Week 8

Recently, I watched the movie The Wizard of Oz and found it to be, as usual, one of the best movies to be made in the history of cinematography. As you can tell from the preceding sentence, I really like this movie and watch it multiple times every year. I recommend this movie to anyone who isn’t a negative or anti-happy-sentiment kind of person. This movie has a positive pull to it, and is a great movie for people of all ages. The main audience of this film is generally children, but it is also a text that is relatable to adults as well.

To those who are not familiar with the film, The Wizard of Oz is a story about a girl from a small farm in Kansas named Dorothy Gale who is unhappy with her current situation in Kansas. She lives at the farm with her Auntie Em, and Uncle Henry along with their three workers who are her only friends around. In the beginning of the film, we are told through Dorothy how she wishes she could live “Somewhere over the Rainbow” where life is new and exciting and not at all like her home in Kansas. She is then magically transported via “twister” to the Land of Oz where everything is different and new. It is there Dorothy faces conflicts with a Wicked Witch and must survive with the help of her new friends the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion. The movie ends with a heartfelt family life-lesson and leaves the viewer in a happy state of mind.

In my opinion, the overall tone of this movie is self-discover in regards to who you are as a person and where you’re true home is. If you are at all interested in watching a movie with these kinds of discoveries then The Wizard of Oz is the movie for you! I have deducted this by the way people have reacted with me when we watched it together. A common subject that was discussed was how family is something very important to whom we are as people.

         The main text and language used in this movie was mostly formal English. There were a few parts where some slang words would be used, but a majority of the movie was formal and quick to comprehend. The directing of this movie was also done in a formal way. There weren’t many “odd angle shots” or random scenes that didn’t make any sense as some films today have. An example of a less formal kind of directing as compared to the directing of The Wizard of Oz is The Blair Witch Project. In that movie the directing is a more modern technique where a smooth transition is not necessary all of the time. Personally I rather watch a more professionally directed movie than an informal one.

Being classified as a “classic” movie, it is not surprising to see that this movie was originally aired on T.V. in 1939. Because the film is an older movie, some people feel as if the movie’s plot does not relate well to our current situation. In reality, I believe that many of the topics that were covered in the film are still relevant to today’s society.  For example, government was a key component to the movie’s plot because of the economic situation that engulfed the United States at that time; likewise today government still plays a huge role in our lives and shares many similar issues as those shown in the original movie. The Wizard of Oz was made during the 1930’s in the middle of The Great Depression when the government was viewed to be evil and rich. This sentiment was portrayed in the movie through the Emerald City when Dorothy goes there to receive help to go home, and she finds that the Great Wizard of Oz (who resides in the Emerald City) has no means of helping her unless she kills the Wicked Witch. This task is similar to the situation that the people in America had to face where they needed to find a way to find work in an economy that was floundering without any help from the government. This is just one example of the many different symbols used in this film to relate this magical world to our world.

Overall, the movie The Wizard of Oz is a fun-filled family style movie that is meant for people of all ages who (like I said earlier) are generally happy people and enjoy life.

Review on Amazon 

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2G11HEYK5KZDA

       pen-name: Leesie-Girl92

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