Candace Owens thinks Munchkins performed “satanic ritual” in “The Wizard of Oz”

Candace Owens, a right-wing media figure known more for her transphobia, hate-mongering, and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories than for her insightful cultural criticism, has shared a provocative new reading of a pivotal scene from the classic MGM musical The Wizard of Oz.

On the January 16 edition of her Daily Wire show, Owens argued that in an early scene from the 1939 film in which Dorothy (Judy Garland) and the citizens of Munchkinland celebrate the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, what’s actually going on is “a satanic ritual.”

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Owens was apparently responding to posts she’d seen on “Black Twitter” (i.e. X) arguing that Dorothy, in fact, murdered the witch and stole her shoes. An infamous 1998 newspaper description of the film attributed to writer Rick Polito made a similar argument. However, in the film, a tornado causes Dorothy’s house to accidentally fall on the witch, killing her.

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Owens said she took these comments “so seriously” that she discussed them with fellow Daily Wire host and professional anti-trans troll Matt Walsh.

“I texted him over the weekend because I went back to revisit the clip after many of you wrote in that, no, what Dorothy did was manslaughter. She accidentally killed the witch, making her not that bad of a person,” Owens said.

She then proceeded to explain her theory of “what really took place” in the scene.

“Before the Wicked Witch [of the West], if that’s what we’re calling her, shows up, the Munchkins — Oompa Loompas, whatever you wanna call them — are throwing a party while there is a dead person under a house, and they’re skipping with Dorothy singing, ‘Ding-dong, the witch is dead’ while there’s a dead person at center. Right?” an apparently outraged Owens recalled.

Just a note: Revisionist interpretations of the Wicked Witch of the West (played by Margaret Hamilton) — like that in Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked, aside — still refer to the witches by the same titles as in the 1939 film. Furthermore, the race of tiny people Dorothy encounters upon first arriving in the Land of Oz are known as Munchkins; Oompa Loompas are a race of tiny creatures in British author Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But you knew that, and it’s anyone’s guess why ol’ Candy O. is pretending she doesn’t as well.

“There’s somebody that’s dead and they’re dancing and saying, ‘Which old witch? The wicked witch,’” Owens continued, working herself into a proper performative lather before delivering her thesis: “Obviously, this is some sort of a satanic ritual.”

Obviously!

“So, I wanna make that clear that they’re having a satanic ritual,” Owens stressed.

Got it. Crystal clear!

“It’s the only reason you’d have a dead person and dance around them,” she added.

Literally no other reason! Nevermind that the dead witch sounded like a tyrant. Case closed!

Owens’s reading of The Wizard of Oz, unlike so many right-wing accusations of satanic messaging in children’s movies, was clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek — the type of disingenuously outrageous thing these cynical Daily Wire types are constantly trotting out as bait so that they can get rage clicks and then snidely ridicule people who take them seriously. Still, at least she took a momentary break from spreading transphobia and misinformation, for whatever this pointlessly was.