I recently watched the Wizard of Oz again, and here are some thoughts I have about it now. Bearing in mind I didn't grow up in the US, so it was never presented to me as a cult film when I was younger.
Growing up in
the 90s, black and white films already seemed like an ancient technique. When a 90s
child repeatedly watched the Wizard of Oz, his or her favorite part was without
a doubt the enchanted colorful world of Oz. The impatience to see the color
appear on the screen was so great that a child would find himself fast
forwarding his videotape to the Technicolor world of Oz. Oz drew a magical picture
of a fantasy world with glistening corn fields, colorful horses, and roads made
out of yellow bricks.
However,
interpretations change as the audiences mature. When placed in the historical
context of the late 1930s, a much darker meaning is associated to Oz and
Kansas. At the opening of the film, Dorothy walks hastefully on a dirt road
with her beloved Toto. The road is marked off by fences. Whether is be running
away from home in Kansas, in search of the Wizard in Oz, Dorothy’s path is
always marked off by fences, trees or mountains. She can only follow the dirt
roads, or the yellow brick road. Although the scenery surrounding her is vast,
there is only one path Dorothy can rely on. These limits echoed the sense of
oppression felt in the US in the final years of the 1930s. The USA was
recovering from the Great Depression but far from liberated by it. Dorothy’s
instincts tell her to go home, but once she returns, certain things are still
left unresolved: Is Kansas really that nice of a place? Whatever happened to Miss
Gulch?
The only
difference between Oz and Kansas is how they appear on the surface, black and
white versus color. The use of black and white is meant to portray the
“reality” of Kansas whereas the use of color is meant to portray the fantasy
world of Oz. However, both worlds do collide into one another as the dream
sequence begins in black and white, and doesn’t change to color until Dorothy’s
house lands on Oz. Therefore both the dream world, and Kansas are blended into
one. Oz is just as corrupt if not more than Kansas. Oz suffers from the tyranny
of the Wicked Witch of the West, whom it turns out is also disapproved by her
own guards. Additionally, the Wizard is a pawn who offers fake protection to
his people. On the other hand, things are a lot more black and white in Kansas.
Dorothy’s family is threatened by Miss Gulch’s power and wealth. The latter
wishes to buy off Dorothy’s family’s farm and land. She is also willing to
sentence Toto to death. “Professor Marvel,” the fortune-teller in Kansas, and the
Wizard in Oz (both played by Frank Morgan), are both frauds, and act more as therapist
figures towards the other characters rather than active political figures. The
Wizard and Professor Marvel encourage the other characters of The Wizard of Oz
to take care of themselves by improving their self-confidence. This could also
have affected the audience in the late 1930s to give them hope for a brighter
future.
Additionally, there
is a sense of mise-en-abime (the same frame is repeated within itself) at the
beginning of the dream sequence. Dorothy sits up on her bed after having been knocked
out by the broken window. Meanwhile, her house is up in the air caught in the tornado.
She looks out the window as elements of her life fly by. Dorothy sees a chicken
coop, a cow, turkeys, Aunt Em knitting on a rocking chair, and Miss Gulch on
her bicycle. The window could be interpreted as a metaphor for the Television
for it is very clearly framed and marked out. Dorothy is fascinated by it as if
she were looking at a TV screen. The mise-en-abime is brought forward between
the audience watching The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy looking out her window. The
audience is repeating the same activity as the subject on the screen. For both
the audience and Dorothy, the window and the TV is used as a distraction and an
escape. Moreover, both Dorothy and the audience return to square one at the end
of the film; Dorothy returns to her home, and the audience returns to reality.
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