does anyone else hate the wizard of oz? (1 Viewer)

[TheLongshot]

No, you aren't the only one. I have a friend who always thought Dorothy leaving Oz for drab Kansas was always a bad move. Also, as someone who has relatives in Kansas, I have to say it is probably the most boring place in the world.

I don't hate the movie, but I also don't have great love for it either. There are plenty of other movies that I'd rather see.

I've actually never seen IAWL, so I can't really hate it, and I can't stand GWTW. That movie, actually, is one of the reasons why he doesn't give older films a chance, but I tell him that I don't like it either. (My wife has never seen it, but she's read the book, and that's more than enough for her.)

Jason

 

[GuruAskew]

This is absolutely absurd. There are plenty of differences among ALL the films you listed, which means it's perfectly reasonable to like some while disliking others.

Edit: for the record, I'm pretty indifferent about "The Wizard of Oz". I understand it's cultural impact and it's moderately entertaining but I don't think it's a great cinematic work. It's actually pretty pedestrian, cinematically. My mother and sister ordered the 3-disc version and I'm interested to go through the extras (I started with the third disc and I've watched the Baum doc, the first two silent's and the cartoon) but I have no real desire to watch the film. I probably will when I'm done with the extras but I'm definitely putting it off.

 

[Henry Gale]

It's a film my crazy ex disliked, something about the monkeys scaring her when she was small.
Another red flag that should have warned me off her years earlier.

Do you hate Toto too?

 

[AlexCremers]

You're right! I forgot to mention 'The Matrix'.

 

[george kaplan]

Well there are obviously some important differences between the book and the movie, but a lot of it is the same story, and to claim that the story is about trying to get home isn't correct. And if you don't care whether the scarecrow gets a brain, that's fine too, but again, you're missing the point.

Basically, the Wizard of Oz is a politcal parable about the battle in the late 19th century between those who wanted the U.S. to have a gold standard (the yellow brick road), vs. those who wanted a silver standard (her shoes in the book are silver), which included Baum. The Scarecrow represents the farmers who are too stupid to band together (which is why they need a brain), the Tin Woodman is industry (which is heartless), the Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan (for political reasons that can't be quickly summed up), the Wizard is a now-obscure U.S. president, the wicked witch of the west is drought (which is why she was destroyed by water), the winged Monkeys are the American Indians (again for reasons that would take too long to explain)...well, my point is that the plot of the Wizard of Oz has as much deep, meaningful symbolic meaning as anything ever done by Bergman, Kurosawa or Fellini.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I think THE WIZARD OF OZ is one of the finest films ever made, and well deserving of its reputation.

But it's nice to see that other people are like me in their having no use whatsoever for IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and GONE WITH THE WIND.

 

[Dale MA]

I don't really understand how anyone could hate the Wizard of OZ, not many of you seem to be giving much insight into why you feel this way about it?

I love it, IMO it's a true Hollywood classic Fantastic story, characters & of the course the many classic elements:

- When the film goes from B/W to colour.
- The production design.
- The classic songs.

The list goes on...

 

[Zack Gibbs]

While that's true of the book, it's merely cultural history for the film in question. Also, if it weren't, and the film focused on and oozed political subtext; no one would give a shit today. People love the film because it has pretty colors and pretty songs and is oh so magical and wondrous. They don't give a crap about gold and silver (mostly that is, I'm sure there are 3 or 4 people out there for whom this is the sole reason they watch it.)

 

[JeremyErwin]

Sure, sure. And Baum was an ardent populist who hated McKinley's economic policies.

Just listen to him absolutely skewer Republican monetary policy!

When McKinley gets the chair, boys,
There’ll be a jollification
Throughout our happy nation
And contentment everywhere!
Great will be our satisfaction
When the “honest money”faction
Seats McKinley in the chair!
No more the ample crops of grain
That in our granaries have lain
Will seek a purchaser in vain
Or be at mercy of the “bull”or “bear”;
Our merchants won’t be trembling
At the silverites’dissembling
When McKinley gets the chair!
When McKinley gets the chair, boys,
The magic word “protection”
Will banish all dejection
And free the workingman from every care;
We will gain the world’s respect
When it knows our coin’s “correct”
And McKinley’s in the chair!


The Fable of the Allegory: The Wizard of Oz in Economics

 

[Steve Christou]

No, but I hate the people who hate it though, does that count? I'm kidding of course.

But there is what I'd like to think of as an affliction amongst some 'film fans' that totally prevents them from liking films they know are either universally loved classics, or have made a shitload of money!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I did a complete 180 degree turn on TWoO, I used to love it when I was a kid, watched it everytime it came on.

But something changed when I hit my teens and I began to become distant from it and gradually began to see it as bland, creepy and ridiculous.

It's my adult mind that intrudes and won't allow me to put aside my disbeliefe with this film for some reason, for instance when I hear the Tin Man saying "If I only had a heart" I immediatley think "Well then, what's circulating the blood/oil in your body?"

And the Scarecrow? Well, let's just say that the man has exceptional motor skills and full body function for someone who doesn't possess a cerebral cortex.

 

[RyanAn]

That is awesome.

