Wizard of Oz - Movie Review Example

The paper "Wizard of Oz" is an exceptional example of a movie review on visual arts and film studies. The Wizard of Oz, a film based on a children’s novel by L. Frank Baum, is a story that captures the mind of the young, as well as the old. The film reflected the many sides of life, as well as the people we have come across. The song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” illustrates a person’s wishes to be away, to fly off to the land of their dreams, to get away from their everyday life.

The Wizard of Oz presented many insights and realizations about my life, especially my day to day activities.  In my opinion, the most powerful aspect of this film is Dorothy’s quest to find the Wizard of Oz, along with her newfound friends, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow – not to mention having Toto too! This aspect of the film has the greatest effect on me as it reminds me of the friendship and the trials and success that it goes through. During their journey, each person on the quest needed something from the wizard.

The quest was equally as important to them, as it was for their companion. However, as troubles arise, they helped each other, and unleashed qualities they never exhibited before, as they come to the aid of their companions. Dancing down the yellow brick road together symbolizes the path friends take together, not anticipating the dangers and obstacles awaiting them, thus, testing their friendship and loyalties, as well as their values and priorities in life. It was the idea of sacrifice among friends that truly highlighted this aspect as the most powerful for me.

Adolescence is one of the most challenging moments of one’s life. It is the time wherein things seem new, yet familiar, as well as confusing. The movie entitled “The Little Giants”, produced in 1994 is an epitome of teenage life. Having viewed this movie several times in the past, I continually feel that this film describes my teenage years the best. This movie is “my” movie, as far as teenage years is concerned, because the different characters in the movie define a small part of me in one context or another.

This movie shows how teenagers strive to fit in. It has long been the pains of the underdogs to actually fit in, and “be normal”. Each and every one of us has experienced the feelings of inadequacy or non-belongingness at one point in our teenage life. A certain fad just doesn’t seem to be our kind of thing, or you simply can’t relate with most people from your class. This movie also portrays how the “cool guys” and the “bullies” tend to get their way in everything – that sometimes they just don’t get to outgrow them.

Each person has a quest for identity and at some point in their teenage life, they feel as though they don’t have one, or perhaps striving to become like someone they look up to. In this film, the average American culture was depicted showing a middle class man with a boyish, brilliant football player daughter, a bunch of middle class group of children who tend to be “different” than the other children in their age group, a rich proud man who is actually a bully, and the “jocks”.

The movie illustrates family relationships – especially among siblings, and how this affects their adult life. The teenage dilemma over crushes and love is also depicted in the movie, showing a character and identity change in the boyish football player, who showed up at the championship game wearing a short skirt and carrying pompoms. The quest for one’s self-identity is defined by the circumstances around us that it influences our decisions and frame of mind. Growing up, I was torn between just being myself – being comfortable with doing what I love doing, or complying to the norms of the times, following what the times dictated as “in” or “cool”.

It was a very difficult thing to adapt to as this tried to mold me into something that I wasn’t. As a teenager, expressing my thoughts regarding some things, or expressing my interest in something that was different or uncommon was quite a big dilemma. What if it doesn’t conform to what is considered “in”? What if the other people in my class will laugh at me for saying these? These are just a few of the questions that bother me every time I step out of the identity I tried to create for myself in order to fit in.

This is the time of one’s life wherein we start noticing the members of the opposite sex, thus making us aware of how we look, how we dress, how we act, and of course, this brings about a motivation from within us to become what we think the other person might want us to be. This is one of the things I find so hard to grow out of. Growing up in a family where I was just average, would mean that I would want to be “special” in order to be noticed, thus this is a challenge I get to face in teenage years.

The trends shown in this movie shows the culture incorporated in my teenage years – the strength of friendship, the quest for identity, the teenagers’ love for music, and the teenagers’ love for food. This just doesn’t seem to grow out of style – no matter what generation one comes from.