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| A classic |
During the week of Thanksgiving, It
is a tradition in my family to watch one of the all-time classic movies, The
Wizard of Oz. As I watched, I couldn’t help but realize the relation it had to
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In his
work, Plato describes an image in which prisoners are chained facing a wall and
are only able to see the shadows created by the images passing from an
over-hanging road. One day, however, a prisoner escapes and is able to experience
the true reality of the world. When he returns, none of his peers believe his
ludicrous exclamations of this supposed outside world.
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| great example of "the cave" |
Through
this story, Plato comments on societal values involving seeking the actual
truth in the world. His allegory successfully emphasizes the apparent
difference between what we form truth to be (the cave) and what truth actually is
(the outside world). In the iconic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, the main character, Dorothy, constantly finds
herself faced with the task of deciphering reality from false truths. It may
have been awhile since some of you have seen the movie, so I will try to
include a plot summary throughout this post.
To
start, Dorothy’s dog, Toto, is taken away from her for biting the mean Miss
Almira Gulch. Toto escapes the clutches of his captor and returns back to
Dorothy. At this point, Dorothy runs away fearing a harsh punishment because of
Toto’s actions. The plot makes a drastic turn when a sudden tornado touches
down near her farm in Kansas. Dorothy and her faithful companion Toto are
swallowed up by the storm and land in an unknown place. However, instead of
seeing the dreary sepia dominated landscape she knew before, this world is
mysteriously filled with vibrant colors. At this moment Dorothy knows (not
trying to sound cheesy here) she is “…not in Kansas anymore…”. Dorothy then
sets off to find the Wizard of Oz with the help of her new friends, in order
to return home.
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| Sepia: Cave Color: Outside World |
As I
watched this, I thought of her transportation as the first instance of the
movie’s parallel to Plato’s Allegory of
the Cave. Dorothy is suddenly revealed to a whole other world filled with
Munchkins, talking trees, flying monkeys, all sorts of witches, and powerful
wizards. The main character’s struggle at this point is deciding whether this
realm she was thrown into is actually the “truth” or some sort of false
reality. Spoiler Alert: it is revealed at the end of the movie that she was
dreaming the whole time. Although this shows that her journey to the World of
Oz was all in her imagination, Dorothy finds a number of values in her travels
along the yellow brick road. She learns the importance of courage, friendship,
and of course that “…there’s no place like home…”. Did Dorothy really leave the
cave when she makes this fantasy-filled adventure to this place over the
rainbow? Or were all of her experiences some form of false truth?
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| There's no place like home |
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| the Great and Powerful Oz |
I
personally believe that, although her trip was not a reality, Dorothy was
exposed to the “outside world” of the cave. She had a number of realizations
even if she never really experienced them.
The
second way in which this timeless movie reveals similarities to Plato’s work is
through the character of the Wizard. Initially shown as an omnipotent being who
can solve Dorothy’s problem, the Wizard is not all that he appears to be at
first. Before he will help her, the great ruler of the Emerald City orders
Dorothy to perform an extremely challenging task; fetch the witch’s broomstick.
After doing so, the Wizard still refuses to help her. Fortunately for Dorothy, her
trusty side-kick Toto brings them into the outside world beyond the cave when
he draws back the curtain. This evidently shows the truth about the Wizard
ending any legitimacy to his so called power. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the
Tin-man, and the Cowardly Lion were previously prisoners in the “cave” falling
to the illusions of the great and powerful Oz. However, with Toto’s help, they
are brought to the light and see for themselves the truth behind the curtain.
I found
that this movie highlighted a number of aspects of Plato’s allegory.
Furthermore, the experiences of Dorothy parallel the journey of the prisoner
who escaped the cave. When Dorothy returns back to her world on her farm, she
tries to explain to her aunt and uncle what she saw. Unfortunately, much like
the prisoner in the Allegory of the Cave,
no one believes in her tale of her adventure to the Land of Oz.
Edited for formatting
Edited for formatting
I think your analysis of Toto revealing the man behind the curtain is very interesting. As we have discussed in class many times, public opinion and perceived fear of a ruler are very important in order for the ruler to be successful and have legitimate authority and power. Although Oz merely exists in Dorothy's dream, it is a great example of the illusion associated with successful rulers and perceptions of reality.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Post Daniel! You did a good job connecting the Wizard of Oz with Plato's allegory of the cave. I especially liked your connection of Todo revealing the man behind the curtain. This idea is interesting because not only does it represent Dorothy and friends becoming enlightened to the man behind the curtain as the Wizard of Oz, it also shows how the people of Oz were wrong in believing in someone who they thought was enlightened. Oz was called "The great and powerful" as he was viewed to be much wiser and foreseeing than the rest, which in this sense he was the enlightened one. However, their actions of following someone who they thought to be enlightened but in fact was not, shows that Plato's idea of having the enlightened philosophers lead society is wrong. In this case Dorothy and the people of Oz would have been better off not following the fake enlightenment of Oz.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, Daniel! Unfortunately, the last time I saw The Wizard of Oz was on vhs probably more than ten years ago. I was happy to relive the story with a new perspective of Plato's Allegory of The Cave. Whats very interesting about your post was that you revealed the cave inside the cave, an homage to Inception if you will. I never thought about the Allegory of the Cave in this manner but it makes sense. People are constantly exposed to new things every day, we are constantly coming out of cave after cave to figure out how to navigate society and the world. Your connection to Wizard of Oz was both interesting and enlightening and made for a great post!
ReplyDeleteMaddy
Interesting post, but have you considered the thought that partially it is the Wizard's seclusion that is equally comparable to being "in a cave," because much of his mystique comes from his seclusion? Dorothy and her comrades go out and explore and learn things about the world, but it's not their fault they have all these misconceptions about the wizard. Perhaps this means that we partially owe it to the mystery of the outside world and not just our own shelteredness for any such ignorance?
ReplyDelete