Ryan

 

[Ray H]

This is a film that, like "It's a Wonderful Life," gets lots of play on television. I remember it being aired on CBS or TNT all the time. I was definitely familiar with the story and the songs but like "It's a Wonderful Life," it's a movie I had sorta seen by watching an hour here and another hour there.

About a year ago, I decided to rent the DVD from my local library and get caught back up in the magic like I had done with rewatching Willy Wonka. Unfortunately, I didn't. I do love the songs, but everything else about the movie just seems to be so juvenile and syrupy. It feels like it's aimed too much at kids and the characters have the same level of intelligence as that audience. That's what separates a great family movie and a kid's movie. There needs to be something for everyone. I've read comments about how the movie has terror coming from the Wicked Witch. I guess I hoped it was something I could latch onto, but nothing. In contrast, I still get the chills watching the scene in Snow White where the Queen makes the poisoned apple.

Anyway, maybe I'll like it better on another viewing (kinda doubt it considering how recent my last one was). In the end, I just don't find the movie enchanting or magical. I can hum the songs though.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I can't say that I hate the film. In fact, I think how I feel about it is even worse than if I hated it.

Indifference.

I don't know what it is, but indifference to me, is a worse sign than hatred, I suspect it probably has something to do with being a wrestling fan and knowing that a person is better off if they are supposed to be cheered but are booed rather than getting no reaction at all.

I had a conversation last year with my mom about the Wizard of Oz.

Mom: Oh, hey, the Wizard of Oz is on TV. (my mom works a lot so it may have been years since she saw it on TV)
Me: Oh, OK. *back to typing an HTF post.

 

[george kaplan]

An interesting article, but one that I disagree with in it's basic conclusions. I think the problem is that the article finds things that don't completely support the allegory, and therefore conclude that there was no allegory. The simple truth is that Baum was telling a story, first and foremost, and while he stuck in a lot of interesting symbolism (if you honestly believe that the yellow brick road and silver shoes are just coincidence, then I've got some New Orleans Saints season tickets for 2006 to sell you), but he never let the underlying subtext get in the way of telling the story. If the story demanded something else, then the subtext be damned. But in the end, the subtext is there, it's real, and that article doesn't convince me otherwise.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Now, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a film that I can watch many times and still enjoy it, TWoO has just been slowly stripped bit by bit, year by year of all of it's charm and magic and has left only a shell of what the film represented for me as a kid.

Curiously, it's the only film from my childhood that this has happened to, I can still watch E.T. (still a favorite and always will be) and get choked up because I remember all of my thoughts and feelings that I had when I was little.

This didn't happen with TWoO and I can't fully explain why, I guess a good analogy would be Christmas and how we all feel about it when we're kids, it's magical and wonderful, but then we get older and the magic slowly begins to dwindle leaving only a holiday that represents family get togethers with the in-laws where your father in-law gets drunk and let's you know how he really feels about you, pushy people at the mall who are on the verge of genocide over the last Tickle Me Elmo, decorating woes with lights that don't light, stepping on broken ornaments cutting your foot and a high, damn near suicide inducing, credit card bill a month later.

But the only difference between Christmas and TWoO is, I still like Christmas.

 

[Leo Kerr]

I once saw a 'news headline' from the local Munchkin paper that was, while along the lines of the other quote shown here, a lot more... splashy and 'shocking.'

There have been a lot of "great classics" that I find unwatchable, or, if not that bad, unworthy, to my mind, of any sort of reverence. Wonderful Life - the musical, never saw the film - makes me want to loose my lunch. Oz is... just kind of yucky, like a counter where someone spilled sugar on a humid day.

I think that, for starters, I have a very high standard for movies that are musicals, and very few live up to them. Virtually all of the R&H films I've seen failed to meet them, although I'll give "The King and I" some credit for sets, costumes, and "the Small House of Uncle Thomas" sequence.

Although, I suppose part of it is given how much live performance I see - particularly of drama and musical - I also get 'over-done.' I've seen far too many Ozez performed by all age groups from elementary school to local professional companies.

Leo Kerr

 

[andrew markworthy]

I've got to confess that I'm not overly-fond of small yappy dogs. This may stem from my great aunt who lived with us and had a yappy dog. When she bought it it was a brown coloured poodle puppy. As the poppy grew and began needing exercise I was pressganged into taking it for walks. Okay, so far so embarrassing for a young teenager who already had image problems. But then things got really humiliating. The wretched mutt as it matured lost its brown coat and developed a white coat - except for a patch of brown fur that remained around its anus. So I had the pleasure of walking a dog that looked like it had shat itself. Oh the comments I used to get.

This in no small measure explains why I don't on the whole like small dogs. I know Toto wasn't a poodle, but frankly it was close enough.

Before I give the impression that not only do I hate one of the most loved films of all time, but I also am a grouch who hates small furry cuddly creatures, I should add that I've known some very nice small dogs and dog owners.
Oh yes, and I hate Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. This may stem from knowing about the content of the first edition of the book - a quick Google search on this topic should satisfy the curious amongst you.

 

[BarryR]

Leo, I'm curious; what other musicals have met your standards?