Emerald-Colored Glasses, Revisited
I can’t shake the fear that I’ve chosen to exist within a society of passive-aggressive, brilliantly talented children who shirk ethics and responsibility under the presumption that mischievous youth is never held to account for its actions as long as it offers something of value because the so-called adults will be too easily distracted by trying to capitalize, condemn, and lay claim. Yet, it’s hard to deny that these are the individuals that continue to push the platform to higher levels — the ones who raise the bar of the environment that fascinates me with its possibility, even as it disappoints me by its failure to soar. They are the ones making things happen while everyone else seems to be dropping the ball or bogged down in mediocrity. Is it really impossible to push limits and yet maintain ethics and accountability? Or is that an antiquated concept that lives nowhere except in the minds of idealists?
Maybe new frontiers are always this messy. Today’s outlaws; tomorrow’s folk heroes.
At some point we drove right by surreal. But I’m not sure if we’re on the road to Dreamtime or Dystopia, or just a colossal junkyard of creativity and hope without purpose. Or worse, it might just all be smoke and mirrors to feed ravenous and clever ids and egos.
Many thought the title of my first post on this controversy was just an allusion to the phrase rose colored glasses. While that was certainly at play, the main purpose of the title was a little different. For those of you who only saw the film, you might find this excerpt of interest:
“We came here to see the Great Oz,” said Dorothy.
The man was so surprised at this answer that he sat down to think it over.
“It has been many years since anyone asked me to see Oz,” he said, shaking his head in perplexity. “He is powerful and terrible, and if you come on an idle or foolish errand to bother the wise reflections of the Great Wizard, he might be angry and destroy you all in an instant.”
“But it is not a foolish errand, nor an idle one,” replied the Scarecrow; “it is important. And we have been told that Oz is a good Wizard.”
“So he is,” said the green man, “and he rules the Emerald City wisely and well. But to those who are not honest, or who approach him from curiosity, he is most terrible, and few have ever dared ask to see his face. I am the Guardian of the Gates, and since you demand to see the Great Oz I must take you to his Palace. But first you must put on the spectacles.”
“Why?” asked Dorothy.
“Because if you did not wear spectacles the brightness and glory of the Emerald City would blind you. Even those who live in the City must wear spectacles night and day. They are all locked on, for Oz so ordered it when the City was first built, and I have the only key that will unlock them.”
He opened the big box, and Dorothy saw that it was filled with spectacles of every size and shape. All of them had green glasses in them. The Guardian of the Gates found a pair that would just fit Dorothy and put them over her eyes. There were two golden bands fastened to them that passed around the back of her head, where they were locked together by a little key that was at the end of a chain the Guardian of the Gates wore around his neck. When they were on, Dorothy could not take them off had she wished, but of course she did not wish to be blinded by the glare of the Emerald City, so she said nothing.
Then the green man fitted spectacles for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion, and even on little Toto; and all were locked fast with the key.
Then the Guardian of the Gates put on his own glasses and told them he was ready to show them to the Palace. Taking a big golden key from a peg on the wall, he opened another gate, and they all followed him through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City.
Even with eyes protected by the green spectacles, Dorothy and her friends were at first dazzled by the brilliancy of the wonderful City. The streets were lined with beautiful houses all built of green marble and studded everywhere with sparkling emeralds. They walked over a pavement of the same green marble, and where the blocks were joined together were rows of emeralds, set closely, and glittering in the brightness of the sun. The window panes were of green glass; even the sky above the City had a green tint, and the rays of the sun were green.
There were many people–men, women, and children–walking about, and these were all dressed in green clothes and had greenish skins. They looked at Dorothy and her strangely assorted company with wondering eyes, and the children all ran away and hid behind their mothers when they saw the Lion; but no one spoke to them. Many shops stood in the street, and Dorothy saw that everything in them was green. Green candy and green pop corn were offered for sale, as well as green shoes, green hats, and green clothes of all sorts. At one place a man was selling green lemonade, and when the children bought it Dorothy could see that they paid for it with green pennies.
There seemed to be no horses nor animals of any kind; the men carried things around in little green carts, which they pushed before them. Everyone seemed happy and contented and prosperous.
~From L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz
Essay Assignment:
Craft an argument that defends the reason Dorothy, her friends, and all the residents of Oz were made to wear Emerald-Colored Glasses. Your thesis should clearly state whether you feel their purpose was protection, deception, to further the narrative of the Wizard, or any other motive you prescribe to the events. Be specific, remember to use quotes and facts and avoid irrelevant personal conjecture.
Extra Credit:
In a separate opinion paragraph, answer the following:
If you have to wear blinders to exist in a place, do you really want to live there? Why or why not?
(Be sure to include if you feel others would choose to reside there as well and what the reasons may be for their choices).