The Wizard of Oz Movie Analysis

The Wizard of Oz

By Jose Delgado, Jake Bell, and Bophai Nou

The Wizard of Oz is an undeniable classic American film.  This was the first movie to be broadcasted in color television throughout the USA.  The movie itself was released in 1939, but based on a series of “Oz books”  the first decade of the 20th century.  Now, there is no doubt that violence on TV plays an important role in children's aggression.  What this post will be discussing is if the fact The Wizard of Oz continues to possibly play a role in influencing children’s attitudes and behaviors in regards to the violent and frightening imagery in the film. The differing level of effects depending on the age in which a child has viewed the film will also be discussed.

        It is often said that the first impression is the longest lasting one, and this film certainly takes that piece of advice to heart. The movie begins with the protagonist, a young farm girl named Dorothy, watching her house getting swooped into the sky by a tornado.  While she is watching in horror whilst being thrown through the air, she sees out of her window her neighbor riding a bicycle, who then turns into a witch riding a broom. The witch then proceeds to start  violently screaming, which is soon followed by a scene in which said witch is crushed when the house lands upon her.  The violence showcased in this scene is comical to people our age, for at this point in life one is more likely to be terrified of the tornado then of something of supernatural nature like a witch. For the former is a real world threat that can potentially occur to us, while the latter is a figment of fiction. However for a child this is an entirely different matter. A young child cannot properly distinguish between fiction and reality at their age. Now, this violent death is almost a pleasant ending for a child who is afraid of this witch.  But, is this the right concept to show children? That if we kill what we are afraid of and be rid of them than this is a good thing? I (Jake) don’t think so, but this is how some children, like myself may take it.  Now, I saw the movie originally when I was two or three years old.  But how would a ten or twelve year old perceive this scene?  Being a little older, they may know that witches and magic aren’t real, so they may think nothing about the witch and not really care if she dies, since she was never real to begin with.  This scene could possibly desensitize young children to aggression by showing them a death, and the body under the house, as well as desensitize them because they will be happy for the death of the witch.  Now, we know there is a negative correlation between intelligence and aggression, therefore are we making our children less intelligent by simply showing them this movie?

The second part of the movie which we would like to discuss in relation to children's media violence and aggression is the part with the ‘Witch’s Crew’.  The Wicked Witch of the West has a gang of monkeys she uses as henchmen.  The witch tells the monkeys she wants Dorothy alive, but also tells them to do whatever they want with the rest of the crew (meaning the Scarecrow, Lion, and the Tin Man).  That scene may desensitize young children into becoming accustomed to violence and aggression.  Even the paralanguage, such as the witches laughs, or the monkeys evil grunts the children will understand thus introducing children to aggression. The visual aspects of this scene are also very edgy for children.  The monkeys have wings in the movie and are flying around Dorothy at one point circling her as if they are going to attack her.  This scene in particular is scary because you don’t know if Dorothy is going to get hurt or maybe even die.  This scene may cause young children (ages 6 and below) to be afraid of actual monkeys for a long time.  Also, since young children most likely have never seen a monkey in real life they may perceive monkeys to be flying evil creatures since this is the only time they've seen monkeys whether it be on film or reality.

Another part of the The Wizard of Oz that may have a lasting effect on children is the scene where the witch ends up melting. In the beginning of the scene Dorothy and her friends seem to finally be cornered and there is nowhere to escape. A the witch sets the end of her broomstick on fires and then proceeds to light the scarecrow's arm on fire. As the scarecrow screams Dorothy acts and throws a bucket of water in his direction. The water puts out the fire on his arm and also gets the witch. She suddenly begins to melt, screaming the whole way “I'm melting, I’m melting” and eventually melts away. This scene contains the fire which burns one of the characters and the water which melts the other. An older adolescent, one who is ten to twelve, may view and fear the fire because that is a very realistic threat. This scene may create a fear of fire or bring up a negative memory in their lives where they may have been burned. This would affect the older child because it is a rational fear. This may also affect a younger toddler because fire looks scary. The younger child may also be affected by the water hitting the witch and the witch melting. If they aren’t scared of it, which they might be, they may believe that they can melt someone who makes them mad by throwing water on them. This isn’t exactly the type of ideal behavior an adult would want their child to learn and practice frequently.

So, to conclude this blog post, we have came to an agreement that if you are showing your children below the age of 10 this movie for the first time, you should be with them to help explain what is going on, as well as what is and isn’t real.  Watching this movie below the age of 5 might scare a child because even if you tell them the Witch didn’t melt, they might not perceive it as fake.  Social coviewing can tremendously improve the understanding your child receives out of watching a movie like The Wizard of Oz.  This movie does have some educational aspects to it however, such as teaching children different animals, as well as names and functions of parts of the human body.  Although the Wizard of Oz is considered a timeless American classic for children, what was considered to be appropriate for children to view when this movie came out may not be appropriate for children of today.