Really, guys? Really?
How do you watch the Wizard of Oz and get the impression that Dorothy’s pals are stupid, heartless cowards? The whole point of the movie is that these three fellas didn’t need anyone to give them heart, brains or courage; they had those qualities already!
Indeed, at the end of the film, the Wizard (who isn’t actually a real wizard) can’t give them anything but tokens of what they’d asked from him — a diploma, a heart-shaped watch, a medal — but that’s all they really need, because all they were really lacking was faith in themselves.
I mean, what the hell, dudes? Have you even seen the movie?
In semi-related news, I now have an excuse to post this, so I will:
It’s like the only goal they know how to score is their own…
Also…they all helped Dorothy and were essential to her quest. Is this part of the new thing where male characters can’t be written with flaws, or else it’s misandry?
I’m guessing any characters that are endearing or relatable are misandry as well?
I’ve never seen a group so consistently score an own goal and then celebrate scoring against their opponents.
Shouldn’t the caption say “Homeless”* under Dorothy? Where the fuck did they get “innocent” from?
*noting for the record that she is no more without a home or a way to get to it than her companions are without brains, heart, or courage.
If anything the WoO crew can be taken as a metaphor for how toxic patriarchy is. The lion was cowardly basically only because he didn’t maul animals and eat them, which really had nothing to do with him but the stereotypes of lions.
It’s quite possible I’m overthinking this, though.
They’re just butthurt because A) The most powerful characters are female (as opposed the “great and wonderful” Oz), and B) What Judy Garland did for gay men, which was provide a strong ally in the face of discrimination.
Never mind the fact that though these characters claimed to lack these qualities, throughout the course of the movie, they constantly displayed them.
I’m going to just say these people didn’t see the movie, be ause even just a surface, shallow reading of the movie doesn’t validate these claims.
I never understood any claims of anti-male bias in the media. Ever since I was a little girl, I remember feeling like girls were treated as NPCs in the media (I didn’t use this language back then, but now I know how to put it into words.). I remember being surprised when I found out that there were actually slightly MORE women than men in our population, because I assumed the reason why girls were treated so peripherally in the media was just because they were a minority (I thought that the men-to-women ratio would be closer to 1-5).
@Toopure
I was thinking along those lines, too. Specifically that many MRA followers are much like the Cowardly Lion and all the rest: they don’t need to score X number of hot women to be manly, they don’t need to be aggressive and hostile to be strong. Their masculinity, their strength, their smarts are already inside the person they are, yet they seek external validation from patriarchal norms, an extreme form of which is the toxic masculinity peddled by the momosphere.
Sorry, I meant @tooimpure
Can’t wait for their in-depth analysis of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I’m sure it will be… um… edifying.
This argument always always boggles me because I could probably put togther a hundred examples of movies where men are depicted as intelligent, caring, and brave. Men get to be everything from prince to pauper, usually in the same movie, in popular culture because they are recognized as full human beings.
It fails on a statistical level (there aren’t an abundance of men being depicted poorly as opposed to heroically, I’d dare say it was the opposite), and it fails on an emotional level because no man who hasn’t spent years convincing himself the bumbling dad is the be-all-end-all of male depiction is going to resonate with the message.
As a side note, dang is it strange seeing clips of the wizard of oz as an adult. The acting is pretty silly in many places, and some scenes are downright laughable. Go ahead, try to take the climax of the movie seriously. I dare you. 😛
I’m laughing! I’m laughing! Oh what a scene, what a scene! Who would of thought a melting which would put together such specific commentary on the absurdity of the situation while turning into a puddle!
Though to be honest I want to rewatch it all now and see what it’s like now.
*witch, not which
Stupid soundy homophones
@Kirbywarp:
My CC is broken. I like putting on the captions, for reasons, but the captions are for “If I were king of the forest.
She starts melting, while singing “Not chintz”
Then gesticulates with the clawed hands while singing “I’d command each thing… with a woof”.
This just in: MRAs are misunderstanding a movie that’s 76 years old and trying to use it as an example of how men are discriminated against in modern society!
In other news: Water is wet, and it’s another day ending in “y”!
Whaaaa? Mine are too, contrapangloss. That’s… just surreal.
@ParadoxicalIntention:
Yyyeeaahhhh… Aren’t the 1950s and earlier supposed to be the golden age of gender roles for these jokers, before all that upitty feminism took over? Just goes to show that they’re starting with the conclusion and working backwards, and have a very poor understanding of context.
If you put on Dark Side of the Moon while surfing the net, the line “Don’t give me that do goody good bullshit” syncs up perfectly with the AVfM site.
In the second Oz book, The Land of Oz, a young woman gathers other women from all corners of the country and they conquer the Emerald City with knitting needles and force the Scarecrow, who is king at the time to flee. They make the men of Emerald City take over housewife duties.
Eventually, Glinda discovers that the male protagonist, Tip is really Ozma, the rightful princess who had been enchanted and turned into a boy at birth. She turns him back into a girl and she takes over as ruler.
If they think the Wizard of Oz is misandry, I’d love to hear their whines about that book!
One of the great ironies of The Wizard of Oz (a well developed one as well) is that the Scarecrow, supposedly the one without the brain, is the one who keeps figuring out ways out of each situation.
But now I’m reaching into subtleties waaaaaaay outside anyone at AVfM.
@Cassie’s Major Domo:
You mean where the words someone says don’t necessarily describe reality, and might actually be opposite?
…
Judging by how they don’t get satire written by their opponents, and don’t understand that “satire” is something different than stating your actual opinion in extreme language… yeah, pretty much.
Also, Dorothy is innocent? She straight up kills a witch. She’s Glinda and the Wizard’s fuggin hitwoman.
@StarStorm:
Didn’t you know Dorothy’s last name? It’s “Van Helsing,” and “Oz” was her dream journey and first taste of blood.