I didn't think The Wizard of Oz was one of them.
Yet last night when I was out for drinks with some past and present writers for my website, I discovered that two of the three of them had not seen The Wizard of Oz. Actually, the third might not have seen it either, but he was not present when the subject came up. I'm pretty sure at least he would have made the time.
These guys are not as much younger than me as you might think, either. One of them is only just 30, but another is turning 37 next week -- only 12 years younger than me.
The weird thing is that they took a certain pride in not having seen it, doing a little elbow bump to congratulate themselves.
I won't revoke your cinephile card for any movie you haven't seen, but there are certain blind spots that just seem improbable if not impossible. Didn't they have The Wizard of Oz on TV once a year like we did in America, where everyone set aside whatever they were doing -- it being one of only three channels they could watch -- whenever that occurred?
Oh no, they didn't. See, these guys are enough younger than me that they don't remember a time without cable. Heck, one of these guys was born in the 1990s. He probably doesn't remember a time without internet.
Plus, they explained to me, The Wizard of Oz held no such similar stature in Australia to the stature it held in the U.S. I hardly think that's the case, but it's certainly possible that the networks here did not have a deal to show it annually on television, before people even had VCRs and you could rent it at your local video store.
It took being a captive audience, with no other choices, to make The Wizard of Oz such a familiar text for those in my generation -- those Americans in my generation, I should say. If this was one of a hundred movies they showed on TV at only a set time each year, maybe we wouldn't have all tuned in, but it was a special night you would circle in the TV Guide whenever it came up.
I mean, there were other movies that got shown regularly on TV. It's a Wonderful Life would have been one, but curiously, it took me until I was an adult to see that one. So we all have our blind spots and we should not gasp in surprise at anyone else's. I still haven't seen the original King Kong, which I loosely consider the strangest movie for a person in my position with my proclivities not to have seen.
But I do think it would behoove a cinephile to at some point make a specific decision to watch The Wizard of Oz, just to fully get the references to it in the culture, just to see what all the fuss is about. Because I'm a cinephile who has grand delusions of one day being a completist -- that is, seeing all the movies that have ever been made -- I'm sure not to let a movie of the stature of Wizard of Oz slip by me. Of course I will never be able to do that, but the desire reflects an interest on my part to be conversant with as much of the cinematic landscape as it is possible for one person to be. Not knowing The Wizard of Oz would feel like quite the deficit in that ambition.
Of course, not all cinephiles are created the same way. Some want to spend their time on movies they have already decided speak to a specific aesthetic preference they have, or will in some way challenge what movies can do. They can take one look at Wizard of Oz and know that it probably doesn't scratch either of those itches.
Neither can I imagine, though, a cinephile who just waves his or her hand at the whole idea of The Wizard of Oz, like it can't possibly be worth watching. I can maybe understand not getting to it yet -- 30 is still young -- but through their elbow bumps, they confirmed they had specifically avoided it, kind of like they were trolling someone who might at some future date ask them the very question I asked them last night.
They are probably no more embarrassed about not seeing The Wizard of Oz than I am embarrassed about only seeing Gladiator the one time. Later in that conversation they expressed shock that I had only watched the 2000 best picture winner once, perhaps even questioning how that was possible. One of these guys is working on a shot-by-shot remake of Jurassic Park, another film I have only seen once all the way through.
They're just young, and I'm just old.
We may be having a gathering in December at the home of one of the guys, who has moved about an hour outside town. If we do, we'll have some drinks Friday night and then watch movies on Saturday to recover from our hangovers. The idea is to each bring one film the others have not seen to contribute to that little Hangover Film Festival.
If not for the fact that the third younger guy -- who is between the other two in age -- has probably already seen it, I'd be inclined to spring The Wizard of Oz on them. If they aren't going to educate themselves, I can certainly do it for them.
The idea, though, is to introduce people not only to something they've never seen, but maybe something they've never even heard of. Forcing them to watch a movie they've already decided not to watch themselves is not in the spirit of the day, nor is it likely to have the result I want. You don't get that many opportunities to force a recommendation on someone where they are pretty much compelled to watch it right then and there, and not delay their own viewing indefinitely. Better make it count and try to hit a home run.
Rest assured, though, that I will be figuring out a way to get them to watch The Wizard of Oz at some point in the future.
They may not like it, but at least now they'll know what everyone is talking about.
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