There is a column that has been floating in my head for many years and positive response to an earlier column prompted me to go for it, offering, perhaps, unique perspectives on a Hollywood classic.
Most people think of “The Wizard of Oz” as a kid’s movie, as one of the classics of its genre. They are right, but if you listen closely there is an array of interesting, wise comments by those characters who skipped down that yellow brick road.
One of the truest remarks in the film comes in an early scene. As Dorothy and Toto strolled toward the Emerald City, the Scarecrow popped up.
Dorothy asked him, “If you don’t have a brain, how can you talk?” The main stuffed with straw said, “Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?”
Once again approaching the forbidden waters of “politics in the corner,” I will just say go to Washington, D.C., and look around, you might see how true that statement is.
It also applies to many we encounter in our daily lives.
Dorothy perhaps uttered the most classic words of this great film when she said, “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.”
That is so true. How many of us at times told our parents, “I am getting out of this town.” Many never get out of their parents’ basements while and others go on to successful lives right in that same town.
Simply put, most of us realize that where we are is not always that bad and that the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side of the fence.
Another classic came at about the same time in the film when Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”
My friend in the blue plaid dress was so right. Everyone has somewhere to return to, somewhere to hide from the world at the end of the day. That embrace by a family member or greeting from a beloved pet never gets old.
The Wizard, addressing the Tin Man, said, “A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”
Ironically, my mother wrote similar words in my high school graduation card. When we all take that final ride in a long black car, the mark of our success will be how many people notice. Physical things we accomplished will be left behind.
Again, out of the mouth of the great Oz, speaking to the Cowardly Lion, “Not having fear isn’t brave, it’s foolhardy. Any real hero knows fear.”
There is no doubt Capt. Fulton Lanier felt fear the night he died a hero when his plane crashed in World War II. More than 80 percent of people who flew that route didn’t return. He knew the odds were against him.
There were hundreds of troops on boats heading to Normandy who, without a doubt, had unthinkable fear. As moving targets for German snipers on a wide open beach, who wouldn’t?
All of us have moments in our regular lives that require stepping past the line of fear and into the realm of action to deal with a difficult problem.
As the Wizard said, “The difference is a real hero overcomes his fear.”
I like the words of the Tin Man as Dorothy is about to leave. He said, “Now I know I have a heart because I know it is breaking.”
Through the loss of loved ones, the ending of relationships and general disappointments of life, we have all felt the dull pain in our chest that comes with a broken heart.
There are so many other words from this film that can provide good advice for all our lives, too many to address here. Watching the film, listening to the characters will always be enjoyable and often educational. Though I have watched it multiple times, eventually I know I will enjoy it again.