tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post2604586301906340633..comments2024-03-09T05:53:59.542-05:00Comments on Oz and Ends: “Dorothy is American.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-84021731787256188142009-11-06T02:13:35.196-05:002009-11-06T02:13:35.196-05:00Starting with my childhood passion for the film ve...Starting with my childhood passion for the film version of 1776, John Adams has long been one of my favorite Americans...and a female Japanese-American John Adams is possibly the most awesome thing I've read today.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01714171897239398438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-4928535282109838782009-11-03T13:38:06.014-05:002009-11-03T13:38:06.014-05:00Hey, if Dorothy is sometimes a blonde and sometime...Hey, if Dorothy is sometimes a blonde and sometimes a brunette, I don't see why she couldn't be Asian in another version.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17838510995365876113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-46114215643478349712009-11-03T13:03:01.521-05:002009-11-03T13:03:01.521-05:00In my fifth grade class’s Bicentennial pageant, ba...In my fifth grade class’s Bicentennial pageant, based on the musical <i>1776</i>, John Adams was played by a Japanese-American girl named Karen.<br /><br />Hey, she had a ponytail and could carry a tune.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-8539319732278115232009-11-03T12:36:08.598-05:002009-11-03T12:36:08.598-05:00Anecdotal evidence: when I was in sixth grade in P...Anecdotal evidence: when I was in sixth grade in Port Angeles, WA, I saw a stage production of The Wizard of Oz put on by the local Catholic private school. The girl who played Dorothy was of East Asian descent--I don't know of what particular ethnicity. This would have been 1974 or '75.<br /><br />PS - The Best Christmas Pageant Ever stars Fairuza Balk, another Oz connection. Although she later played Dorothy, she's Canadian, not of East Asian descent (as far as I know).ericshanowerhttp://www.age-of-bronze.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-27442001704507511962009-11-03T12:20:56.590-05:002009-11-03T12:20:56.590-05:00I suspect that Grace Lin’s teacher would have said...I suspect that Grace Lin’s teacher would have said she was just as entitled to audition for Dorothy as any other girl. By that time most of American society, and especially the educational profession, had embraced “color-blind” values. <br /><br />(Whether people were and are so good at carrying out those values in practice is another question.)<br /><br />I think this is a case of young kids having rigid ideas of what’s right without having the experiences or prodding to think through those ideas.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-2740856161865240482009-11-03T09:56:09.052-05:002009-11-03T09:56:09.052-05:00Depends strongly on the individual teacher, I'...Depends strongly on the individual teacher, I'd imagine, but uncomfortable to contemplate. I remember a bit in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (book, I haven't seen the movie)--wasn't that written around then? when they're looking for a baby to be Baby Jesus, and someone knows just the right foster child, but says something like "But he's Chinese, is that a problem?" and the mother-organizer says warmly that it doesn't matter at all.Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11690852339559706714noreply@blogger.com