wizard of oz = populism?

T

TimTheEnchanter

Veteran X
so, my slightly off kilter ap us history teacher just spent 2 hours explaining how the wizard of oz is an allegory for the reform-minded, silver-loving movement of the late 19th century.

in short, dorothy and the march represents coxey's army, the monkeys are native americans, the lion is william j bryan, tin man is factory worker, the scarecrow is farmers, the ruby slippers somehow mean the silver standard, and the list goes on.

anyone else heard this rabble before? it seemed extremely superficial and out of context to me, and, even if it is true, its a waste of fucking time for people who have to pay 100 bucks to take a test in a month. [/pussyrant]
 
I find that when people go back and assign meaning to books, they're probably full of shit. 99% of stories are not deep allegorical metaphors. it only has what hidden meaning you bring to it.

same with movies. it's what i really hate about the modern idiot liberal art loving freaks these days. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
 
I don't know about that but uhh...

Did you ever see the guy that hung himself on the set of the show and they didn't have the money to edit out the scene. I forget what part but it's pretty cool.
 
Like an English teacher I had that told us to find forshadowing in a story that ended in a wolf attack. Apparently "gnarled trees" and the "nippy cold air" were hints of the attack. Right...
 
Tribalbob said:
I find that when people go back and assign meaning to books, they're probably full of shit. 99% of stories are not deep allegorical metaphors. it only has what hidden meaning you bring to it.

same with movies. it's what i really hate about the modern idiot liberal art loving freaks these days. sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
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I feel this way too.
And I hate allegorical shit.
 
naptown said:
I don't know about that but uhh...

Did you ever see the guy that hung himself on the set of the show and they didn't have the money to edit out the scene. I forget what part but it's pretty cool.
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Slow-mo on a big screen projector shows that that is a large bird of some sort.
 
Suddenly_Dead said:
Like an English teacher I had that told us to find forshadowing in a story that ended in a wolf attack. Apparently "gnarled trees" and the "nippy cold air" were hints of the attack. Right...
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Oh..how I love English class

/me goes to cool down his overheating sarcasim machine
 
Falconlight said:
Oh..how I love English class

* Falconlight goes to cool down his overheating sarcasim machine
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Sarcasm

/me goes to cool down his overheating spell checker.
 
naptown said:
I don't know about that but uhh...

Did you ever see the guy that hung himself on the set of the show and they didn't have the money to edit out the scene. I forget what part but it's pretty cool.
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It's an ostrich, I've seen it many times.

RE to thread: Tell your teacher it's just a movie. A fictional movie that was made to entertain people. Any analysis beyond that is wrong.
 
Chaoz said:
It's an ostrich, I've seen it many times.

RE to thread: Tell your teacher it's just a movie. A fictional movie that was made to entertain people. Any analysis beyond that is wrong.
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it was also an entire series of (edit)CHILDRENS books.
 
wow, this thread really brought out the haters of art and literature. i'm pretty into art and music, and a little with quality books, but i will agree that things like this are utter bullshit <see initial post> as is english class in general. the worst part is, like 3/4 of my braindead class still doesnt understand one of the most important, interetsing periods in our history because my teacher sucks at his job.
 
you know what's a cool book?

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.

it's not really a metaphor or anything, but it's certainly enlightening
 
yeah i have heard it also but he means the book in the book the slippers were silver because the silver standard was much more flexible so the value of the dollar would shift faster so debts to the bank could of been paid off easier.

Its more likely for a lot of silver to be found and thus lowering the value of a dollar
(see supply and demand curves) than gold because gold is more rare.

and william jennings bryan talked just like the lion but thats all he really did he never ran for a higher office which is why he wanted courage cause he would of been really effective for changing the silver standard but never was in a postion to do it.
 
Tribalbob said:
you know what's a cool book?

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.

it's not really a metaphor or anything, but it's certainly enlightening
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you see, it really is, but instead of talking about that or any of the reasons the period developed like it did, we've gone over bullshit like this for a month.

point is, stop paying your taxes.

edit: to the post above--he ran for president 3 times and was secretary of state until he had the balls to stick to his pacifist principles and resign when wilson went into wwI. i'd say he certainly did have courage. he was also a very outspoken anti-evolution critic and lawyer in the 1920s. i know the history stuff, i'm just pissed that the teacher can't pass on something that's actually very interesting to other people effectively. he was also a very outspoken anti-evolution critic and lawyer in the 1920s.
 
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Ostego said:
yeah i have heard it also but he means the book in the book the slippers were silver because the silver standard was much more flexible so the value of the dollar would shift faster so debts to the bank could of been paid off easier.

Its more likely for a lot of silver to be found and thus lowering the value of a dollar
(see supply and demand curves) than gold because gold is more rare.

and william jennings bryan talked just like the lion but thats all he really did he never ran for a higher office which is why he wanted courage cause he would of been really effective for changing the silver standard but never was in a postion to do it.
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http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/bryan.html

William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) was a Congressman from Nebraska, three-time presidential candidate (1896, 1900, and 1908), and later Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson.
Click to expand...
 
TimTheEnchanter said:
so, my slightly off kilter ap us history teacher just spent 2 hours explaining how the wizard of oz is an allegory for the reform-minded, silver-loving movement of the late 19th century.

in short, dorothy and the march represents coxey's army, the monkeys are native americans, the lion is william j bryan, tin man is factory worker, the scarecrow is farmers, the ruby slippers somehow mean the silver standard, and the list goes on.

anyone else heard this rabble before? it seemed extremely superficial and out of context to me, and, even if it is true, its a waste of fucking time for people who have to pay 100 bucks to take a test in a month. [/pussyrant]
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a) damn, your ap class is behind. we studied that a month or two ago.

b) it's not superficial, entirely true

c) in texas, the school distric pays for us to take the AP test as long as we took the AP course.

d) it's only $75 if you didnt take the course

e) get a teacher worth a shit

f) die
 
That sounds like nonsense, but claiming that symbolic/allegorical/metaphorical/thematic elements dont exist in prose and poetry is quite foolish.
 
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