Intro–

Going into this movie I was elated. I had seen Wicked: The Musical on Broadway and loved it, but it has been about 5 years since I did. Now, I’m about to take a deep dive into my thoughts, and analyze some of the opinions viewers and critics shared on social media.

The opening shot of this movie is very crisp and after watching interviews with the director and set designers I knew it was going to be elaborate. The rows of flowers were an amazing touch, and it felt that flowers and nature was a common theme throughout the movie, much like the motif of water in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet. When putting something on screen you can have a lot more details like this and so I think this was a fantastic choice, considering the plays focus on growth. 

The very first song  No One Mourns the Wicked is a very powerful opener and a dynamic song that displays the munchkins feelings about Elphaba’s death, contrasted with Glinda. What really tied this contrast together was the subtle micro expressions presented by Ariana Grande in her portrayal of Glinda, she really showed how complex and conflicted this character is. Before we get too far in I’d also like to say that while many other contenders would have been wonderful Glindas; Ariana was a fantastical choice and I think she did an amazing job with the character. In this song, the parts that stick out to me most are when Glinda sings of how “ goodness knows the wicked’s lives are lonely,” it is seen as her thinking forlornly about her friend being alone as well her own current loneliness, possibly due to her own “ wickedness.”

Dear Old Shiz–

Musical Choices:

When it comes to the girls’ time at Shiz many different musical numbers occur. I’m going to gloss over this section’s title song  Dear Old Shiz as it is a quaint, but unimportant number. Moving forward we have The Wizard and I, which is a powerful and foreshadowing song. Cynthia Erivo does something a little different with it, notably accentuating the line “ or hide” which shows a bit more of her character’s insecurities even though she presents as very tough and strong minded. Truly throughout the song she talks about this longing for acceptance which I think is something only Glinda really sees as we learn in the silent dance number in Dancing Through Life. In addition, we get a little bit of ironic foreshadowing as we listen to Elphaba sing about her vision, knowing full well that it is for her death not her teaming up with the Wizard.

Now after all this she of course has to stay at the school believing she’ll get a chance and hence she ends up rooming with her “total opposite” Glinda. What Is This Feeling? is a song that can be interpreted multiple different ways, some feel it is about queer confusion, others feel it shows the thin line between love and hate, and some take it as exactly what is presented as a song about loathing each other. For me I feel it does have a bit of a hint of that love and hate line, especially with lines like “ fervid as a flame,” “ there’s a strange exhilaration,” “it’s so pure, so strong,” these things could be put into a love song very easily.  The montage was one of my favorite bits of this song aside from the captivating choreography, it is definitely something that can only really be done cinematically and it added a new view of their days at Shiz.

Something Bad made a couple of new choices for the movie, on the stage version we only see Dr. Dillamond and Elphaba, this gives it a new dynamic and also adds a bit more secrecy and tension to the scene. I will talk more about this later in the social commentary section.

Dancing Through Life, I’ll try not to be biased as this is one of my favorite songs on stage and in the movie. The more modern background music adds a sense of well, danceability to the song and gives it an even more casual tone. The song presents this idea of whimsy about living life, almost a take on the saying ignorance is bliss. The song has multiple sections to it, later in the song we get sections of Glinda, Nessa, and Boq. Now the sections with Nessa and Boq intrigue me because the actor for Nessa is actually a wheelchair user and so I think it is interesting that they added the line “ no, no I don’t feel sorry for you, you’re great” which was not in the stage production, I think possibly they are going to hint more at the modern ideas of being okay with who people are. I am curious to see how that will play out later as a small plot point does include Nessa getting to walk. The big quiet dance scene is a very odd, yet possibly good addition to this section of the movie, it leaves a lot for interpretation, but does get to show the blossoming of Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship. The dance shows a different side of the usually “picture perfect bystander” Glinda and the “ defensive, doesn’t care what people think” Elphaba. I think the silence left a lot of space for us to hold for that moment ( lol ), but seriously the gaps that the movie has set in this movie really allow the actors to advance the storytelling.

Now that they are friends we get the classic song Popular, Ariana definitely made this her own, she added a theater kid flare with a bit of her own pop riffs. The theatricality of this is off the charts, with all of the chaos of Glinda getting Elphaba looking cute and trying to convince her that popularity is key. It is fun and frilly and with the way they did it in the movie in their PJs it gives a sense of that 3am giddiness of a sleepover. It then becomes satirical as she sings about how world leaders and politicians often have looks not brains or knowledge, she is essentially pointing out the corruptness of their very own system with the dumb wizard who just gets by on looks. 

