mhg83

So to start things off theres the wizard of oz and its many myths. We all know the whole person hung in the background myth has been debunked. But there's another one that I'm not sure is real or just a myth:

The Wizard Of Oz is a pro communist film. In my media studies class, the teacher talked in length about many things in the film that are pro communism. Such as the guards chanting "oh we oh" is misheard and the real words are "All we owe we owe her" He said that it was a Pro-Communist statement. And the whole wizard is heard but not seen by the town people is another example of Pro-Communism. So was the Wizard of Oz a Pro Communism film? What are some other movie myths you've heard that we can debunk?

starman9000

Wouldn't the Wizard being heard but not seen make the movie anti-communist?

Brent L

Why are so many teachers/professors complete and total morons?

Discuss.

Neil M.

I don't think there is any evidence to indicate that the filmmaker's were trying to sneak in pro-communist statements. In reality, your teacher is just stretching some things to make his idea fit. Doesn't mean it's true and I don't really think it's true. There are probably hundreds of other movies that you could say the same thing but that doesn't make it a correct interpretation. I just need some evidence that it was done on purpose before I believe it.

BlueCC

My high school history teacher said The Wizard of Oz was about the industrial revolution.

costanza

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PopcornTreeCt

Apone

Pvt. Hudson didn't die in Aliens.

Jon2

And I've told I read too much into things.

More of that nonsense here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politic...l_Wizard_of_Oz

Considering that bedtime stories Baum told his children became the Wizard of Oz, I'd say that pretty much debunks any intellectual (and absurd) interpretations that Oz deals with pro-communism or the industrial revolution.

Unless one wants to hold to a notion that Baum was writing propaganda for children.

rw2516

The story I got in college economic class is that at the time the book was written the U.S. was considering switching from the gold standard to silver(?). Baum supported sticking with the gold standard and the "yellow brick road" represents that.

Shannon Nutt

As another poster pointed out - if the witch's minions and the Wizard (proven to be a sham) were PRO-Communist, that means the movie is actually ANTI-Communist.

Now I don't believe there's anything to the idea -but even if it was true, what's the big deal?

Now if you REALLY want to debate, let's talk about how E.T. is essentially the Christ story. That's a fun one.

Giantrobo

really? I thought it was just that the imagery of ET's finger and the little boy's finger touching in the promotional posters mirrored Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam" painting? But then again I guess I forgot about the E.T. rising again.


Superman, has a "Christlike" vibe in it. The only son sent to the Earth to save it. Either way I'm sure the similarities are unintentional. Many stories throughout human history deal with resurrection, so it would make sense that modern tales should have something like that in them.

Giantrobo

One of my favorite, "This is what this film is really about!", stories comes from Radical Blacks who believe the film "King Kong" is a warning to Black men, represented by the beast "Kong", about lusting after White women; who's obviously represented by the "Ann Darrow" character who Kong falls for and ultimately dies because of.

My brother dated a girl who told me this when I was young and even then I thought it was crazy.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I've read about that interpretation, too. Quite fascinating, really, though I'm not convinced it was actually Baum's intent.

Since the Oz characters seem to represent archetypes and it would appear that there is a lot of symbolism to be drawn from the circumstances and settings, there are a number of possible ways to interpret them.

rw2516

There's The Conqueror . The majority of people associated with the film later came down with cancer and died (John Wayne, Dick Powell, Pedro Armendariz, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and others) supposedly because the film was shot on an old A-bomb test site in the Nevada desert.

Groucho

Myth: Tom Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but had to bow out due to his contract for "Magnum P.I."

Reality: Selleck actually got out of his contract, and went to work on the film. However, he was killed on the first day of shooting by the giant boulder (the remaining seasons of "Magnum" were completed by using clever editing and a body double).

FinkPish

Interesting, that actually gives more credence to the Three Men and a Baby ghost myth.

GoldenJCJ

But Shane DID die at the end of Shane...believe it, or not.

NoirFan

GoldenJCJ

Sean O'Hara

Since the Winkies were the Witch's slaves, and celebrated when Dorothy killed her, I don't see how that follows -- under the professor's thesis, they're oppressed labor dreaming of a worker's paradise.

However, the theory strikes me as bunk. For it to make sense, the prof would have to show that the same person was responsible for inserting all those elements in the story. For a film with three directors and a dozen writers, that's highly unlikely unless Mervyn Leroy told them to do it that way (and Leroy doesn't strike me as much of a commie), or if those elements were present in L. Frank Baum's novel (which they aren't).

DonTHX1378

I have heard that one also a couple of times. Another version I have heard and Danny Peary tells a version of it also in his book Cult Movies is that Kong is Carl Denham's id that gets released because he wants Ann and can't have her. The whole film is Denham's "dream" of how his "id" wants/lusts/rapes Ann.

ScissorPuppy

There were some people a few years ago trying to say that " Batman Begins " was a pro-Bush message film.

Um, What?