PLEASE WAIT!! Before you assume that I have been under way too much stress lately and have completely lost my mind, let me explain something. I'm sure most of you have heard the term "Trekky" (one who is consumed by Star Trek). Well, I happen to be an "Ozzy" which means I spend much of my free time learning about and collecting items from The Wizard of Oz. Last semester I took a comparative literature class in which I did a paper on MGM's movie version which came out in 1939. In it, I explained that the song-writer for the movie, Yip Harburg was an active socialist who was fond of F.D.R. and his New Deal. Indeed, Harburg was given a lot of freedom in creating the film and the finished result was a political satire of the Depression Era and F.D.R.'s New Deal. Please click over to see this paper. I hope you find the parallels as delighting as I do.

Did you go read it? O.K., well anyway, there are many things in the movie which symbolize historical items and ideas from that time period. In my paper last semester, I focused on the connections to F.D.R.'s national policy. However, there are many parallels to the international policy as well. For instance, F.D.R. was very concerned about the facists: (Hitler and Mussolini). The flying monkeys were supposed to represent the Luftwaffe with their air attacks. The symbolism just goes on and on.

One thing that wasn't clearly defined was exactly what the Emerald City was supposed to represent. Was it the United States as a whole, under F.D.R.'s protection?

Well, as soon as I got the opportunity to see the planned community of Greenbelt, I thought, "I have finally found the Emerald City!" The Emerald City is (besides being "Green") a self-contained city where all of the citizens work together and can live happily and comfortably inside the city walls despite the dangers outside (wicked witch). Indeed, this sounds like Greenbelt, a town where the citizens have just about everything they need within walking distance and there was a definite community spirit that allowed the Depression-struck citizens to enjoy life and be comfortable despite the bleak economic conditions.

Greenbelt's walking paths seem like the yellow brick road where as long as you stay on the path, you're safe (won't be hit by a car because the walking paths are away from the roads).

Greenbelt was built in the time period just before MGM's release of the movie, it was a project to create jobs under F.D.R.'s New Deal, and Yip Harburg was very aware of (and fond of) the programs started by F.D.R. Therefore, it is very possible that Harburg had Greenbelt in mind when developing the Emerald City scenes in the movie.

Note: both of the above pictures came from The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History. This source is included in the bibliography attached to my paper from last semester.


RETURN TO PROJECT 4