The Wizard of Oz

            I enjoyed Salman Rushdie’s innovative thoughts on The Wizard of Oz, pulling apart a childhood film in a way I never would have viewed the film. I always find it interesting to re-watch childhood films because I too view them differently than from when I was a child. One of Rushdie’s first points stuck with me, the lack of religion in the film. Witches are typically associated with some secular meaning; however, there is no religious motive in the film. Rushdie notes “this absence of higher values greatly increases the film’s charm” making nothing “more important than the loves, cares, and needs of human beings” (Rushie 13). Without a religious undertone of the film, the audience focuses on the raw motives of characters actives and their personal characteristics.

            I also found Rushdie’s point about female power to be particular thought provoking. The film is ahead of its time by focusing on female power and having Dorothy as heroine lead. The Lion, Tinman, and Scarecrow are not the typical Hollywood leading men with their desires and insecurities about having courage, a heart, and a brain. In addition, the lack of power from the Wizard sums up the power men in the film as simply an illusion. While I always loved The Wizard of Oz as a child, I never realized the subtle impact it had on femininity. While these are only two small points Rushdie makes in her film, she highlights many aspects in the film that I never realized prior to reading her analysis.