EXPLORING ‘WICKED’: THE THINGS I DO AND DON’T LOVE ABOUT THE FILM
One of the buzziest films to appear at the box office last holiday season, Wicked is a story loved by thousands, thanks to its beloved stage representation where Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel took on the lead roles. Stepping outside the stage, when the announcement was made that a big screen feature would be made, the nostalgia ran strong as fans cried tears over this. While a stunning visual story that is also surprisingly charming, I do have questions about this story, which I don’t think is bad. This made me want to go a little deeper by exploring Wicked, and asking, how does the story make me feel?
The story is a kind of origin tale that begins in the “after” of what we know only to then travel to the “before.” There the story introduces us to two smart, albeit very different ladies who go about how they scheme or make their goals differently. There is Elphaba, the mayor’s daughter and a woman who, quite cruelly, never knows acceptance. She was born green, and since then, no one shows her love. Then there is Galinda (please don’t say Glinda!), the wealthy, pretty and popular girl whose private university suite becomes home to Elphaba too.
What begins as rivalry, and unkind pranks soon dances into an unlikely friendship where these two realize the land of Oz has very big plans for them.
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EXPLORING ‘WICKED’: THE THINGS I DO AND DON’T LOVE ABOUT THE FILM. Talking about #Wicked and how it changes The Wizard of Oz. #ArianaGrande #Musical #Discussion #Opinion Share on X
This film, because of genre and category, has some strikes against it. I’m not the biggest fan of origin stories, and in fact, most of the time I loathe the mere idea of them. Secondly, musicals aren’t the genre I gravitate towards. As to the first, I forgive this in Wicked because Oz isn’t a world I know well, and I also must admit, the music is stunning. In this version of the Oz story, I don’t dislike either of the lead characters. I think Elphaba is good, and the fact she has this without kindness or love is admirable. I think Galinda is charm, yes, but she also recognizes when she has made a mistake, and I respect that she challenges herself in this.
What I do take some issue with is how the original story The Wizard of Oz is affected by this.
Where this ends, and keep in mind, Wicked will have a part two in 2025 to tell the rest of this story, leaves the characters in a nice place. I think these two grow properly and the challenges are sufficient. However, where the story is leading, is in making Dorothy Gale a kind of anti-heroine that, well, I’m not entirely sure I love. exploring wicked
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Dorothy may not be one of my childhood favorite characters but as between her and Galinda or her and Elphaba, Dorothy is the heroine I knew best from childhood. This because the film, based on the novel by Frank Baum, is my version of “nostalgia,” even if it’s not a favorite. In it, the script presents us with a likable Midwestern girl who transports to a land where she is scared and worried and unsure of what’s around the corner. Of course, The Wizard of Oz story is the idea that Dorothy’s visit to Oz is her overactive imagination at work.
Regardless of whether this is where Wicked will land or not, since seeing the nearly three hour (!!) film, I have questions. This can be both a bad and good thing about storytelling. Sometimes thinking and questioning a story can expand our viewpoint and perspective. Other times, it can shatter something we love about a story. It sometimes feels like filmmakers are afraid to make the villain, or the person know as a villain through centuries, actually, well, what they are. The concept of good vs evil isn’t new and that conflict can actually present very well in stories. Letting a villain simply be what they are is necessary because otherwise a story doesn’t make sense.
Either way, the fact that this film is making me think is interesting and the what’s next? question in exploring Wicked remains.
Photos: Alamy
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