The Wizards of the Oz's

After reading the 1900 story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and then watching 1939 movie counterpart, The Wizard of Oz, I can say with some level of certainty that the movie took a great deal of artistic liberty with its version of this story. Still, I recognize that whatever changes it made were only to make the story more interesting to watch. Despite that (or perhaps because of it) I still prefer the original story to the film. I understand that the film was meant to be very playful and childish, but it was just too much for me--perhaps because I was born in a world where films did not have a cast of characters who would regularly break into song, and a man in a lion costume is a man in a lion costume, not a lion. I seem to have lost the ability to suspend my disbelief when the tricks the film is playing on me are so blatantly fraudulent. Even so, there was some level of charm the film managed to preserve. There was something uncanny, but also enchanting about watching so many happy characters dancing and singing in one scene.

One concept that the film did keep true to, however, is the idea that, "there's no place like home," a phrase, oddly enough, that is never actually said in the 1900 text, but heavily implied by the context and by Dorothy's  actions. I think this is a widely held view that most people would agree with. Even though Oz is so beautiful and fantastic, it is not Dorothy's home. And no matter how much enjoyment or friendship she finds there, she knows that she belongs elsewhere. Likewise, I consider my home to be Ringling because I have spent so much time here. It has evolved into my home over several years. There was a time when Memphis, TN was my home, but now it is where I go to be with my family. When I am in Memphis, I'm happy, of course, to be with my parents and I don't take that time for granted, but I am also eager to go back to Florida, as Dorothy is eager to get back to Kansas.