Follow the Yellow Brick Road
Brian Tamanaha examines the Wizard of Oz as exposing the flaws of originalism. As Tamanaha explains, many historians read the turn-of-the-century classic as an allegory for McKinley-era politics, with the Wicked Witch representing imperialist aims in Asia, and the Wizard representing financial "wizards" who controlled the McKinley Administration. He concludes that this not immediately apparent reading of Oz may suggest a flaw in originalism:
I'm sure others know about this, and maybe I'm exposing my particular ignorance, but I had no idea that The Wizard of Oz was a political allegory. What makes this discovery especially jolting, for me at least, is that its meaning at the time--when many people would have recognized Baum's allusions--was so radically different from its taken-for-granted meaning today.
I hesitate to sully a discovery that is fascinating for its own sake, but I will use this example to quickly make a serious (albeit tangential) point. The original meaning theory of constitutional interpretation has prominent contemporary advocates--including, famously, Justice Scalia--who point to solid political theory arguments in support. But we must be mindful of the elusiveness and haze that envelops original meanings. Unless we turn constitutional interpretation over to trained historians with ample resources and time (and even then there will be problems), our assumptions about original meaning will be precarious.
Commenters on Tamanaha's site suggest even trained historians have difficulty finding the original understanding of a document as venerable and ambiguous as the Wizard of Oz. One points to a theory that the Wicked Witch of the West represents a "drought ruining western farmers," not Western imperialism, while another cites scholars claiming there is "no real conclusive proof" that Oz stands for more than is immediately apparent within the four corners of its text.