Wicked made me shed tears from a place I thought had vanished. For almost three hours, I was in awe listening to the musical and watching a great film adaptation of a movie.
Wicked is a reimagination of the 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” While the original material focuses on the group of aforementioned friends, Maguire’s Wicked published in 1995, focuses on the Wicked Witch of the West, who Maguire named “Elphaba” after the original author’s initials, LFB.1
To discuss my thoughts about the story and the film itself, I need to divide this article into three sections:
I. I wasn’t popular
We witnessed the bloom of the friendship between the bottom of the jokes and the stars of the show, Elphaba and Galinda respectively. Most of their interaction reminded me of how cruel the teenage years could be.
Unlike adults, kids are ruthless and insensitive. They don’t care much about how others feel, they only seek validation and belongingness often in the form of “Who do we bully next?” As someone who has been a kid, it does feel nice to be on the side of the bullies and not to be bullied. I have been on both sides and I can attest that both have extreme effects on your being.
Being a bully felt powerful, it felt like being Regina from the mean girls. Whatever you did, you know your “clique” will back you up no matter how stupid it is because it’s your moment. While I only had a handful of experiences being a bully, I can speak so much more about being on the other side of the spectrum as a bully.
Like Elphaba, most people notice me because of my colour. While I was not green, I was a darker shade of brown, which was actually normal since I come from a sunny country but thanks to the media and how they glorify euro-centric standards of beauty, my Filipina face card has been dumped with hatred for my own being.
I tried straightening my hair, I tried using whitening products, I tried so hard to change my appearance, and every day I just get disappointed because I never get to be like the people I saw on TV.
I sympathise with Elphaba who always wore her comfort colour, black. I also went with my comfort outfits, anything baggy and anything that’s made for men. I hated wearing feminine clothes, and I hated doing anything feminine. It used to feel as if I was trying too hard to look good when I didn’t. I would rather be called ugly for not trying than being called ugly for trying too hard.
Being at the bottom of the popularity and pretty list is heart-wrenching. It wrecks your self-worth and confidence. Still, in my late 20s, I’m working on building it up.
The scene where Galinda invited Elphaba to a club while wearing the pointy heart broke my heart. How can someone have the heart to purposely make fun of a person publicly? It’s not even for revenge, it’s just for literal laughs for an inside joke.
I remember back in elementary school and high school, whenever they had to think of something “pretty” they always mentioned my name, and the entire classroom would burst out laughing. That wasn’t a memory I’d like to live on but it’s a memory that’s always haunting me.
I could never stand as strongly as Elphaba had, I’ve always broken down and didn’t bother to fight, it was tiring. What changed the “ugly” mentality that I had was having a group of supportive people beside me.
I remember it was in my late teens, all my friends were fashionable and outgoing. They made fun of how I looked but they’d always help me improve. They helped me shop for clothes, they’d tell me what looked good or not, they’d help me with make-up, and a whole lot more.
It was refreshing to have friends who actually root for your success and not your demise, and it’s true what they say that you need to be in the company of the right people. If it weren’t for them, I’d probably be sinking still.
While it’s arguable that Galinda is the right company for Elphaba given the history of bullying, I do think Galinda’s confident spirit is infectious, and everyone needs someone who makes them exude that type of energy.
II. The Boosters
After seeing her prowess, Madame Morrible chose to be trained as the Wizard’s right-hand woman. They needed someone who was as powerful as the Wizard of Oz to rule. Who wouldn’t want to be on the same side as the powerful Wizard who’s beloved by many because he makes things happen? Well, it turns out that wasn’t the case.
This almighty wizard is nothing but a tall man with silver hair. He is not as powerful as everyone believed, but he does have powerful people working for him. In that moment scene in Wicked, we have Madame Morrible who’s now serving him, Elphaba who is supposed to serve him, and Glinda who we find out eventually will be actually of service to the wizard when Elphaba cannot.
