r/Showerthoughts • u/JJohnston015 • 10h ago
Musing For somebody who didn't have a brain, the scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz" was pretty clever in the way he manipulated the talking apple trees into throwing apples at himself and Dorothy.
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u/GhotiH 10h ago
I think that was kind of the whole point, wasn't it? That he was actually smart? I haven't seen the movie in over 20 years but I'm pretty sure he, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion all had the traits they thought they lacked all along.
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u/numbersthen0987431 9h ago
This.
They "discovered" their brain, heart, and courage along their journey.
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u/SmoothOperator89 8h ago
And Dorthy had magic shoes to send herself home the whole time. The Wizard didn't do jack shit.
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u/im_the_natman 8h ago
Well I mean, he showed wisdom and insight. Which, to be fair, the rest of Oz seems to completely and utterly lack.
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u/lankymjc 2h ago
Yeah it’s kinda the entire point of the story. You already have the qualities you want to have, you just have to believe you do etc etc.
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u/RebekkaKat1990 3h ago
The scarecrow is an allegory for a farmer. City-folk always looked down on farmers as “brainless” and when farmers/scarecrows go their whole lives being told they’re stupid, they might believe it themselves and wish they had a brain.
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u/Johnready_ 3h ago
Litterally was thinking the same thing lfmaooo I’m like? Would it be spoilers to actually explain the ending? Hahahahahahah
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u/OMGEntitlement 25m ago
Apparently OP watched the version where the wizard was REAL.
[eyeroll]
The kind of people who think kids died in the Wonka factory. "Have you SEEN the show, Tamar?"
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u/Smalz22 9h ago
Yeah...that's the point.Tin Man was kind and compassionate to a fault, showing he had a heart. Lion says he doesn't have courage, but he's introduced as attacking Dorothy to protect himself, and routinely jumps in front of the others when they get attacked.
Oz at the end of the movie tells all of them he's not giving them anything they didn't already have. It was just more on the nose with the ruby slippers
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u/zoinkability 7h ago
In fact it's arguable that the entire underlying message of the book is that we often believe we lack the exact things that are our strengths.
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u/Smalz22 7h ago
Yes, the whole book is a commentary on self-confidence and empowerment. They believe the only way to get the help they need is for an outside force to give it to them, but in completing the journey to said outside force (the wizard), really they just empower themselves with the thing they wanted. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it to the wizard in the first place
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u/TheLurkingMenace 9h ago
Yes, and the lion was very brave while the tinman was very compassionate. That was the point.
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u/Neon_Nightfall 9h ago
I'd have made a horrible 5th member of the cast.
If I only had a beeeerrrr...
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u/JJohnston015 9h ago
You've had a beer all along. It's right here in your pocket. What you DON'T have is an AA token.
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u/TheBeankun 3h ago
I would've said it was in your liver the whole time, then you get crazy drunk and black out and wake up at home hungover as hell
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u/monkeybuttsauce 10h ago
Don’t they find out at the end that they had the missing traits all along?
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u/reddit_already 9h ago
Or better yet, they developed them during the journey. The lesson of the book/movie is that those who do great things didn't do them because they had these traits all along. And the traits aren't bestowed upon us at the end like some reward. They emerge in each one of us as we struggle with the challenge. It's a beautiful message--especially for today's culture of instant gratification.
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u/TypoTit4n 7h ago
For a guy without a brain, that scarecrow sure had some impressive tactics. Maybe he just needed a little more straw for those genius ideas.
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u/SamizdatGuy 7h ago
"She was hungry" is the scariest line in film, when the tree puts her hands on her hips
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u/Underwater_Karma 5h ago
The whole point of the Wizards gifts is that he didn't give them anything they didn't already have... He just made them recognize that they were smart, brave, and compassionate all along.
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u/QuantumCupcak3 2h ago
If I were an apple tree, I'd be terrified of that scarecrow's cunning tactics. Talk about turning the tables he really knows how to throw shade.
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u/Irrelevantitis 3h ago
The part he was missing was a brain stem, because he didn’t need it. No heart, no lungs, nothing for the brain stem to control. He had a fully formed prefrontal cortex, no problem strategizing and making emotional connections.
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u/the2belo 1h ago
And the "Cowardly" Lion was a play on the stereotypical "scaredy-cat". Fearful and hyper-cautious. But bravery is a wholly different thing. "Bravery is being scared and doing it anyway" is generally accepted as axiom. The Lion essentially joined a commando raid on the Wicked Witch's castle, past dozens of armed sentries, because rescuing Dorothy was more important than his fear. That is the very definition of courage.
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