Why Wicked Matters (Act 1)

I can’t recall how old I was when I first saw Wicked on Broadway. Around 8 or 9 I presume. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of seeing the musical around 12 times, from local venues such as PPAC, Bushnell Theater in CT… all the way home to Gershwin Theater. Before I had seen it, we had the soundtrack at home. I listened to it alllllll the time. Memorized each lyric, assuming that the story was told clear as day from song to song. After seeing it, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

A little backstory, Wizard of Oz is my mom’s favorite movie. Growing up, it became not just a simple favored film to my siblings & I, but an overall Oz-Thetic. You could find countless easter eggs of this Oz-Session in our home. We even had a room we referred to as the “Wizard of Oz Room,” as it contained so much memorabilia. I’m drenched out in Dorothy fits, playing with WOZ toys in many old photos. One birthday party, the windows were even plastered in emerald tint. We had a set of Christmas ornaments, each of the 4 main characters. My brother was the Tin-Man, as we joked he didn’t have a heart. My older sisters were the Scarecrow & the Lion, humorously hinting at a lack of a brain & an overload of fear. That left Dorothy to me, in the classic Gingham dress & famous Ruby Red Sippers. I recall this making me very happy as a kid. Afterall, she was this beautifully glorified figure.

When Wicked was announced, we were Oz-Iously very excited. Over 18 years, it has served as a safety blanket for me. As Ariana says, it has always been the thing I listen to when I’m nervous, when I’m needing an escape, when I need comfort. However, when I first heard that a Wicked movie was to come, I was like oh fuck no. What if they ruin it? What the hell. Because not everyone can & has the opportunity to see the musical, I was nervous that if the movie fucking sucked, people would trash it & I didn’t want to hear it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but criticizing Wicked (along with T-Swift) is just not something I can put up with. That’s how protective I am over the story. Not because its “just” a book-musical-movie, based off what I think is the most “classic” film in cinematic history. But, because it’s a story I hold so dear to my heart, regardless of what measure it is told in.

When people question, “what do you like better, the musical or the movie?” I can’t pick. They’re not against one another, nor compatible. However. The movie gives us a little more insight to the two witches; Elphaba & Galinda, hereafter Glinda. I say this from a technical & literal approach, we can SEE more emotion on the big screen. Facial expressions are more prominent & moments of silence are suppressed. Because the musical script is split into 2 films, the extra time each “part” has, creates more opportunity. Nothing was changed from the original story. Sure, the plot gained some additions but I didn’t mind them at all.

There are countless motifs & themes (no they are not the same) in Wicked. While a theme is more of an abstract concept, or underlying message, it is not explicitly presented within the text. Motifs are often recurring elements holding symbolic value through repetition. For example, friendship & trust are underlying themes. I consider the most evident (& my favorite) motif to be the foreshadowing in Wicked. No spoilers here, but IYKYK. The theme I connect with the most is identity & self-love. The battle with identity inside Elphaba & Glinda individually, effects their relationships with others. I believe Elphaba’s identity issues are crafted by others, while Glinda’s indifference truly comes from within herself.   

Well, from the minute she was born, it couldn’t have been easy… I always wondered: why was this such a catastrophe? In a land of talking animals, munchkins; trees with a more dangerous right hook than my own. I could go on an on. Was a green baby THAT scandelocious? She was teased throughout her youth. Her “father” viciously spited her, blaming her for Nessa’s disability & her mother’s death. Fun fact: Nessarose could walk in the book. She just had no arms. From birth, Elphaba was resented. Growing up, how could she accept herself if those around her couldn’t? Upon her arrival at Shiz, she rapidly explains her deal. No grass as a child.. no, she isn’t sea-sick. The first time we see her green glow, is when Madam Horrible assures her that her gift is not a curse, proposing the Wizard’s potential interest in her. Elphie thriving off validation is actually a weakness of hers, but who can blame her?

Elphaba finally accepts herself in a moment that transpires differently from the Musical to the movie. In the film, the Wizard presents her with green figurine of herself. After a long-drawn pause, you can see that glimmer in her eye, when she realizes that she does not want to be “un-greenified.” The people she admires have acknowledged her talents, green or not. While this heartfelt moment abruptly changes, it only deeper demonstrates her self-love journey & struggles with validation. She did not seem to love herself until others did, which is vital in her development. If she did not FINALLY accept herself, she would have obeyed the Wizards wishes & silenced the rest of those fucking animals. The story would end there & gravity would unfortunately, not be defied.     

Onto my favorite girl, Gaa-aa-linda the “good.” Elphaba and Glinda’s self-love & identity is a seesaw. As one goes up, the other goes down. Almost like a hot-air balloon. While Elphaba’s identity began on the lower scale, Glinda’s was at the tippidy-top the Oz-Tick she got to Shiz. She was popular, she was good.. but man she is confusifying. Although No One Mourns the Wicked opens the movie, it is the end of Part 1. When that beautiful bubble drifts down, Ariana commands Glinda in such a thrillifying way. We see her confusion, anger and sadness within the first 5 minutes. Without saying a word, her facial expressions emote her inner thoughts when that nosy-ass munchkin questions her past with Elphaba. We see her “goodness” sparkle, as she kindly gestures her fellow Ozians. Her conflict as she throws that damn torch.. you can see it in the move of an eyebrow.

As the story progresses, her inner identity is endlessly tested. She offers Elphaba her help, and immediately seeks justification from Shen Shen & Pfannee, declaring that she was just trying to help! If you notice, she is the first to seek this validation, informing us of her inner dialogue. Her self-worth continues to shatter. Glinda does not see things as good or bad, as black or white. While she sees that Elphaba is green, everything else is simply one big grayscale.

I am obsessed with Ariana Grande’s casting as Glinda. She has been Oz-Sessed with WOZ & Wicked as long as I have. Not only does her infatuation with the story influence her acting (witch I fully don’t think she is acting,) it allows her to give Glinda the emotions I previously mentioned. I believe, she has given the smartest performance yet. For those that know Ariana’s past, it couldn’t have been easy. She has experienced horrific tragedy through her concert massacre and the loss of Mac Miller. In countless interviews, she states that Glinda brought back a piece of her that had been lost and allowed her to connect with little Ari again.

Watching this movie, after knowing the story by heart, I felt that connection to my inner-child, similar to Ari. While we may have all waited eagerly for a Wicked film, it came out at the time when I needed it the most. It healed parts of me that I didn’t know were broken. I am rejoycified that Wicked is now more accessible for people to experience. It brought my loved ones another opporunity to obsessively talk about. I sat alongside my older sisters as we all cried, seeing this new variation of the Untold Stories of the Witches of Oz. Later that week, I shared a similar experience with my younger sisters, watching their little eyes light up seeing the story come to life. Little Cal could not be more proud of the Witch I am today and for good, I couldn’t be happier.