Sounds like a familiar pattern, right?
We don’t need to be in a fantasy land to see how “just charismatic” people get into positions of power as opposed to qualified ones. I can just sit back at home in the Philippines and watch that happen in real time.
It’s frustrating to see once famous people sitting on the highest seats, not because of their qualifications or for what they have done in their careers so far. They got their power because of their popularity. I don’t even have to name names. If you look at the list of politicians in my country, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I mean, hey if y’all had the education and experience you need for the position (like most jobseekers do), I’d take a chance on having you run my country, but if you don’t, then your name is not going to be in my ballot. But that’s sometimes the scary thing about democracy, everyone has a say, even the ones who haven’t looked at it as clearly as the other ones do. Now that’s a topic for another day.
Behind the prominent names we hear on a regular basis is a group I’d like to call the Boosters. Boosters from a cheerleading squad, they’re the ones behind the stars of the pyramid to give them a boost when forming formations. In real life, we have a team of those who boost people who are known.
At the end of the day, work is work. Putting myself in the shoes of Elphaba, had I known that the Wizard didn’t have powers, I would have been okay with it. Wherever I can do something I’m passionate about that comes with great compensation, I would gladly do it, but I draw the line on boosting evil, as Elphaba did.
In the past, I used to work for a company that provided great compensation and let me work from home. I loved most aspects of working for them, except the fact that I took advantage of my people, translators. I lowball them to make sure the company go beyond the margins, and I disturb them on their resting hours to comply with our deadly strict due dates because we promised the client we’ll be doing things more efficiently.
Needless to say, I wasn’t at peace with this setup and I had to leave immediately. I don’t want this company to be representative of me as a person.
While at this day and age, I understand that money is scarce and it’s not often you land a job let alone one that comes with great benefits. A job is a just job but be wary of that “just job.” It’s the thing you’ll be spending most of your life in. Are you boosting the right people? Is the thing you do a mirror of what you are, what you want to be?
III. Wicked’s Actually A Good Film
Now that we’ve talked about the themes that triggered my inner child, let’s talk about something my adult self liked, the film itself.
In my opinion, it’s challenging to make a film out of a musical. In the theatre, there’s a different type of connection between the audience, the story, and the actors. The fact that some of them adlib actions or dialogues, makes the comedy 200% more enjoyable in every show. You can watch it multiple times in the week too to see if they did anything new!
While I am also a fan of the audio-visual art of films, I find that musical turned films sometimes like this feeling of cohesiveness. In the theatre, you can make a narrator tell the audience what happened before a particular scene and why we jumped, but in a film, a sudden jump can make an audience feel confused. (I wrote something about that in Triangle of Sadness.)
This first movie of Wicked ran for 2 hours and 40 minutes. It is longer than the musical stage that ran for 2 hours. Mind you, that 2 hours already covered the entire story. The 2 hours 40 only covered the first act!
I know it’s crazy to think that a story has been expanded for that long. How is it possible to have a 2-hour musical play be expanded into 2 films with an approximate total of 360 running hours?
It’s possible because of creativity, I suppose.
I watched a bootleg copy of The Wicked (that’s the only time I can watch it, I am so sorry) and I can definitely say the long runtime for the film is justifiable. They’ve added a couple of scenes to make them more connected and appealing to screen audiences. You don’t get confused about what’s happening. It’s a concrete story! The effects are wonderful, and they give more screen time for the casts to make us more connected with them.
The backstories are definitely a great help with the totality of the film. To actually see it in a fictional colourful world like it was written adds more depth to it.
For those who haven’t watched the film, watch it when you can. It would be great if you had watched the stage play, but without it, it’s a great movie anyway!
- Ward, Cassidy. (2024, November 27). Why is Wicked’s Elphaba green, and what does her name mean? NBC Insider. https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/wicked-why-is-elphaba-green-and-what-does-her-name-mean ↩︎
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