# Wizard of Oz - the Glinda Conspiracy Theory **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595 "2007-11-07T22:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/1 "2007-11-07T22:44:50Z")
I delurk to share this tale: A woman came in to work today wearing ruby-coloured shoes. This started an Oz discussion and reminded me of my theory regarding Glinda in the film ‘The Wizard of Oz’. This is within the movie only, and wouldn’t apply to the books. The Recap: Before Dorothy arrives in Oz, there are Wicked Witches of the East and West, Glinda, presumably of the North or South, and with another good Witch in the remaining cardinal direction, as well as the Wizard in the Emerald City. Dorothy arrives, and squashes the WWE. Glinda turns up and puts the ruby slippers on Dorothy. At this point, _dorothy could go home._ . Instead, Glinda puts her on the road to Oz, ultimately resulting in the demise of the WWW and the departure of the Wizard. Then Glinda tells Dorothy how to use the slippers and go home. The theory: Glinda shows up to see what killed the WWE, sees Dorothy as an unknown factor. She’s going to send her packing with the slippers , but decides to see what trouble she can cause instead. When she sends Dorothy off to see the Wizard and the WWW (with secret magical backup), its as a stalking horse for her own imperial ambitions, in hopes that she’ll cause more trouble for other magic-users, and maybe cause more fatal “accidents”, or open up some opportunity for a coup. This succeeds beyond her expectations. Its only after the wizard leaves withOUT Dorothy that she decides to intervene again, because Dorothy has eliminated 3/5th of the major players in Oz, and is clearly a threat. So Glinda tells her the secret of the shoes and gets rid of her. Next stop: Snuff the other good witch, and the sequel will be: “Glinda, Magical Dictatrix of Oz” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/2 "2007-11-07T23:05:05Z")
The other good witch was probably already dead by that point. Otherwise she would have shown up sometime to see what all the kerfuffle was about. All Hail Glinda! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/3 "2007-11-07T23:08:29Z")
Clearly you haven’t seen _Wicked_. There’s a conspiracy theory, but Glinda (er, Ga-linda) would’ve been too dumb to orchestrate one herself. There are greater powers at work here and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/4 "2007-11-07T23:13:06Z")
The poor scarecrow. His was a short and tragic reign. I wonder if he even lasted until the third click of Dorothy’s rubied heels. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/5 "2007-11-07T23:17:19Z")
[QUOTE=Greg Charles] The poor scarecrow. His was a short and tragic reign. I wonder if he even lasted until the third click of Dorothy’s rubied heels. [/QUOTE] I’m guessing he’s still in a big pink bubble at Glitmo. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/6 "2007-11-07T23:22:21Z")
[QUOTE=Greg Charles] The poor scarecrow. His was a short and tragic reign. I wonder if he even lasted until the third click of Dorothy’s rubied heels. [/QUOTE] Go read the other books in the Oz series, Baum wrote more than a dozen of em. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/7 "2007-11-07T23:57:35Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Go read the other books in the Oz series, Baum wrote more than a dozen of em. [/QUOTE] As mentioned in the OP, this interpretation would only apply to the film, which plays fast and loose with the Oz books (e.g. in the movie, the scarecrow gets diploma, instead of the books brans and pins - so that he’ll be sharp). The Baum books create an entire world, complete to politics, and missing royal family, while the book and the play “Wicked” draw on both, but they’re non-canonical to the Baum books, as is the film. All hail Glinda. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/8 "2007-11-08T00:22:18Z")
I loved the Return To Oz film. It made the sinister undertones of the 1940 (?) film obvious. There were some great characters in it too and some gnarly period effects. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/9 "2007-11-08T02:43:55Z")
Sounds like **Pepper Mill’s** theory from several years ago. Here’s her **Teemings** piece on it: [http://www.straightdope.com/teemings/issue07/glinda.html](http://www.straightdope.com/teemings/issue07/glinda.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/10 "2007-11-08T03:06:41Z")
