# Ding Dong the "Witch" is dead?-What an incredibly callous thing to say. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 19, 2016, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537 "2016-02-19T09:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/21 "2016-02-20T14:21:05Z")
The Witch of the East wasn’t terrorizing the munchkins, she was casting a complex summoning spell. All the fireworks must have frightened the midgets with their childlike minds. After all, you see no dead or injured little guys lying about. However, the ruby slippers gave the spell a little more oomph than the witch intended and, well, now we know what happens when summoning spells go bad. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/22 "2016-02-20T17:03:34Z")
If the shoes supposedly protected her, what was all that about with the hourglass in the castle, or was the Wicked Witch just bluffing? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/23 "2016-02-20T17:17:43Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Everybody knows Glinda assassinated the good witch of the south. 🙂 The Good Witch of the South will rise again! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/24 "2016-02-21T00:27:02Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [FWIW, in the books, Oz is a real place, and not just a dream of Dorothy’s per the movie. I’m going with the books. If Oz is a dream of Dorothy’s, then Glinda has no independent existence or motivation to discuss.] > > I feel there are a few holes in Pepper Mill’s version. > > 1. If Glinda sees Dorothy as a threat, why doesn’t she just send Dorothy home right away? If that happens, Glinda’s in better shape than she’s been, since Oz is minus the Wicked Witch of the East. And since Dorothy is so clearly clueless, once she’s gone, she’s not coming back again. What Glinda wouldn’t want is for her to stick around and figure out whether she’s got any powers. > > 2. “I feel that Glinda knows that the Wizard is a fake and can’t do anything himself about the Wicked Witch. After all, if he could have gotten rid of her, he would have done so soon after he got to Oz.” OK, but if the Wicked Witches of the East and West are sisters and presumably allies against Oz, Glinda, and whoever the fourth witch is, it’s quite possible that if the Wizard were a real Wizard, he might have the power to take on one Wicked Witch but not both at once. > > 3. If Glinda believes the Wizard is a fraud, how is he a meaningful rival? She’s got magic; he doesn’t. > > 4. Unless she really thinks Dorothy has some extraordinary powers, why does she think sending Dorothy anywhere will accomplish anything but killing off Dorothy? Why not dispose of her kindly by sending her back to Kansas right away? > > 5. If she _does_ believe Dorothy has some extraordinary powers, see (1). You don’t want your rival to find out what she’s capable of. > > Either way, ISTM that it’s a real long shot that Glinda’s going to come out on top as a result of sending Dorothy to the Emerald City. She’s already ahead in the game because the Witch of the East is dead. Why not send Dorothy home, and see how the new balance of power shapes up? Maybe she’s just a dingbat. I mean, she doesn’t even understand that Dorothy could just be an ordinary girl, she thinks all women are either good witches or bad witches. I think she’s been sipping on too much brew and done gone batty. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/25 "2016-02-21T00:51:37Z")
Well, in _Wicked_, Glinda and Elphaba, the Witch of West (who is not Wicked), are rivals for the same man… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/26 "2016-02-21T03:48:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Well, in _Wicked_, Glinda and Elphaba, the Witch of West (who is not Wicked), are rivals for the same man… That has nothing do do with the subject of this thread. Despite similar names, that travesty is not set in the same universe as L. Frank Baum’s books. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/27 "2016-02-22T01:00:30Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > _“You bitch! I had the power all along and instead you send me thru this minefield, acid-trip, mind-fuck of a journey?!?”_ POPPIES … poppies … poppies … ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/28 "2016-02-22T15:31:43Z")
Way back in college I had a fun Parliamentary Debate case based on Dorothy rejecting the wizard’s call to go get the broom. A lot of fun to argue during the main rounds about just how wrong it was—the shoes rightfully belonged to the witches sister, the witch did not directly harm you (though veiled threats were made), etc. The summation/wrap up brought it back to reality in terms of blindly accepting government authority to kill enemies of the state or, depending on how opp reacted, on the immorality of being a mercenary. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537/29 "2016-02-22T16:30:21Z")
When Margaret Thatcher died, there was an [online campaign](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22145306) by opponents in the U.K. to celebrate her death by propelling “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead” up the music charts. The song reached the number two slot and, in an attempt at a compromise between issues of freedom of speech and respect for someone who had just died, the BBC decided not to play it in full during its _Official Chart Show_ that week. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead-what-an-incredibly-callous-thing-to-say/746537.md?page=1)