lazserus
Mar 1st, 2007, 7:48 PM
The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland was an adaptation from an original children's book written by L. Frank Baum, published in 1900. The original book was entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Wizard_title_page.jpg/200px-Wizard_title_page.jpg
While the book was targeted at children, Baum's work was politically influenced and metaphorically represented a very important movement in U.S. history. Each fantastical character in the story represented a different laboring group struggling to get the United States government to step in and help their cause.
It's important to understand the consequences of the Industrial Revolution in America before any of this will hold significant value. The Industrial Revolution in the United States made many a men rich (Rockefeller and Edison) while belittling and destroying the blue collar laborer. With the introduction of machine manufacturing the United States laborer became nothing more than a commodity. The mortality rate during the peak of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. created a morbid blanket of death and mutilation. Because working conditions were constantly ignored during this period, many workers lost limbs and even perished. Railroad jobs in the States during this mid-nineteenth century were classified as the most deadly, majority of workers dying on the job. The machine became such an important aspect of industrial efficiency, the human worker was expendable at best. Company owners would employ the Scientific Management system [Taylorism] in order to get the most out of their workers regardless of the mortal costs. The wages were so low that even up to 1904 economists declared that 60% of the working man was incapable of making wages that would support their families. Therefore entire families had to work in order to bring the bacon. Children as young as 7 years of age would work in toxic coal mines at $0.39 a day to aid in feeding their families. This was before Child Labor Law and Workers Compensation laws were put into place. Before the Populist Movement laboring communities would select officials to raise stink in order to get attention. Before the Populist movement these organizations were nothing more than labor strikes, most of which turning violent. Disorganized strikes only led to death, no change or even consideration of change for laborers. Eventually groups were able to get together and start a non-violent movement known as Populism in order to make change. Granted Populism isn't coined from this particular American movement, but has existed for centuries. However, this particular movement was unique to the United States.
At this time corporations were coming into existence. Before the Industrial Revolution every company was owned by a single person and when the person died the company went to the grave with them. The Industrial Revolution left room for bureaucratic development, creating corporate entities as opposed to privately owned companies. This drastic and quick change in the business animal offered unparallel amounts of money to some and left others destroyed. BUt as these industries rapidly expanded they relied more and more on efficiency, which machinery offered. However, 19th century machinery had much more hands-on need from man than today. There was little automation 200 years ago.
In the 1890s America hit a major agricultural depression (a nationwide depression, but agriculture may have suffered the most). Crops held little value compared to other economic commodities. The nation was too caught up in the sporadic and perpetual introduction of technology. Between 1865 and 1900, there were actually two depressions that ravished America. The first was an unemployment depression when the Industrial Revolution really took precedence. It left hundreds of thousands out of work, possibly carrying the highest unemployment rate in American history (naturally based on contextual period and population). The second depression occurred economically during a period where the U.S. government couldn't decide on its currency standard, whether it be gold or silver (this was long prior to the Federal Reserve Note [paper bills] established in the early 20th century). Because the currency was in constant fluctuation, people couldn't keep on top of their financial worth, aside from the upper class. Part of the reason was that the market was being flooded with valuable metals such as gold and silver. As gold became more rare, the government decided to use it as currency so that the market wouldn't be flooded with the precious metal and the currency value dropping. But enough of detailed economic and political conundrums of the period. Where does Oz come in?
This is where things get extremely interesting, in my opinion. Each character in the tale represent important Populist groups, and L. Frank Baum was able to turn a national crises into a children's tale. I won't be dissecting the entire book, its characters, or elements, but I will attempt to put the obvious ones into perspective.
While Dorothy is important to the fictional tale, her actual political role is ambiguous and much more open to interpretation. Therefore, I will be coving her last.
Scarecrow: Scarecrow represents the farmer, possibly the Kansas farmer of the period. A few articles of the time were published specifically calling the Kansas farmers as ignorant and even bull-headed. The lack of brains for Scarecrow tells us the farmers were wise, yet were too dim witted to come up with a plan for logical change. They had no idea how to counter the agricultural depression of the late 19th century and did little more than raise a grumbling stink. They didn't have a clue how to approach reform for their industry.
Tin Man: The tin woodsman was a metaphor for the dehumanization of industrial (factory) workers. In the original tale, the woodsman was so cumbersome he'd lop off his own limps. With the abundance of tin workers in Oz, he had his limbs replaced with metals. Eventually the Tin Man [Woodsman] became part of the machine, but hated it. He had no heart, meaning that the industrial laborer was soulless and expendable. In order to keep his job he had to be more like a machine than a man. He was also treated as a cog to a bigger machine (Particular Industry), so if he lost a limb during work he was terminated and then replaced, much like you'd replace a faulty gear in a clock.
