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September 3, 2004
"It's not a place
you can get to by a boat or a train. It's far, far away. Behind the
moon, beyond the rain..." says Judy Garland. Oz…the land is
magic, a fantasy of turnabout reality, where bricks are yellow, tin
men sing, and lions cower in fear.
Born in the stories
Frank L. Baum told his sons and their friends, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
was published May 15, 1900, and became the biggest selling children's
book of the year. In 1939, Hollywood’s golden year, MGM released the
movie of Oz where Munchkinland exploded in psychedelic
Technicolor.
The film enjoyed
modest success in the theaters, but quickly became a cultural legacy
after its debut on television in American homes. The story is as
fresh today as it was seventy five years ago when Judy Garland as
Dorothy hurled through the sky in a Kansas tornado.
Strangely similar,
radically different, the Land of Oz is both delightful and
frightening. Dorothy is greeted in song and celebration by Munchkins
celebrating the death of a terrible witch. And in a fight for her
life, she is terrorized by
Nikko,
the Winkies, and vicious flying monkeys. In a battle to survive,
Dorothy must separate fact from fiction, real from false, and pull the
curtain back to reveal the truth behind it.
Today, caught in
our own modern parallel universe, we are engaged in a battle of
survival every bit as intense as that of Dorothy. Ours is a land
where the delightful is also frightening, where false is disguised as
truth.
Our own battle
began as
America
spun out of the 50s and set a new world in motion in the 1960s, a
world most easily pictured in scenes from the free and easy musical
fest of Woodstock. Drugs flowed freely and sex was easy…a world of
relaxed virtues guided by a new ethic…if it feels good, do it.
Yellow colored a
submarine, and bricks paved Abbey Road. Like the Land of Oz,
psychedelic colors ruled the day, and music fueled passions. But the
end of our story is much more difficult to wrap up than Dorothy’s.
It’s not nearly as simple as throwing a bucket of water on the Wicked
Witch and watching her melt.
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In 1950, there
were two STDs; today there are over 25.
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The two STDs of
the 50s were curable; today serious STDs are incurable and fatal.
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HIV/AIDS was once
non-existent; twenty years after the first reported case in 1981,
close to one million Americans live with the virus.
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On television,
the Lucy we loved became pregnant after she married Rickie; today
the modern Lucy is one of nearly a million unwed teens who will
become pregnant this year.
-
Way back when,
pregnancies were planned and welcomed; in 2000, 1.3 million
pregnancies were aborted.
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Crooners once
sang Love Me Tender; rappers now chant porn star stamina.
These “milestones”
of modern life are enough to make us despair. But the true darkness
of today’s world is measured by the innocent face of a child who
doesn’t know the world was once a safe and secure place. We’re not in
Kansas anymore.
We know it. But
what about our children? They have grown up thinking monkeys always
flew and psychedelic is a primary color. Dorothy made it back to
Kansas because she had a vision of the world she used to live in. She
knew Kansas existed.
“Oh -- what a world
-- what a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you
could destroy my beautiful wickedness!?” screamed the dying witch,
melting in the puddle of water. It is possible for today's girls
and boys to do the same in our own parallel
world...if we only pull back the curtain on lies from the 60s that
have outlived their welcome.
We need to paint a
picture for our children of what life looks like when sex is part of a
lifelong marriage of mutual respect. We must restore the
honor and respect between sexes that once existed. And it is no
small challenge to pull the curtains back on Hollywood wizards who
trade on illusion, destroying the simple treasure of decency once
valued by all…in Kansas.
Sex will always be
easy, but it is no longer free. In the midst of an epidemic of
sexually transmitted diseases and broken relationships, the challenge
for us is to courageously face and reveal the truth to our children.
Kansas is still a home waiting for us to return.
With the truth in
hand, the Good Witch Glinda’s advice to Dorothy works for us as
well. We have always had the answer within us. Just click our heels
three times and turn. Turn away from our promiscuous ways. Teach our
children sexual abstinence is the expected standard until they marry.
And, most importantly, believe in our children and their ability to
succeed.
Kansas
has never disappeared. We can always return…if we set our hearts on
it. Dorothy made it home. We can, too.
Copyright © 2004 Jane Jimenez
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