Significance of the Wizard of Oz references
The show Fairly Legal employs some references to The Wizard of Oz (also note the usage of "The Yellow Brick Road Song" as theme song), in particular Kate using different roles as knicknames on her cell phone for the people in her life:
The Wicked Witch - for her boss and stepmother Lauren, whom she doesn't like for probably both those aspects, but who isn't as evil as Kate thinks her to be.
The Lion - for her assistant Leonardo ("Leo"), who is kind of "nerdy" and sometimes helps Kate steer clear of her chaos.
The Tin-Man - for her husband Justin, which she is separated from yet seems to have an on-and-off relationship with.
The Wizard - for her late father, with whom she has somehow different views of the law in practice.
And I'd just infer Kate, who indeed seems a bit lost at times, to be Dorothy then.
(Did I maybe forget anyone here? Strangely enough her brother doesn't seem to have knickname.)
But having only superficial knowledge about The Wizard of Oz, I'm not sure if to make anything more out of those references than a mere side joke. Do these references have any deeper meaning? Do those Wizard of Oz characters and their roles in the story maybe provide a description of the corresponding Fairly Legal characters or at least how Kate sees them?
Best Answer
The references are not "side jokes" but metaphors on Kate's view of them.
The Wicked Witch opposes. The Lion helps without confronting. The Tin-Man wants to understand but confuses his options. The Wizard sees all and knows all from his perspective which is different than the perspective of Kate.
Pictures about "Significance of the Wizard of Oz references"
What is the significance of The Wizard of Oz?
Frank Baum's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," upon which the movie is based, was a political allegory for American politics at the dawn of the 20th century. Dorothy, the Kansas innocent, represents the nobility of middle (and Midwestern) America; the Tin Man is industry, the Scarecrow is agriculture.Who does The Wizard of Oz represent?
The Wizard represents President William McKinley. \u201cThe Wizard in his Emerald City is none other than the evasive, hard-to-pin-down President William McKinley: '[h]e symbolizes the American criterion for leadership-he is able to be everything to everybody'\u201d (Earle, 8).What is the hidden message in The Wizard of Oz?
The Wizard of Oz symbolism goes incredibly deep, from the main characters to the cyclone, those famous slippers, and even Toto. And the central message in the book is all about the rise of Populism and the debate over gold versus silver.What are some symbols in The Wizard of Oz?
Some specific symbols related to the political allegory are:- Dorothy's silver shoes (money or silver)
- Emerald City (money or factory)
- Yellow brick road (gold)
- Kansas and farmland (commoners and populism)
- Tin Man (industrialism and factory workers)
- The Wizard (selfish acts of political leaders or elites)
Does \
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: RODNAE Productions, Brett Sayles, murat esibatir, cottonbro