|
|
In the 1930’s, there were typically three genres of films: the classic gangster movie, screwball comedies, and the classic Hollywood musical. The Hollywood musical is not rooted in reality; rather it is devoted to magic. The musicals of the 1930’s have a profound theme of finding the ideal Utopian world or imagining the perfect world. More often than not, there is recognition of the gap between the here and now, with a desire to find a new way of living. Usually, this desire to find a new way of living results in a journey which ends up back at the very same place it began. All of these ideas are found within MGM’s 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz. Perhaps this is why it has had such a long-standing appeal to audiences over the past 60 years. The Wizard of Oz is the perfect example of searching for the Utopian, perfect world. Dorothy and Toto run away from the farm in search of a better life since she is not able to keep Toto if she stays at the farm. After coming across Professor Marvel, she realizes that the farm isn’t so bad, it’s where she’s loved and cared for by Auntie Em. After returning, she’s hit on the head by a broken window during the tornado and is off to the Land of Oz. It is interesting to note that the film begins in black and white and abruptly changes to color as Dorothy enters Oz.
|
