The Wizard of Oz

Similarly to many other individuals, The Wizard of Oz was a movie I watched countless times over the course of my childhood. Salman Rushdie’s interpretations on the film discuss ideas and patterns that never crossed my mind when watching as a child, and actually rarely watching as an adult. This fact demonstrates how successfully films can incorporate various film techniques without being too obvious to its audiences. 

The time in which this film was created, the late 1930’s, was definitely not a period that primarily supported feminist ideas. While this may be so, Rushdie points out the feminist themes and the strong female lead roles involved in The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is a wandering individual, lost in a foreign city, yet she remains strong-willed and determined to get to her destination. Just as well, those that Dorothy come into contact with along the way such as the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion, are all male supporting characters. Rushdie emphasizes Dorothy as this female heroine while the males in the film are all emotionally unstable and insecure with themselves.