Cool story about the Wizard of Oz

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:05pm

In my college ihstory class my professor told us this great story. He said that the Wizard of Oz was written about the depression. Poor farmers (Dorothy and her family)are struggling to make ends meet and are using politics to get help from government officials. Along with these struggling farmers, the people for prohibition aka the Te-TOTO-lers are trying to get help too. They are Trying to raise the value of silver (WWoE's shoes) in a market that is highly dependant on the value of gold (gold is stored in bricks-yellow brick road) They are lobbying to the government to help them out (seeking out the wizard) but when they get there all they find is a simple farm man (President Hoover) who tells them that he can not help them, that they have to help themselves by completeing certain tasks (Hoover's projects to help rebuild the economy) etc...

I thought that it was kind of cool, my professor can explain it mmuch more eloquently, but it is still an interesting look at the way the Wizard of Oz was written and why it was set up like it was.

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:06pm

....heh Hoover..

kay sorry


Some professor! Good interpretation!

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:08pm

Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" is an alternate soundtrack to The Wizard of Oz.

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:09pm

Except that L. Frank Baum wrote the book in 1900. The stock mrket crashed in 1929.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:09pm

I have heard that but I have never tried it

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:14pm

Dark side of Oz works it is very cool, start when the director's name comes up. It is really neat.
The story was not intentionally alegorical but it does work as an allegory of Progressive Politics in the 1890's. The silver vs Gold standard etc. The Cowardly Lion represents William Jennings Bryan, the three time Democratic candidate for president who was very associated with the movement. It definitely is not the depression or Hoover, as Elphapa pointed out that happened long after the story (and the 14 other Oz books by Baum) were written. He died in either 1914 or 1916.

[FabalaCohen]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:17pm

Actually, L.F. Baum did write it about the politics of his time- WWoO is about the Populist Party. There's a whole article on it I read once, but basically, the Populists were all for using silver to back currency value (silver standard = shoes, gold standard = Yellow Brick Road). Dorothy (the farmer) meets Tin Man (industry), Scarecrow (Worker... can't remember) and Lion (a great orator- stand in for William Jennings Bryant), they all go to the Emerald City (Washington), Dorothy kills the Witch (which was supposed to symbolize a drought in the West at the time), the Wizard (President) is found to be a fraud.

That's all I can remember, but yeah, I heard the story two years ago.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:44pm

This is a great example of how meanings can be applied to events and that "Meaning" can flourish despite logic, reality or common sense. This was all made up long after "Oz" was published and had no basis in reality. It doesn't hold up and it doesn't make sense. This "meaning" surfaced in the 60's-- no contemporaries of Baum ever made any connection between Oz & the politcs of the time. Baum would have found the idea absurd.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:47pm

people look for things when there is nothing there all the time

[ashley0139]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:50pm

actually- it was meant to be an allegory.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:52pm

Allegory is supposed to be intentional, but using the story as a teaching tool is not improper. There is a good amount of evidence that Baum was in fact involved with several of the key figures and the story could have very well been intended for that purpose. The story works to show the way Progressive/Populist politics of the 1890's worked, and therefore is a legitimate teaching tool.

[BT]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:53pm

Actually, Idina built a time machine and traveled back to whisper the idea to L. Frank in his sleep so that he would write the books which would inspire the movie which would inspire another book which would inspire a musical which would win her the Tony. And that is the gospel truth.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:53pm

Oh please! The man got Oz off of a file drawer. It's all imagination.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:55pm

amen gotham.

[BT]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:55pm

I like the time machine idea myself.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:55pm

The story that L.Frank Baum got the name Oz off of a file drawer is just as likely legend as all the rest. But again it is a cool story, so what is the problem with it?

[BT]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 5:58pm

Because the thought of Idina traveling back in time both frightens and excites me.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 6:00pm

if she DID do it, it would clarify where the witch's shrieky and blood curdling voice came from!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 6:07pm

Man there is SO much crap on the Internet!

Below is a good link that summarizes the case for & against this theory. I think the bast case "Against" is the fact that Baum NEVER once said it was an allegory. As I said before, this "Meaning" became attached LONG after the book was published, so if you want to be charitible, you can say that the symbolism was inadvertant and while you can read it as a parable about the coinage of free silver, it was never intended to be so.

To me the fun part is to read the multiple interpretations-- The Wizard is Hoover! No, the Wizard is obviously William Jennings Bryant's campaign manager! The Winkies are Phillipinos (?)! No, they are the Indians! No, they are Chinese Laborers!
Oz as allegory

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 6:13pm

Actually true believers think that OZ stands for oz. - the abbreviation for Ounce as in Ounce of Gold.

The O-Z being the filing cabinet label is apparently a good story and like all good stories doesn't check out. It's repeated hundreds of tiems however as "gospel truth." His wife said it wasn't true-- she said it came from the word "uz": The arabic word for 'home.' Funny, that is a MUCH better story!

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 6:16pm

This assertion well predates the internet and I read a book that has articles pertaining to the story as far back as 1920. The fact that Baum does not ever say it is the case probably does mean that it is not allegory, that still does not mean it is stupid, should be dismissed or does not prestent and interesting story that can be used to interpret the political fortunes of the 1890's. Of far greater interest to me is that the five figures with "real" power the witches and Dorothy are all women, while the male claiming to be in charge was powerless, Baum's wife and mother-in-law were prominent feminists and sufferageists, and this is almost certainly a political statement.

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 7:44pm

i heard a rumour that someone hung themselves on the set and apparently you can see it on the film or something???????

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 8:01pm

Urban legend
Munchkin suicide

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 5/5/05 at 8:05pm

thanks for clearing that up.... now who told me that?