Mother-in-Law of Oz

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2024

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Wizard of Oz is deeply ingrained into our culture. While many people can practically recite the 1939 movie, the original source material isn’t as well known. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum was published in 1900. There are a lot of theories as to what inspired Baum – but the answer may be who rather than what. Baum’s mother-in-law Matilda Joslyn Gage was a groundbreaking writer and activist who could’ve been in every high school history textbook if she hadn’t had a falling out with the leaders of the suffrage movement. But her ideas live on in The Land of Oz. I talk with historian Sally Roesch Wagner and UNC-Charlotte professor Dina Massachi about the politics of gender in Gage’s works and Baum’s stories. And I talk with therapist Dr. Gita Dorothy Morena who has a very personal connection to the books. Go to https://hensonshaving.com and enter IMAGINARY at checkout to get 100 free blades with your purchase. Remember to add both the 100-blade pack and the razor for the discount to apply. Try Surfshark risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Get Surfshark VPN at Surfshark.deals/imaginary. Enter the promo code IMAGINARY for three extra months for free! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to imaginary worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend or disbelief.
0:06.0	I'm Eric Melinsky.
0:08.0	Every year, there's one movie trailer that I know is going to debut during the Super Bowl and I'm really excited for it.
0:15.7	This year it was a teaser trailer for the movie adaptation of Wicked.
0:20.3	Don't be afraid.
0:22.3	I'm not afraid.
0:25.0	It's the wizard who should be afraid of me.
0:30.6	The movie is adapted from the musical Wicked, which was adapted from a novel by Gregory McGuire.
0:37.0	The story imagines, what if the Wicked Witch of the West was a misunderstood and marginalized political renegade.
0:44.0	That story isn't true to the original source material.
0:47.0	The Wicked Witch of the West is usually a villain.
0:50.0	But it may actually reflect the real source material for the Wizard of Oz,
0:55.0	the person who inspired a lot of what's in the Oz books.
0:59.0	And most people know the Wizard of Oz from the 1939 movie with Judy
1:04.6	Ireland but it started with a children's book in 1900 by L. Frank Baum. He wrote
1:10.8	over a dozen books that take place in Oz.
1:13.7	He also produced silent movies and theatrical shows about Oz.
1:18.2	People just connected to this world from day one.
1:21.4	But the real wizard behind the curtain, the person who may have sparked this entire franchise, was Baum's mother-in-law.
1:27.0	Her name was Matilda Jocelyn Gage.
1:31.0	And like the witch in the musical Wicked, Gage was misunderstood and
1:35.0	and like the witch in the musical Wicked, Gage was misunderstood and
	...

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