In the wizard of oz, who is the man behind the curtain?
Ah, so you say, the Wizard of Oz of course. So the amassing of contraptions, currently held in our suspended disbelief, that make up the Wizardry, we are to believe, were all contrived, and adopted by the man behind the curtain? Patently false, say I. The citizenry of Oz are coconspirators in the illusion. What then do you believe are the repercussions of this, and the state of Oz at the time of WWW’s demise by liquification?
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I don’t know, I really don’t really pay him much mind.
Your first position is false. The citizenry were dupes and victims of a charlatan/illusionist. They are guilty of nothing more than credulousness. Considering the framework of their world, this is to be only expected. In a place where a scarecrow can talk and a man can be changed to tin one bit at a time, and a lion has the power of speech but is afraid of its own shadow, one could expect little better.
The demise of the WWW was far away and did not affect them directly. They only heard about it on the six O’Clock news.
The citizenry, even if they all knew of the deception, would still be powerless unless they united in a revolt. And how likely is this? I suppose if they had a strong, responsible leader with trustworthy generals, they may accomplish something. But then what? Who do you propose to rule them? They obviously can’t rule themselves, you’d be looking at anarchy.
So like I said; Then what?
You see? Apathy my friend. Ignorance and apathy, inertia and status quo are all working against you.
Freaking great question @Ltryptophan and good luck trying to get anyone to own up to their role in the deception of the masses. There is only one man alive who is not afraid to do so…anyone else want to stand tall next to Al Gore??
George Bush (the little shrimp) stands taller than Gore in the respect..
@Trillian, so the little man from kansas who did not know how to work a hot air balloon, successfully implemented a stand alone pyrotechnic display complete with pressure regulation dials, gas management wheels, etc. Not to mention he was taken down by a quadruped.
Clearly, since once the four friends discovered that he was not the all powerful illusion set out in the smoke and mirrors show, none of the citizenry were at all surprised. @Trillian would have us believe this is because the folks of Oz were simpletons incapable of insurrection, but I offer that it is closer to the truth that this new comer from Kansas was easily taken for a fool, and given the position that would first come under an attack from www. Thus safe guarding the true leaders of Oz. Sort of like in WWII when the officers removed their rank to safeguard against snipers.
@Trillian ”Who do you propose to rule them?”
Ozma, natch…
@Trillian would have us believe no such thing. I merely point out that without a strong, continuous motivation and stellar leadership, people will fragment into separate groups and fall to squabbling among themselves. People need leadership and will follow anyone who stands up and gives it to them, whether or not it is right. People, on their own, cannot unite on anything for long.
Remember 9/11? how long did we stand together after that? We just don’t care enough about anything to take concerted, continuous action. We all have our own agendas and are unwilling to put them aside for the greater good. Hell, we can’t even agree on what the greater good is.
@Trillian Perhaps the citizens of Oz believe that it could only be a nutty conspiracy theory and so take no action, not unlike folks in our imaginary USA.
Ahh but the man from Oz, the Munchkins, The WWW, the Flying Monkeys and all the rest were just a projection from the fevered imagination of a little girl. There was only one who was behind that curtain and that was Dorothy.
Likewise Ltryptophan it’s all your own Private Idaho.
@davidbetterman Perhaps, and perhaps they will believe nothing until the events play out and they no longer have to worry about getting the kids to soccer practice on time.
In the meantime, I believe the term for what @Ltryptophan is proposing is “sedition”.
And I’ve been saying that about George W for a long time. That stupid doofus thing is a pose and it scared me then, it scares me now. People were far to eager to write him off as an idiot. you don’t get to be president by being an idiot. How quickly people forget that.
I simply don’t advocate uprisings. Like I said, too many personal axes to grind, too many agendas, and far too many willing to go along with whatever way the wind is blowing and are incapable or unwilling to apply critical thought.
Like me, I suppose.
@Trillian Yeah, that ahole Bush is smart as a snake..Enron is a perfect example.
@davidbetterman It is that very axiom of Baseball, Hot Dogs and Apple Pie that is the glue that keeps Americans clinging to and even fighting for the America we all imagine it to be. Most people do know who that man is behind the curtain and choose to pretend he is not there.
@Cruiser Isn’t it amazing. It’s like the ostrich with his head in the sand syndrome…
No idea. I turn off the movie once Dark Side of the Moon has finished.
I have nothing useful to add. I just want to say that I didn’t realize that The Wizard of Oz was so political until the last time I watched it. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Granted, the time before that when I watched it, I did the same thing @Captain_Fantasy did, and the time before that I was probably 12.
I was told to pay no attention to him, so I didn’t.
I haven’t seen that version. Is the “The Wiz”?
The Man Behind The Curtain is the mechanics of reality. This is in opposition to The Wizard, which is the shiney and pretty answer. The Man is like science and novels while The Wizard is like the Church, glossy magazines.
Haven’t any of you seen the movie? It’s
Frank Morgan, I tell you.
L. Frank Baum had intended the character to represent William Jennings Bryan. A populist politician who had been the Deomcratic presidential candidate twice about a century ago. Many considered him to be a windbag.
The Wizard is a fairly stock sci fi/fantasy character. An ordinary man who knows a bit about modern technology accidentally transported back in time and uses that knowledge to carve out a niche for himself. Mark Twain’s “Sir Boss”, the mercenaries in Jerry Pournelle’s “Janissary” series and “Lord Kalvan” of H.Beam Piper are similar. The Wizard used a bit of technology and a lot of bullshit to usurp power over the city of Oz. Even the WWW was sufficiently impressed not to mess with him. It wasn’t until he was called upon to do something useful that he was unmasked.
A figment of Dorothy’s furtive imagination. A good metaphor for what was to follow, the alcoholism that was to plague Garland throughout her tragic life.
A megalomaniac with a God complex
“Nobody gets to see the Wizard”
I don’t know if we can post links to vids so i wont try i will say if you copy and paste
The Wizard of Oz: Pay No Attention
into youtube you will see what we are talkin bout.
You mean there are actually people who actually haven’t seen The Wizard Of Oz?
Was the wizard of Oz a movie?
I read the book.
i am sure most people have seen wizard of oz but i doubt people look into the motivation behind the writing of it
Why o why would someone write a story such as the wizard of oz when we got a wonderful god that needs praise oh and your money?
The real deal. The man without pretense.
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