I have loved musicals since I was in middle school, when I first saw a live show and even performed in one. I love the feeling of bursting into song because simple words will not do the trick. I love that musicals are a whole production with dancing and powerful stories. I love the electric energy that simmers when the lights go down and you are immersed in a whole new world. But I love it most when musicals are translated onto the silver screen. When I learned “Wicked” was being turned into a movie, I was ecstatic. What could be better than turning a wonderful musical into one of my favorite things ever, a film?!
“Wicked: For Good,” the second part of the musical “Wicked,” did not disappoint. Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda continually brought me to tears with their powerful vocals, beautiful depiction of female friendship and what it means to be a powerful woman.
Elphaba possesses incredible power in which she is able to read from the Grimmerie, a book of ancient spells unknown to anyone except the Wizard of Oz. She learns that the Wizard, played by Jeff Goldblum, is a fraud who lied about his ability to read the Grimmerie. The Wizard turns the people of Oz against Elphaba by dubbing her the Wicked Witch of the West and claiming her green skin is a physical manifestation of her wickedness. The Wizard uses Glinda as a public personification of goodness, a pretty, nice girl, the antithesis of Elphaba.
Films and musicals can be so influential to our image of ourselves and who we want to be. They can also show the subversion of societal expectations, something that the “Wicked” films do superbly.
Especially in the first film, Elphaba is depicted as the awkward, green girl with mysterious powers, affecting her popularity. Even still, she sings about her aspirations to be powerful, despite the public’s lack of faith in her. She is not afraid to be true to herself, no matter what others think.
In both of the films, Glinda delivers funny one-liners and physical comedy to make the audience laugh, sometimes even at her own expense. Glinda does not possess real power, like Elphaba, and is turned into a joke because of it. At the end of the film, Elphaba gives over the Grimmerie to Glinda, encouraging her to learn to read it and use the power for good. She pushes back against people’s expectations of her to just be a pretty girl, and becomes the powerful sorceress she has always wanted to be.
Glinda is portrayed within the “dumb blonde trope,” the stereotype that blonde women are less intelligent, sillier and overall less capable than brunettes, like they exist only as pretty girls. At the beginning of the story, even Elphaba can only describe Glinda as “blonde,” as she expresses her loathing for her. Glinda flips this trope on its head in favor of a more interesting plot, taking back the power she had all along. Glinda rejected every criticism she received for being blonde and powerless and took back control of her life and Oz. Most importantly, she does this without leaving behind her silly, pretty, sometimes cringey, self. She does not need to listen to anyone else dictating her worth based on her looks. She does not need anyone to affirm her power. Armed with the memory of her best friend Elphaba, she is able to subvert others’ expectations and step into her full, free, amazing self.
Musicals can be cringey to some. In my experience, they are liberating. They encourage us to step outside the boundaries of what is expected. Society does not dictate the power a woman holds; she does. So do just that. Be more like Elphaba and Glinda. Burst into song. Step into your power. Be over-the-top and cringey. After all, it probably is more fun to dance through life than submit to its mundanity.