Tuesday, September 28, 2004
There's no place like home
As a kid "Wizard of Oz" used to be one of my favorite movies. I remember watching the movie over and over again. Or at least that's what my parents tell me. The funny thing about memory is that you might remember things that never happened. In an experiment people swore that they remember shaking hands with Bugs Bunny in Disneyland, which is not possible because Bugs Bunny is a Warner Bros. character. They had been told so by their parents and they then formed false memories around it. Nevertheless, I think I used to love this movie.
So sitting in an American History class, only paying half attention to the Populist movement being discussed, I was suddenly jolted out of my reverie when the professor said that "Wizard Of Oz" is a political statement. She claimed that the yellow brick road symbolized gold, the strawman represented the farmers, the monkeys were the black people, and the Wizard was none other than the President. It really shocked me to find out that one my favorite childhood movie was so political. But then I realized that probably many of the cartoons that kids watch have political statements in them because the people creating them are adults.
Today I probably wouldn't enjoy the movie as much as anyways. I've become too cynical to enjoy the make believes. At dinner my friend was making fun of a Star Trek episode I remember seeing as a kid. I used to watch Star Trek all the time when I was kid. This memory is actually true since I have tapes my dad recorded for me. I don't watch Star Trek anymore. The whole premise seems so implausible and I tend to over analyze .
Not that I didn't think when I was small. But in my simplistic mind, I thought "Wizard Of Oz" had a straightforward message that home is the best place to be. I have realized that since I moved out. Obviously I didn't think so when I was living at home, and remember telling my mom that I wanted to go to college anywhere but in Delhi, so I won't have to stay at home. Now I can only wish that I had those ruby shoes which I could click three times and get home by uttering the magic words - "there's no place like home."
So sitting in an American History class, only paying half attention to the Populist movement being discussed, I was suddenly jolted out of my reverie when the professor said that "Wizard Of Oz" is a political statement. She claimed that the yellow brick road symbolized gold, the strawman represented the farmers, the monkeys were the black people, and the Wizard was none other than the President. It really shocked me to find out that one my favorite childhood movie was so political. But then I realized that probably many of the cartoons that kids watch have political statements in them because the people creating them are adults.
Today I probably wouldn't enjoy the movie as much as anyways. I've become too cynical to enjoy the make believes. At dinner my friend was making fun of a Star Trek episode I remember seeing as a kid. I used to watch Star Trek all the time when I was kid. This memory is actually true since I have tapes my dad recorded for me. I don't watch Star Trek anymore. The whole premise seems so implausible and I tend to over analyze .
Not that I didn't think when I was small. But in my simplistic mind, I thought "Wizard Of Oz" had a straightforward message that home is the best place to be. I have realized that since I moved out. Obviously I didn't think so when I was living at home, and remember telling my mom that I wanted to go to college anywhere but in Delhi, so I won't have to stay at home. Now I can only wish that I had those ruby shoes which I could click three times and get home by uttering the magic words - "there's no place like home."
// posted by anshu @ 10:05 PM 
