [Link here] In his article he explains Baum's book this way: “Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the commoner. The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Scarecrow is the farmer
who apparently doesn’t have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power. After vanquishing the Wicked Witch of the East (the Eastern bankers) Dorothy frees The Munchkins (the little people). With the witch's silver slippers (the silver standard), Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) to the Emerald City (Washington), where they meet the Wizard (the President), who appears powerful, but is ultimately revealed as an illusion; the real Wizard being just a little man who pulls levers behind a curtain.” McConnachie does not make a final decision as to who is pulling those levers though. “…Either, the President himself is really just a little man who pulls levers to sustain an illusion of power, or, the real power of the President rests with the little men behind the curtains who pull the levers and create the illusion.” McConnachie implicates one of the players in this power struggle. He includes this reference. ‘October 6, 1906 the cover of Harper's Weekly magazine featured William Randolph Hearst ("Citizen Kane"), the newspaper editor who was running for governor. It depicted him as the scarecrow and the title was "The Wizard of Ooze." When I read articles like this one, I find myself asking the question over and over: 'Who IS The Man behind the curtain now?'
techno color’ into an incredible world of vibrant images? What an amazing moment it must have been for that audience. The Wizard of Oz has always been seen as a metaphor for the human condition; a reminder that we have all we need, to be whole, if we will only recognize it. We are so often fooled by ‘The Man’ behind the curtain who makes us fear our circumstances and fool ourselves into thinking we are powerless against the mighty forces we encounter. It was thanks to a little black dog; ‘Toto’ (who I always think of as 'to do') who pulls back the curtain and reveals the truth. But there's a whole other dimension to the story that you may not know. It was certainly news to me. 
L. Frank Baum was the editor of a South Dakota newspaper at the turn of the Century when he wrote the Wizard of Oz series of books. He was a great supporter of the Presidential candidate of the time: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925). Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz as a metaphor of Bryan’s attempt to put the Country on the silver standard and take the power away from the small group of Industrialists who controlled the Country by possessing most of the Gold. Alistair McConnachie wrote an article on this in 2001 [Link here] In his article he explains Baum's book this way: “Dorothy, hailing from Kansas, represents the commoner. The Tin Woodsman is the industrial worker, rusted as solid as the factories shut down in the 1893 depression. The Scarecrow is the farmer
who apparently doesn’t have the wit to understand his situation or his political interests. The Cowardly Lion is Bryan himself; who had a loud roar but little political power. After vanquishing the Wicked Witch of the East (the Eastern bankers) Dorothy frees The Munchkins (the little people). With the witch's silver slippers (the silver standard), Dorothy sets out on the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard) to the Emerald City (Washington), where they meet the Wizard (the President), who appears powerful, but is ultimately revealed as an illusion; the real Wizard being just a little man who pulls levers behind a curtain.” McConnachie does not make a final decision as to who is pulling those levers though. “…Either, the President himself is really just a little man who pulls levers to sustain an illusion of power, or, the real power of the President rests with the little men behind the curtains who pull the levers and create the illusion.” McConnachie implicates one of the players in this power struggle. He includes this reference. ‘October 6, 1906 the cover of Harper's Weekly magazine featured William Randolph Hearst ("Citizen Kane"), the newspaper editor who was running for governor. It depicted him as the scarecrow and the title was "The Wizard of Ooze." When I read articles like this one, I find myself asking the question over and over: 'Who IS The Man behind the curtain now?'
No comments:
Post a Comment