Theatrical Adaptation

The Young and The Pretty - Lauren's first meditation

After watching the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, a few students brought up what Glinda told Dorothy when they first met. It was that ‘Only bad witches were ugly – good witches were beautiful.’ As a class we began to wonder if this theme, this moral or message conveyed in the movie – beauty equals good, ugly equals bad – was a message that the moviemakers drew from Baum’s novel or if it was an idea all their own.
I believe that Baum did stress the value of beauty in his novel, but not in the same way or with the same characters the movie did. When we meet the first witch in the book, the Witch of the North, she is written as an old woman who seemingly looks old and tired in the illustration. There is no comment made about the way witches look in relation to their powers or their affiliation with good or evil – the Good Witch is the mothering type, not a beauty queen.

Later in the book Baum stresses how Dorothy and her traveling companions often change or update their appearance when they plan to meet someone of importance – the Wizard or Glinda. I believe this puts unnecessary emphasis on “looking good”, especially for a children’s book. Towards the end of the book Baum makes two more references to looks – once in China Country and another once Dorothy goes to visit Glinda. When Dorothy inquires about the china milkmaid being mended, the china milkmaid tells her that she can be mended but that “One is never so pretty after being mended.” (Baum 322) Soon thereafter Dorothy is so happy with Glinda she compliments her beauty and her personality – “You are certainly as good as you are beautiful!” (Baum 351)

I understand Baum’s thinking when he made the ‘good’ characters in Oz pretty – little kids may be more comfortable, more apt to trust pretty, nice looking people. I do no think that making a point about beauty was Baum intent at all when he was writing. I do believe, however, that the moviemakers of the 1939 film did find it necessary to cast ‘pretty’ people, which they did. They then added the line referenced in my first paragraph about good witches being pretty as a reference to Baum’s original thoughts on the subject.

posted by Anonymous @ 11:46 PM