AESTHINT 57 Lecture 5: A&I 57 Lecture #5
26 Jun 2018
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A&I 57: Lecture #5 A Film Fantasy and Its Surplus Value (9/23/15)
● Wizard of Oz did not open well initially
● Re released after war and made more money
● allows the audience to return to the dreams of childhood every time the movie is
watched
● collectively created film
○ multiple directors and writers
● film has become a prototype for other Hollywood films involving fantasies
● referential meaning
○ where does the film take place?
○ what is its story?
○ Oz comes from the film which comes from the novel
● explicit meaning
● conceptual meaning
○ “what is the film about”
■ there is no place like home
● what you get
■ somewhere over the rainbow
● what you want
● covert/symbolic meaning
○ allegory about the New Deal?
○ enacts a child’s hostile feelings towards elders
● symptomatic meaning
○ runs counter to intentions and conscious designs
○ film maker didn’t intend these meanings, however they are ever present on the
screen
○ needs to be historical
● film is more than just a dream –– film is an embodiment of Dorthy’s dreams
● how might we allegorize the film?
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Document Summary
A&i 57: lecture #5 a film fantasy and its surplus value (9/23/15) Wizard of oz did not open well initially. Re released after war and made more money. Allows the audience to return to the dreams of childhood every time the movie is watched. Film has become a prototype for other hollywood films involving fantasies. Oz comes from the film which comes from the novel. Enacts a child"s hostile feelings towards elders. Runs counter to intentions and conscious designs. Film maker didn"t intend these meanings, however they are ever present on the screen. Film is more than just a dream film is an embodiment of dorthy"s dreams.
