I must admit, I was never a huge fan of the Wizard of Oz. I know it's all classic and whatnot, but it never had much appeal. I don't know if it's because my sister made me watch it, or because the main character was a girl and I didn't want cooties by association. Needless to say, I haven't seen the "original" (as it turns out, there are several Oz films, but it looks like the 1939 rendition was the most popular) for a goodly while, but I was pretty excited to see Oz The Great and Powerful. Probably had something to do with this silly stage magician tangling with witches who could throw fireballs. Classic underdog story.
I have plenty of movie critic friends who have many things to say about this movie. Something about character arc and other things that need to be explained to me. I don't really pay attention to that kind of stuff, but I do look at some of the moral statements of the movie. The main character is a magician, so sleight of hand and lying is kind of his thing. But he's an outright con-man. Without giving too much of the movie away, let's just say that this character flaw is pretty much the source of every unfortunate thing that happens to him throughout the movie.
But is it also his saving grace? When does it become acceptable to use lies, trickery, and such deceit? The wicked witch threatens open war with a peace-loving people, and only the mighty "wizard" can save them. But all he has are parlor tricks. Will he - or can he and should he - trick his way to victory? There really is quite a bit of ingenuity that goes into this plan they concoct. They don't have any standard soldiers, so they need to make due with what they have.
Obviously, it would have been best if Oz wasn't so deceitful from the very beginning. He could have saved himself a lot of heartache. But when push comes to shove, how much "evil" can we bring to the table for the "greater good?" It creates a bit of a quagmire when Oz needs to save a people he endangered, but he really only has a single set of skills to work with.
The question at the end of all of this is: when does lying become acceptable?
