Reds fanfic

[bookmark95]

I would like to hear more about the conspiracy in the film.

In the plot, the student stays with a conservative British politician. The politician is only allowing this kid to gain publicity: The British government wants greater cooperation, and a UASR student can serve as a symbol.

But rogue elements of the British government plan to assassinate the politician and frame the student as a radical, so they can renew the frosty tensions.

When the plot is uncovered, these elements try to kill the student, but by this point, he is defended by the villagers who once shunned him, and an epic battle ensues.

Sorry if the plot sounds clunky. I created the story on a whim to test my creativity.

 

[Miss Teri]

In the plot, the student stays with a conservative British politician. The politician is only allowing this kid to gain publicity: The British government wants greater cooperation, and a UASR student can serve as a symbol.

But rogue elements of the British government plan to assassinate the politician and frame the student as a radical, so they can renew the frosty tensions.

When the plot is uncovered, these elements try to kill the student, but by this point, he is defended by the villagers who once shunned him, and an epic battle ensues.

Sorry if the plot sounds clunky. I created the story on a whim to test my creativity.

It reminds me of Hot Fuzz. Outsider comes to small British village, struggles to fit in, finds massive conspiracy, epic fight scene at the very end.

It works. I would love to see this picture.

 

[bookmark95]

It reminds me of Hot Fuzz. Outsider comes to small British village, struggles to fit in, finds massive conspiracy, epic fight scene at the very end.

It works. I would love to see this picture.

He doesn't find a conspiracy. The conspiracy goes after him, only it doesn't count on him actually adapting to British life.

Many films in the UASR, if not propaganda, are "issues" oriented. In the late 20th century, the issue is learning to tolerate and accept the culture of a different land.

 

[eliphas8]

He doesn't find a conspiracy. The conspiracy goes after him, only it doesn't count on him actually adapting to British life.

Many films in the UASR, if not propaganda, are "issues" oriented. In the late 20th century, the issue is learning to tolerate and accept the culture of a different land.

Honestly I think agitprop would lose a bit of its menace as a concept. It's a non-coercive way to persuade people to actions and opinions, and would have significant appeal as practice from the civil war. Likely this would be the unofficial moral framework of the movie industry. Promote communist values, which here tend towards the exact kind of thing the hays code was made to oppose.

To that end, I say we turn the reactionaries daughter into a son and make the student gay. It's still roughly the same plot but it's dealing more thoroughly with the tremendous cultural gap between the UASR and FBU. It'd make the movie stick out more in the minds of the UASR as a semi notable film if it isnt just "learn to accept the reactionary British as people too" but also "but they must learn to accept their own children".

The UASR is in an interesting place putting out a message of "Franco-Britons can be friends too" after what has probably been decades publicizing the horrors of Apartheid, the occupation of Algeria, and widespread sexism and homophobia of the FBU and its allies. Not saying it won't happen, but a lot of the political discourse in the UASR on the left will be aggressive towards the FBU for exactly these reasons. Capitalism will be the overarching label for what they want to oppose. But it's not so shallow as "we need o drive the capitalists from the world". People get more animated by this kind of direct threat to those they see as like themselves or who they can position themselves into the place of with minimal changes.

 

[bookmark95]

Honestly I think agitprop would lose a bit of its menace as a concept. It's a non-coercive way to persuade people to actions and opinions, and would have significant appeal as practice from the civil war. Likely this would be the unofficial moral framework of the movie industry. Promote communist values, which here tend towards the exact kind of thing the hays code was made to oppose.

To that end, I say we turn the reactionaries daughter into a son and make the student gay. It's still roughly the same plot but it's dealing more thoroughly with the tremendous cultural gap between the UASR and FBU. It'd make the movie stick out more in the minds of the UASR as a semi notable film if it isnt just "learn to accept the reactionary British as people too" but also "but they must learn to accept their own children".