Cowardly Lion: The Lion is a little different, representing William Jennings Bryan, the first and only Presidential candidate that was a Populist. No matter how hard he struck Industry (like when the Lion clobbers the Tin Man but makes no dent and complains about dulling his talons) he was incapable of making change, or initiating reform.
Emerald City: The beacon of Oz represented Washington D.C. In the original literature Baum made the city white and bland, but wearing green [emerald] shaded classes one would see color and beauty. The world of Washington was bleak and devoid of color and culture (which can still be argued as fact even 200 years later), so in order to find clarity in the Emerald City a person would have to wear special glasses.
West/East Witches: These entities signified cultural progression, but interpreted to be aggressive. The Industrial Revolution started on the eastern coast of the United States, spilling and drowning the West in its cause. The West was always classified as the frontier, the freedom or escape. However, each witch in the tale provided significant evils.
Yellow Brock Road: This is the gold standard of currency that the Populists hated. This standard created a significantly retarded conflict with the lower paid workers, such as farmers and laborers. The original character of Dorothy sports silver slippers, not ruby. The ruby slippers was changed because the film studios were introducing Technicolor, a MAJOR revolution in filming for the period. Dorothy's original slippers were silver, which represented the Free Silver movement. The lower level businesses were trying to get silver a currency standard mainly because it was in abundance, and left room for constant inflation, allowing the poorer business owners to possibly become wealthy.
Wizard of Oz: The Wizard was a representative of the American politician. He could always give you the answers you wanted, but never perform miracles. In the book, the Wizard appeared to each character differently, or in a different image. The point was to say politicians always show you what makes you happy or what you expect, but far from truth. The Wizard never actually grants any miracles, but explains to each character that they already have the qualities they desire. This shows how politicians rely on rhetoric in order to convince their voters into thinking they'll actually make change.
These are the core parts of the Populist interpretation, but there are plenty more, such as the flying monkeys representing Plains Indians or the witches of north and south representing regional parties (Republican/Democratic). Baum ingeniously described Populism in the late 1800s by using a children's tale. Though it was entirely on purpose, it took nearly 70 years for the implications to be recognized. In 1964, Henry Littlefield published his essay on Baum's apparent attempt at making the Populist Movement easy enough a child could understand. Littlefield's essay on the subject wasn't an interpretation, but merely voiced publicly this periodical movement. Baum published a sequel to his story focusing on feminism, but the publication bombed.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Wizard_title_page.jpg/200px-Wizard_title_page.jpg
While the book was targeted at children, Baum's work was politically influenced and metaphorically represented a very important movement in U.S. history. Each fantastical character in the story represented a different laboring group struggling to get the United States government to step in and help their cause.
It's important to understand the consequences of the Industrial Revolution in America before any of this will hold significant value. The Industrial Revolution in the United States made many a men rich (Rockefeller and Edison) while belittling and destroying the blue collar laborer. With the introduction of machine manufacturing the United States laborer became nothing more than a commodity. The mortality rate during the peak of the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. created a morbid blanket of death and mutilation. Because working conditions were constantly ignored during this period, many workers lost limbs and even perished. Railroad jobs in the States during this mid-nineteenth century were classified as the most deadly, majority of workers dying on the job. The machine became such an important aspect of industrial efficiency, the human worker was expendable at best. Company owners would employ the Scientific Management system [Taylorism] in order to get the most out of their workers regardless of the mortal costs. The wages were so low that even up to 1904 economists declared that 60% of the working man was incapable of making wages that would support their families. Therefore entire families had to work in order to bring the bacon. Children as young as 7 years of age would work in toxic coal mines at $0.39 a day to aid in feeding their families. This was before Child Labor Law and Workers Compensation laws were put into place. Before the Populist Movement laboring communities would select officials to raise stink in order to get attention. Before the Populist movement these organizations were nothing more than labor strikes, most of which turning violent. Disorganized strikes only led to death, no change or even consideration of change for laborers. Eventually groups were able to get together and start a non-violent movement known as Populism in order to make change. Granted Populism isn't coined from this particular American movement, but has existed for centuries. However, this particular movement was unique to the United States.
At this time corporations were coming into existence. Before the Industrial Revolution every company was owned by a single person and when the person died the company went to the grave with them. The Industrial Revolution left room for bureaucratic development, creating corporate entities as opposed to privately owned companies. This drastic and quick change in the business animal offered unparallel amounts of money to some and left others destroyed. BUt as these industries rapidly expanded they relied more and more on efficiency, which machinery offered. However, 19th century machinery had much more hands-on need from man than today. There was little automation 200 years ago.
