Poor Dorthy running around in that short dress and shinny shoes. Everyone knows that by the time she reached the tin man her feet were killing her. From the moment that house touched down the only thing she had to eat was an apple, that she didn't even get to finish. Once she reached the wizard things didn't get any better - he sent her off to kill the witch that had been trying to kill her since her arrival. So off she goes, with no real weapons. Just a cowardly lion, a heartless man made of tin, a mindless scarecrow and a very tiny dog. While watching that as a child I thought, she was very brave, much braver than I.
And then we find out it was just a dream, a horrible nightmare. A nightmare that helped her realized there is no place like home. Making it clear that running away was the worst thing she could do. If only every nightmare had a clear message.
I have loved this movie for so many reasons, most of them childhood memories that still make me smile but, watching this as a adult has made me think about number of other things no child considers. As a child the movie fascinated me, terrified me, and made me want to fly some where over the rainbow. As an adult all I can think is "that poor thing". When I think about the fact that this was all a dream I have to wonder, if she was a real girl what would her reality look like?
In this dream neither she nor her companions needed the wizard. When push came to shove they all found what they needed - what they have been looking for was right inside them. Like Dorthy - the answer, the key, or cure to what ailed them was with them through out the entire journey. But, I wonder - had they not taken the journey where would they be? With the exception tin man - who would have been to rusty to move on his own - they all found out something about themselves fairly quickly. The scarecrow went from barely walking to skipping down the yellow brick road and the lion even though he was clearly afraid found the courage to promise to protect the young girl.
This I believe can be credited simply to the change in their surroundings which supported the reality they where in. As an adult I can't help but think about these two things: How our surroundings effect our reality and How the impossible becomes possible with small changes. In their cases the changes were not that small.
As for Dorthy and her reality. While I know she was just a child or more so a teen - and we know that reality changes with the wind for teens - I still have to have to ask why did she not know that the power to go home had been with her the whole time? She held the keys to her happiness or was wearing those keys on her feet - poor thing. Still she was a teen who, much like many of us adults, wondered, whenever there was a rainbow “Why, Oh why can't I?” - find those keys myself.
And then we find out it was just a dream, a horrible nightmare. A nightmare that helped her realized there is no place like home. Making it clear that running away was the worst thing she could do. If only every nightmare had a clear message.
I have loved this movie for so many reasons, most of them childhood memories that still make me smile but, watching this as a adult has made me think about number of other things no child considers. As a child the movie fascinated me, terrified me, and made me want to fly some where over the rainbow. As an adult all I can think is "that poor thing". When I think about the fact that this was all a dream I have to wonder, if she was a real girl what would her reality look like?
In this dream neither she nor her companions needed the wizard. When push came to shove they all found what they needed - what they have been looking for was right inside them. Like Dorthy - the answer, the key, or cure to what ailed them was with them through out the entire journey. But, I wonder - had they not taken the journey where would they be? With the exception tin man - who would have been to rusty to move on his own - they all found out something about themselves fairly quickly. The scarecrow went from barely walking to skipping down the yellow brick road and the lion even though he was clearly afraid found the courage to promise to protect the young girl.
This I believe can be credited simply to the change in their surroundings which supported the reality they where in. As an adult I can't help but think about these two things: How our surroundings effect our reality and How the impossible becomes possible with small changes. In their cases the changes were not that small.
As for Dorthy and her reality. While I know she was just a child or more so a teen - and we know that reality changes with the wind for teens - I still have to have to ask why did she not know that the power to go home had been with her the whole time? She held the keys to her happiness or was wearing those keys on her feet - poor thing. Still she was a teen who, much like many of us adults, wondered, whenever there was a rainbow “Why, Oh why can't I?” - find those keys myself.
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