The UASR is in an interesting place putting out a message of "Franco-Britons can be friends too" after what has probably been decades publicizing the horrors of Apartheid, the occupation of Algeria, and widespread sexism and homophobia of the FBU and its allies. Not saying it won't happen, but a lot of the political discourse in the UASR on the left will be aggressive towards the FBU for exactly these reasons. Capitalism will be the overarching label for what they want to oppose. But it's not so shallow as "we need o drive the capitalists from the world". People get more animated by this kind of direct threat to those they see as like themselves or who they can position themselves into the place of with minimal changes.

I get the culture of the UASR encourages progressive ideals, and the film itself could end up promoting it.

But as many people on this forum would tell you, you can't change a person or a culture overnight.

One teenager, while offering good lessons to his immediate host family, will not automatically change the social and cultural fabric of his community. In fact, there could be a few lessons he could learn from the community itself.

The teenager certainly isn't a perfect soul, and has plenty of the negative characteristics of a UASR teenager.

A while he learns to tolerate the people around him, and they team up to fight back, it does not mean everybody likes him.

Let's imagine that the "manic dream pixie girl/boy" genre is common in UASR film. In each of these movies, the communist always converts the community to his way of life. This movie I've crafted plays it more realistically: he can change some people, but he can't change everybody. In fact, this kid is himself intolerant of other ways of life, and must learn to adapt to new surroundings. The only thing that truly unites everybody is an outside threat.

As I've said, it is notable ITTL for bucking the trend.

 

[eliphas8]

I get the culture of the UASR encourages progressive ideals, and the film itself could end up promoting it.

But as many people on this forum would tell you, you can't change a person or a culture overnight.

One teenager, while offering good lessons to his immediate host family, will not automatically change the social and cultural fabric of his community. In fact, there could be a few lessons he could learn from the community itself.

The teenager certainly isn't a perfect soul, and has plenty of the negative characteristics of a UASR teenager.

A while he learns to tolerate the people around him, and they team up to fight back, it does not mean everybody likes him.

Let's imagine that the "manic dream pixie girl/boy" genre is common in UASR film. In each of these movies, the communist always converts the community to his way of life. This movie I've crafted plays it more realistically: he can change some people, but he can't change everybody. In fact, this kid is himself intolerant of other ways of life, and must learn to adapt to new surroundings. The only thing that truly unites everybody is an outside threat.

As I've said, it is notable ITTL for bucking the trend.

Did I say anything to the effect otherwise? I'm suggesting the very basic fact that the movie might well include some kind of moral complexity beyond the boorish ameircan comes to England to learn a lesson about respect for others values. The way I see it the route to notoriety would be in trying to embrace both sides. The gay American student is not simply wrong. He might be flawed, but the angle of him dealing with the homophobia of his host family and a relationship with a local adds depth to the story and doesn't make it just a moralistic lesson. It makes it about learning to accept others but to also push for your own acceptance. And I'm not saying he changes everyone's minds in it or makes them into good communists. Just that in part through this kind of connection with the son and the student, the gap is bridged a little bit and the movie ends on a positive not of "we can come to understand each other".

We're talking a movie involving a conspiracy to assassinate the host family and pin it on a hapless American student. I'm not exactly it to be particularly high brow and I'm sure as middle of the road message movies go "love can help to overcome the boundaries between one another" is totally the kind of thing that would get made ittl. Because it's the same basic tropes we use today.


Also, on a more general level I don't think movies which buck trends are particularly useful to write about in a world where we don't know the actual trends. Staying more comfortably between rah rah communism agitprop and "reproachment has convinced us were ivory tower dicks" would likely be fairly representative of the way your average American actually looks at the situation.

 

[bookmark95]

Did I say anything to the effect otherwise? I'm suggesting the very basic fact that the movie might well include some kind of moral complexity beyond the boorish ameircan comes to England to learn a lesson about respect for others values. The way I see it the route to notoriety would be in trying to embrace both sides. The gay American student is not simply wrong. He might be flawed, but the angle of him dealing with the homophobia of his host family and a relationship with a local adds depth to the story and doesn't make it just a moralistic lesson. It makes it about learning to accept others but to also push for your own acceptance. And I'm not saying he changes everyone's minds in it or makes them into good communists. Just that in part through this kind of connection with the son and the student, the gap is bridged a little bit and the movie ends on a positive not of "we can come to understand each other".

