I watched The Wizard of Oz before I went to bed last night and I had a strange dream. All the streets in LA were made of yellow brick. It was really confusing. I was also the only person driving a car. Everyone else was walking. Totally strange.
I decided to read the book Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin that had been sitting on my nightstand forever. It’s the autobiography of Jerry Maren, the munchkin in the lollipop guild who is carrying the giant lollipop. He’s a midget (or “little person” as is apparently the more politically correct term). He’s lived a pretty incredible life. I’m only 70 pages in, but it’s interesting. It’s pretty cut and dry, but he writes with a sense of humor so it keeps it light. It’s always inspiring to read about someone who has a supposed “deformity” and they somehow make their dreams come true because of or in spite of that “deformity.”
But I’ve been thinking about The Wizard of Oz pretty much all day. It’s a classic story of a grand journey – just like The Odyssey, Homeward Bound, or After Hours – the protagonist just wants to go home. Dorothy is told by Glenda the Good Witch to “follow the yellow brick road.” I guess I could argue that my own journey could be referred to as “following the blonde brick road.” It doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but whatevs.
I loved Wizard of Oz so much I watched the TV movie starring John Ritter and Annette O’Toole called Dreamer of Oz. I never got down with the sequel Return to Oz because it just seemed disingenuous and Fairuza Balk scared me (even before The Craft). I loved John Ritter because I was obsessed with “Three’s Company” reruns (I still am).
What I’d honestly never realized until recently is that Frank Morgan plays the Wizard, but he also plays a slew of other characters. I always knew that he was Professor Marvel, but never any of the other roles he plays. It’s weird what you can look past as a kid. I’ve always loved this movie – since I can remember. I do remember on about my 8th birthday, I got almost everything Wizard of Oz –related you could think of. I got a Wizard of Oz umbrella, Wizard of Oz collectable Barbies (seriously, the whole set is in my parents’ basement), and Dorothy’s ruby slippers (they were really disappointing. They were like sparkly jelly shoes). My sister and I, along with the two neighbor girls went as the foursome for Halloween one year. I was the Cowardly Lion (I wore a golden yellow sweatshirt and sweatpants and my mom sewed little ears on a headband). It was pretty good. When I was in 6th grade, the high school put on a production of “The Wizard of Oz” and they needed kids to play munchkins. My friends and I were all excited and I ended up being in the Lullaby League since I was taking ballet classes. My best friend M was the Coroner. It was pretty much the best thing ever. My sister would constantly joke with me that I was dumb and she got me stationery with the Scarecrow on it that said, “If I only had a brain.” That might seem mean, but I think she was just doing what older siblings do.
My life seems to have always had this Wizard of Oz thread. I always come back to it. Two years ago I was working on a film shooting on the Sony lot, which used to be the MGM lot. Supposedly some of the stages we were shooting on were the same stages where Wizard of Oz had been filmed. I’m sure that a lot of movies can say they shot on the same stages as Wizard of Oz since it’s been like 60+ years since they made that movie, but it just gave me chills. I am treading on the same ground that Dorothy did. I am on my own yellow-bricked journey.
I think I’ve always loved the story because in the end, what the foursome were in search of, they actually had in their possession through the entire journey. It’s kind of poetic and ironic. Most people in that instance would not be happy – they would be annoyed (kind of like when you are looking for the thing you are holding in your hand). It dawned on me that I’m in search of something that I’ve had all along. My blonde hair is not about getting a boyfriend, a better job, or raking in the green stuff (I’m hoping that these might be side effects, but they are not the main goal). My blonde hair is about trying to get a grasp on my identity without having it linked to my physical appearance. This seems like a “Duh” thought, but I think that we tend to associate our physical appearance with our identity too much. So, I am on a journey to find someone I know I already am, but sometimes that journey is just as important, if not more so, than the destination. I think it's also about the shoes.
Today gets 5 Barbie Warhols because I’m totes enlightened:
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