Wicked Part 1 Analysis: There’s Something Strange Beneath The Surface…
Since its start, Wicked Part 1 has been laced with non-stop drama and juicy headlines.
From Ariana Grande leaving her newly minted marriage for her Wicked costar to viral interview moments, the stir that this film has caused alone makes it the most unmissable watch of the year.
But instead of creating massive hype to compensate for a subpar production, Wicked Part 1 lives up to its promises creating moment after moment that absolutely WOW.
Yet, after you come down from the high of the film you’re still left with a lot of mysterious, missing pieces.
Something feels off.
Something is strange.
Something sinister may be brewing under the surface here.
Typically when I write movie reviews, I try to focus on the story itself and judge it solely based on the excellence of the work, but although Wicked’s execution is wickedly good, is it also just wicked?
Does the pitch-perfect production obscure crooked behavior behind its curtains?
That’s exactly what this Wicked Part 1 Analysis explores.
Wicked Part 1 Analysis
More than a movie and far longer than a moment, Wicked Part 1 is one of the very few present-day examples of successfully capitalizing on an already popular franchise.
Wicked is a healthy balance of the childlike whimsy from the 1900 children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the dark and raunchy 1995 spinoff novel, Wicked.
The Broadway adaptation of the book Wicked is a watered-down, thankfully sanitized version of the uncomfortably perverted novel.
If you want to listen to how the original Wicked story goes I recommend watching this detailed and entertaining video while getting chores done like I did.
Long story short, there are a lot of sexual deviancies that make up this story, the least of which being several acts of infidelity which is somewhat hinted at in the film as Elphaba is a result of her mother’s infidelity.
Dual Infidelities
The modern-day Wicked Part 1 cast is no stranger to infidelity. In fact, both lead actresses of the film, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, have been involved in cheating scandals within the past few years.
Ariana Grande and her male costar Ethan Slater, who plays Boq in the film, are alleged to have been unfaithful towards their spouses during the production of this musical.
The entire cast was well aware that these two individuals who were married to other people were “playing house” with each other on set.
Both Grande and Slater abruptly divorced from their rather fresh marriages and immediately started a very controversial and frowned upon relationship.
Even to this day, Slater’s ex-wife openly grieves their “sudden” divorce and details the dark shadow this public divorce has cast upon her life.
Cynthia Erivo has been a victim of cheating allegations as well, having allegedly played the role of the “homewrecker” in Lena Waithe’s 1-year marriage to her ex-wife back in 2020.
Neither Erivo nor Waithe have confirmed or denied any of the cheating rumors but their relationship seems to be somewhat official with their open support and favor towards one another.
Cheating has never been cool, and the public’s open disapproval of their suspiciously timed relationships led to open, often harsh reprove for the celebrities. Particularly Grande since she has a bigger platform.
Ariana & Cynthia Trauma Bond
The two lead actresses shared in this similar online “witch-hunt” experience which could play a role in why they have created this very evident, insufferable bond in the public and press.
Perhaps a bond of shared trauma.
Erivo was quick to defend Ariana Grande amidst her controversial relationship with Ethan Slater stating, “We decided that we were going to make sure we protected each other.”
This vow to protect one another is cemented by their shared matching tattoos, many of them etched on their hands, with the layout of their tattoos looking eerily similar to the slits of a binding blood oath.
The Mattel Doll Scandal
Revisiting the original 1995 Wicked novel, another sexually deviant undercurrent of the “Wicked” film is the Mattel doll scandal.
The Mattel doll scandal is a very expensive and harmful incident where dolls representing the Wicked characters contained the incorrect website URL on the bottom of the packaging.
Simply put, a toy marketed for children contained a direct link to an adult film website, risking exposing children to damaging sexual content.
How in the world could a mistake this grand slip under the radar?
Why is sexual content being slipped into children’s content?
Feels a little bit like another Dan Schneider Nickelodeon sitcom doesn’t it?