We're talking a movie involving a conspiracy to assassinate the host family and pin it on a hapless American student. I'm not exactly it to be particularly high brow and I'm sure as middle of the road message movies go "love can help to overcome the boundaries between one another" is totally the kind of thing that would get made ittl. Because it's the same basic tropes we use today.


Also, on a more general level I don't think movies which buck trends are particularly useful to write about in a world where we don't know the actual trends. Staying more comfortably between rah rah communism agitprop and "reproachment has convinced us were ivory tower dicks" would likely be fairly representative of the way your average American actually looks at the situation.

I rework the plot a little, and add what you just added.

But I'm guessing that most movies in the UASR are communist propaganda. Even if there is greater freedom to make movies, authorities are going to want to push them into a certain direction.

 

[eliphas8]

I rework the plot a little, and add what you just added.

But I'm guessing that most movies in the UASR are communist propaganda. Even if there is greater freedom to make movies, authorities are going to want to push them into a certain direction.

Most art is propagandistic in nature. The secret to good agitprop is that you forget it's agitprop. Movies and popular media tends to reflect a conscious or unconscious act of culture creation, the values they extol and the messages within them inform people growing up of their views.

For example, Mad Max Fury Road is probably a good diagram of an American action movie ittl. The actual structure and plot don't change all that much. It's the details that end up altered to fit into a communist/revolutionary framework.

To use an ittl example, where they to make a Ten Commandments epic they probably wouldn't focus on adapting the biblical tail closely and would instead make it into a more direct story of a slaves rising up against their masters. With the implication that Moses is a lot like Harry Haywood.

 

[Miss Teri]

Alternate Alternate History

I'm going to go meta, and discuss the fates of famous AH books
Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick: Jello mentioned earlier that the main POD is the revolution never happened, and America becoming an "economically subservient state" to a fascist Britain and Germany. So, that means that America must be under a fascist regime, presumably modeled by Dick on Cuba. However, there must be a significant degree of Nazi and Japanese influence within the country, and the Nazi-Japanese Cold War probably is still a plot point, only with Britain and America as significant allies of Germany, which allows characters like Mr. Tagomi to still stick around . The Grasshooper Lies Heavy could tell of an America which also averted the revolution, but defeated Germany, and later became engaged in a Cold War with the revived British Empire, which it eventually defeats. Fascist America is offended by the book, (especially since it could damage relations with Britain and Germany) and that's what leads it to try to assassinate the author. It would feature people more struggling under domestic tyranny than foreign occupation.

TL-191 by Harry Turtledove: No significant changes during the first two series. However, during the "Center Can't Hold" arc, there could be a 1917 revolution in the United States, which places Eugene Debs in charge, to fit with the Russia analogy. Many of the establishment figures flee to the CSA in the aftermath. It would also become home to many of the fleeing Reds after the Russian Civil War. Meanwhile, the CSA becomes even more fascist after the attempted Black communist uprising. Many of them might flee to the newly created Socialist nation across the Mason-Dixon, and Featherstone probably begins to send a few African Americans to the Socialist USA, before he begins his genocide. After that, the story will probably be the same from that point onward.

Worldwar by Harry Turtledove: The Race invades shortly after the creation of the Franco British Union, and during Operation Tectonic. Their invasion forces the United Nations and the Axis to team up to save humanity. This stops the war in the USSR briefly, where the opposing forces have to team up to keep the Race out of Southern Russia. Meanwhile, an alliance of Integralist Brazil, and the Latin Alliance keep most of Central and South America out of the Race's hands. However, most of Africa and Asia (excluding Japanese ruled territories) still fall to them. Colonization probably has the UASR and the USSR supporting various independence movements across the globe against both the Race and the Nazis, who are growing increasingly close to the Franco-British Union.

Draka by SM Stirling- No noticeable changes, except the Draka are much more fascist in nature.

The Nomad of the Time Stream series by Michael Moorcock- Once again, not very different. Probably more popular in the UASR than in the FBU.

