As The Wiz turns 48, here’s what Michael saw in the Scarecrow:
“I auditioned for the part of the Scarecrow because I thought his character best fit my style.”
But Michael saw more in the Scarecrow than a character that suited his style.
“Everybody thinks he’s very special, but, really, he’s very sad. He’s so, so sad. Do you understand his sadness?”
Michael loved the Scarecrow since childhood. In 1978, he said:
“I always fell in love with the scarecrow. I think most kids do ’cause you feel sorry for him and everything and his character, and I always watched him.”
The Scarecrow thinks he has no brain, even though he keeps coming up with clever ideas. The crows keep telling him he’s stupid until he starts believing them.
Michael once said, “Tell a lie long enough, people believe.” It’s hard not to think of the Scarecrow when you hear that. He’s judged by what others tell him he is, not by what he actually is. Michael knew what it was like to have people believe things about him that had little to do with the person he really was.
In a 1977 conversation with Timothy White, Michael explained what he saw in the character:
“There are so many smart people walking around that don’t know they’re smart, don’t believe in themselves.”
He went on to explain that the Scarecrow is a smart guy who simply doesn’t realize it. The brain he thinks he’s missing has been there all along.
Years later, while chatting with Brett Ratner in 2004, Michael put it this way:
“I don’t care if the whole world is against you or teasing you or saying you’re not gonna make it. Believe in yourself. No matter what.” 💫
Here her grown ass was 22 laughing at her racist tweets and calling em funny so I better not see no bastard talmbout “she was a kid and didn’t know better”