I’m Not That Girl, a song that I had completely forgotten about, but which Cynthia absolutely made me remember. It puts into words the feelings of someone watching from a distance, constantly overthinking and feeling unsure about people’s feelings towards you. Cynthia’s voice as Elphaba is so strong and powerful, so when she takes this moment in this song to sing soft and clear it is just ethereal. It’s essentially a song for all the delusional girls out there and about how it feels when you get that reality check. The crescendos and decrescendos throughout this song really accent certain parts and show the difference, yet similarity of feeling hopeless and angry at the same time about how the world perceives you, or how a certain person perceives you.

Costumes:

For the costume department they had a lot to work with, considering the amount of scenes and the meaning behind the colors and designs they had their work cut out for them. For Elphaba of course, she doesn’t quite change up her look a lot, but she does have some different looks that can be appreciated for the details in them. Elphaba’s main color is black, besides her own green skin. She does, however, wear the bluish uniform of Shiz which looks oddly contrasted with her green skin, but also goes together with the cool colors. She wears a very covering, and modest outfit. This shows and exemplifies the idea that she does want or feel the need to hide, she has covered up as much of her green skin as possible. 

As she gets more comfortable she does where the uniform and then a “cute” tighter fitting outfit that is likely inspired by Glinda and her own personal style she may have always wanted to try, this change while still sticking to her own color pallet shows that she won’t allow herself to be fully Glindafied. She also wears a simple nightgown and robe with hints of cream white and dark pink showing a touch of femininity. Now her two staple pieces the hat and the cape are very important as the hat of course started as a joke or prank from Glinda, but ended up being a sentimental piece that Elphaba keeps. 

Next we have Glinda, now Glinda, being herself and all has many different outfits and each one is special in their own way. Her very first outfit is a pinkified version of the Shiz uniform, it is cute and simple and already exemplifies how her character likes to stand out while still fitting in. The next outfits are throughout the montage of What Is This Feeling, a few that caught my eye, there was her pink shirt with sheer butterflies upon the sleeves, almost a little nod to the fact that maybe deep down she too wants to defy gravity while also once again feeding into the symbolization of nature and growth. 

Then we have the Ozdust dress which is a bit of a shift from her usual solely pink attire, it has touches of yellow and orange and flares out. It almost looks like fire or petals of a flower. This dress is very symbolic in my opinion because she wears it as she goes through a change or shift in the ballroom, which could be symbolized by the fire of a phoenix or by the flowing look of petals like a newly opened flower.

During Popular we get a glimpse at just how extravagant Glinda really is as we see her swirly, rose pink, sheer robe which adds a great element of movement and gaudiness to the scene, allowing for her to accentuate her dance moves and kicks. In addition, it once again nods to the flower theme, it also looks similar to the flower she has in her own hair and which she transfers to Elphaba.

Finally, we have her outfit after she seems to have found out Fiyero likes Elphaba, she seems to dress more similar to her with more modest clothing and almost blush pink versions of Elphaba’s outfit from before.

Social Commentary:

There is a lot unpack here, most of it has to do with discrimination, genocide, and politics. Let’s begin with the most obvious social commentary of discrimination and this innate need to fit in or feel like we fit in. This is mostly exemplified by Elphaba, but the animals as well as Glinda, Fiyero, and Nessa all demonstrate this issue as well. Elphaba is this headstrong girl who is being heavily discriminated against based on the color of her skin, which as we know has been a long standing issue within our own society, they make it more satirical and “subtle” by making her an absurd color like green, but it still represents the real problems going on in our society.

 Then we have the animals who show both the discrimination and also the genocidal part of it, eraser, and treating someone who can talk and act like you as inferior. They are blatantly being taken away and turned into monsters and lesser things to the public. This really helps to show the issue with bystanding in situations like these, with Glinda, who even makes more effort than some people do, but eventually reverts back because she is scared of persecution herself if she continues to speak out. Elphaba and Fiyero who do speak out or at least do something about it, but once again since Fiyero isn’t used to this kind of rebellion he holds back for a bit and goes back to his life with Glinda while stealing glances at Elphaba.

