The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy),   ISBN:9780812696578

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Adding to the 'Popular Culture and Philosophy' series is a fine presentation suitable for both high school and college-level libraries assessing the impact of THE WIZARD OF OZ on language and culture. Philosophical and scientific inquiry on the plot makes for a set of reflections on good, evil, and the nature of courage. Any school introducing philosophy will find this a key to linking philosophical concepts to modern cultural concerns, elevating it beyond the 'dry' stage and into everyday life.

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The book was sent to a friend of mine. It arrived a lot sooner than the estimated delivery date quoted at purchase. That's a good thing. No complaints from the recipient of the book so everthing has worked out fine. Yes, the friend finds the book intriguing. Certainly recommend the vendor and the book if you like something a little off the beaten track.

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Everybody has seen The Wizard of Oz sometime. The 1939 Judy Garland film is shown on television at least yearly Many of us profess to having read the book that started it all by L. Frank Baum. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz should probably go on the top ten list of books that Americans say they have read, but really didn't.

I read it, but that was back when Eisenhower was president (no kidding). I remember clearly the librarian at the San Bernardino public library urging me to get a "smaller book". With only my eyebrows showing over the checkout desk, I assured her that I could manage it. I did manage to get through it, but boy, did I miss a lot of nuances! Certainly, the story of how the Tin Man became the Tin Man got a quick once over or that little California girl would remember the nightmares it would have brought on.

I know now what I missed because I finished reading "The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy, Wicked Wisdom of the West" edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng, published in 2008 by Open Court in the Popular Culture and Philosophy series. Essays on all things Ozian fill the book. Philosophers throughout the book link Baum's characters to Socrates, Plato, Hegel and Langer. The essays hold up the classic story and examine it from all sides. The book is a Rubik's cube. Twisting the story this way and that, essayists wonder about the monkeys, slavery, the back story of Oz, movie and book and why Dorothy would want to get back to Depression era Kansas to name a few of the squares on the cube.

Essayists delve into other aspects of Oz in modern culture. Pink Floyd's musical contribution to Oz lore is a treat for devotees of the band and the book. The 1978 musical, The Wiz, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, is explored for what it says to and for black culture. Here's just the start of Tommy Curry's essay, "When the Wiz Goes Black, Does It Ever Go Back?"

"Since the late seventies, African Americans have gathered around the televised version of The Wiz and anticipated sharing the stories and reveling over the novelty of an all Black cast in the remake of The Wizard of Oz. Often referred to as the "Black Wizard of Oz" The Wiz is a wonderful fantasy that literally flips the script on the 1939 screen adaptation of Baum's classic story."

Gregory McGuire's "Wicked", the book that became a Broadway musical and spawned a string of sequels, gets in-depth treatment. The Wicked Witch of the West is given a name by McGuire, Elphaba, and a life and troubles of her own. Some essayists prefer the Wicked Witch to Baum's young heroine. Pam Sailor in "Wicked Feminism":

I've lost all respect for Dorothy. First, she simpered her way through The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, letting the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion maneuver her through every obstacle L. Frank Baum could dream up. Not only did they do all the heavy lifting, they also chivalrously gave her credit for their gains, simply because she invited them to come with her to see the Wizard. And, being the crowd-pleaser that she was, she took the credit..."

The book is not a Great Philosophers of Western Civ study course, by any means. It's funny and self depreciating. The essayists know that introducing themselves as philosophers at cocktail parties is a sure conversation stopper. All go out of their way to write for us who don't know Hegel from hot dogs or Plato from place settings. And from this novice's viewpoint, they succeed mightily.

I can hear you now saying, "Read philosophy? Me? Yuck." All I can say is give Auxier, Seng and their merry band of philosophers a chance. The book is chock full of information about the Baum books, the movies (the 1939 version was not the first attempt at translating Baum to the silver screen), the historical context and the offshoots that sprung up over the past sixty years.

Going from grey Kansas to Technicolor Oz in the original movie had a more profound effect on movie goers in the 30's than it does now in our blasé HD addicted society. Kansas itself had a different connotation then than it does now. Kansas to the 21st century is an endless landscape of wheat fields. Into the 20th century, it was still "Bloody Kansas", the memories of raids and counterattacks in the lead up to the Civil War, stories from grandma and grandpa.

Sure, not every essay will elicit an Aha moment from every reader. I confess I am not a Pink Floyd fan. Analysis of "Dark Side of the Moon", the album that tracks to the '39 movie, was lost to me. There are actually websites devoted to the album's connection to the film?? Wow.

There is no reason not to grab the Rubik's cube that is "The Wizard of Oz, Wicked Wisdom of the West" and start twisting. There truly is something for everyone - even those of us with straw for brains, ticking watches for hearts and draughts of liquid courage in our tummies.

I look forward to the next installment in the Popular Culture series. Auxier has already co-edited a book on Bruce Springstein and both authors have published scholarly articles applying philosophy to movies. I can envision books on Batman, Alien vs. Predator, X-Men, the zen of Ron Howard and why slasher movies continue to slay their audiences.

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I started this book thinking only of the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland. But The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy covers the spectrum of Oz books and movies. The essays here consider the series of books by L. Frank Baum, which were the original Oz stories, written over a hundred years ago. There was also a silent film made in 1925 called His Majesty the Scarecrow of Oz, and then the 1939 musical that we all remember. The Wiz, which was first a stage musical, became well-known when a movie version of it came out in the 1970s and starred Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Lena Horne, among others. And now the Broadway musical by Gregory MacGuire,Wicked, tells the story from the Wicked Witch's point of view.

But it's the movie musical that so many of us remember. I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz each year on television. Everyone watched it, the whole family, the whole neighborhood, our classmates and their parents. It brought us together for a few hours and gave us something in common. Now everyone can watch it on DVD whenever they want and another generation knows what grandma is talking about when she mutters about Dick Cheney, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

In the tradition of the other Open Court Press books about pop culture and philosophy, The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy has several essays that expound on the meaning of the story with regard to Kierkegaard and Epicurus and Wittgenstein. I skipped those essays and went straight to the fluff.

My favorite essay of the bunch was by one of the co-editors, Phillip S. Seng, called "Dude, When Did Pink Floyd Write a Soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz? He discusses the dormitory game of synching the movie with Pink Floyd's The Wall album and the ensuing "coincidences." I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I conducted this experiment some years ago. All in fun, of course (blush blush). Anyway, although there were many seemingly planned meshings of music and image, it really was nothing that couldn't be explained by coincidence and imagination.

I was curious to see what a philosopher (or Doctor of Thinkology) would make of the phenomenon. Would he find meaning in people's determination to find a conspiracy where surely none could possibly exist? Or would he validate the coincidences as more than chance? Seng comes up with a conclusion that both surprised me and left me nodding in agreement and admiration.

Other essays discuss feminism in Oz, why water melts the Wicked Witch, the slave culture in Oz, and whether Dorothy should have stayed in Oz rather than returning to Kansas (oops, sorry for that spoiler). This is one of the better Pop Culture and Philosophy collections, along with Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing. Recommended!