Evangelical “Oz” film spoils beloved classic forever.

From the “so bad it’s good” department: an evangelical reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz, titled The Prophet of Oz.

There’s a long list of “Christian” changes to the original:

• Dorothy’s goal isn’t to find her way back to Kansas. In fact, the film never even shows our heroine returning home. Instead, in Prophet of Oz Dorothy wants to become a “good Christian.” 
• Squeaky the guinea pig replaces Toto.
• Glinda the Good Witch is now an “angel of God.” She also sports braces (as all legit angels do).
• The Devil himself (a Severus Snape lookalike) stands in for the Wicked Witch. He tempts Dorothy with cigarettes and “ice cold beer,” suspended by fishing line between his outstretched hands.
• The Scarecrow wants “faith” instead of a brain. The Tin Man doesn’t need a heart; he longs to learn how to pray. The Cowardly Lion lacks not courage but compassion.
• The Lion also looks like a burn victim. Seriously—the Scarecrow and Tin Man costumes are fairly convincing, but the Lion’s melty face will give you nightmares.
• The four companions don’t skip down the Yellow Brick Road. They shuffle down an unnamed asphalt path.
• There are no songs. No “Munchkin Land.” No “If I Only Had A Brain.” No “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” No “We’re Off to See the Wizard.” Instead, gentle synths segue the characters from scene to scene.
• Oz’s inner sanctum (like Dorothy’s bedroom) was apparently shot in a church basement. The cinder block walls and ceiling-mounted air conditioner are dead giveaways.

This adaptation is formidably, fantastically awful.[1] The special effects are worth the price of admission (because they’re hilarious). Long, awkward pauses and clumsy two-camera cuts punctuate the already-ham-fisted dialogue. The embedded evangelical theology is shallow and moralistic: do your devotions. Pray extemporaneously (not from rote). Let Jesus into your heart. The film deifies the Bible and neglects discussing God much at all.

If I were still working in ministry, I would eagerly share The Prophet of Oz with my church—but only as an example of bad (bad!) Christian “art.”