It’s Monday, so time once more for the Fantasy With Friends discussion meme (hosted at Pages Unbound). This week’s question is as follows…
Do you have a favorite interpretation of Oz? Do you try to fit the different adaptations together, or do you see them as separate entities? (Do you try to make Wicked make sense with The Wizard of Oz? And do you think of the book or the movie versions in those instances?)
I am not actually a huge fan of the Oz books, having only read the first and not really enjoyed the book version of Wicked — I thought it was okay, but I didn’t really feel the hype, I guess! I’ve also not been enough of a fan of any other adaptation to really gain a solid opinion here, to be honest.
That said, I do enjoy the musical version of Wicked, so I promise I’m not a dead loss. I’ve seen it live once with friends, before I really knew it, and since then the songs have been in regular rotation for me. I don’t really watch movies, though, so I haven’t even seen those…
I think I’d view them each as separate entities, albeit ones that have interesting things to say to and about each other. Sometimes it might be fun to try to make it all fit, and sometimes it’s just enjoying each one for what it is.
Are there any adaptations/retellings/etc that people really love? Would y’all urge me to give Oz another shot?
The Oz books do have a rare instance of a potentially trans character for the time period (Ozma), and Baum was a feminist with mildly anti-racist leanings (note: Wikipedia goes into this but having read the 2 “out of character” essays myself, I find them *dripping* with sarcasm and satire, and he did actually write satire and parody for adults at times. Do I think they were good ideas to publish? No. But I think anyone who thinks they were a sincere endorsement of genocide probably also thinks A Modest Proposal is a sincere endorsement of cannibalism.)
All that said, I’d only really revisit Oz if I were looking for classic children’s books to give to children that would be less problematic than some of the other options.
HarpGriffin recently posted…A book inspired by another book
I cannot get into Oz. I’ve tried. I don’t like the book, which I’ve read I think three times. I didn’t like the Wicked book. I watched the first Wicked film and it was okay, but I’m not going to be rewatching it all the time. I like the Judy Garland film, but can’t say I rewatch it much. Oz feels very much like something I’m supposed to like for some reason, but I just don’t!
Krysta @ Pages Unbound recently posted…Adaptations of Oz (Fantasy with Friends)