Lest Darkness Falls by L. Sprague de Camp- Published during the tumultuous First Cultural Revolution, it follows the adventures of Martin Padway, an American archeologist sent back to Italy shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire. He helps stabilize the Visagoth kingdoms in Italy, and later begins to introduce Capitalism to them, in the hopes that the cycle of history will eventually allow socialism to take over.

Any series or book I missed

 

[bookmark95]

I'm going to go meta, and discuss the fates of famous AH books
Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick: Jello mentioned earlier that the main POD is the revolution never happened, and America becoming an "economically subservient state" to a fascist Britain and Germany. So, that means that America must be under a fascist regime, presumably modeled by Dick on Cuba. However, there must be a significant degree of Nazi and Japanese influence within the country, and the Nazi-Japanese Cold War probably is still a plot point, only with Britain and America as significant allies of Germany, which allows characters like Mr. Tagomi to still stick around . The Grasshooper Lies Heavy could tell of an America which also averted the revolution, but defeated Germany, and later became engaged in a Cold War with the revived British Empire, which it eventually defeats. Fascist America is offended by the book, (especially since it could damage relations with Britain and Germany) and that's what leads it to try to assassinate the author. It would feature people more struggling under domestic tyranny than foreign occupation.

TL-191 by Harry Turtledove: No significant changes during the first two series. However, during the "Center Can't Hold" arc, there could be a 1917 revolution in the United States, which places Eugene Debs in charge, to fit with the Russia analogy. Many of the establishment figures flee to the CSA in the aftermath. It would also become home to many of the fleeing Reds after the Russian Civil War. Meanwhile, the CSA becomes even more fascist after the attempted Black communist uprising. Many of them might flee to the newly created Socialist nation across the Mason-Dixon, and Featherstone probably begins to send a few African Americans to the Socialist USA, before he begins his genocide. After that, the story will probably be the same from that point onward.

Worldwar by Harry Turtledove: The Race invades shortly after the creation of the Franco British Union, and during Operation Tectonic. Their invasion forces the United Nations and the Axis to team up to save humanity. This stops the war in the USSR briefly, where the opposing forces have to team up to keep the Race out of Southern Russia. Meanwhile, an alliance of Integralist Brazil, and the Latin Alliance keep most of Central and South America out of the Race's hands. However, most of Africa and Asia (excluding Japanese ruled territories) still fall to them. Colonization probably has the UASR and the USSR supporting various independence movements across the globe against both the Race and the Nazis, who are growing increasingly close to the Franco-British Union.

Draka by SM Stirling- No noticeable changes, except the Draka are much more fascist in nature.

The Nomad of the Time Stream series by Michael Moorcock- Once again, not very different. Probably more popular in the UASR than in the FBU.

Lest Darkness Falls by L. Sprague de Camp- Published during the tumultuous First Cultural Revolution, it follows the adventures of Martin Padway, an American archeologist sent back to Italy shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire. He helps stabilize the Visagoth kingdoms in Italy, and later begins to introduce Capitalism to them, in the hopes that the cycle of history will eventually allow socialism to take over.

Any series or book I missed

Guns of the South- Jello hasn't elaborated much about South Africa. So I guess the plot of the book would be time-traveling American-Cuban extremists instead of Afrikaner nationalists.

 

[Miss Teri]

We're not in Kansas anymore.....

How would the Oz series be perceived in the UASR? Would it be considered a relic of the ulra-capitalist Gilded age, or would it still be a classic children's book.

Thinking through this question, here's what I got:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming

Screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Colonel Frank J. Baum(Based off the novel by L. Frank Baum)

