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Watching the Directives
Your article was interesting,
but you missed two additional
explanations for the Wizard
of Oz.
Several people have told me
that the movie is an
allegorical tale about life
as a homosexual in the
1950's. I'm sure it can work
that way, but since the book
and movie appeared before
WWII, this assigns an H. G.
Wells-ish prophetic sense to
Baum and his cinematic
interpreters that is
unconvincing.
A more compelling allegorical
explanation is that Baum was
writing about Depression-era
farmers. The Wicked Witch of
the West is the drought, the
WW of the East is the
bankers, the tin man is the
factory worker, the scarecrow
is the farmer, the cowardly
lion is Wm. Jennings Bryant,
the Yellow Brick Road is the
gold standard which leads to
the emerald city (the
greenback), and Oz is
president. I'd have to check
the book, but I believe the
slippers were originally
silver, representing the
silver standard.
Water killed WW-West
(drought), while property
(and land rights) killed
WW-East. The gold standard
led to trickery, and only the
silver standard was able to
bring Dorothy home. I'm sure
something could be made of
the repeal of Prohibition and
the field of poppies as well.
Coincidence and exegesis are
where you find them, and as
your article hints at,
interpretations
(constructive,
deconstructive, or
pharmacological) reveal more
about ourselves than they
reveal about the text.
-W-
1. Pink Floyd wouldn't have
had to anticipate the
invention of the VCR. The
Wizard of Oz was played on
American TV every year around
Easter. The first commercial
was always right before it
turned into color, which is
where you would have had to
flip the record.
2. L. Frank Baum might have
been a department store
promoter, but the Oz books
were actually a parable about
turn-of-the-century populism
(the Jennings Bryant/silver
standard brand). In fact, if
you read some of his
children's short stories, he
was actually quite a
sarcastic, clever individual
with a healthy dose of
cynicism and anti-consumerism
(he probably despised the
people he worked for,
just like most workers), far
from a promoter of
Pollyana-ism. Don't judge
somebody's art by what they
do to make money - Kafka was a
clerk.
3. Duuuuuuuuuuude!
--mjr--
And, hey man, Dorothy wore
ruby slippers, rubies are
used to make lasers, laser
light shows usually feature
Pink Floyd, and when you
listen to Pink Floyd you
smoke pot, which makes you
munchy, just like Shaggy, who
solves mysteries with Thelma!
(And who was voiced by Casey
Kasem, who was in New York,
New York with Robert De Niro,
who was in Sleepers with
Kevin Bacon)
Karl Suhr
<suhr@nsu.acast.nova.edu>
Filler
Polly:
Your Martian/Wink Martindale
piece, when paired with
Terry's drawing, actually
made me shit myself laughing.
You already exhibit all the
ideals I seek in a woman:
cynicism, misanthropy,
interest in Martians, and a
mammoth sense of humor. Will
you marry me?
Sincerely,
(Name Withheld)
P.S. You are a woman, aren't
you?
Gleeb smelldog, trenckle
blandoid.
We used to have those lame-ass
managerial posters at the
technical writing job I had
for four years. ("Customer
complaints are the guidebooks
from which we learn...") One
day I couldn't stand it any
more--so in giant fonts, I
printed out my own poster for
the work-place. Matching the
poster's fonts, I printed
out: "ANNOYING motivational
POSTERS Antagonize Your
Employees."
So I enjoyed Wednesday's
piece. I forwarded the URL to
my (former!) manager.
David Cassel
<destiny@wco.com>
Good to know that I could help
avenge your wrongheaded
former manager. Let me know
if you have anyone else you'd
like me to publicly
humiliate.
Polly
Polly:
A quick trip to
nissinfoods.com would have
told you that the popular
lunch product is called Cup
Noodles. Not "Cup-a-Noodles"
as you so impetuously
printed. I can tell you've
never really starved...
:) PF
Maybe I was just so faint and
weak and dazed from lack of
nourishing food sources that
I neglected to pay close
attention, as I blindly and
desperately fumbled with my
vacuum-wrapped variation on
the ramen theme.
So have some sympathy already!
Polly
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