{"id":5771,"date":"2024-12-03T12:14:37","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T16:14:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/?p=5771"},"modified":"2025-11-25T14:17:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T18:17:50","slug":"wicked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consistent-life.org\/blog\/index.php\/2024\/12\/03\/wicked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Movie \u201cWicked\u201d: Making a Real Person of the Witch of the West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor’s note, 11.25.25: The second part of the story is now out. You can see a review here: <\/em><\/p>\n

Making an Activist of the Witch of the West in \u201cWicked for Good\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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by Rachel MacNair<\/p>\n

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Act 1 of Wicked <\/em>is now out in theaters, but instead of a 15-minute intermission as happens in the Broadway play, we get a year of intermission. \u00a0Act 2 comes out November 21, 2025.<\/p>\n

The play is a musical based on the book by Gregory Maguire. The movie is mainly based on the play, but fleshes out the story more (as can be seen by taking more than double the time), mainly by adding back in content from the book.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a prequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em> by L. Frank Baum, published in 1900. That was explicitly stated to be for children, but there\u2019s been some thought of political allegory of the 1890s.<\/a> Baum was also the son-in-law of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a prominent activist in the women\u2019s movement of the time, and for those who know this, it shows.<\/p>\n

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As a side note, Gage had the common attitude of feminists of the time period on feticide. For a short quotation:<\/strong> \u201cBut the crime of abortion is not one in which the guilt lies solely or chiefly with the woman . . . Husbands do not consult with their wives upon this subject of deepest and most vital interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been numerous film adaptations (and at least one other prequel<\/a>). The most famous is the 1939 version starring Judy Garland as Dorothy, which also serves as inspiration for the Maguire book. And it offers an illustration of war mentality that Wicked <\/em>counters.<\/p>\n

War Hysteria<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I delve in greater depth on this in a post comparing the psychology of war hysteria<\/a> to post-Dobbs reaction, and also a bit in our newsletter on the carnival atmosphere with the killing<\/a> of Osama bin Laden. It comes from the theory of Lawrence LeShan, in his book\u00a0The Psychology of War: Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell: we have the ordinary world we normally operate in, in which good and evil have shades of gray, people can have a variety of views, we can talk things out, etc. Then there\u2019s a more fairy-tale world, sort of a cartoon mentality, which LeShan calls \u201cmythic mode.\u201d There\u2019s good and there\u2019s evil, you\u2019re on one side or the other, evil can\u2019t be negotiated with, etc.<\/p>\n

One of the best instances in well-known stories to illustrate the difference is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/em> movie of 1939. That there are two different modes of mind is starkly shown:<\/strong> the real world in Kansas is in black and white, and the fantasy world of Oz is in color. In Kansas, the villain is Miss Gulch. In Oz, it\u2019s the unnamed Witch of the West. They\u2019re psychologically connected, played by the same actress.<\/p>\n

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Dorothy\u2019s house drops on the Witch of the East, who\u2019s been designated as evil, and it\u2019s therefore OK to dance and sing about her demise. When Dorothy later splashes water on the Witch of the West, who\u2019s also been designated as evil (even by herself), and that kills her, that\u2019s time for another celebration.<\/p>\n

But what if Dorothy had killed Miss Gulch?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the difference. Miss Gulch may have been nasty, but she lived in the real world. We can cheer when Auntie Em tells her off, because that fits the offense. But with killing, the story could never be a children\u2019s tale. Dorothy would be far too sinister.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the difference between killing in war with a war mindset over killing in ordinary life.<\/p>\n

Changing What \u201cWicked\u201d Means<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Wicked <\/em>gives the future witch of the west a name:<\/strong> Elphaba. That\u2019s a take-off on L. Frank Baum. It gives a bit on her birth and childhood, but Act 1 mainly follows her through the college where she meets Glinda. They dislike each other at first, but then they become friends. Yes, friends.<\/p>\n

Her motivations become clear. Elphaba is a real person. Having her be killed becomes something the audience doesn\u2019t want to see.<\/p>\n

Gregory Maguire based his imagination on the politics of the time, that being the 1990s \u2013 a century later than the original book. He also moves the focus away from Dorothy and focuses instead on the life story of the Witch of the West.<\/p>\n

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The 1990s was the time of the first American war in Iraq, which Maguire opposed. There\u2019s a line in the second act of the play when Elphaba is asking Glinda about the death of her sister, whether it was an accident, and Glinda refers to it as \u201cregime change.\u201d The audience of the time roared at what was then the well-known euphemism for that particular war.<\/p>\n

But further:<\/strong> Elphaba stands up for the marginalized \u2013 in this case, the talking animals who are being oppressed by the government. A talking goat had been a professor at the school, and was fired and arrested. A talking bear had been who raised Elphaba when she was otherwise rejected by her parents. A lion cub was held in a cage \u2013 and she freed him. Her anger, which helped her magic, was justified anger.<\/p>\n

At the end, she was designated as \u201cwicked\u201d to the population by the oppressive government entities she had stood up to.<\/p>\n

Bigotry<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The anti-racist message was also clear in this movie. Elphaba is constantly put down for the color of her skin \u2013 that color being green. Standing up for herself when people are bigoted against her is part of what makes her an admirable character.<\/p>\n

The play and movie don\u2019t portray this, but the Maguire book turns this lethal. Due to her green skin, there\u2019s a threat of infanticide against her by the midwives when she\u2019s born.<\/p>\n

At the end of Act 1, she realizes that the Wizard she had admired so and wanted so badly to work with was actually a charlatan. He was the one responsible for oppressing the talking animals. She needed to get her flying broomstick in order and get out of there.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A lot of my work has dealt with being a peace advocate among people who don\u2019t want to hear it. It\u2019s also involved being a pro-lifer who\u2019s poking at the bubble that many peace activists inhabit on this issue. As a consistent lifer, I\u2019ve had to face intense hostility in a variety of ways in a variety of venues. Having the charge of being \u201cwicked\u201d hurled, when what was actually happening was standing up for the marginalized, is something I can relate to.<\/p>\n

======================<\/p>\n

The quotation from Matilda Joslyn Gage is on page 57 of ProLife Feminism: Yesterday and Today<\/em><\/a>, as are many full articles from pro-life feminists of yesteryear. (\u201cIs Woman Her Own? The Revolution<\/em>, April 9, 1868)<\/p>\n

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The review of the sequel is now out: Making an Activist of the Witch of the West in \u201cWicked for Good\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

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For some more of our posts on movie reviews, see<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Jasmine, Aladdin, and the Power of Nonviolence<\/a><\/p>\n

Justice Littered with Injustice: Viewing\u00a0Just Mercy<\/em>\u00a0in a Charged Moment<\/a><\/p>\n

Movie Review: Oppenheimer<\/a><\/p>\n

Movies with Racism Themes: \u201cGosnell\u201d and \u201cThe Hate U Give\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The Darkest Hour<\/em>: \u201cGlorifying\u201d War?<\/a><\/p>\n

The Message of \u201cNever Rarely Sometimes Always\u201d: Abortion Gets Sexual Predators Off the Hook<\/a><\/p>\n

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Editor’s note, 11.25.25: The second part of the story is now out. You can see a review here: Making an Activist of the Witch of the West in \u201cWicked for Good\u201d   by Rachel MacNair   Act 1 of Wicked is now out in theaters, but instead of a 15-minute intermission as happens in the… <\/p>\n