Distributed by the 20th Century Film Collective

Released August 25th, 1939


Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is a young girl living on a farm in Dust Bowl Kansas. Her Aunt Em (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin), both struggle to make the harvest under the conditions, particular with landlord Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) trying to wring payment out of them. During one encounter with Gulch, Dorothy's dog Toto bites Gulch. She later threatens to evict Em and Henry off their land. Dorothy takes Toto, and tries to find some help. They come across fortune teller Professor Marvel (WC Fields), who convinces Dorothy to go back. However, a large dust cloud hits the farm, and Dorothy is forced to stay in a outhouse. She blacks out.
When she awakes, she and Toto finds herself in a forest, and finds a pair of legs with silver slippers underneath her home. After walking, she comes across a small village, and a group of dwarfs emerge. Their leader explain they are the munchkins. who worked as miners for the Wicked Witch of the East, who exploited and abused them, until they finally revolted, and temporarily drove her out. Dorothy's arrival had finished off the Wicked Witch. A plain looking woman among the Munchkins (Billie Burke) introduces herself to Dorothy as the Good Witch of the North, who explains to Dorothy that she had landed in the magical Land of Oz, which is home to a number of races. However, the heavily pampered, materialistic Green faced Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) arrives to retrieve the Silver Slippers. The Good Witch gives the slippers to Dorothy, which infuriates the Wicked Witch, and swears to eliminate Dorothy. The Good Witch proceeds to tell Dorothy that the only way to get home was to ask the Wizard, the prevailing ruler of the land. She must follow the Yellow Brick Road to The Emerald City.
On her journey to the Emerald, Dorothy first encounters the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), who has been forced by a farmer to stand out in the field for days, while crows proceeded to destroy him constantly. He wants a brain to help him combat the farmer and the crows. He decides to join Dorothy on her journey on the Yellow Brick Road. They then encounter the Tin Man (Ronald Reagan), who, due to his love of a woman above his station, was overworked, and lost his entire body to the fight. He hopes to regain a heart in order to win the woman he loves. Finally, the three encounter the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lehr), who was forced from his land by humans. He hopes to gain courage and stand up for his land.
They finally arrive in the lavish, excessively wealthy Emerald City. The Wizard of Oz rules as a virtual tyrant, and when they try to gain his favor, he demands they kill the Wicked Witch of East.
When they enter her realm, the witch views their progress, and plots to kill Dorothy and gain the Silver Slippers. After a fight with her legions of flying monkeys, and guards, they confront the Wicked Witch. The Witch tries to set the Scarecrow on fire. Dorothy takes a bucket of water to put out the flames, but it also hits the Witch, who steadily melts. Her legions are grateful to be freed from her evil rule.
When they get back to the Emerald City, the Wizard delays giving them their requests. However, Toto rips off the curtain to reveal the real wizard to be a meek old man (WC Fields), who fails to achieve any of their desire.Nevertheless, he convinces the Scarecrow of his true intelligence, the Tin Man of his love and caring, and the Lion of his courage. He offers to take Dorothy back on a hot air balloon. However, it floats away from her, and the Wizard disappears into the distance.The people of the Emerald City are confused as to what to do. The Scarecrow, seeing the wealth, suggests distributing it, and allowing the people to select their leader. This idea is embraced by the gang, and the Scarecrows intelligence is validated. Dorothy encounters the Good Witch once again, who tells her that her sister, Glenda the Witch of the South, could help her go back to Kansas. The Scarecrow stays behind to rally the Emerald City. As they journey again, they find a group of animals being attacked by greedy landowners. The Cowardly Lion actually scares them off. The Cowardly Lion then encourages the animals to fight back against the landowners, citing his own experience. When they finally reach Glenda, it is revealed that Dorothy could have gone home this whole time using the Silver Slippers, by tapping them. She says goodbye to the Tin Man, who hopes to now go for his love in his new form, and the Cowardly Lion, who decides to join the animals in their struggle. After tapping the heels,...
Dorothy wakes up in her bed, surrounded by her Aunt and Uncle, her friends, Toto, and even Professor Marvel. As she recounts her dream, she says "It's Good to Be Home."