In the 1890s America hit a major agricultural depression (a nationwide depression, but agriculture may have suffered the most). Crops held little value compared to other economic commodities. The nation was too caught up in the sporadic and perpetual introduction of technology. Between 1865 and 1900, there were actually two depressions that ravished America. The first was an unemployment depression when the Industrial Revolution really took precedence. It left hundreds of thousands out of work, possibly carrying the highest unemployment rate in American history (naturally based on contextual period and population). The second depression occurred economically during a period where the U.S. government couldn't decide on its currency standard, whether it be gold or silver (this was long prior to the Federal Reserve Note [paper bills] established in the early 20th century). Because the currency was in constant fluctuation, people couldn't keep on top of their financial worth, aside from the upper class. Part of the reason was that the market was being flooded with valuable metals such as gold and silver. As gold became more rare, the government decided to use it as currency so that the market wouldn't be flooded with the precious metal and the currency value dropping. But enough of detailed economic and political conundrums of the period. Where does Oz come in?
This is where things get extremely interesting, in my opinion. Each character in the tale represent important Populist groups, and L. Frank Baum was able to turn a national crises into a children's tale. I won't be dissecting the entire book, its characters, or elements, but I will attempt to put the obvious ones into perspective.
While Dorothy is important to the fictional tale, her actual political role is ambiguous and much more open to interpretation. Therefore, I will be coving her last.
Scarecrow: Scarecrow represents the farmer, possibly the Kansas farmer of the period. A few articles of the time were published specifically calling the Kansas farmers as ignorant and even bull-headed. The lack of brains for Scarecrow tells us the farmers were wise, yet were too dim witted to come up with a plan for logical change. They had no idea how to counter the agricultural depression of the late 19th century and did little more than raise a grumbling stink. They didn't have a clue how to approach reform for their industry.
Tin Man: The tin woodsman was a metaphor for the dehumanization of industrial (factory) workers. In the original tale, the woodsman was so cumbersome he'd lop off his own limps. With the abundance of tin workers in Oz, he had his limbs replaced with metals. Eventually the Tin Man [Woodsman] became part of the machine, but hated it. He had no heart, meaning that the industrial laborer was soulless and expendable. In order to keep his job he had to be more like a machine than a man. He was also treated as a cog to a bigger machine (Particular Industry), so if he lost a limb during work he was terminated and then replaced, much like you'd replace a faulty gear in a clock.
Cowardly Lion: The Lion is a little different, representing William Jennings Bryan, the first and only Presidential candidate that was a Populist. No matter how hard he struck Industry (like when the Lion clobbers the Tin Man but makes no dent and complains about dulling his talons) he was incapable of making change, or initiating reform.
Emerald City: The beacon of Oz represented Washington D.C. In the original literature Baum made the city white and bland, but wearing green [emerald] shaded classes one would see color and beauty. The world of Washington was bleak and devoid of color and culture (which can still be argued as fact even 200 years later), so in order to find clarity in the Emerald City a person would have to wear special glasses.
West/East Witches: These entities signified cultural progression, but interpreted to be aggressive. The Industrial Revolution started on the eastern coast of the United States, spilling and drowning the West in its cause. The West was always classified as the frontier, the freedom or escape. However, each witch in the tale provided significant evils.
Yellow Brock Road: This is the gold standard of currency that the Populists hated. This standard created a significantly retarded conflict with the lower paid workers, such as farmers and laborers. The original character of Dorothy sports silver slippers, not ruby. The ruby slippers was changed because the film studios were introducing Technicolor, a MAJOR revolution in filming for the period. Dorothy's original slippers were silver, which represented the Free Silver movement. The lower level businesses were trying to get silver a currency standard mainly because it was in abundance, and left room for constant inflation, allowing the poorer business owners to possibly become wealthy.
Wizard of Oz: The Wizard was a representative of the American politician. He could always give you the answers you wanted, but never perform miracles. In the book, the Wizard appeared to each character differently, or in a different image. The point was to say politicians always show you what makes you happy or what you expect, but far from truth. The Wizard never actually grants any miracles, but explains to each character that they already have the qualities they desire. This shows how politicians rely on rhetoric in order to convince their voters into thinking they'll actually make change.
These are the core parts of the Populist interpretation, but there are plenty more, such as the flying monkeys representing Plains Indians or the witches of north and south representing regional parties (Republican/Democratic). Baum ingeniously described Populism in the late 1800s by using a children's tale. Though it was entirely on purpose, it took nearly 70 years for the implications to be recognized. In 1964, Henry Littlefield published his essay on Baum's apparent attempt at making the Populist Movement easy enough a child could understand. Littlefield's essay on the subject wasn't an interpretation, but merely voiced publicly this periodical movement. Baum published a sequel to his story focusing on feminism, but the publication bombed.