Coding The Wizard of Oz: REVIEW THIS FOR THE WRITING ON THE 19th and 20th

First, review your binary table.  Move what you believe is the most pertinent information to the table below:

POSITIVE	NEGATIVE
Bravery	Cowardice
Powerful	Powerless
Good	Evil
Reality	Fantasy
Female	Male
Beautiful	Ugly

WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF EACH COLUMN? 

Women, oddly, are more powerful than men in this text, as long as they are beautiful – their power lies in the home, which is “good.”  There, or a fantasy world, is not to be attempted. Courage seems to be an anomaly here.

The fantasy world—something outside the confines of home—are ugly and evil.  Here, a woman is powerless.

ASK YOURSELF “SO WHAT?” AGAIN:

• WHAT CONCLUSION(S) CAN YOU DRAW FROM THOSE IMPLICATIONS? 

This is an odd text for the time period (1939).  But expectations for women are clear, and not adhering to them will lead to no good.  Although this was a message of the period, it is not a message for today.  I don't believe that this text is good for someone who identifies female; it's not good for those who identify male, either though.  The messages are too concrete and outdated.

• How can this conclusion INFORM YOUR REPSONSE TO THE PROMPT—FROM YOUR UNDERSTANDING, WHAT IS the ULTIMATE POINT IN this TEXT? (your second So What?)

These underlying ideas are so heavily coded in the text as to be subtly and covertly didactic.  Women are to stay home is the ultimate point of this text.  Wanting to go "there" leads to chaos and destruction for the woman and those around her.  The lesson under the guise of a children's film is disturbing and misogynistic, but not altogether surprising.