I’ve long held an unpopular opinion. That opinion is that The Wizard of Oz is the scariest movie ever made.
I had memories of the last time I watched it. I was likely 12 or 13 years old. I was terrified by this movie. Inevitably I get gawks and then the usual question, “oh, the wicked witch and the flying monkeys… yeah I guess I can see it.” Emphatic NO. Those things paled in comparison to the fear that struck my heart at these three characters:
Just finding that picture gives me the heebie jeebies.
Those three characters terrify me.
It is now in my typing this out I must scroll down so I can continue to concentrate. Their stares haunt me.
I recently watched this movie again. I imagined my childhood fear would go away. They can’t be that creepy, surely. WRONG. Instead I gained an adult perspective on what terrified me about these characters.
Here is what I learned: these three characters are living in various stages of purgatory.
Hear me out.
Exhibit A: The Scarecrow.
We first meet the Scarecrow as he dangles from a post. No back story on how long he had been there, no idea how he became a scarecrow. Nothing. That is until I learned that the popular musical Wicked gives us this backstory. Here’s where my fears are confirmed: HE WAS ONCE A MAN. HE WAS TURNED INTO A SCARECROW BY THE WICKED WITCH. This man is now missing a brain. With no recollection of who he was or how he became a scarecrow. He is now a being who regularly loses his innards (that would be the straw always falling out of him). The worst part is he has a sense of awareness that he’s missing something. He thinks what he’s missing is his brain, when, in reality, he is sensing his eternal misery as a now straw figure. I rest my case.
Exhibit B: The Tin Man
We meet the Tin Man frozen in a sad state. Frozen solid. He can’t move his eyes, arms, legs, anything. Stuck solid. He is in a perpetual state of immobility. Able to think, unable to speak, unable to move or do anything about it. What could be more terrifying? Imagine how sore this would cause him to be. This must be excruciating physically, to say nothing of the mental torture. Stuck in one position. To be accurate I went back and watched this clip from the movie (won’t be sleeping tonight). The Tin Man, as soon as he is able to speak says, “I’ve held that axe up for ages.” HORRIBLE. He goes on to say it was a year ago that he was frozen solid. Stuck in that state for a full year. Need I say more?
Exhibit C: The Lion
This one is a little trickier. It’s a little less obvious. Let’s open up by asking a simple question: what is one of the worst feelings in the world? There are a few options. Pain is obvious. What of fear? What of having no reason whatsoever to fear, but nevertheless fearing everything in sight? We have a lion. King of the jungle. Predator of predators. And yet, he’s terrified of all he comes in contact with. What could be a worse form of torture than being given all the attributes of a fearless creature then being burdened with the gut-wrenching, debilitating feeling of constant fear? Purgatory indeed.
As a kid I thought it was their grotesque, simultaneously unreal looking, but then hauntingly realistic costumes that terrified me. As an adult I am justified. Yes, their appearance is terrifying. Enough to give children and adults alike nightmares. That is not the truly terrifying nature of this film though. Losing who you are, frozen in place indefinitely, and the constant feeling of unsettled fear. What could be worse than these three fates?
At the end they are given fake tokens to remove their purgatory-like natures. All this does is add insult to injury. The Scarecrow leaves with a piece of paper, soon to realize it tells him nothing of who he is and surely does not mean he has his brain back. The Tin Man, desiring a heart, not realizing it’s a true human form he needs, gets a cheap piece of glowing plastic. The Lion receives a badge of honor, which will simply be a reminder of how cowardly he is as soon as he reenters the real world. Their purgatory continues. Stuck eternally in a state of non-being. I can imagine nothing more terrifying.
No Coincidences 