Munchkins in search of (self-)acceptance

Film-Philosophy, 2010

It's the one who doesn't lack me who is the Other. That is radical Otherness. (Baudrillard 1999b: 132). Everything which is symbolically exchanged constitutes a mortal danger for the dominant order (Baudrillard 1993: 188, n. 7). [R]ather than seeking out the identity beneath the mask, one should seek out the mask beneath the identity-the face which haunts us and deflects us from our identity (Baudrillard 1999b: 137). The Wizard of Oz has long been one of my favourite films. 1 An early childhood memory is of watching it on Christmas day, its vivid images of good and evil, innocence and wickedness, merging with the spirit of Christmas such that the film seemed to partake of the sacredness of the nativity. If Jesus was there to help Dorothy she would be able to destroy the Wicked Witch of the West easily, but in this alien world the absurd ragbag of friends must help each other and accomplish this feat for themselves. Their task is, of course, completely impossible. They have no magic, they each lack knowledge of Oz, and are all outsiders without clear status. Further, each lacks the instinct or desire to kill and, perhaps worst of all, each possesses ridiculous weaknesses-tin man keeps seizing up, scarecrow can barely walk, the lion from whom we might expect ferocity is actually permanently

Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 2014

Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum's novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are interpreted. For some, the tale is a utopian vision that vindicates its author, while for others it clearly embodies Baum's genocidal impulses. This essay explores this hermeneutical issue, arguing that The Wizard of Oz-like "religion" itself-can support opposing interpretations because the world it depicts is complex and contradictory.

Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 2014

Ten years before he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum produced two editorials calling for the death of all Native American people. These editorials have affected how both Baum’s novel and its 1939 MGM adaptation are interpreted. For some, the tale is a utopian vision that vindicates its author, while for others it clearly embodies Baum’s genocidal impulses. This essay explores this hermeneutical issue, arguing that The Wizard of Oz—like “religion” itself—can support opposing interpretations because the world it depicts is complex and contradictory.

JoLLA: Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

A novel is a literary product that has various genres. One of the genres is fantasy, which the novel under study, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, belongs to. The novel has many fantasy characters, such as wizards, animals, and talking objects. This paper explores character development of the characters in this novel namely Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Lion as they go on a journey to achieve their respective goals. Using a formalism approach, I argue that all the main characters in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz experience positive character development and can accomplish their goals. Dorothy's character has developed from being innocent towards other creatures to being a killer, for example when her property is taken. Scarecrow who initially feels inferior because he feels he has no brain becomes a creature who could come up with good ideas so that he could save his friends. Tin Woodman, who initially thinks he has to be careful not to hurt other creatures, becomes brave enough to hurt other creatures to protect his friends. Then, Lion, who is originally a coward, becomes brave when he feels threatened.

Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theater, 2014

The 1939 family classic film, The Wizard of Oz, based on the beloved children’s tale by L. Frank Baum, represents a modern example of mythologist Joseph Campbell’s model of the hero quest myth. This two-part study begins with a theoretical overview contextualizing The Wizard of Oz, as mythopoeic literature, and Campbell’s hero quest paradigm, informed by Carl G. Jung’s theories and methods as well as other key sources. The second part of the study applies Campbell’s model to the text of Baum’s Oz narrative in both its cinematic and literary forms, examining Baum’s tale for archetypal features described in Campbell’s model of the initial stage of the “leitmotif of the monomyth.” This comparative analysis emphasizes the myth-motif of the threshold passage accompanied by sequentially interconnected, recurring myth-motifs identified by Campbell and associated with the initial stage of Dorothy Gale’s transformational journey, i.e., separation from ordinary reality. This narrative interpretation demonstrates key symbolic features of mythico-ritual (initiatory) structure in the initial stage of Baum’s modern fairy tale. Screenshots from the movie visually illustrate that Dorothy’s journey in the other world of Oz closely follows the archetypal, symbolic structure of Campbell’s classic quest myth of the hero. Keywords: archetype, Arnold van Gennep, Carl G. Jung, hero quest, initiation, Jean Houston, Joseph Campbell, J. R. R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Mircea Eliade, monomyth, myth-motif, mythic orphan, mythology, mythopoeic, narrative, night sea journey, primordial image, rites of passage, ritual, shaman, threshold passage, Wizard of Oz

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

I would like to thank Dean Kurt Schmoke for his support and comments. I would also like to thank Professor Anthony Farley for organizing the-Taking Oz Seriously‖ symposium, which was hosted wonderfully by the Albany Law School. This essay depends on and pays homage to the critical, analytical brilliance and depth psychology of the late Dr. Alice Miller. In the area of child maltreatment, Dr. Miller is the most powerful voice I have ever encountered. Her works not only altered my personal life for the better, but they also shifted my ways of thinking, reading, seeing, and expressing my research and writing agenda. Last but not least, I would like to thank Susan Bitensky (MSU), Laurence Nolan (Howard), and Anne Turner, for reading and commenting on this piece. Of course, the politics and errata belong to me.

2005

ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of the literature pertaining to Wizard of Ox studies with children participants. It presents a new taxonomy for Wizard of Oz evaluations and, whilst focusing on three case studies that have been carried out by the authors, provides a presents a discussion of several ethical and organizational concerns with Wizard of Oz as a method for use with child participants. The paper concludes with some practical tips for researchers and practitioners engaged in Wizard of Oz studies with children.

Studies in Musical Theatre, 2015

Much as the musical is touted as an American art form, L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz (1900) has been called the American fairy tale. Since its publication, the book has been eclipsed in popularity by a series of musical–theatrical adaptations, which are also among the most popular shows in the canon of musicals, suggesting an affinity between musicals and Oz. Close analysis of four Oz musicals, the Broadway extravaganza of 1903, the MGM film of 1939, The Wiz (1975) and Wicked (2003) shows how the conventions of musical theatre translate the already powerful symbolic national mythology of Baum’s book into participatory expressions of American identity through embodied performance. In return, Oz gives the musical a signal national text which, through adaptation, allows the musical to reassert its own American pedigree while rearticulating the meaning of American identity at significant moments in the history of the genre.

1995