‘Wicked’ and its Connection to Blackness

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 powe…