Again, we have the hidden x-rated content in the adult Wicked book leaking out into the modern-day canvas of the Wicked Part 1 film’s pop culture impact.
Blurred Lines
It’s hard to separate the realities of Erivo and Grande’s lives from the movie because both have become so intertwined with their characters that they seem to struggle to disengage.
The line between the actors and their characters blurs so strongly that they’re no longer two separate entities.
Both actresses took their roles so incredibly personally which explains why they executed these roles so flawlessly. But it also explains why they’ve displayed an uncharacteristic sum of public emotional outbursts during the Wicked press tour.
Erivo’s Outburst
Cynthia Erivo became offended when a fan edited the Wicked movie poster to look like the Broadway version of the poster, which involved having to hide Elphaba’s (Cynthia Erivo’s) eyes under the dark brim of her pointy, witchy hat.
Erivo likened the hiding of her eyes to an erasure of her identity. She immediately interpreted the event as an attack on her value and an extension of the degradation that Elphaba receives in the film.
“It degrades me. It degrades us.”
She describes herself as “really protective” of the Elphaba role.
Again, the use of the word “protect” by Erivo.
She feels a need for mutual protection between herself and Grande and the need to protect her fictional character, Elphaba.
We get the sense that she’s in a position of constantly being attacked. Of constantly being on the defensive. Perhaps experiencing a level of paranoia.
However, to everyone else who has viewed the fan-edited film poster, it seems far more likely that the fan was simply having fun transforming the film’s Wicked poster so that it resembled the illustrated Broadway Wicked poster a little more.
Most likely, nothing deeper than that.
A Very Tearful Tour
The press tours for Wicked rival the mood of an intense therapy session with lighthearted questions quickly turning into overenthusiastic speeches and emotional support hand-holds.
Tears pour as the actresses caress each other and “hold space” for their emotional realizations.
This YouTube video below explores the strange nature of the Wicked cast’s crying tour.
Grande’s Dream Role
Grande’s connection to her character Galinda is another well-known fact. Several videos have surfaced of young Grande calling this her dream role. As well as her life-long adoration of everything to do with the Broadway musical version of Wicked.
This deep attachment that both actresses have to their characters produced incredibly flawless acting and emoting from the actors, most especially Erivo whose role was the most emotionally demanding.
But at what cost did they develop this depth of emotion? Their peace, their sanity, their breakfast (and lunch and dinner and snacks as well)?
Erivo admitted to only getting 2-3 hours of sleep every night while filming Wicked which is scientifically not healthy for the body at all.
What other unhealthy practices was the Wicked cast involved in?
They Look… Different
Grande and Erivo poured their hearts and souls into this film sacrificing more than your average job should ever allow which is probably why they look so drained, aged, and malnourished on their press tours.
It’s evident that Erivo and Grande’s looks have completely transformed since they started working on Wicked Part 1.
Before Wicked, their bones were under their skin (like they’re supposed to be). After the film, you can teach an anatomy lesson about the human skeleton just by looking at them.
It’s giving alien-esque. It’s giving, glamorous on the outside, suffering on the inside.
And this is not shaming or criticizing someone for being skinny because they’ve always been slim women. But there is an innate alarm that goes off in the healthy human mind when you sense that someone is not OK. That there’s something hidden, maybe even sinister, eating at them.
They Act… Different
Grande and Erivo not only look different but harbor different personalities.
Their energies are not wholly as they were before the Wicked film.
They feel more like animated caricatures rather than normal human beings.
The way that Cynthia and Ariana speak and carry themselves now holds an air of mysticism.
A soft, enchanting lilt to their speech and an other-worldliness to their aura.
Their dispositions are much like the world of Oz that they portray in Wicked Part 1.
Under A Spell
The movie itself is charming, enchanting, seductive.
The bright colors and whimsical speech.
The impeccable world-building and electrifying choreography.
The heart-tugging songs sung with the world’s most crisp and powerful voices.
