Why Oz the Great and Powerful Is A Major Step Back For Witches and Women

[sufrommich]

This whole article is interesting. I own 3 of the original Oz books and,to be honest,I've yet to read them:


In a bitter reversal of Baum's stories, "Great and Powerful" casts the women as the sidekicks, standing by to aid the Wizard should he need it. No longer instigators of action, the witches Glinda, Theodora, and Evanora now clasp their hands at arrival, thrilled the prophesied hero has arrived ("Aren't you the great man we've been waiting for?" asks Theodora, voice trembling. Actually, all the female dialogue seems to be on the wobbly verge of tears). Whereas Baum's charlatan Wizard accidentally became ruler of Oz, making a mess of things in the process, now we have one who has a place carved out for him, and is hailed as the man "who can set things right" (silly witches, always making a mess of their kingdoms!). Who knew three sorceresses –- who were all-seeing and all-knowing in prior Oz tales -– were actually helpless compared to a man from Kansas? And helpless against him! Yes, Michelle Williams' Glinda is smart enough to see through our hero's lies and bluster, but otherwise she's completely stripped of any real agency. "Great and Powerful" corrects Baum's grievous abstinence, and reminds us all women must fall for a handsome traveler. The modern day Wizard now wins at least 2/3 of the onscreen hearts instead of being shamed as a liar.

No doubt the focus group responsible for "Great and Powerful" convinced themselves that female protagonists weren't marketable (odd coming from the studio of Disney Princesses), and that a pouty, doubting hero would draw in a wider range of moviegoers. It was probably believed no one would ever see an Oz film unless it directly tied into the version they already knew and loved, and that trying to draw on original Oz tales would be too confusing and difficult. Audiences can follow along with Marvel and Tolkien, but the origin of Ozma would undoubtedly be too complicated. Why bring in Betsy and her mule, when we can have a Hollywood hunk on the poster, and witchy cleavage at the denouement?

But one can't help feeling that "Great and Powerful" is two steps back from the feminist bent Baum proudly and freely leant his work, and in a day and age when there wasn't even a label for it. With a wave of his pen, he transformed the boy Tip into Ozma, and no one complained. Nowadays, such a gender swap is so unthinkable that our storytellers did the reverse, and swapped a female for a fraud. What spell do we need to change it back, and enjoy Oz in all Baum's original equalitarian glory?


http://jezebel.com/5989268/why-oz-the-great-and-powerful-is-a-major-step-back-for-witches-and-women?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[petronius]

1. Very interesting! I loved those original Oz books as a kid, but I haven't read

them for 30 years. And at the time I can't say I noticed any of the deeper implications nor knew anything about Baum himself - but I certainly noticed the general disconnect between 'real' Oz and movie Oz. Think I'll try and get a hold of them again.

Thanks for the article (and the reminiscence opportunity )...

[sufrommich]

3. I didn't know about Baum either. I'm going

to have to look for those old books now and read them.I'm glad you enjoyed the article too.

[gollygee]

2. Oh, how disappointing

My daughter and I saw the ad and thought it would be awesome.

But it reminds me of when I took her to Horton Hears a Who and the mayor had 99 daughters he paid no attention to, and one son he did pay attention to. "Why is it all about his son? What about his daughters?" Sigh.

[sufrommich]

4. I agree about Horton hears a Who. That was weird. nt