Background info- While not the first adaptation of L. Frank Baum classic 1900 children's book, (in fact, it was the 8th adaptation of the Oz series, and the 4th adaptation of this particular book)[1], it was the first adaptation that was made after the 1933 revolution. As such, it heavily reflected the political mode at the time, often deviating from the source material in order to insert a political message. The theme of exploitation and class is more explicit in this interpretation of the work, than the more allegorical meaning in the original. Here, the woes of Dorothy's friends are caused by authority figures abusing them, and damaging them. The munchkins are exploited by the Wicked Witch of the West, before they revolt. The animals in the forest are also oppressed by land developers and owners. The portrayal of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard also draws significant influence from the political climate. The Wicked Witch lives in a lavish castle, and rules virtually as a feudal lord of sorts, and she is ultimately defeated by the simplest of means. The Wizard is worshipped as a god, who has brainwashed his followers into obeying his every command. By contrast, the "Good" characters (Dorothy, her friends, the Good Witches, the Munchkins) are simpler, and more rustic. In the end, it is the actions of the simpler workers and farmer who triumph over the rich witches or expose the falseness of the Wizard. The Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City are both shown as beautiful at first, but ultimately lead to a dissatisfying end, symbolizing the crony capitalism that reigned during the original books publication, and its later sequels and incarnations.
There was also social realist elements added, mostly to keep with the times. The setting was shifted to the then recent Dust Bowl, which had decimated Kansas among other states, and to show the real struggle of the farmers. In the original novel, the Land of Oz was very real, and Dorothy is literally transported back. However, it was changed to a dream world to appease social realists, who found the idea of a fantasy world absurd. [2] Still, the film, much like its source material, became an instant classic, and has been cited as an example of the Cultural Revolution on film.

On a side note, it was the first film role for Ohio radio personality and newsreel announcer Ronald Reagan.

[1] Surprised? So was I. Apparently it was huge in the early 1900's, but tapered off by Baum's death in 1919, and was only revived by the OTL film.
[2] This was also the reason the ending was changed OTL. They didn't think conservative audiences would accept the idea that it was a fantasy world.
[3] I had read somewhere that a popular urban legend stated he was considered for the Scarecrow role. I might have confused it with Casablanca, since that was what I got when I looked.

-------------------------------

So, yeah, that's my idea of what the the classic film would look like. Anyone disagree?

 

[bookmark95]

Thinking through this question, here's what I got:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1939)

Directed by Victor Fleming

Screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Colonel Frank J. Baum(Based off the novel by L. Frank Baum)

Distributed by the 20th Century Film Collective

Released August 25th, 1939


Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) is a young girl living on a farm in Dust Bowl Kansas. Her Aunt Em (Clara Blandick) and Uncle Henry (Charley Grapewin), both struggle to make the harvest under the conditions, particular with landlord Miss Gulch (Margaret Hamilton) trying to wring payment out of them. During one encounter with Gulch, Dorothy's dog Toto bites Gulch. She later threatens to evict Em and Henry off their land. Dorothy takes Toto, and tries to find some help. They come across fortune teller Professor Marvel (WC Fields), who convinces Dorothy to go back. However, a large dust cloud hits the farm, and Dorothy is forced to stay in a outhouse. She blacks out.
When she awakes, she and Toto finds herself in a forest, and finds a pair of legs with silver slippers underneath her home. After walking, she comes across a small village, and a group of dwarfs emerge. Their leader explain they are the munchkins. who worked as miners for the Wicked Witch of the East, who exploited and abused them, until they finally revolted, and temporarily drove her out. Dorothy's arrival had finished off the Wicked Witch. A plain looking woman among the Munchkins (Billie Burke) introduces herself to Dorothy as the Good Witch of the North, who explains to Dorothy that she had landed in the magical Land of Oz, which is home to a number of races. However, the heavily pampered, materialistic Green faced Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton) arrives to retrieve the Silver Slippers. The Good Witch gives the slippers to Dorothy, which infuriates the Wicked Witch, and swears to eliminate Dorothy. The Good Witch proceeds to tell Dorothy that the only way to get home was to ask the Wizard, the prevailing ruler of the land. She must follow the Yellow Brick Road to The Emerald City.
On her journey to the Emerald, Dorothy first encounters the Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), who has been forced by a farmer to stand out in the field for days, while crows proceeded to destroy him constantly. He wants a brain to help him combat the farmer and the crows. He decides to join Dorothy on her journey on the Yellow Brick Road. They then encounter the Tin Man (Ronald Reagan), who, due to his love of a woman above his station, was overworked, and lost his entire body to the fight. He hopes to regain a heart in order to win the woman he loves. Finally, the three encounter the Cowardly Lion (Bert Lehr), who was forced from his land by humans. He hopes to gain courage and stand up for his land.
They finally arrive in the lavish, excessively wealthy Emerald City. The Wizard of Oz rules as a virtual tyrant, and when they try to gain his favor, he demands they kill the Wicked Witch of East.
When they enter her realm, the witch views their progress, and plots to kill Dorothy and gain the Silver Slippers. After a fight with her legions of flying monkeys, and guards, they confront the Wicked Witch. The Witch tries to set the Scarecrow on fire. Dorothy takes a bucket of water to put out the flames, but it also hits the Witch, who steadily melts. Her legions are grateful to be freed from her evil rule.
When they get back to the Emerald City, the Wizard delays giving them their requests. However, Toto rips off the curtain to reveal the real wizard to be a meek old man (WC Fields), who fails to achieve any of their desire.Nevertheless, he convinces the Scarecrow of his true intelligence, the Tin Man of his love and caring, and the Lion of his courage. He offers to take Dorothy back on a hot air balloon. However, it floats away from her, and the Wizard disappears into the distance.The people of the Emerald City are confused as to what to do. The Scarecrow, seeing the wealth, suggests distributing it, and allowing the people to select their leader. This idea is embraced by the gang, and the Scarecrows intelligence is validated. Dorothy encounters the Good Witch once again, who tells her that her sister, Glenda the Witch of the South, could help her go back to Kansas. The Scarecrow stays behind to rally the Emerald City. As they journey again, they find a group of animals being attacked by greedy landowners. The Cowardly Lion actually scares them off. The Cowardly Lion then encourages the animals to fight back against the landowners, citing his own experience. When they finally reach Glenda, it is revealed that Dorothy could have gone home this whole time using the Silver Slippers, by tapping them. She says goodbye to the Tin Man, who hopes to now go for his love in his new form, and the Cowardly Lion, who decides to join the animals in their struggle. After tapping the heels,...
Dorothy wakes up in her bed, surrounded by her Aunt and Uncle, her friends, Toto, and even Professor Marvel. As she recounts her dream, she says "It's Good to Be Home."