It makes you want to stay in the world, watch the film again, learn all the songs, dance all the dances.
The film ends and you think, that was nearly 3 hours? It felt like half that.
Even when the plot falters, you’re content to stay in the world of Oz, taking in its beauty and wonder.
Marveling at the phenomenal artistic choices that infuse this film with excellence.
It pulls you in and puts a spell on you.
Perhaps the words of the Grimmerie were more than movie mumbo jumbo.
Maybe there is a subtle magic that’s pulling me in and making me want more.
But even if there is, would that be such a bad thing?
Pink & Green
Wicked Part 1 explores the grey area between good and evil.
Nothing is black and white but rather pink and green. Fluffy, innocent pink, and earthy, mysterious green, symbolizing a deeper narrative on how multifaceted good and bad can be.
Witches are not simply evil as they were immediately deemed during the Salem Witch trial times but rather there are good witches and bad witches.
The word “witch” no longer holds a negative connotation but is rather a synonym for power. The word “good or bad” simply defines how that power is harnessed.
But the wielding of mysterious, supernatural power itself is neutral space.
When we examine both Galinda and Elphaba, pink and green, we see that they are neither fully good nor evil.
Creating Wickedness
In fact, those who the land of Oz often deemed as good are instead the biggest proponents of evil.
You see how the roles of wickedness are assigned through unfortunate circumstances out of their control. They were not able to choose their genetics or their parents.
But then you see how the roles of wickedness are earned.
How they’re nurtured.
And how they’re intentionally “thrust upon” someone as the story states.
How the ones trying to do good are made out to be wicked.
And how the ones performing wickedness present themselves as good.
Media Calls the Shots
In Wicked Part 1 we see how the kind-hearted, empathetic, misunderstood Elphaba is easily painted as evil by the film’s cunning antagonists through the power of mass media.
We see how she becomes a scapegoat villain in the Land of Oz and we see how her witch hunt creates true villains of the public.
The media makes or breaks people.
Even this review that you’re reading right now is a medley of assumptions and “allegedlys.” I wasn’t there. I don’t truly know what’s behind the Wizard’s curtain.
I’m merely gathering evidence and pondering it. Questioning it. And then questioning myself.
It’s impossible to be everywhere at once, but once information is gathered and verified, it’s dangerous to allow the media the sole responsibility of interpreting the evidence.
That’s why it’s important to reexamine the narratives drawn and written for us lest we unknowingly become agents in the army of the wicked.
That’s why I couldn’t just write a regular surface-level review that simply praises the stellar work that Wicked Part 1 is. Rather, explore my curiosity towards the suspicious happenings around the film.
As Ariana states in an interview while defending how emotional she and Erivo can be:
“The stuff you don’t see is the most special stuff.”
It begs to ask the question, what are we not seeing?
In Conclusion…
Beauty distracts.
There is a psychological phenomenon called the halo effect where beautiful people are automatically perceived to be nicer, richer, and smarter than their average-looking counterparts who possess the same internal characteristics.
Wicked is that beautiful movie that is so stunning, that it distracts from the fact that it’s actually not perfect and has come concerning undertones.
Human nature makes us hesitant to believe that people so elevated and externally beautiful can also be bad and bad for us.
Ironically, this blind spot in judgment is precisely what the characters in Oz fall victim to as the prominent figures they worship turn out to be the biggest villains in their world.
Something that hits too close to home given the heinous allegations in pop culture coming against large hip-hop moguls and highly influential societal figures(you know who I’m talking about).
So as much as I want to indulge in the Wicked production and lose myself in its world, I refrain.
I take it as it is, a temporary form of entertainment. A well-done work of art produced by flawed and imperfect beings.
Not the life-changing, soul-baring, purpose-giving experience it purports itself to be.
Rating: 9/10
What is your Wicked Part 1 Analysis? Let me know in the comments below!
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Peace, love, and lots of popcorn,
IMO
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