Mustang News
Cassandra Garcia is a Journalism senior and the Mustang News TV Video Director. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.
This article contains spoilers to the movie Wicked: Part 1.
“Wow” was the first word that came out of my mouth after watching Wicked: Part 1 at the movie theaters with my mom. Soon after, I felt streams of tears coming from my eyes landing on my flushed cheeks with a sense of admiration and fulfillment.
Not only did this film bring back my inner theater nerd that consumed my identity in middle school, but it also made me reflect on what society deems good — and what is, dare I say, “Wicked.”
This film resonated with me so much more after experiencing the most anticipated election of my life. Watching a highly qualified presidential candidate lose to a convicted felon on election day made me question society’s perception of good and evil.
Wicked is for the people who always want to make a difference but whose plans are often misunderstood. Wicked is for those who, when they were young, were always thought of as weird or different by their peers. Wicked is for people who always thought differently from society, and who have been undermined their entire life due to their identity and beliefs that go against society’s “norms.”
Wicked is more than a musical adaptation; it is a sharp critique of societal biases and the use of scapegoats as political tools.
Wicked: Part 1 is a remake of Act 1 of the Broadway musical of the same name. The story follows the complicated relationships between Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch of the North when they met at university, 40 years before the story we see in The Wizard of Oz.
Glinda, a privileged and self-absorbed white woman from a wealthy background, has no powers but is ambitious to study sorcery at Shiz University and gain the attention of Madame Morrible. Her character begins to grow only after she feels remorse for hurting Elphaba, shifting her focus beyond herself.
Elphaba, born green and ostracized for her appearance, is empathetic and driven to help others despite her hardships. Her natural magical abilities catch the attention of Madame Morrible, setting her apart from others at Shiz University.
The main plot of the movie is when Elphaba is recruited by the Wizard and Madame Morrible to help reconstruct Oz. However, the two trick Elphaba into doing the Wizard’s dirty work for him, and that is when she realizes that he has no real power. Once Elphaba realizes this, she finds the power within herself and decides to escape while singing the power ballad “Defying Gravity.”
Watching this scene made me think, “Where have I seen this story before?” The Wizard even says, “The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.” I couldn’t help but wonder, “is this show about us?”
Wicked highlights the dangers of political scapegoating, where powerful figures divert blame to innocent people. Madame Morrible’s betrayal, labeling Elphaba as the “Wicked Witch,” exemplifies how society turns on those who challenge the status quo.
The United States has a history of treating people who are different, whether that be because of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, with prejudices. This is often because majority groups are fearful of the power of historically marginalized people.
Just like the Wizard, this nation has historically and currently found a common enemy within people who are different from societal norms.
For example, during the 1970s – 1990s, the U.S. blamed gay men for the AIDS epidemic calling it the “gay disease” and the “gay plague.” This made society fear gay men, blaming their sexual orientation for the spread of the epidemic despite The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) dismissed the possibility of transmitting AIDS through casual contact in 1983.
Gay men were discriminated against when it came to working, schooling, and housing. But it didn’t stop there. In 1985, 13-year-old Ryan White, a hemophiliac who got AIDS from a blood transfusion and was not a member of the LGBTQ+ community, was banned from his Indiana school over fears of spreading HIV.
In today’s times, the most recent scapegoats are the immigrants that have crossed the border to the United States.
During Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential run, he and his allies claimed Biden allowed thousands of criminals, including murderers and sex offenders, into the United States.
The rhetoric Trump uses to describe immigrants as murderers and sexual offenders makes Americans fear immigrants and blame them for the United States’ national security problems. This is all used in order to gain power back from the people and to gain trust back into a Trump presidency.
And low and behold, it actually worked.
Just like the Wizard’s power dynamics with the citizens of Oz, Trump uses fear to maintain his power over the citizens of the United States.
In the film, the Wizard and Madame Morrible tell the people of Oz that Elphaba is the enemy. Madame Morrible announces to the citizens, “Citizens of Oz, there is an enemy that must be found and captured! Believe nothing she says. She’s evil… Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature! This distortion… this repulsion… this… wicked witch!”
Trump uses the same rhetoric not only with immigrants, but also with other historically underrepresented communities. Still, he is far from the first American politician to do this.
Elphaba represents these underrepresented communities that are often overlooked or taken advantage of by society and are blamed for its problems. Just like gay men from the 1980s to the immigrants of today, Elphaba is used as a scapegoat for people to blame and keep those in power with power.
Some argue that art should remain apolitical, yet the reality is that an artist’s life experiences—shaped by their social, cultural, and political contexts—inevitably influence their work, highlighting how deeply intertwined art and politics often are.
I encourage viewers to watch Wicked through a critical lens, immersing themselves in the film’s deeper societal commentary. The movie is more than a story about “girl power” and friendship, it is a critical take on society’s views on people who are different and go against what society deems as good versus “Wicked.”
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