Let me just say this: Thank God movies are fun again. Can we all just take a moment… to cheer that movies are fun again? *Cue audience cheering* Thank you, thank you. Okay, let’s get into it.
Wicked (2024) has been out for a few weeks now. Unless you live under a rock, I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of people talk about the cinematography, the cast interviews, the marketing, and “holding space” for the incredible soundtrack. Everything about it is so cunt. But I am not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about how Wicked’s (2024) success is directly tied to embracing its inherent Blackness. Let’s break it down.
Last year, I wrote a piece called Black People Are Magical Too. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m an incredible writer, so I do recommend reading the whole thing. To summarize, I talked about how last year, Black recasts, especially in Blockbuster movies, outdid their white counterparts because they understood the story in a way white people could not. When I learned that Cynthia Erivo would play the role of Elphaba I knew she would bring something different to the role, and I knew then that this would not be a lazy cash grab of a movie.
Anyone lucky enough to see Wicked, the musical, in the theater knows that the story has a magical feeling. I saw Wicked for the first time at 12, and I felt every emotion in its totality, the nuance in “No One Mourns the Wicked”, the humor of “What is This Feeling”, the resignation in “I’m Not That Girl”, and obviously the power and pain in “Defying Gravity”. It never occurred to me until I got older, that as a queer Black girl, I was watching a different musical than some of the other attendees.
To me, Wicked was one of the first stories that made me feel entirely seen. Growing up I felt that there was something inherently ugly about me, something unfixable. This was about more than just superficial aspects, it did not matter how much I changed my hair, how much I studied, or how hard I tried I felt like I came out wrong, like I came out green. Seeing Elphaba be born “wrong”, grow up in disdain, and be branded as wicked was frustrating but also affirming. The thing that was “wrong” with me was not entirely that I was Black, but it was a big part of it. This was not an idea I got on my own, this is propaganda that every Black child is fed.
This is in commercials about skin bleaching, hair relaxers, pressure to code-switch, anti-black dress codes, and watching countless Black people die in horrific ways while being blamed for their deaths due to their Blackness. The world tells Black people we are wicked for just existing. This isn’t about curiosity, jealousy, or wondering if the world would be kinder to us if we were white, this is knowing that it would and not being able to do anything about it. So you see, Wicked was always directly linked to race for me. However, it’s not just me, it is Black people at large especially considering how beloved The Wiz is by the Black community. There is something about this story that makes us feel seen.
Wicked already made me look like a blubbering fool, but seeing a Black queer actress as Elphaba was almost more than I could bear. This is not to say that white people cannot understand the feeling of being othered, nor is this a dig at the incredible Idina Menzel, but there is something Cynthia Erivo brought to the role that a white actress could not. Cynthia’s Elphaba has the anger and passion of a Black woman. Elphaba from a young age was given responsibilities she did not ask for that were not hers to carry. She was Nessa’s protector to the point where she did not feel she could even have dreams of her own because dreams were a privilege only Nessa had.
Elphaba was outcast for her powers instead of celebrated, and the one time anyone showed interest in her powers it was only to further their agendas. She was a scapegoat from the moment she was born, she even believed she killed her mother and disabled her sister due to her father’s prejudice. She was blamed by everyone around her because she was different. All she wanted to be for so long was to be normal, but it is only through accepting herself and choosing to stay green that she gets control over her powers and realizes what she really wants. What could only be subtle undertones about race and queerness with a white actress becomes a screeching battle cry with Cynthia’s performance.
We can’t talk about the connection to race in Wicked without also talking about the connection to queerness. And that is what I think is so cool about casting a Black queer actress as Elphaba because the lessons about intersectionality and nuance are so incredibly overt in the film. Because a queer actress is brought into this story it gets to be about the complex relationship between two women. And that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily gay or romantic (although duh, even the author of the book himself said the subtext is intentional). As a society, we get so wrapped up in romantic relationships that we forget that romance is not needed to make a relationship important. These witches have been changed for good because they knew one another and that above all else makes their relationship special. It’s more than just about whether their relationship is platonic or romantic, it is fated as they are mirrors of one another.
Elphaba stands out at Shiz but so does Galinda, they are the only students not in uniform not just because they are the leads but because they are both different. Both Elphaba and Galinda have unrealistic and unfair expectations placed on them. While Galinda likes to pretend that she is happy being a sheep like everyone else, she wants more. However, due to her privilege of appearing good and sparkly, she can pretend to be someone she is not, someone more easily digestible. We are only able to see that about her through Elphaba and the lens of queerness. A story being queer is not always about romance, it means it has elements of queer ideology. The elements, such as disrupting social norms, challenging tradition, a craving for acceptance, etc are delivered incredibly in the movie because Elphaba is played by a Black queer actress.
Okay, so who cares? I mean seriously why does this matter? It’s just a story, right? Just a movie? Wrong.
Wicked is one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time, it’s a certified hit, but it has been inaccessible for many people, especially those it most applies to, to see it until now. Theater at large is unfortunately inaccessible, it’s expensive, there are limited seats, many of the buildings are old and have not been updated to aid audience members with disabilities, and did I mention that it’s expensive? Going to the theater is difficult, but being able to make a career in theater that is emotionally and financially fulfilling is even harder. Wicked being a movie means the story reaches more people, it means more people can be inspired by it and maybe get the chance to be in the theater themselves. Black people and marginalized folks at large are underrepresented in theater but Wicked may change that. The movie has become a cultural phenomenon with people belting the lyrics to defying gravity, making fancams of Galinda, and reading the book to learn more before the release of part 2. People are inspired and excitingly entering the world of theater.
Additionally, this story matters more than ever now. Politically, marginalized people are in a scary place. Not just because of any election, though that would be enough, propaganda that makes people who are different be seen as wicked is destroying populations. The genocide of the Palestinian people is being ignored, Billionaires are gaining control of our communication sources, women’s rights continue to be taken away, queer people’s rights are constantly being threatened, and Black people continue to be murdered with no end or change in sight. The general public has, as expected, been drawn to Wicked because of the glitz and glam (this is not an insult I too am drawn to it as it was incredibly cunt). I’ve seen more interviews with Ariana Grande than Cynthia Erivo despite Cynthia being the main character, and that is intentional. This is no shade, I’m a big fan of Ariana and she gave an incredible performance, but as a famous white woman, she is easier for the public to digest than Cynthia just as Galinda is more accepted than Elphaba. Art imitates life. The marketing is purposefully using society’s propaganda against it to tell us an incredibly important story.
“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” is a phrase said in The Wizard of Oz and it is the foundation for Wicked. No one is immune to propaganda, propaganda is made to be easily digestible and to discourage us from looking closer. Elphaba starts off as a small part in a much bigger twisted plot of animals losing their rights, their ability to speak, and being made out as villains. Their voices are literally taken away from them. The only reason Elphaba is branded as wicked in the first place is because she makes a stand for a community she is not a part of but can relate to. Galinda is branded as “good” because she, for lack of better words, grovels in submission to feed her own ambition. She, like the majority of Oz, is a sheep, she thinks the rights of others being taken away has nothing to do with her rights and so she ignores what she knows to be true. We can’t do the same, we will never be free while others are in chains. Wicked reminds us that we cannot be silent, we cannot let them take out voices and we must use them for true goodness.
Sydney Turner is a Black queer film and culture writer from Chicago. She likes to write about her perspective on media and the world at large. She is currently an associate editor at Off Colour and plans to bring her perspective to a writers’ room someday. At large, she wants to use her voice and her talents to uplift people like and different from her in whatever way possible.
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