Is The Wizard of Oz eternal classic or an anachronism today?

28 comments

1. My kids watched and enjoyed it. I watched it as a kid and loved it. I would say respected classic rather than historical relic.

2. I can’t speak for the younger generation, but as someone in their 30s I know I watched it a lot growing up. However, with everything that I know about it now, I don’t have any desire to watch the movie. I am sure it is remembered fondly by my parents and grandparents.

3. I think there are a number of old movies that are worth watching. The Wizard of OZ is clearly one of them. I am sure that there are parts that offend someone, but Judy Garland is amazing in it.

   I got to see a 3d enhanced version of it a few years ago, it was really great.

4. Most movies that “everyone” has seen, I haven’t seen. But the Wizard of Oz is one I’ve seen several time. I even saw the Wiz.

5. It’s a respected classic.

6. At this point it is more of a respectful classic.

   When I grew up in the 80’s, as GenX my parents were very big on it. They fondly remembered it as being a huge step in motion pictures as it was really the first big occurrence of colorized movies. And it did so in a brilliantly conceived means… starting the moving in black in white and then switching to vivid color upon landing in Oz. This was the first time most people saw color on the screen and it was very impactful.

   But, today, nobody below the Boomer generation really has a feel for that concept. So it’s not like GenX is ecstatically talking about it with their Millinial kids and the Wizard of Oz is now just another old movie.

7. I grew up in Kansas, so hearing constant Wizard of Oz jokes from non locals asking if I know Dorothy and Toto got old really quick. Because of this the movie never really resonated with me, however I suppose I can appreciate it for what it is.

8. I believe it is still interesting and cool for current generations. It’s a good and fun story with great, memorable music.

   Over the rainbow could be sang today by any singer and have the same meaning to millions of people as it did in 1939 as we where coming out of the depression (the time period the movie takes place).

   Edit: I say this as a millennial. And I won’t even get into the impact and importance it has on cinematic history and musicals in film that effect us to this day.

9. In a way I think relic and eternal classic are not mutually exclusive. The movie is kind of both.

   Often people use “relic” to mean something problematic we should be done with, but I don’t think that’s the case with Wizard of Oz. It meets one of the dictionary definitions – a sentimental object from an earlier time. Plus it’s a widely shared experience to see this movie well before you’re 10 years old so “interesting and cool” is maybe an imperfect lens to view this through.

10. It’s a classic, but I can’t watch it after hearing how horrible filming was.

11. For people in their 40s it’s definitely an eternal classic. No idea if the current generation of kids are into 80 year old movies.

12. I never cared for it from an entertainment standpoint, but I can’t deny the influence it’s had on our culture and how often references to it come up.

13. I still love the Wizard of Oz.

    When I was a little girl I loved it so much that I colored a pair of nice white dress shoes with a red sharpie.

    My parents bought me sparkly red shoes for Christmas that year, and I wore them until the glitter wore off.

14. Personally speaking: I grew up watching “The Wizard of OZ”. I even performed in a community theatre production of the musical version when I was younger, and I’ve also watched the “The Wiz” at least a few times.

    So for me personally, it’s a treasured classic, and always will be!

15. It was my Grandmother’s favorite, to the point that Somewhere Over the Rainbow played at her funeral.

    My mother would watch it regularly, at least annually.

    I kinda liked it as a kid in the 80s, but not as much as Star Wars. Return to Oz was a lot of fun to me back then. Revisiting Wizard as an adult I appreciate it more, but find the plot somewhat odd. My wife read the books and loves the movie but watching kinda boils down to “Yknow those shoes are supposed to be silver to represent the financial backing of American currency yaddayaddayadda” that we always do.

    My kids *seem* to really like it, they ask to watch it, they talk about it, but then as soon as its on and the house lands, they’re off doing something else. Not sure they’ve ever finished it in one sitting. It almost feels less like a film for them and more like a cultural touchstone they need to be familiar with.

16. Classic

17. It’s a wholesome classic kids’ movie at this point. Film buffs can point to the innovations and historical impact of it. And there are lingering pop culture references like “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” That pretty much every American has heard, even if they don’t know what movie it’s from.

    Coincidentally, a few weeks ago I watched it for the first time in decades, since I was about six years old. I walked out thinking that it’s one of the gayest movies I’ve ever seen. I don’t mean that as a criticism at all. It just made me wonder how many in movie theater audiences perceived it that way at the time.

18. Still a classic, IMO.

19. It’s what I’d consider to be a timeless classic. I watched it as a kid. My parents watched it as a kid. Hell, even my grandparents watched it as a kid. It’s a very enjoyable film with good characters and famous moments and lines. I’d be willing to bet even if you had never seen the movie, you’d know some of the lines from the film

20. I think it still has relevance, in particular because it keeps getting reworked. There was the book/musical Wicked, for example, and another film adaptation a couple years ago. Those drive people back to the 1939 original (not to mention the L Frank Baum books). “Over the Rainbow” is one of the few songs of its vintage that I would confidently guess most Americans could sing, or at least hum.

    Probably the number of people who’ve seen the ‘39 movie beginning to end is waning, much less the number of people who watch it every year. But the songs and iconography are pretty firmly entrenched in the culture.

21. Among older films, The Wizard of Oz has mostly aged really well, both in terms of social issues (A lot of older films, especially those created under the Hays Code, have things that are now considered pretty bad) and in terms of visuals – the effects in Oz look absolutely fantastic for the most part today (practical effects baybee!). So it’s a classic children’s story that people have grown up watching since the 1930s, that is pretty inoffensive to anyone’s sensibilities, still looks great, and it’s a fun time.

    You have several generations of parents raising their children with it now. I think it’s gonna be part of the regular circulation…gosh, maybe forever.

22. The Wizard of Oz was written in the context of the 1890s political/economic debates over whether to uphold the gold standard (largely supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats) or to transition to bimetallism (gold and silver; largely supported by Populists and liberal Democrats), with the author siding with bimetallism. (The following books mostly lost this allegory and became fun, silly stories for children that he could adapt into plays.) The film was made in a different context (albeit the Populism of the 1890s became the core of the 1930s+ Democratic New Deal agenda that ruled the era), the allegory was largely abandoned in favor of showcasing movies in their full technicolor glory with Dorothy’s Silver Slippers (wearing silver on a golden yellow brick road; not very subtle) to Ruby Slippers, a brighter, more attractive color to really sell color films.

    The film probably has most of the cultural power in the US and it remains a classic, but I wouldn’t say it necessarily something children today immediately gravitate to if they’re familiar with it at all. Happens to most stories eventually, even if we all agree they’re classics with meaningful symbols and tropes.

23. Classic

24. It’s still a good movie. And the fact that it was made in 1939 to that level of stylistic quality is forever mind-blowing to me.

25. It’s definitely a classic, but I’m one of those that prefers the books. I read them all as a child and have the complete of the books actually written by L. Frank Baum set in my personal library. He wrote 14 Oz books and after his death there were subsequent books authorized by the original publisher and the Baum Family Trust.

26. It is most definitely a classic. And most probably don’t know that it is a dystopian fable.

27. It’s a classic, it really does hold up. On a related note, I’m glad OSHA is a thing now.

28. I don’t know if I’d describe it as hype. But it’s a classic because it’s a fantastical setting just like Disney movies.

    I’m a millennial and I saw it as a classic, I really liked it as a kid. Of course, we watched a lot more movies back then as we watched a lot of cable television that regularly broadcasted classics.

    We watched it with our son and he really enjoyed it too.