The Wizard of Oz is more then just a children's movie, its an allegory depicting some of the most important events of that time. The author, L. Frank Baum, was very involved in politics, no doubt he had the ability to write a political allegory.
When Dorthy reaches the strange village she is told to find The Wizard of Oz, and to do so she must take the yellow brick road. This movie was made in 1939, a year that was in the great depression, a time when many people lost their jobs and due to inflation the U.S. dollar became more and more useless every day. To avoid the U.S. dollar as much as possible citizens began to trade with gold. Dorthy symbolizes this by taking the yellow brick road.
Along the way she meets the Tin Man who is stuck because he lacks oil. The tin man represents the U.S. people's growing dependence on oil, almost all of us would be stuck without gas in our cars. Dorthy meets another character along the way named the Cowardly Lion, who seems intimidating at first sight but lacks the guts to back his chilling looks up. This resembles the United States in the 1930's who adopted the isolationist's way of looking at the world. They were going to stay away from all of the trouble brewing in Europe even though they defiantly had to power to fight.
The Wizard of Oz is a symbol of what was happing in the world in the 1930's. L. Frank Baum hid political figures and happinings in a child's story, that was still a satisfing tale and plot worthy of watching for fun and for smarts.
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I wonder how the Wizard of Oz relates to our modern world. It seems the modern "Go Green" movement is encouraging a new generation to curb our dependence on foreign oil, though this time the movement also chastises mankind for neglecting Mother Earth. It's a bit scary to think this dialogue has been around since the thirties. I guess we're slow to learn.
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