The Wizard of Oz (Essay Sample)

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The Wizard of OZ
"Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,’ she says, and that camp classic of a line has detached itself from the movie to become a great American catchphrase, endlessly recycled”
In the film, the statement attempts to show the shift from Dorothy’s home and comfort zone, Kansas to an unfamiliar land. Dorothy herself thinks the strange place is beyond the rainbow (15:13 – 21:56). The phrase indicates the supernatural act of being taken from the ground and being flown to a magical place in a tornado. The storm carries with it strange scenes of a woman knitting, Miss Gulch furiously riding a bike, sailors, and a woman riding a broom (12:13 – 15:26). This Dorothy is also a change from a timid to a confident girl. The strange place stirs change in Dorothy as she has to adapt to the new strange place she finds herself. In this new location, she learns how to face challenges and to tackle these obstacles. Dorothy first gets away from her aunt’s home to save her pet dog from impending death. This journey is until she is made to turn back home on news of her aunt’s ailment.
In the new land, Dorothy is treated like a hero on her arrival. The reception is attributable to her kindness to the creatures she meets on the way and the courage she shows on their journey to the wizard. When Dorothy and Toto come across the scarecrow, and the lion who accompanies them on their journey, they are also seeking a new "Kansas" in their lives. The scarecrow wishes for a brain while the cowardly lion aims to have courage.
The phrase is used to foreshadow foreshadows other themes in the film such as self-sufficiency. When the scarecrow and the cowardly lion accompany Dorothy in search of the wizard, they seek to overcome challenges in their lives and take control of their lives. The tin woodman with them is in search of a heart. Their experiences on the journey and with the wizard show that the characters already have what they seek from the wizard. In the end, they are moved from that place of insecurity and insufficiency to appreciate their abilities fully. Other themes that are foreshadowed by this phrase are friendship and the concept of home. Dorothy starts out as friends with Toto and later is joined by the scarecrow, lion, and the Tin Woodman. Her friends are with her in the journey to Emerald City and on her way back home. Despite the beauty of Oz and its people, Dorothy ultimately wishes to return home to Kansas, which is the complete opposite of the Oz bliss.
The application of this metaphor into regular language has been to symbolize change from the norm. The detachment of the phrase from the movie is an indicator of the limitless application of widely popular movies in our day to day lives. The adoption of familiar movie phrases has thus become part of daily conversations and has found applications in various contexts. In the use of this phrase in today’s communications, it is an indicator of personal tornados or struggles undergone by human beings and the possibility of overcoming these setups.
Through their experiences, people are forced to find the better of themselves to cope with their current situation. "No longer in Kansas" is thus a fit expression for anyone who wishes to express presence in an unfamiliar position or a...