Wow, I did not notice this thread before. I see that it was not posted very long ago, so I will go ahead and respond. First of all, I would like to correct a few misunderstood things.
1.) Everybody in America, is
not obsessed by this movie. Although I will grant you it has a cult following, there are some people who have never heard of this film. It is typically shown on TV at least once every couple of years, thusly I think it is a film many people have grown up with. Often there is a nostalgia based on things we grew up with.
I also doubt that one of of three people can quote this movie, outside of the popular culture references you yourself mention.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".
There are also many people in the US who can quote Shakespeare, James Joyce or even L. Frank Baum, the author of the book on which this movie is based.
2.) This is not a "simple film from the 1970's". It is a rather complicated film from
1939. One of the things that stand out to me about this film is it's widespread use of the (new at the time) color film technology. Although technicolor was first used in approximately 1917,
The Wizard of Oz was one of the first American films to widely use it.
3.) I confess, I have never cared for this movie myself. However, I still make a point to turn it on just for the sequence when Judy Garland sings "Over the Rainbow". Garland was an extremely talented and troubled individual and her voice is very powerful and moving. Other than that, I have no compelling reason to watch the movie, nostalgia or otherwise.
Well, I hope you are still interested in this topic, it has been a little over a month or so since it was posted.
Incidently, if you are interested in learning more about author L.Frank Baum, you can go here to do so:
L. Frank Baum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia