As you might have noticed with my review of Harriet, I’ve been dipping into the realm of Oscar nominees I had never seen before, since January is the month for Oscar voting, my Best Of 2023 lists, and eventually Oscar nominees. We already had the Golden Globes, we’ve had SAG nominations, DGA nominations, BAFTA shortlists, and today the PGA is supposed to be announced.
So, my second title of shame is The Wiz. This is the original version with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, which is surprisingly directed by Sidney Lumet. This classic musical was nominated for four Oscars, despite the middling reception it seems to have on IMDB. This might be my first time seeing this version, but I did check out The Wiz Live with Ne-Yo. I’ve been a fan of the music even longer, with Home and Ease On Down The Road being standouts.
If this was released today, there would be an army of absurdists attacking this for being woke, when it’s just a lively and unique retelling of The Wizard Of Oz from the black perspective. or, Lumet’s. It references a blip in time, one that has changed, but still has a lot of the same themes. Oddly, the tale as old as time still works in today’s landscape. Diana Ross turns in an eager performance, and sings her face off. Michael Jackson is surprisingly good in this, and I wish he had continued with his acting bug.
I don’t love all the songs, or even all the choices the story makes. But, there’s a lot here to love, and I think if I had grown up more with this, I would appreciate it even more.Unfortunately, Amazon has saddled it with robodescription, or text-to-speech which is basically my life. My entire work life is comprised of inhuman voices, and I’d love to keep them out of the relaxation and entertainment realms in the arts. Human audio description is so much better, and this just sends a message that while The Wiz had some priority, it wasn’t worth it enough to actually hire a human. Much better to let the computer handle it.
It’s the problem we have when the accessibility we need is being decided upon by people who do not need the accessibility, cannot relate to how or why we need it, and cannot perceive the idea of quality. It is hard to convey to them a similar circumstance until they actually walk a mile in our shoes, or in this films case, a yellow brick road.
Maybe when I get to the Emerald City, Oz will grant me human audio description. Then again, isn’t the whole point fo the story that whatever it is you feel you lack was inside you the whole time? Is there a human audio description narrator trapped inside my body? Is that the takeaway?
Final Grade: B+
