Flying Monkeys or the Election?

I got some really nice feedback from my last post. Quite a lot of it was from people who enjoyed my story of when I was in the 3rd grade.

It's funny because I remember so few things from when I was a kid. And then someone will say something, or I will watch or read something and all of a sudden I am hit with memories I had forgotten I even had.

Such is the case for this post.

My blogging buddie Jan's latest post concerns monkeys.

In particular the "Flying Monkeys" from the movie "The Wizard of Oz".

So, I will first thank Jan, for helping me to remember this from when I was in school.

Thank you Jan for the good idea.

When I was a kid, and probably even into my older, younger years, there were no such things as VCRs. Believe it or not there wasn't even HBO. So pretty much if you wanted to see a movie that was no longer in theaters, you had to wait for it to be shown on TV. Quite often it was a very big event when certain movies were shown.There are two I can think of right off the top of my head, that were shown once a year, every year.

They were "The Ten Commandments" and "The Wizard of OZ"

I always thought that "The Ten Commandments was good for the first half hour, but as soon as Moses went into the desert it got awfully boring. It was kind of the opposite for "Wizard of OZ". I never cared much for the first part, but as soon as it turned to color, I was a big fan.

As I remember it, "Commandments", was always shown Easter Sunday. I don't remember when "Oz" was shown. I know it was the same time every year but I really can't remember.

Around Halloween seems like a likely time, so I'll assume that was when it was shown.

This is what I do remember of those times.

Back then, when a beloved old chestnut of a movie was shown, it truly was an event. I can remember being surprised that there were still shows on the other channels. It seemed so silly to me that any other channel would waste time being "on" during an occasion as important as "The Wizard of OZ" night. Looking back on it now I'm still a little surprised. I guess there were some people though that weren't willing to miss an episode of "Dr Kildare" or "Peyton Place",
even for the likes of Dorothy and Toto.

In my kid world though, everyone, watched The Wizard of Oz.

And do you want to know how I knew this? Because, (and this was even by 3rd or 4th grade, when you would think we would have been a little bit jaded) everyone, the next day at school, was talking about having seen the movie the night before.

By general consensus, "Oz" was considered a "Scary" movie.

This meant that if you didn't want to be thought of as a baby, you better have the goods. Heaven forbid if you weren't able to, join in and hold your own, in one of the many conversations going on about "The Wicked Witch of the West". Or (just as scary) the mean old, black and white, neighbor lady, who tried to run off with poor little Toto in a basket. And of course not to be forgotten was the "STORM". I have to admit that the evil old lady, riding her bike, up in the air, during the Tornado, still can give me shivers.

At school, the day after OZ was shown, was definitely a make or break day for proving how "brave", how "cool", how "grown-up" you really were.

It was a day not to be taken lightly.

This was even MORE important for the boys. All the boys, (probably not really "all" but it sure seemed like it) would run around the playground holding their coats above them like wings, trying to chase anyone gullible enough to run from them.

That's code for they chased us girls.

After a whole day of being chased by flying monkeys at recess, the Principal would usually announce that all the monkey business needed to stop. The announcement, made over the loudspeaker, (each room had their own personal loudspeaker, just like today) was met with groans from the boys, and sighs of relief from the girls.

Most of us were lying of course. It was FUN being chased by those crazy boys.

That would be the official end of the yearly "Wizard of OZ" event.

Ya know, as I think about this, I realize that there just aren't as many of these community affairs as there used to be.
The closest we can come, would have to be the Campaigning and Election that has finally come to an end for another four years.

I hardly see this as a proper comparison.

To hold a candle to the kind of "Wizard of OZ" events that I have just described, it would have to be seen as an enjoyable occasion, that everyone young and old, would look forward to. I don't think that would be a very good way to describe this years (or any year's for that matter) Election process.

I guess if I were young today I may feel this way about the opening night of "HighSchool Musical Part Three". That is if I was: A. Female B. Between the age of 6 to 14, and C. Had a cooperative enough parent to make sure I was there for the important first night showing.

I don't know, it just doesn't strike me as the same thing.

I think that this is one of the problems with the world today. We just don't have enough "Shared Experiences". Everything is so splintered now-a-days. It used to be that if you were a teenager, you would listen to the top 40 radio station. It would carry almost all of the popular music of the last few months. Top forty was such an institution that it kept Casey Casem in business for more than thirty years.

Now we have at least five or six stations for the same age group that used to require only one.

And no, I'm not forgetting about the ultra-ultra, intellectual, cool kids that listened to FM. They were a world onto themselves.

I really don't even think I would really want to go back to those simpler times. I love all the progress that has been made over the last forty years or so. I just can't help but think that it would be so nice if we could take a smidgen of the past innocence and mix it up with the sophistication we are so used to today.

A little less, Me and Mine, and a little more, We're all in this together.

Yeah, I think that would be an awfully nice development.

Now what did I do with my DVD copy of "The Wizard of OZ".