Not too long ago, I went to see Universal Pictures’s Wicked with my mother. It was the first time I had gone to a theater in a really long time since the COVID-19 pandemic; I had strayed away from theaters long after they had reopened post-quarantine, opting for releases on streaming services and movie rentals due to the high ticket prices. Very few movies seemed worth the cost to me. The combined costs of tickets, popcorn and soda was nearing thirty whole dollars. And of course, that would be the price if I was going along. Simply bringing my two sisters, mother and father into a theater with me would probably be close to one hundred dollars. I could buy a nice meal at a fancy restaurant for that price. So, needless to say, the theaters weren’t something I was thinking about for a while. But that all changed when I saw a promotional ad for Wicked one day, and was positively hooked. I had seen people posting about it online, and I had even fallen witness to their famous advertising campaign, stumbling across themed soap bars in a Lush in downtown Chicago. Despite all this, I never paid it much mind. But the hype eventually spread to my home, was transferred from my sister to me, and after I watched a few trailers on YouTube, I knew that it was a film I had to enjoy in theaters.
Wicked wasn’t a story that I knew before. I knew that it was a musical, but I never knew its full tale. My mother wanted to see the show with me eventually, but we never found the time to. So of course she was my movie-going partner. Which worked for me, because that meant that I could get a bucket of popcorn and a huge soda at no (personal) charge. While the nearly 3 hour runtime seemed a tad intimidating at first, I didn’t pay it much mind, seeing as I sat through both Avengers: Endgame and Avatar: The Way of Water for their full runtime in theaters. However, I know that some people might not be that interested in being in a theater for that long, which is why they may have skipped Wicked. To me, that is a terrible mistake. Because every second of the movie is phenomenal.
While it may seem redundant to review the story of a tale that has existed for over 25 years, I want to talk about it anyways. Because the story is where Wicked shines. Without giving away too much of the plot, because I want you to see the film for yourself, the story follows Elphaba, also known as the Wicked Witch of the West, before she used that particular title. She enrolls at a magical school and has a dream to meet the Wizard of Oz, and at this school she makes new friends and new enemies. I now wish to delve deeper in the film, so here is where I suggest that you stop reading if you haven’t seen the movie yet. Because it’s just that good, you must see it on your own.
The allegories and metaphors between the discrimination that animals face in the film and real-life acts of bigotry surprised me. I didn’t go into the movie expecting such a powerful and timely message. Nevertheless, I thought it was interesting and very clever. It was proud to be blatant in its messaging, which I believe is very important in our modern society. During a scene where Doctor Dillamond, the goat professor, is instructing his class, he turns around his chalkboard to see that someone has vandalized it, with it now saying “Animals should be seen and not heard” in red chalk for his entire class to be exposed to. I recognized this phrasing right away; “women should be seen and not heard” is a common misogynistic phrase that has been used for centuries, coming from the idea that a woman should only exist to look pretty and that her thoughts and feelings do not hold value. The movie pulled from real-life acts of intolerance and persecution of minorities to convey its message, making statements on how bigotry stems from fear and the desire to pin blame for bad things on someone. It intrigued me how close to home the message hit, and the execution of said message was very depressing. But it was depressing in a good way. It was depressing because of how earnest and accurate it was to our own society. And it’s an important message to convey in today’s world.
Musically, the film was also fantastic. It is a musical after all, but songs like “What Is This Feeling?” and “Popular” were simply destined to become online hits. And hits they became, because my sister was playing the soundtrack nonstop in her room after the movie was released. Which I completely understand, because the songs were nothing less than dance-worthy. The choreography in the movie was wonderful too, every step intentional to convey the personalities of the characters. Glinda’s movements were always precise and delicate, showing off her prim and proper (and sometimes lovably stuck-up) personality. Elphaba’s movements were usually closed off, accompanied by her clutching a book in her arms. Yet in her solo numbers, she opened her arms and danced like there was no tomorrow. These intentional choices showcased Elphaba’s unsure and hesitant attitude around others, contrasted with how she felt free and happy when there was nobody around to judge her. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were excellent in executing what looked like some incredibly difficult dance numbers.
I don’t think I can really talk about Wicked without bringing up the sheer amount of love and attention it was given from the LGBTQ+ community. Many people perceived Elphaba and Glinda as possible lovers, and wholeheartedly, I must agree. Not only do the actors have great on-screen chemistry, but the characters themselves bounce off each other and contrast each other in such a wonderfully satisfying way. Even if you see Elphaba and Glinda as just friends, there is no doubt about how connected they are and how special their relationship is later in the movie. When they start out as antagonistic towards each other, singing an entire song about how much they hate each other, they later realize some very important things about each other. Elphaba learns that Glinda is not always some heartless, two-faced monster, and Glinda learns that Elphaba too deserves kindness as much as anyone else, green skin or not. Glinda is one of the first people to realize that Elphaba too is just like anyone else. While Glinda is a bit of a trendsetter, with many people wrapped around her finger and doing what she does to be liked, Elphaba still isn’t the most popular student in the world after Glinda befriends her. People are still wary and cautious of Elphaba, but slowly start to be more kind and accepting towards her due to Glinda’s liking for her. This makes their connection seem all the more raw and natural; it was something that Glinda decided, completely on her own, forgetting about how it made her look or how people thought about her for it. In the famed ball dance scene, we see Glinda finally get hit with this humanity, and she gets hit right in the face with it. She takes a step back and realizes just how cruel she and everyone else is to Elphaba, and in that moment, she steps away from her date and dances with her enemy.
The relationship between these two characters is something that’s very important to me, as well as many other people. Glinda and Elphaba contrast each other, yet they bring out the best in each other. Glinda helps Elphaba break out of her shell and be more confident, and Elphaba helps Glinda have more empathy and understanding for how her actions have consequences and how she can hurt people. They fit together like yin and yang, day and night, so different yet coming together to make something beautiful. This is why many people saw them as possibly a lesbian couple. And while I do personally wish that there could have been a kiss between them here and there, I am satisfied with what we got. Being able to see these characters grow and develop and make each other better people was wonderful in all ways possible, and worth every second of my time. Because you get an earnest story about love and what it means to love someone, whether it be platonic or romantic. You get a story about unlikely friendships, and growing to be the best version of yourself, and learning alongside someone that you care about. You get a story about how it feels to truly bond with someone, and how important those bonds are to our lives.
Wicked was a wonderful film, and definitely one that I plan on watching again. And I recommend that you watch it too if you haven’t yet. It’s an all-around amazing movie, a fun watch and just a nice time. By the time the movie is over, I’m sure that you’ll be just as excited as I am for the second part of the movie.
