Hey guys, it's been a while! I'm starting to get back in the habit of blogging, so there will be more soon. I'm going to get this party re-started by letting you know how disgusting Oz: The Great and Powerful is. I had heard rumblings in the feminist circle that this movie was problematic... Boy, was that an understatement. Watching this movie felt like falling into Director Sam Raimi's misogynist fantasy world.
A prequel to the beloved Wizard of Oz (a favorite of mine from infancy), this movie follows Oscar (played by James Franco): a lying con man, who makes a living as a magician and gets his kicks by duping impossibly gullible women into worshiping him. While fleeing in his hot air balloon from the outraged boyfriend of a woman he'd philandered, he gets sucked into a tornado and winds up in Oz. As soon as he arrives he meets a gorgeous witch named Theodora (played by Mila Kunis), who informs him that he is the Wizard from their prophecies and he gets to rule the kingdom. Score! Everything seems to be going great for him until Theodora falls in love. Oscar iss totally on board with moonlight make-out sessions and her unconditional adoration, but when she starts talking about marriage... clearly, the witch be crazy.
Theodora takes Oscar to the Emerald city to meet her sister, Evanora (played by Rachel Weiz). She immediately flatters Oscar and gives him a glimpse of all the power and riches that will soon be his... as soon he defeats the Wicked Witch, that is. Although he is somewhat uncomfortable killing a woman he's never met, he decides the power and fame is worth it. So off he goes to find and destroy the Wicked Witch. But once he meets her he discovers she is actually Glinda the Good (played by Michelle Williams) and he'd been tricked by Evanora (the actual Wicked Witch). Glinda leads Oscar to Munchkinland where he meets the people of Oz, all of whom are convinced he is the Wizard that will save them. But Glinda puts two and two together and realizes that Oscar has no powers and is actually kind of an asshole. However, being the wonderful woman she is, she falls for him anyway and puts the fate of her kingdom in his hands.
Meanwhile, Evanora reveals her evil side by showing Theodora that Oscar doesn't really give a flying monkey about her and is way more interested Glinda. Well, Theodora basically goes bananas and takes a potion from her sister to freeze her heart and take away her pain. The potion does a little more than that, it literally turns her green with envy and thus she becomes the Wicked Witch of the West we all remember from the original Wizard of Oz.
The rest of the story plays out as you would expect: Oscar uses his magician tricks and cons to develop a plan (that a two-year-old could have come up with). He leads Glinda and the people of Oz against the Wicked Witches and after twenty minutes of tri-witch cat fighting, the crazy ladies flee. The movie ends with Oscar taking up his title as the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz and making out with Glinda behind the famed curtain.
The problems with this movie are endless, especially with regards to gender dynamics. The women embody nearly every horrible stereotype thrown at women in present day America.
First we have Theodora, who cannot move without the guidance of a man; soon after she meets Oscar they are pursued by one of the Wicked Witch's flying monkeys. While hiding from it, she can't even be trusted not to scream and reveal their location without Oscar's hand covering her mouth. Oscar encourages her affection in the beginning, he lies to her in order to seduce her, and when she mentions becoming his queen he affirms her hopes. Yet after all this she is still portrayed as the villain and he, the hero. Her character becomes the overused story of the woman who falls for a man way too fast (often due to manipulation on his part) and once rejected stops at nothing to ruin his life. This trope is seen far too much in popular culture, usually in romantic comedies and sitcoms. It paints an unfair depiction of women as emotional wrecks and relieves the men of any responsibility for their manipulation and cruelty.
While watching the film, I could not see past the glaring plot hole that a man was needed to fill the seat of power in Oz, despite there being three very powerful women just hanging around. Before Oscar shows up, the thrown has been empty since the death of Glinda's father. Evanora is the only woman who decides to take advantage of this power vacuum. Unlike every other female character in the film, she has ambition, and is therefore evil. Her character is nothing new to film and television, often women in power are portrayed as cold, manipulative and utterly selfish. To add insult to injury, Evanora's loathing for Glinda seems to stem from Glinda's being prettier than her. After all, that is all women really care about, right?
Lastly, we have Glinda, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pure-as-snow woman who loves Oscar despite all his flaws. She's the shining light in a sea of crazy, idiotic women. Her character seems to exist solely to stroke Oscar's ego. No matter how badly he behaves, or how many mistakes he makes, she continues to stare at him with those doe eyes and tell him that he is capable of wonderful things. Her character also appears in Kansas before he makes his way to Oz. She is an old love who shows up at Oscar's door to break the news that another man has asked her to marry him. However, she makes it quite clear that one word from Oscar will put a stop to this engagement. Oscar refuses her advances, in what is supposed to be a noble gesture. He tells her she should marry a good man and he ain't one of those. She insists that he could be, to which he responds, "I don't want to be a good man, I want to be a great one."
That quote sums up the core problem with the protagonist. He's not a good man. Throughout the film he lies, cheats and just generally treats everyone poorly. His motivation is entirely selfish and he does not seem to care whom he hurts, so long as it leads to notoriety. I suppose his choice to stay and use his skills as a trickster is meant as character development, but he never shows any remorse for the damage he'd caused prior. Yet the audience is meant to cheer for him, be glad when he succeeds and rejoice that he gets the glory and the girl. In the end, that is all Glinda was: a prize for Oscar.
Sometimes I think this movie could be harmless, one of those films that is just so awful no one should take anything about it seriously. In the past, that's often been the charm of Sam Raimi's work (The Evil Dead, Drag Me To Hell). But what makes this film more problematic than his past work is that it is marketed to children. It is distressing when adult films have unfair portrayals of women, but when a movie intended for kids is so lacking in morals it is all the more upsetting.
I'll end by simply saying there is nothing redeeming about this movie. In addition to the sexism that oozes from every scene, the characters are two dimensional, the story makes little sense, the acting is poor and any aesthetic enjoyment you might gather from the special effects you've seen in the previews. So if you're having a movie night and think Oz will be a good fantastical adventure, choose something else, you will be spared two hours of James Franco's shit-eating grin. You're welcome.
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