Today in Supreme Court History: September 28, 1787

9/28/1787: Confederation Congress adopts Constitution and sends it to the states.

The Constitution

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Collins v. Virginia, 138 S.Ct. 53 (decided September 28, 2011): granted cert on a case involving the automobile exception to the warrant requirement; the full Court later reversed the Virginia Supreme Court, 138 S.Ct. 1663 (why was this not in United States Reports?) (2018), holding that motorcycle involved in speeding incident which could be seen through the top of a partially enclosed driveway was in the “curtilage” of house and therefore warrant needed (see May 28 for my comment on this)

[SRG2]

8-1, with a dissent by Alito who argued that as it was a police search there was no violation. At least, he might just as well have done - it would have been more honest.

[Dan Schiavetta]

today's film review: The Wizard of Oz, 1939

O.K., a great movie, classic Hollywood at its most accomplished. And a great movie for kids. But . . .

"Over the Rainbow" is one of the greatest songs ever written. Also great is the setting and Judy Garland's delivery of it. Unfortunately it's at odds with the "moral" of the story. It's like having Scarlett O'Hara sing "John Brown's Body" in Gone with the Wind. Dorothy longs for something outside her drab, flat, black-and-white existence and finds herself in a color world, Oz. With the people she knows transformed into more interesting characters (well, the flim-flam man is about on a par with the Wizard, though the Wizard's flim-flamming is far more successful). But the lesson? "There's no place like home." Back to dreary old Kansas.

A long time ago I was driving through Wyoming and stopped to get gas. The clerk looked about 16. I said, "What town is this?" "Rock Springs." "Oh, Rock Springs! Where the action is!" I'll never forget the eye-roll that resulted.

Another time, we stopped at an antique shop (probably in Western Massachusetts) next to a gorge. "What a beautiful place you're growing up in!" my wife said. The clerk (about 18 this time), tottering on high-heeled sandals even though it was winter, was probably thinking, "Bullshit! Get me out of this hellhole!! I want bright lights! Big city! I'll settle for Worcester, even!"

Another time, we were on our annual trip up to Buffalo to see my mother's family. As we drove through a hilly, forested area she said, "What wonderful scenery!" My sister, who was about 10 years old, said, "What scenery? All you see is trees!"

I've never seen a tornado, but I've lived in parts of the country where they were common. They told me it sounds like a train approaching. Hide in the southwest corner of the basement. Or was it the southeast? I suppose in Australia it would be northeast. Or northwest?

Having your dog taken away from you (and presumably destroyed at the local pound) should be more horrifying to a young person than it's depicted. But it's canceled shortly afterward as Toto hops out of Miss Gulch's bag. Though to be honest, being bit by a dog can be a serious matter due to rabies.

An old maid -- frustrated, joyless, angry at the world. Maybe she was an unacknowledged lesbian. Fortunately thanks to the "sexual revolution" there are few of those around now. Just having a vibrator at home would turn her into a philan - philan -- good deed doer.

Auntie Em and Henry are a stereotype that still exists -- strong, smart wife and dim, subservient husband. They're the only ones who have no counterparts in Oz.

Unspoken, but Dorothy is an orphan.

Why is it the scarecrow who is unaffected by the poppies? It should be the tin man, who is not organic matter.

Speaking of poppies, that they were a source of opium was understood by young 1939 audiences, but not by their children who grew up with TV and movies where any mention of drugs was prohibited.

The Good Witch of the North is, of course, white. We never see the Good Witch of the South, but . . . the joke writes itself. It would have been good comic relief (not that any is needed here).

Like a lot of gifted children, I was so bored in school that I sometimes gave wrong answers just for kicks. When a teacher asked me if the tin man was actually heartless, or the lion actually cowardly, or the scarecrow actually stupid, I said "Yes". She must have thought I was pretty dim myself.

I'm probably not the only kid who had the occasional bad dream involving flying monkeys.

In a surprise plot twist, after Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch, the witch's guard says, "All hail Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead!" Most "bad guys" are only forced to do it as their day job.

The witch, played by Margaret Hamilton (who I remember from Maxwell House commercials), is given no sympathy. But her sister got crushed by Dorothy's house! Her hatred of Dorothy, though irrational, is understandable.

Why will Dorothy miss the scarecrow "most of all"? I must be missing something.

"A heart is not judged by how you love, but how you are loved by others." False.

Best exchange:

Henry: You mean, she bit you?
Miss Gulch: No, her dog.
Henry: Oh, she bit her dog, eh?
Gulch: No.

[bernard11]

I'm not a fan, though I have always been intrigued with the idea that the book was intended as a screed against the gold standard.

[Dan Schiavetta]

That's interesting. Explain!

[Magister]

From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz

[Syd Henderson]

The Scarecrow is the first of the friends she makes in Oz unless you count Glinda.

