Wizard of Oz
The 1939 film the Wizard of Oz is directed by Victor Fleming. Throughout this film the idea of dystopia is shown. Dystopia is a very unpleasant imaginary world in which ominous tendencies of our present social, political and technological order are projected into a disastrous future elimination. Dystopia is shown throughout this film as in a dystopian society people must believe they are happy and then discover they are not. Dorothy discovers she is unhappy in the film.
This idea of dystopia is conveyed to us the viewer by the Imbalance of Power, a handicapped society, Ruby Red Shoes at the time through the conventions of Characters, Camera angles and Symbolism. In the film Wizard of we are able to see the idea of an imbalance of power throughout the film which also shows us dystopia throughout the film as Dorothy has to suffer being less powerful and unable to help herself and her friends in her imagination. This idea is conveyed to us through the convention of Characters.
We are able to see this as certain characters have more power compared to other characters. We can see this as the Wizard of Oz has too much power compared to the Munchkins in Munchkins city who have no power showing us that Oz is not an equal society. An example that shows Imbalance of power is Oz lied to Dorothy, the tin man, the lion and the scarecrow saying that he could help them if they collect the witch’s broomstick promising that he would give them all what they wished for which was to go home back to Kansas, a heart , courage and a brain .
They then went and completed this task as they had less power compared to Oz and this is also shown as when Oz was telling them to do this a close-up shot was used on Oz showing us he is more powerful compared to a high camera angle on the other characters showing us they are less powerful and have a lower placement in Society. Throughout the film we are able to see the idea of a dystopian society being used through the films use of a handicapped society. This handicapped society is conveyed to us through the convention of Symbolism.
We are able to see this as The Scarecrow who needs a brain symbolises Hunk, The Tin Man who needs a heart symbolises Hickory, The lion that needs courage symbolises Zeke showing us that Dorothy has used people she knows to help her receive what she lacks as a person. Through Dorothy using this symbolism I believe it helps to show us that she is in a dystopian society as no one is perfect as everyone is lacking something even though the characters all symbolises Dorothy herself it still conveys to us how the society is a dystopian one. In the film Wizard of Oz the convention of symbolism is also used to show a Dystopian society.
Symbolism in the film has also been used through the use of the Ruby slippers throughout the film. We are able to see this as the ruby slippers represent danger and love as it symbolises Dorothy as the Ruby slippers are her. This also helps to show us that the Tinman, Lion and Scarecrow are Dorothy herself as they all have something red on them symbolising that they are all one and this also helps to show us that they show us what she wants as once Dorothy has the slippers she could control what she could do showing us that she lacks power alone and that is what she wants to receive in this city of Oz.
Overall I believe by the 1930 film the Wizard of Oz, directed by Victor Fleming helps to show us how Dystopia has been used throughout the film through the ideas of Imbalance of Power, a handicapped society, Ruby Red Shoes at the time through the conventions of Characters, Camera angles and Symbolism. By this showing Dystopia I believe it helps us the viewer to relate to the Wizard of Oz better and get a deeper understanding of the film and how dystopia was conveyed throughout the film.