Background info- While not the first adaptation of L. Frank Baum classic 1900 children's book, (in fact, it was the 8th adaptation of the Oz series, and the 4th adaptation of this particular book)[1], it was the first adaptation that was made after the 1933 revolution. As such, it heavily reflected the political mode at the time, often deviating from the source material in order to insert a political message. The theme of exploitation and class is more explicit in this interpretation of the work, than the more allegorical meaning in the original. Here, the woes of Dorothy's friends are caused by authority figures abusing them, and damaging them. The munchkins are exploited by the Wicked Witch of the West, before they revolt. The animals in the forest are also oppressed by land developers and owners. The portrayal of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard also draws significant influence from the political climate. The Wicked Witch lives in a lavish castle, and rules virtually as a feudal lord of sorts, and she is ultimately defeated by the simplest of means. The Wizard is worshipped as a god, who has brainwashed his followers into obeying his every command. By contrast, the "Good" characters (Dorothy, her friends, the Good Witches, the Munchkins) are simpler, and more rustic. In the end, it is the actions of the simpler workers and farmer who triumph over the rich witches or expose the falseness of the Wizard. The Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City are both shown as beautiful at first, but ultimately lead to a dissatisfying end, symbolizing the crony capitalism that reigned during the original books publication, and its later sequels and incarnations.
There was also social realist elements added, mostly to keep with the times. The setting was shifted to the then recent Dust Bowl, which had decimated Kansas among other states, and to show the real struggle of the farmers. In the original novel, the Land of Oz was very real, and Dorothy is literally transported back. However, it was changed to a dream world to appease social realists, who found the idea of a fantasy world absurd. [2] Still, the film, much like its source material, became an instant classic, and has been cited as an example of the Cultural Revolution on film.

On a side note, it was the first film role for Ohio radio personality and newsreel announcer Ronald Reagan.