In the book, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South but the Good Witch of the North is the one who meets Dorothy in Munchkinland. This means that the reason Glinda doesn’t tell Dorothy about the silver (in the book) slippers right away is because she doesn’t meet Dorothy until later. Makes more sense, but that would mean having two Good Witches which might be confusing.

And in the book, Oz is not a dream and Dorothy brings Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to Oz in a later book and they come to stay. Presumably they’re still alive since they don’t age in Oz. And the little dog too.

[Magister]

Why is it the scarecrow who is unaffected by the poppies? It should be the tin man, who is not organic matter.

The scarecrow was a scarecrow from the start. The tin man was originally a man but parts of his body were replaced by a tinsmith (his own ax chopped them, due to a witch's curse), but he remains alive. By contrast, Tik-tok the windup mechanical man from a different Baum book is not alive.

Why will Dorothy miss the scarecrow “most of all”? I must be missing something.

The scarecrow was the first companion she met in Oz; her oldest Oz friend.

[Magister]

The witch, played by Margaret Hamilton (who I remember from Maxwell House commercials), is given no sympathy. But her sister got crushed by Dorothy’s house! Her hatred of Dorothy, though irrational, is understandable.

I think it's more that she wants the ruby slippers than that she cares about her sister; it really wasn't Dorothy's fault that the house landed on that witch.

“A heart is not judged by how you love, but how you are loved by others.” False.

True in the sense that you may delude yourself in how much and well you love, but the judgement of others in response to you is more reliable if not more valuable. A miser loves his money quite sincerely, but a generous person is more likely to be loved by those he helps.

False in the sense that loving your neighbor may not prompt any reciprocation.

[Dilan Esper]

“Over the Rainbow” is one of the greatest songs ever written. Also great is the setting and Judy Garland’s delivery of it. Unfortunately it’s at odds with the “moral” of the story. It’s like having Scarlett O’Hara sing “John Brown’s Body” in Gone with the Wind. Dorothy longs for something outside her drab, flat, black-and-white existence and finds herself in a color world, Oz. With the people she knows transformed into more interesting characters (well, the flim-flam man is about on a par with the Wizard, though the Wizard’s flim-flamming is far more successful). But the lesson? “There’s no place like home.” Back to dreary old Kansas.

This is incorrect. The story is about how the real world doesn't work the way you dream it. "Over the Rainbow", sung at the start, is the point of view of a little girl who hasn't discovered that yet.

The Wizard of Oz is a great film on almost every level-- it's a great children's adventure (and generation after generation of children love it), it's a great movie technically (just like Gone With the Wind, the technicolor looks brilliant and the special effects way ahead of their time-- Victor Fleming really was a special director), great, memorable songs ("Over the Rainbow", "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", etc.) and it's a deep movie with numerous intelligent things to say, about friendship, the superficiality of labels like "courage" and "intelligence", and, of course, about how things don't work out the way you dream it but somehow still work out alright.

And it's also a journey from innocence to experience, which is such a common and beautiful theme in literature-- think "Great Expectations", "The Last Detail", etc.

Hollywood occasionally just hits a home run- a movie that is both very smart and a big hit. This is one of the paradigm examples.

[Dilan Esper]

BTW, this essay about the movie by the great Black author Terry McMillan about the movie is an incredible read.

https://docplayer.net/38379076-The-movie-that-changed-my-life.html

[Bob from Ohio]

"great Black author"

Why use the middle word? If she was white she wouldn't write as well?

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks!

[The Margrave of Azilia]

My best guess is that in “Over the Rainbow,” Dorothy is expressing the Depression-era audience’s attitude of wishing for better times. She gets back home at the end, just like the audience had to get home from the movie, but hopefully with some good memories and a more hopeful attitude. No wonder it sold well!

Margaret Hamilton’s character scared some children so much that she appeared on Mr. Rogers to reassure children she wasn’t actually an evil witch, and that any kid who said she was would be seized by flying monkeys. Just kidding about that last part, I think.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Fred Rogers so often knew what was needed and he did it. The Force was strong in that one.

[apedad]

"But the lesson? “There’s no place like home.” Back to dreary old Kansas."

I don't see the conflict.

People dream about nice things all the time but at the same time are also realistic and appreciative about their real surroundings.

[Dan Schiavetta]

To quote Garrison Keillor (again), "Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known."

[Syd Henderson]

Kansas is where Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are and they are effectively her parents, perhaps the only ones she has ever known. If you were a child, wouldn't you miss your parents even if you were in Oz?

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I think that was the movie's point - her whole quest is to get home to Kansas.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks to the commenters for the additional information and the discussion.

[apedad]

2011 is a typo and should be 2017.

See oyez summary: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-1027

8 - 1 for Collins.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks!

[Dan Schiavetta]

LOL