What I didn’t know the Wizard of Oz taught me

Movie messages are not only important for our children.  The content we surround ourselves with each day, even into adulthood, has an impact on our lives.  This TEDtalk by Colin Stokes “How to pick the right movies to share with kids” is relevant for everyone.

Why is there so much Force, capital F Force, and so little Yellow Brick Road?

As I stated earlier in I could show my prowess, I LOVE the Wizard of Oz.  I loved the music and the colors and the journey of each character to OZ.  What I did not know until watching this video was how different this movie was from others.  Colin Stokes comments that the Wizard of Oz has very little violence, most of the main characters are women and the theme of the movie is teamwork and helping others.  The other movie he speaks about at length is Star Wars, a movie I that has not once held my attention.  I have to admit I have only seen 2 of the 6(?) movies.  Though the movie has themes of courage and revolution, the movie is devoid of women and is quite violent.

The key point of his talk is this,

“They are doing a phenomenal job showing girls how they are supposed to defend against the patriarchy, but they are not necessarily showing boys how they are supposed to defend against the patriarchy.  There are no models for them.”

I am all for girl power.  Hollywood, parents, schools, books, they are all targeting girls in the best way they know how to help them become equals.  There  has been much talk on princess culture and other common female targeted movies and how well they live up to these empowerment qualities.  This is all very helpful.

We have got to show our sons a new definition of manhood… A real man is someone who trusts his sister and respects them and wants to be on their tema and stands up against the real bad guys who are the men who want to abuse the women.

But what about the boys?  We must start to focus on rewriting the male part.  In many of the girl power movies, boys become one-dimensional caricatures. We must flesh out these men and model a truly equal partner for these newly empowered women.  Teaching one sided equality leads to a new inequality.  It leads to educated, independent women who must learn how to navigate through a dangerous world.

My sister recently posted this article on Facebook.  I was disgusted that the line “This is my rape.”  meant anything to me.  I am disgusted that I have walked through the streets with my keys through my knuckles or with my phone ready to dial 911.  I am disgusted because we have allowed women to continue to walk through unsafe streets.  Though a simple movie character or even better parental role models will not alleviate all violence and pain, it would be a start.

When I hear the statistics, I think, ‘That’s a lot of sexual assailants. Who are these guys? What are they failing to learn?’

It is not only women who face this waking nightmare on a daily basis.  We are all responsible, men and women, gay and straight, black and white, to create a world where we all are safe.

Colin Stokes TEDex talk:

I could show my prowess…

Be a lion, not a mouse.  If I only had da nerve.  Let’s talk courage.

A huge fan of the The Wizard of Oz all my life (the books, mostly, but who doesn’t love Judy Garland with braids and a gingam dress?) I loved the colorful characters and fanciful tales.  The books came alive.  All except the Cowardly Lion.  His character and what he stands for in all of us, did not resonate with me as a child.  His songs were my least favorite in the movie and I just could not understand his plight.

Sadly, now his cowardice hits all too close to home.  The lion stood in his own way, believing deeply in his cowardice and failing to notice that he had everything he needed within him.  He is not afraid of death, but of life.  He is afraid of his own ROAR, his own greatness.  I talk myself out of opportunities on a daily basis.  I find excuses not to do what I know I want to because I might fail.  I stay in bed all day and sabotage my productivity.  I let my Cowardly Lion speak through me instead of finding my courage. 

How many times have you jumped at the sight of your own shortcomings?  How many times have you not made a phone call or applied for a job because you felt unqualified.  All of us have a “I could/would do that if…” list somewhere in the back of our mind.  Maybe some of us have written it down.  We continue to feed our Cowardly Lion.  We continue to fear our greatness.  

Marianne Williamson, author of Return to Love says:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? 

We have the power to be great, once we step out of our own way.  We can deny the Cowardly Lion his food.  We can go out into the world and do what we want to do, regardless of the very real obstacles we might face.  People do this everyday.  Yoga teacher and paraplegic Matthew Sanford says in a Yoga Journal interview:

You cannot overcome your life.

What he means is, there are circumstances we cannot change, but we have a lot of wiggle room.  He did not overcome his disability.  Instead he found a way to work with it, he had the courage to go for what he wanted.  He could have looked at yoga as out of his realm of possibility.  He could have sung his lion’s song of “if only’s”.  He didn’t.  

I have a friend, Sam, who grew up with a stutter.  Recently, an article she wrote on the topic was featured on xojane.com.  Having a stutter can cause fear in any situation where you are forced to speak.  Add to this that many people don’t understand stuttering and are often ridiculed, the fear can turn to panic and problems with self-esteem.  Through the American Institute for Stuttering, her supportive family and her own kick-ass personality, she was able to work with, not overcome, her difference.  She still stutters today, but she says

What I learned from the start, from that first day at the American Institute, is to feel the fear, and do it anyway.

Many of us face huge challenges in our everyday life.  There is dis-ease everywhere.  We may not be able to overcome it.  The best we can do is have the courage to keep going anyway.  Each time we get on our mat we can open our hearts to courage.  Try a pose that you fear (only if there is no physical injury preventing you from such).  Kick up to handstand.  Tip forward in crow.  Fall over.  The lion later sings “If I Were King of the Forest.”  There is no if, we are all kings of this forest we call life.  Get out there and ROAR!!!!

Click the picture for a 20 min video from YogaJournal.com to cultivate Motivation and Courage:

Namaste!