OPINION: “Wicked” has long been one of my favorite musical soundtracks but until recently, I didn’t have a clear understanding of the actual storyline.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Kanye West introduced me to “Wicked.” Not personally, of course, but many moons ago, there was some video footage of Kanye West in the studio messing around with a beat that sampled the song “Popular,” sung by Kristin Chenoweth, who played Glinda in the original cast recording of the Broadway musical, “Wicked.” To my knowledge, nothing ever came of that beat — nor should it have; as far as Kanye productions go, at that point, it felt like more of a throwaway — but the sample was so intoxicating that I needed to hear the source material. I searched it on (probably) Spotify and the rest is history.
I love a good musical. While it might be problematic for a litany of reasons, I still have “Hamilton” on repeat in the car and on my television. I know all the Disney musicals and have forced my kids to love musicals as well. We’re a dramatical, sing-songy house. “Wicked” was my jam. Upon finding the soundtrack to “Wicked,” every day I’d hop in my 2008 Dodge Magnum — with the Hemi — plug in the aux cord and let the songs take me and my daughter into the wonderful world of Oz. There was only one problem: until recently, I literally had no reference points to what was really happening in the play.
As much as I loved the soundtrack, I never made it to Broadway (or anywhere else, for that matter) to see the play. I wanted to, but for whatever reason, I didn’t go see it. So despite knowing the words to all of the songs and singing “Defying Gravity” at the top of my lungs at stop lights, confusing various demographics of drivers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, short of the cues from the lyrics to the songs, the plot was kinda sorta lost on me.
So you can imagine my joy when I found out that the film adaptation of “Wicked” was making its way to theaters. I was even more excited because the two leads, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, are powerhouse singers, which felt apropos to sticking the landing on the songs I knew. Well, I finally saw the movie — and baby, I loved it.
For one, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba? Nailed it. Whew, chile. Ariana Grande seemed like she was having so, so much fun playing the part of Glinda, aka Galinda. Also, as a kid who grew up watching “The Wizard of Oz” on VHS, it was a pure delight to have a story that set out to explain the backstory on so many things. I love a good narrative reframing and reimagining of something, so I’m always going to be impressed with a super creative addition to an already compelling piece of fiction. That’s the reason I’m so glad Percival Everett won the National Book Award for his bestselling novel “James,” a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Jim.
Watching Elphaba’s story was both emotional and insightful. Gaining access to the inner workings of a person’s mind, their journey and finding out how a good person “goes bad” will get me invested ten times out of ten. Heck, I was rooting for “The Wicked Witch” for the entirety of the film. By the film’s end, I wanted to burn down Oz myself. It also made me truly rethink the beginning scenes and opening number, “No One Mourns the Wicked” since ya know, perspective and all that jazz.
It actually made me somewhat emotional in retrospect because (I’m assuming EVERYBODY knows the Wicked Witch of the West gets killed in “The Wizard of Oz”) the film opens with an entire community — Munchkinland — excitedly celebrating the death of Elphaba, who (spoiler alert) WE learn was from those same streets-streets, and was basically a freedom fighter who bucked the system and then was turned into an enemy of the state. In reality, she would have more than likely fought tooth and nail for those folks. Seeing her being burned in effigy after learning what we learned made me emotional. I’m not saying I cried — but I’m not saying I didn’t cry, either. It’s complicated; leave me alone.
That’s also why I cannot wait until “Wicked Part II” comes out next year; because I need to see where (maybe, if?) it all took a turn. By the end of the first part of “Wicked,” Elphaba realizes she has to forge a path of her own based on her morals and principles, and because she learned of the entire sham behind the mythology of Oz — a discovery Dorothy will also later make. The lengths folks will go to preserve a lie and their evil ambitions is what Elphaba discovered; her powers and abilities make her a danger and the power structure of Oz was ready, willing and able to publicly insist on characterizing Elphaba as just that, a danger. I’m wondering if I will still be rooting for her in the same manner by the next film’s conclusion.
All I know is that I want more retellings and reimaginings and perspectives of the villains. Disney, for instance, has done a good job with that; the entire “Descendants” line of films, featuring the fictional kids of some of Disney’s most famous villains does a wonderful job of pulling back the curtain (pun intended) on the back stories of the misunderstood and unfairly judged.
While I wait, it’s Elphaba over everything, fam. Defy gravity, girl! Defy gravity!
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
More must-reads:
