Does the Wizard of Oz constantly ask for money, like churches do?

Exactly! One could say it's a humanist story.

We live in a society of followers looking to an outside force to guide them. I think the time has come in our society when a growing number of people are feeling like Dorothy and her group in the Wizard of Oz, as the curtain was pulled away and the wizard was revealed as being only a common man.

Upon being discovered, the “wizard” admitted to the group that they had what they were requesting from him all the time, within themselves. They had only to recognize it. Good lesson.

We do not need to look to a supernatural being to provide us with strengths we already possess.

There are a lot of movies / tv shows based on the heaven or hell mythology. Many sitcoms skits are based on conflicts between the Catholic 7 deadly sins. My favorite is Gilligan's Island: Mr Howell (greed), Mrs Howell (sloth-she never does anything), Ginger (lust), Mary Ann (envy), The Professor (pride), Skipper gets 2 (gluttony, anger -- he's always hitting Gilligan). That's 7. And Gilligan? He wears red, is the reason they are trapped and remain on the island -- Satan. I love it.

Wizard of Oz is my favorite all time movie. It has many levels of entertainment and metaphors of deep meanings for society even for today's society. The Pink Floyd band dose that for me in music also.

Alot of Clergymen do not like this movie.
OZ is like a snake bite salesman disguising to be God. ay no attention to the man behind the curtain: As the dog was pulling back the curtain. LOL.
My favorite part. I got it right away.

In the movie I see myself as the scarecrow always looking for a brain. Meanwhile the scarecrow was coming up with the best ideas during the journey. Same for the Tin man's heart journey and the lion's courage.
You become what you are seriously searching for.

I like this analogy. (The monkeys scared the shit out of me when I was little)

Oh geez....sometimes a banana is just a banana.

And the munchkins are what? The monkeys are angels? The good witch is a goddess? The bad witch is the devil? The yellow brick road is the stairway to heaven? Is toto satan? The ruby shoes are really an analogy of hell? Hmmmmm. I don't buy your theory.

Hmmm ... If you think about it, Toto was actually the smartest thing in the movie.

It's a movie......

Today I notice what you are saying about the Wizard of Oz in every way. In fact, I often say that once you have seen behind the curtain you can no longer believe in the Wizard. I am talking religion, of course. The funny thing is that no one gets it. When I was younger and in church everyone loved this movie but no one got it. Not me or the others, and the film was shown in my area at least once a year. If you bring this up to Evangelicals in my area you might get arguments on it. This is most likely because they still do not get it.

Whoa! I see a Cult of the Flying Monkeys in my future. Where did I put those mushrooms?

I never viewed it that way until now! I see that PERFECTLY well now!!!

Did you read the Wizard of Oz book series by L. Frank Baum as a child? My mother read the series to us kids. We loved it.

It's not about religion. It's about fantasy, mystery, imagination and magic. Book reviews:

"The Wizard of Oz, to me, is a very good and courageous book. There is some violent parts, such as the Tin Man chopping off 40 wolf heads, but other then those parts this book is amazing. I especially like this book because it shows a strong girl who will stop at nothing to get home."

"The Wizard Of Oz is a high fantasy, magic and wizardry children's novel. The author of this novel L. Frank Baum wrote 17 more books about the Wizard Of Oz. The story had been made into films many times. The most famous were made in 1939 and 2013. He wanted to write a fairy tale that was full of mystery, imagination and magic."

All movies are about religion, if you look closely and are a bit delusional... I love The wizard of Oz.. and I just enjoy it.. I watch it at at four times a week... With baby J...

I noticed. Religion is a scam and so is the wizard.

Religion could be a reading by it goes deeper than religion. Introspection, politics, emancipation, reconciliation, the soteriological nature of the Outsider are all readings that could be applied.

The monkeys are a study in themselves. Darwinism in the thrall of superstition until the basic source of life (water/intelligent exploration) overcomes the ‘old ways’ and frees a new consciousness.

Many people, many readings. But at the end it’s a circle. “There’s no place like home”

By the time I saw the Wizard of Oz I'd already said piss all to the church thing every Sunday and sorta knew I was the one to make things happen in my life not some wizard or guy in the sky, so it was more anti-religion for me.
The good vs evil theme was clear but for me it was the COLOR, we had TV at home but it was not a color TV and I saw the movie at a friends house who had a color TV.

I think it about money. "The political interpretations focus on the first three, and emphasize the close relationship between the visual images and the story line to the political interests of the day. Biographers report that Baum had been a political activist in the 1890s with a special interest in the money question of gold and silver, and the illustrator William Wallace Denslow was a full-time editorial cartoonist for a major daily newspaper. For the 1901 Broadway production Baum inserted explicit references to prominent political characters such as President Theodore Roosevelt. " [en.wikipedia.org]

Starwars too. The good and evil stuff rates well.

That's awesome. Never thought about it in that way before.
Are you familiar with The Dark Side of the Rainbow?

No, the theme of this movie has more to do with human nature. The song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow". So often what we just conjure up in our heads is the ideal instead of the truth of reality. For some reason we keep looking for things we already have, but just don't realize it.

It seems to have been "borrowed" from "Gulliver's Travels", which was meant as a social satire. I still get a chuckle when the Wiz tells the scarecrow that people with "brains" have but one thing the scarecrow doesn't have--a diploma!

I am of the opinion that it is more of an existential story than a religious one. There is in reality no supernatural Supreme Being controlling everything, merely the false illusion of one, and one's life and actions are completely self-determined.

Of course we needed the wizard.