What’s in the Black Bag?

The Wizard of Oz is one of those movies that keeps on giving over eighty years later.

The scene where the Wizard rewards our heroes is especially intriguing.

You know the one.

The scene where the Wizard reaches into his black bag and gives the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion what they've been looking for all along.

Except.

He didn't give them what they were looking for. He gave them what they needed to understand what they already had.

The wizard didn't literally hand out a brain or a heart. That would have been pretty gross.

Rather, he gave the Scarecrow a diploma, the Tin Man a heart clock (the symbolism of that gift still escapes me...maybe I need to rewatch the movie), and the Cowardly Lion a medal of valor.

This overjoyed our characters so much, that they immediately put out of mind the Wizard's lying, manipulative actions that nearly killed them all.

(On a side note, I hope they make a sequel about how the black bag of random yet meaningful objects came to be in the first place.)

Just as Dorothy always had the way home, these other characters had what they were looking for all along.

We could look at these symbolic objects two ways.

As prizes for demonstrating the qualities they symbolize.

Or, as external validation for qualities that were already there.

Whatever the case...is there something you are looking for in a metaphorical black bag?

As students, as artists, and as people, validation and rewards are something we naturally seek. Sometimes they are worth pursuing. But, more than likely, you already possess what they symbolize.

You just need to decide to venture out on your own yellow brick road to experience it.