Of course, _in the movie_, the whole Oz trip is just a dream. I don’t think that’s true of the book. This means that Glinda is really only a figment of Dorothy’s imagination. She and all her possible schemes go _poof_ when the girl awakes. Unless maybe Oz is _real_, and Dorothy is an insane inhabitant of this world who sometimes dreams of an imaginary land called _Kansas_. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/11 "2007-11-08T03:17:13Z")
[http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/](http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/) check out the start of issue 2 ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/12 "2007-11-08T03:17:55Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] I’m guessing he’s still in a big pink bubble at Glitmo. [/QUOTE] _applause_ ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/13 "2007-11-08T03:28:50Z")
It’s fairly obvious in the movie that Glinda actually killed the Witch of the East herself by magically dropping Dorothy’s house on her. Seriously, how could a twister have carried the house to that precise spot, without doing the slightest damage to the surrounding Munchkin houses and lollipop trees or whatever? And Glinda just happened to be drifting by at that exact moment? Unlikely. It was clearly a whack job. It has to be said, Glinda doesn’t impress as being the most crafty sorceress in existence-- she’s not merely a ‘bubble-headed blonde,’ she actually travels around _in a literal bubble_– so we may hypothesize that this was the serendipitous result of a spell gone wrong, Aunt Clara-style. She was probably trying to conjure a ‘hose’ with which to ‘douse’ the Witch, got confused, and mistakenly conjured a ‘house’ instead. The fact that Glinda didn’t let Dorothy know about the Ruby Slippers’ power isn’t too surprising either. Even knowing that the shoes were magic, there’d be no reason for her to memorize the relatively obscure fact that they possessed the ability to transport a person out of Oz permanently. Why would any Ozite ever use such a power? No doubt after Glinda sent Dorothy on her way, she wafted back to her witch headquarters and looked up more information about the shoes. Then when she got the chance later, she could mention it all smugly as if she had known it all along. Of course, since the movie establishes that Oz and all its inhabitants are merely the result of a fever dream, Glinda’s actions really represent Dorothy’s deeply held belief that traveling to exotic lands, meeting new friends, and helping others are ultimately a complete waste of time. Indeed, this exact same belief is still held by many residents of Kansas today. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/14 "2007-11-08T03:32:22Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] > **[Cheshire Crossing](http://www.cheshirecrossing.net/)** check out the start of issue 2 [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s excellent! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/15 "2007-11-08T13:40:14Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] the 1940 (?) film [/QUOTE] 1. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/16 "2007-11-08T13:50:51Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] I’m guessing he’s still in a big pink bubble at Glitmo. [/QUOTE] Thank Glinda I contained no spewable fluids when I hit this post. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/17 "2007-11-08T14:06:52Z")
You know, I swear I posted something similar to this a few years back as well. It must be one of those meme things whose time has come… ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/18 "2007-11-08T14:14:53Z")
Wow, I actually [found it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298436). However, Pepper’s theory predates mine by about 4 years, so s/he gets proper credit. Curses! Foiled again! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/19 "2007-11-08T15:37:56Z")
[QUOTE=Bytegeist] Of course, _in the movie_, the whole Oz trip is just a dream. I don’t think that’s true of the book. This means that Glinda is really only a figment of Dorothy’s imagination. She and all her possible schemes go _poof_ when the girl awakes. Unless maybe Oz is _real_, and Dorothy is an insane inhabitant of this world who sometimes dreams of an imaginary land called _Kansas_. [/QUOTE] That’s the cool thing about magic. You can get your patsy back to Kansas and have her (and everyone around her) believe it was all a dream. Dorothy was obviously a tool of the Most Benevolent Leader. Hail Glenda! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595/20 "2007-11-08T15:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] Hail Glenda! [/QUOTE] Hail [Glenda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_or_Glenda), indeed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wizard-of-oz-the-glinda-conspiracy-theory/425595.md?page=2)