Althouse: "Instead of ruby slippers, Dorothy gets these magical Madonna gloves, and they immediately disappear into gross hand boils."

January 10, 2017

"Instead of ruby slippers, Dorothy gets these magical Madonna gloves, and they immediately disappear into gross hand boils."

"The yellow brick road is yellow because it is covered in opium.... Meet the scarecrow, who is crucified like Jesus in the 'Losing My Religion' video."

From "Wait, WTF Is Emerald City About?"

19 comments:

Kate said...: Based on the conversation at our dinner table the other night, Millennials find this as baffling and repugnant an idea as the rest of us do.

Oh, Vincent D'Onofrio, my darling ... even you can't entice me to watch this.; 1/10/17, 5:25 PM
Mary Beth said...: It looks weird, but Tip, Jack and Mombi were from the second Oz book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz", so that bit of weirdness isn't a new addition. (Yes, Tip turned out to be a girl in the book too.); 1/10/17, 5:28 PM
The Godfather said...: When I was a kid, the Oz books (ALL of them) were favorites. Whoever created this . . . thing should have a house fall on them.; 1/10/17, 5:49 PM
The Godfather said...: When I was a kid, the Oz books (ALL of them) were favorites. Whoever created this . . . thing should have a house fall on them.; 1/10/17, 5:49 PM
MikeD said...: I recorded the first episode, I'll now delete (unwatched)freeing DVR space for Tucker Carlson!; 1/10/17, 5:51 PM
Big Mike said...: I think I'll give it a pass. Thanks.; 1/10/17, 5:57 PM
tcrosse said...: The original Wizard of Oz books had some pretty bizarre stuff in them. That was before Hollywood got hold of them.; 1/10/17, 6:20 PM
YoungHegelian said...: it’s that this dark, gritty reimagining

Oh, God save us all from the fury of the Norsemen & dark, gritty reimaginings!

Oh All Ye who run TV Land -- dark & gritty has been done to death! How about an actual hero or two....; 1/10/17, 6:51 PM
Kevin said...: Jesus isn't in the Losing My Religion video, that's St. Sebastian. And he isn't crucified, he's tied to a stake and shot by archers.; 1/10/17, 8:17 PM
sykes.1 said...: Actually, I liked it. I also liked the movie (the first 100 times), and the movie is nothing like the books, either.

For that matter, I like all versions of Sherlock Holmes, including Elementary and Sherlock in Masterpiece. I also like all the versions of Superman, especially Smallville, because of the babes.

That's the key--anything with babes and action/adventure.; 1/10/17, 8:22 PM
William said...: I have the feeling that I'm not their target audience. I don't want to see the show, and I don't want to see the target audience......Let us pause in life's troubles to reflect on how Judy Garland made the Wizard of Oz so great. There have been a number of other Dorothys, including the super cute Zoey Deschanel, but not one of them has ever come close to the charm of Judy's performance.......Just so with Carrie Fisher. There have been other Princesses in the galaxy, including Natalie Portman, but Carrie's Princess was the one to inspire courtly love (albeit not whilst in the slave bikini).; 1/10/17, 8:23 PM
Paddy O said...: I watched most of it the other night. Got bored more than anything else and it was time for bed.

Reminded me a bit of the recent Superman v. Batman, where they took a story that had some dark elements, and made it all dark elements, removing any vestige of fun or lightheartedness, any sense of magic in a storytelling sense.

It was dreary. Some people see that as artistic, I suppose.

The writers and director need to ask the Wizard for a soul.

I also hate the Network TV show to treat shows like this as "events" mostly by showing clips of upcoming scenes. Are there people out there who like to have the drama undermined by use of previewing upcoming moments? "Let's give away what's happening next, that'll add to the gravity!"; 1/10/17, 8:34 PM
BN said...: I blame. Modern. Art.; 1/10/17, 8:40 PM
BN said...: "...but Carrie's Princess was the one to inspire courtly love"

I blame. Medieval. Culture.; 1/10/17, 8:42 PM
BN said...: "...that'll add to the gravity."

It's so easy to blame gravity.; 1/10/17, 8:44 PM
Ficta said...: Sure, dark and gritty has been done to death, but....

All 10 episodes are directed by Tarsem Singh and it is really gorgeous. I loved it. It isn't really an adaptation of the books so much as a dark fantasy with a structure borrowed from the books (like James Joyce's Ulysses, well, okay, maybe that's pushing it). But it really is dazzling visually.; 1/10/17, 9:22 PM
Zach said...: Let's all repeat for the hundredth time:

Dark and gritty does not mean mature or realistic. It's a stylistic choice, nothing more.; 1/10/17, 9:57 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: The Land of Oz was located on the Firmament, which was the space on top of the sky. Ancient people believed that the sky was a translucent surface above the Earth. Looking up from the Earth, people saw the Firmament's bottom surface. On the Firmament's top surface lived a supernatural civilization.

In the Wizard of Oz story, a hurricane lifted Dorothy's house up above the Firmament, and then the house crashed down onto the Firmament's top surface. Then Dorothy experienced her various adventures amidst that supernatural civilization.

I explain all this in an essay that I wrote:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/mike-sylwester/the-meaning-of-the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz/475416553944; 1/10/17, 10:21 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: Dark and gritty saves big bucks. Everything beyond abt 20 feet is just a grey shape. Huge saving in scenery and lighting.

Entire brawls can be reduced to a a sequence of 1/4 second shots, fists striking faces. No wide shots, no breaking furniture, no extras.; 1/11/17, 6:15 AM