Genre theory offers a useful means of classifying films according to their tropes and conventions. Although films constructed purposely to fit into a specific genre can be criticized for being overly commercial, genre theory does reveal how American audiences do react favorably towards familiar themes, actors, directorial styles, plots, and imagery (“Movie Genres”). Moreover, genres reveal the power of archetypes in storytelling. Even when a film does not fit neatly within one and only one genre, or when a film straddles many genres at once, the plot and characterization may still reveal familiar themes. Fantasy can be considered a universal genre in that all cultures have a collective body of myths and storytelling about superhuman or otherworldly creatures. Therefore, fantasy films are about much more than escapism. Fantasy is a genre that offers filmmakers and audiences alike a great degree of flexibility in terms of symbols and motifs. Audiences are free to interpret a fantasy film and its protagonist’s motives liberally. However, the cornerstone of the fantasy genre is “situations that break the limitations of the real world,” (“Movie Genres,” p. 12). In The Wizard of Oz, the limitations of the real world are broken down after an ordinary farm girl named Dorothy is knocked unconscious after a tornado. The directors capitalize on the new Technicolor technology, using color film to render the fantasy/dream sequence and black and white for the Kansas sections. Ironically, Dorothy’s fantasy world is realer and more vivid than her “real” life. The Wizard of Oz therefore epitomizes the way the fantasy genre shows how the creative imagination is the best method of solving real world problems.
One of the tropes of the fantasy genre is that the alternative reality depicted in the film either allows the protagonist to solve real world problems or temporarily forget about those problems. As such, the audience vicariously solves personal psychological issues or comes up with creative solutions to broader socio-political problems through interacting with the protagonist and the fantasy world. Fantasy “allows one to gain insights into social problems and conflicts and to appraise the dominant socio-political problems and crises of the contemporary moment,” (Kellner, 2016, p. 1). In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy does solve an immediate problem: the menace of a mean member of the community whose life consists only in meddling in other people’s affairs. The old woman finds Dorothy’s cute little dog Toto to be a problem and instead of resolving the issue kindly with a preadolescent girl, she goes on the offensive and tries to use her power to exterminate an innocent creature. Dorothy, old enough to know the difference between genuine ethical conduct and the senseless moral framework constructed by the old woman, tries first to run away, and she fails. As she does try to run away, an act of God—a tornado—transports the protagonist to a genuine world apart. Dorothy finds herself in Oz, and is now on a fantasy quest to seek the Emerald City. Ironically, after trying to escape her home, Dorothy now finds herself in a position where she wants nothing more than to find her way back.
The Wizard of Oz also represents the classical hero’s journey. While not all fantasy films use the formula of the hero’s journey, The Wizard of Oz most certainly does, and makes this film a sub-genre or sub-category known as “fantasy quest,” (Kaur, 2015, p. 1). Other familiar fantasy films like the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies based on the Tolkein novels of the same name also fall within this sub-genre of fantasy quest in which the primary protagonist is on a quest, and the audience follows the protagonist through trial and tribulation until the goal is fulfilled in the end. The hero’s journey motif is one that masters the art of audience engagement, as each viewer becomes invested in Dorothy’s quest. Dorothy’s pre-pubescent status makes her innocent and yet on the brink of mental maturity. The Wicked Witch and all she represents are the corrupting forces of society: all that Dorothy despises because of its inherent hypocrisy and senselessness. When Dorothy enters the fantasy world of Oz, and everything comes alive with color, she experiences “a sense of wonder” unlike anything she can experience in Kansas because she needs a new frame of reference, a new way of looking at and solving problems, or a new paradigm (Stephan, 2016, p. 1).
Although The Wizard of Oz is an early film, being made in 1939, it does expand upon the fantasy genre. The film goes beyond just imparting a “sense of wonder” and becomes a “potent critical force” that viewers can apply to any of their own life circumstances (Stephan, 2016, p. 1). What makes The Wizard of Oz timeless is that Dorothy’s journey is not necessarily linked to any specific historical epoch. Dorothy seeks what every human being seeks: justice, family, and a place to call home. As such, the fantasy elements of The Wizard of Oz are not moralistic. Unlike fairy tales or myths, there is no real moral overtone that offers viewers some pedantic instruction. Sure, the viewer knows that acting like the old woman causes one to come across as a wicked witch, but ultimately, Dorothy learns that she had the power within herself all alone. Dorothy has to visit a fantasy world to realize what she already knew: and this is a theme that distinguishes The Wizard of Oz from the prevalent children’s stories of the time.
The fantasy genre is one that is malleable and responsive to each generation. Fantasy films made now, such as Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water continue to expand the boundaries of the genre. Because fantasy almost by definition offers filmmakers a sense of limitless wonder and creative potential, this is a genre that continues to appeal to viewers. Yet fantasy fails to have the mass appeal of action films or romantic comedies precisely because there is an intellectual, cerebral component to them. Through the medium of fantasy, filmmakers encourage audiences to play an active role in the drama, placing themselves in the role of the protagonist, encouraging viewers to solve their own problems creatively.
References
Kaur, A. (2015). The well and fantasy. Tuwhera. http://hdl.handle.net/10292/9885
Kellner, D. (2016). Social apocalypse in contemporary Hollywood film. Matrizes 10(1): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.1982-8160.v10i1p13-28.
“Movie Genres.”
Stephan, M. (2016). Do you believe in magic? Coolabah 18(2016): http://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/15652
You’re 100% through this paper. Sign up to read the full paper.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.