[1] Surprised? So was I. Apparently it was huge in the early 1900's, but tapered off by Baum's death in 1919, and was only revived by the OTL film.
[2] This was also the reason the ending was changed OTL. They didn't think conservative audiences would accept the idea that it was a fantasy world.
[3] I had read somewhere that a popular urban legend stated he was considered for the Scarecrow role. I might have confused it with Casablanca, since that was what I got when I looked.

-------------------------------

So, yeah, that's my idea of what the the classic film would look like. Anyone disagree?

I think it would be an interesting movie. A little heavy-handed, but something I could see appearing in the time period.

I remember in high school, we explored how Baum had included a lot of populist themes when he wrote the original book. (The Wicked Witch of the West represented environmental disasters, the Wizard of Oz represented the ineffectiveness of the pre-Teddy Roosevelt presidency, etc.). I think an ITTL Wizard of Oz would emphasize those things a lot more.

 

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

I think it would be an interesting movie. A little heavy-handed, but something I could see appearing in the time period.

I remember in high school, we explored how Baum had included a lot of populist themes when he wrote the original book. (The Wicked Witch of the West represented environmental disasters, the Wizard of Oz represented the ineffectiveness of the pre-Teddy Roosevelt presidency, etc.). I think an ITTL Wizard of Oz would emphasize those things a lot more.

I think the ITTL Wizard of Oz

I also wrote a report on that for extra credit in US History. The Yellow-Brick road was meant to represent the gold standard and the Tin-Man represented industrial workers. The Cowardly Lion was meant to represent William Jennings Bryan.

 

[Time slip]

From what I've gathered, that idea of the story being political allegory didn't come about until the 1960s. It's not even a universally agreed upon interpretation of the story.

 

[bookmark95]

From what I've gathered, that idea of the story being political allegory didn't come about until the 1960s. It's not even a universally agreed upon interpretation of the story.

Animal Farm had a lot of allegory.

 

[eliphas8]

Animal Farm had a lot of allegory.

Yeah. But crucially the allegory of animal farm is direct. At best wizard of oz is a metaphor because it applies to literally anything due to the vagueness of the symbolism.

 

[bookmark95]

Yeah. But crucially the allegory of animal farm is direct. At best wizard of oz is a metaphor because it applies to literally anything due to the vagueness of the symbolism.

Speaking of which, I wonder if George Orwell will right Animal Farm.

Jello mentioned that he's slightly more optimistic in this TL, and wrote 1984 with a happy ending, in which Smith is able escape to America.

Orwell, despite what many right wingers think, wasn't blasting socialism, but Stalinist governance in his works. Much of his anger had to do with his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, and I doubt it would change OTL.

George Orwell himself was incredibly bitter over the death of his wife.

The big theme of Animal Farm was how revolutionaries often usurp revolution. But ITTL, we've seen a relatively successful social revolution in America, and Soviet Union, while still terrible, loosen up a little because of that.

So what would Animal Farm look like in such a world?

 

[eliphas8]

Animal farm really isn't likely to be written. The whole Spanish episode of Orwells life is likely to be totally altered, given how the Spanish revolution succeeds and survives as a rump Catalan state even after the rest of Spain falls. And the sheer lunacy going on in Barcelona OTL is not happening.

 

[eliphas8]

Orwells late career is probably extraordinarily different from OTL, with such a transformative experience changed so thoroughly.

 

[teg]

Speaking of which, I wonder if George Orwell will right Animal Farm.

Jello mentioned that he's slightly more optimistic in this TL, and wrote 1984 with a happy ending, in which Smith is able escape to America.

Orwell, despite what many right wingers think, wasn't blasting socialism, but Stalinist governance in his works. Much of his anger had to do with his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, and I doubt it would change OTL.

George Orwell himself was incredibly bitter over the death of his wife.

The big theme of Animal Farm was how revolutionaries often usurp revolution. But ITTL, we've seen a relatively successful social revolution in America, and Soviet Union, while still terrible, loosen up a little because of that.

So what would Animal Farm look like in such a world?

Maybe this version of Animal Farm will feature the revolutionaries allowing their internal divisions to split them and allow capitalism to survive, which could well be a fear of Orwell in the late Second World War/early Cold War as the USSR and America's squabbling gives the FBU the breathing room to survive.

teg