Finally, we have the politics side of it. The commentary here is about the corruptness of social hierarchy and how we as a society have too long let people with the look of a politician or leader be in power, when brains or knowledge might be a little helpful. Politics is essentially one big popularity contest especially with the rise of media and edits. People have the ability to make remixes of people’s speeches and post AI clips of them, it can really skew the public’s initial opinions of their leaders. As Ben Dalton once said “the people you want to lead are the ones that are most resistant to being leaders.”

In the Emerald City–

Musical Elements:

The music we have begins with One Short Day, the song that introduces Elphie and Glinda to the land of the Wizard. It begins with an instrumental excerpt from Not That Girl 

“ Every so often we long to steal to the land of what might have been,” a very foreshadowing part to preclude their entry into the city. In this song we get a cute montage of the girls and some amazing choreography from the green wearing dancers. The original actors from Broadway, Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, make their cameo in this song singing about the Grimmerie, and the history of Oz as well as singing to their respective girls. One funny bit is when Kristen slaps her hand over Ariana’s mouth as she begins to do a high pitched riff. 

The second song we get in the city is  Sentimental Man which is essentially the Wizard giving a little sob story or pitch about him being a good person to Glinda and Elphaba. He sings of wishing he had children and how he treats all of Oz like his kids, and as Elphaba doesn’t exactly have a great father figure this likely draws her in.

Costumes:

The costumes Elphaba and Glinda wear are very similar with similar shaping, the main difference is the color as Glinda sports a pink look once again and a bit shorter of a skirt. As for the citizens of Emerald city of course they are all wearing green, paying homage to their cities name. Some of them even wear green tinted glasses which is a nod to the stage production and the book it is inspired by which is meant to keep all the citizens thinking the city is emerald. Later in the song One Short Day we see Glinda has donned a pair of these infamous glasses almost showing how she is seeing Elphaba normally for the first time, but also suggesting she is being more sucked into the facade of the Emerald City.

Social Commentary:

For social commentary what we have here is essentially the trickery of politicians or big leaders and the complacency of citizens, sometimes the false security right in front of them. In addition, we see this idea of people creating a problem or a villain for their people to band against. The Wizard and Ms.Morrible present this idea to Elphaba when they mention the animals and how they have essentially made them into a common enemy or issue for people to unite against. 

Defying Gravity–

Okay, I’ll only make this joke one more time because it feels necessary, it’s time to take this whole section to hold space for Defying Gravity. 

Defying Gravity is a staple of the musical Wicked, it is the big finale to Act 1 and the end of this movie. It is a very powerful song about breaking away and also highlights Glinda’s hesitation and the citizens’ easy manipulation to consider someone evil and want to kill them. 

The song begins with Glinda and Elphaba taking shots at each other, Glinda upset that Elphaba couldn’t be calm and complacent, and Elphaba that Glinda is too submissive because she thinks it will get her things in life to be a people pleaser. These two opposites really show the range of humans especially women in society and the different ways they are looked down on, sometimes it’s that they are too loud, have too many opinions, and sometimes it is that they are too “yes” and find it easier than saying no because they hope people will give them the same respect. 

Then Elphaba sings all about how she wants to leave and defy gravity, she invites Glinda to come along and for a split second as they harmonize together it seems as if Glinda might change her mind. I think this part is very important when Glinda and Elphaba are both holding the broomstick and singing because it shows that both of them want to leave and escape and defy the rules of this society they’ve been put in, but Glinda is just too stuck and is so used to the comfort of her life she feels she can’t do it. 

A very beautiful moment is when they wish each other the best for the future, it shows that even though Glinda is hesitant she still cares for Elphie and wants things to work out for her, possibly even so she can live vicariously through that success.

Finally, we come to the big parts of the song, a lot of opt ups are seen from Erivo and these are so clear and strong, really demonstrating her vocal range and talent. The one part of this that I don’t fully appreciate, probably mainly as someone who loves to sing along to the album is the pause in between “ and soon I’ll match them in renown” and “ and nobody in all of Oz” I felt this part seemed to actually slow the momentum of the song and the power of that moment, but Erivo brings it back and absolutely blows everyone away with the finale part of the song, hitting an E6 almost at a belt. 

In conclusion, this movie overall was cinematically, musically, and artistically a masterpiece and just very well done. I believe the directors, the actors, the musicians, and all the other people who worked on this movie did an excellent job bringing the stage to the screen.