18 Comments
Sep 29, 2022·edited Sep 29, 2022Pinned

Hi Mathew,

I used to use have Japanese college students of English sit in small groups and deconstruct-reconstruct the Judy Garland version of Wizard of Oz for Comparative Culture classes. Alas, that was before the current narrative gave it so much more potential. As I read along, a host of characters currently on the world-stage marched through my head, most, a bit less benign than the scarecrow ... and far too many 'flying monkeys' (borrowed from the current dark-triad take on sociopathic enablers).

Although I knew about Cabaret's popularity with the gay community, I didn't know about Judy or Lisa's personal connections.

And although I will make a more detailed enquiry a bit later in my own substack, I am wondering if the current Epstein-pedophilia narrative is keeping researchers from studies about what I think is a probable correlation between the recent rise in gender dysphoria and NPI's ... those masking-distancing-isolating policies which 'conveniently empower rule-driven institutions' at the cost of empathy-driven individuals, families, and communities.

That great line about Judy getting over the Rainbow reminded me of what has to be one of the most heart breaking 'Christmas' songs, hell, any song, in my memory ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CreWsnhQwzY&t=4s

Cheers Mathew,

— steve

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Sep 29, 2022·edited Sep 29, 2022

Thank you Mathew.

If their remake is like everything else they "improve", it will be unwatchable garbage.

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Sep 29, 2022Liked by Mathew Crawford

Great song! Scary clown movie.

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Sep 29, 2022Liked by Mathew Crawford

Those are awesome illustrations the like of which are no longer seen.

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How can you marry a gay man and have a child with him?

Because he ain't gay if that's the case...

Hypocrisy in Action...

Anyway the Wizard of Oz is one of my all time favorite books.

It isn't a children book... it is and always has been political.

Still love it.

Where did you get the Illustrations... they are great

The Wizard of Oz is among my all time Favorite books.

Others are:

Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha & Demian

George Orwell - Animal Farm / 1984 / The Road to Wigan pier

Lewis Carrol - Alice / Through the Looking Glass

C.S. Lewis - Narnia all of them

Frank Herbert - Dune (1st book)

Friedrich Nietzsche - Thus spoke Zarathustra

James Clavell - Tai Pan

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When I was in fourth and fifth grade spending summer with my grandparents, the local library had the complete series of Oz books. I remember reading them avidly, probably over two summers. Did not see the politics then. I have followed politics since I was young, only once venturing into them as a staffer on an unsuccessful US Senate campaign. Perhaps I should have tried harder to change the world, but we are not done yet.

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Thank you Mathew. I had not read the book. I didn't know about Judy Garland's sad story or the illustrations, and never thought about Baum's theme.

I have been saying that I am not motivated by money for a while now. Until very recently, no one ever asked me what was my motivation.

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Does anyone remember scarecrow having a firearm? I don’t. But apparently he did.

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