Theatrical Adaptation

Meditation #2

Liz Webb

I don’t think its fair to say whether or not The Wiz is a good movie or not. Yes, there are some things that were random to the point of being absolutely stupid, but at the same time, this movie was made geared for a different type of audience. I think that by having an all black cast, the movie took Oz to a different level of how it is seen by viewers. Each part of The Wiz, whether it is similar to the Wizard of Oz or not, had a different way of expressing the morals of the movie, and of connecting to the audience.
Now, if you look at it from a different perspective, each of Dorothy’s friends represents a living class. The scarecrow, being made out of trash and living in what could be known as the dumps, represents the lower class. The Tinman working at the amusement park represents the middle class, or the working class. And the Lion represents the Upper class, as he is the King of the forest, and where he was found was on a more upscale part of the journey to find the Wiz. With this thought in mind, this movie may seem interesting to all sorts of people watching it back when it was made. But now, people look too far into things, and base their interpretations and judgments off of what they know. Still, many like this movie.
At the same time, children might enjoy this movie because it is very interesting to watch. A few of the songs are catchy, and the characters are very animated. Plus, the dancing numbers are fun to watch because the choreography is so interesting. But at the same time, it makes one wonder who thought of having trashcans with large teeth, or having the pillars come to life and chase after them. Not to mention the strange puppets that were following them in the subway area. Some would blame this on the director, saying he was probably high when he was making the movie, others might say that this movie was supposed to be a spoof of the original, and in a sense mock the original movie. It does, in a way, mock the original movie. The original is all about the joys of going home; the Wiz is about finding a place of your own. The original had the ever popular twister; the Wiz had, well, a twister in the middle of winter, in the middle of New York. The original Wizard eventually told the characters of their abilities that they thought they never possessed and they eventually like him; the Wiz is a scared man who, well, stays scared throughout the entire movie, and Dorothy tells her friends that they have what they’ve wanted all along.
So in the end, I believe it is up to the individual viewer to determine whether or not the movie is good. Personally, I thought it was good entertainment. It kept me into the story with the puns in the lines, and the animated characters. I didn’t care that it was no where near the original story. People want entertainment, and if they like Michael Jackson and crude humor, then they would very much enjoy The Wiz.

posted by LilmissKS @ 12:56 AM